Text: Daffodils in the pond
Figure: From the network
So far, my father-in-law has been dead for a full year and four months. My relatives and several friends who know the general experience of my father-in-law have been advising me: you should write about your father-in-law well! It was not easy for their generation; we can have a happy life today, and we cannot do without the efforts of their generation.
To tell the truth, as a person who deals with words all day, I want to write again and again, but I don't know how to write again and again, in order to write about the life of hard work and selfless dedication of the old man in a rain of bullets and in a peaceful environment, and I don't know how to write about this military image full of stories.
Born in 1925, the father-in-law, married in June 1946, went to join the army the next day before he had time to round the house, from the Battle of Laiwu, to the Battle of Menglianggu, to the three major battles of Shenpingjin in Huaihai, to the Battle of Crossing the River, and finally to the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
The mother-in-law was alone in the empty room at home, and in order to get her away, the family had encroached on the original three rooms to only let go of the half of the "triangle room" with only one bed.
The mother-in-law is always waiting, and she has some strong obsession in her heart. During the period, many people were advising her: You have no children, and now you are not taking advantage of your youth, hurry up and find another person to leave, when will you be a leader? Besides, he didn't even have a letter, so what was death? Or live? Who knows?
Thankfully and thankfully, after the baptism of life storms and bullets on the battlefield, after returning from the Korean battlefield at the end of 1953, my father-in-law wanted to dissolve his marriage with his mother-in-law according to the first new "Marriage Law" recently promulgated and implemented by our country.
At that time, there was no shortage of capable and considerate and heroic female soldiers around him, and in the army, he fell in love with a female soldier, that is, a beautiful and gentle woman, who often gave him a sweater, and she always thought that he was not married, and the emotions invested in each other were only able to understand and appreciate them.
After the family learned of the father-in-law's thoughts, they were particularly anxious, and his sister (my sister-in-law) quickly led the mother-in-law, according to the address on the letter, brought some dry food, inquired about it and walked for three months, arrived at the father-in-law's army, and under the bitter persuasion of the sister-in-law, the father-in-law quickly changed his mind.
Later, the father-in-law introduced the female comrade-in-arms who fell in love to a division commander who suffered together, and became a permanent friend and relative...
In the days that followed, whether the father-in-law was in the army or transferred to a local area, the mother-in-law was always around, the two respected each other as guests, and his relationship with the mother-in-law was so good that people were jealous.
After leaving retirement, the old man took his mother-in-law back to his hometown in the mountains, in the days of lack of medical treatment, he used the medical knowledge he learned in the army, coupled with his own continuous exploration, to treat difficult and complicated diseases for the local people, especially good at treating old slow branches, heart disease, women's postpartum wind and other diseases, he personally dispensed medicine wine to taste, once he actually fell to the ground with too much medicine...
For those who can afford medical expenses, they only charge a fee; for those who cannot afford medical expenses, they will treat them for free.
The father-in-law saves money and saves some of the sponsorship for those poor comrades-in-arms, and sends it on time. To this day, in the drawer, there are still some thank-you letters sent to him by some people; for the family in his hometown, there are those who have taken the entrance examination to go to school, he will sponsor; there are those who buy houses in the city, he will sponsor; there are those who are seriously ill and look down on the sick, he will sponsor. Only for his two sons, he will not be financially supported.
He said, "You are mixed, you are blessed; you are mixed, you are sinful." I'm not going to support you financially! The first one I don't ask you for a penny, the second I don't have to take care of you, this is the greatest help and support for you! ”
His only belief was that he was fortunate to survive to this day compared to those comrades who had sacrificed himself, that is, he had the greatest advantage.
My mother-in-law died of illness before she was seventy years old. Although my father-in-law said that he did not need us to take care of him, after his mother-in-law left, he has also been planting various vegetables, peanuts and wheat, and planting Chinese herbs such as sweet potatoes and salvia in a large courtyard on the top of the mountain in his hometown.
However, my husband and his only brother also tried many times to ask him to follow us, to follow whomever he chose. He refused.
In addition to his labor, after the rural medical reform, fewer and fewer people came to see him. He would read aloud the magazine or corporate newspaper that we had sent him home. He has always been concerned about the construction of the country, especially the words of national defense construction, and is happy for the development of the country and enterprises.
Every time we went back to see him, he would talk about the old days.
A person, sometimes too lonely, plays the "three-stringed piano" that his comrades gave him when they were separated, and the most played tracks are: "My Motherland" and "Song Tune". Every time I went back to see him, I wanted to keep him from cooking and eating, and I could follow anyone. But he still insisted on living alone.
It was not until he was ninety-three years old that he felt so overwhelmed that he offered to come near us—and it was he who lived with us in this house in the city, and spent his old age in peace. The old man was content and happy, and had more time and energy to tell the stories of the past, some of which were told many times, and we continued to listen to him as if they were hearing them for the first time.
More than two years later, on December 5, 2020, the old man peacefully completed his ninety-six-year-old life course in his sleep and was buried with his mother-in-law on the mountain of his hometown...