In 1997, Liu Zehua, an 80-year-old Sichuan woman, married an old man named Qiu Yun with the help of neighbors. On the wedding night, the old lady and the old man recalled the past and said that their name was not Liu Zehua, but Li Defang, and their family lived in Taheba Stove Village, Sichuan.
Who knew that after hearing this, the old man actually choked up excitedly: "Are you really Li Defang from Taheba Furnace Village, I am your husband Qiu Daming." ”
Liu Zehua couldn't believe it after hearing this, because Qiu Daming was the husband he married when he was 20 years old. At that time, she stayed in her hometown and waited for Qiu Daming for 18 years, and she thought that her husband had died in the Anti-Japanese War long ago.
So, what kind of twists and turns of fate separated these two old men for more than half a century, and what kind of fate allowed the two to find each other at the end of their lives?
First, the newlywed Yan'er, rushed to the country to die
In 1936, Li Defang's father died, and Li Defang, who was only 19 years old, could only rely on his mother for life. Although the pillars of Li Defang's family fell, his father left a solid family fortune for the orphan and widow.
It can be that even if there are some families, there is no male support façade in the family, which is always bad. So Li Defang's mother asked relatives to tell Li Defang that it was best to recruit a son-in-law.
Because the remuneration given is relatively rich, the relatives naturally work very hard. It didn't take long for relatives to find Li Defang's mother and say that the man was a platoon commander in the nearby garrison, who was young and spirited, and he was very motivated.
The person mentioned by relatives is Qiu Daming, because Qiu Daming usually endures hardships in the army and fights, so he also has the trust of his superiors. In Qiu Daming's marriage, the commander of the army also made a lot of efforts.
Finally, under the arrangement of the woman's parents and the commander of the army, Li Defang finally met Qiu Daming. When he was young, Qiu Daming was tall and tall, wearing a military uniform, and he was more bloody. Li Defang naturally agreed to this marriage. So it didn't take long for the two to get married.
In July 1937, Li Defang and Qiu Daming had just been married for a month, when Japan began to plan a full-scale invasion of China. In August of the same year, the tragic Battle of Songhu began, and Japan even boasted that "China will be destroyed within three months."
Qiu Daming's unit was also transferred to the Songhu battlefield not long after. However, for Li Defang, a woman in a closed mountain village, she did not know what the Battle of Songhu was, let alone the brutality of this war, and she habitually thought that her husband would return after ten days and a half months at most.
However, as everyone knows, this time she has been waiting for 18 years. In the first few years, Li Defang's mother always advised her, don't wait, you have been waiting for him for so many years, right for him, take advantage of the young to remarry quickly, so that when you are old, you can have a care.
However, Li Defang was unwilling, and although she did not get along with her husband Qiu Daming for a long time, she identified this person as her man. To live is to see people, and to die is to see corpses. Li Defang waited and waited, but until the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, her husband was still not heard.
Li Defang decided not to wait passively, maybe Qiu Daming returned to his hometown. So he went to Qiu Daming's hometown, Rongchang, Chongqing, alone. However, in Rongchang, she still did not hear from her husband.
Later, Li Defang's mother died, and everyone around persuaded Li Defang to remarry, but Li Defang was still unwilling.
After the founding of New China, Li Defang changed his name to Liu Zehua because her husband Qiu Daming was a Kuomintang officer and soldier. But even at this time, she still did not let go of Qiu Daming in her heart. He thought that his husband had been affected by background problems.
However, it was not until 1955 that Liu Zehua could not get the slightest news about her husband. This year, she has been waiting for her husband for 18 years, and at the age of 38, she is completely dead, thinking that her husband should have died in the war.
So, where was Qiu Daming at that time?
A misplaced life, a helpless fate
Qiu Daming did participate in the Battle of Songhu, but he did not sacrifice, but survived by luck. However, in China at that time, the Japanese invaders were raging everywhere, and after Qiu Daming retired from the Battle of Songhu, he still rushed to the battlefields across the country.
In 1939 and 1942, the Battle of Changsha began, and Qiu Daming was unfortunately wounded in this battle and had to retire from the front.
In fact, as early as after the Battle of Songhu, Qiu Daming had written letters to his wife in his hometown, but due to the war and strife, these letters were all lost to the sea. After retiring from the Battle of Changsha, Qiu Daming was assigned to work at a dock.
At this time, Qiu Daming began to continue to inquire about the whereabouts of his wife Li Defang, this time, in addition to sending letters, he also specially entrusted people to go to Li Defang's hometown to find it, for which he also gave that person a lot of money.
However, what Qiu Daming did not expect was that this person not only did not go to Li Defang's hometown to inquire, but also lied to him that Li Defang's village had been bombed and that Li Defang had already been killed in the Japanese air raid.
Qiu Daming, who heard the news, couldn't help but cry from it, a girl who was only twenty years old entrusted his life to him, but he failed to protect others, and he was ashamed of the title of husband. In the following years, Qiu Daming did not marry again.
Later, it was Qiu Daming's friends around him who saw that he was getting older, so they advised him to quickly find someone to partner and be a companion. Qiu Daming then began his subsequent marriage. Although Qiu Daming and his current wife also have a very good relationship and have a son and a daughter, he always has an empty space in his heart, belonging to his "deceased wife" Li Defang.
After the founding of New China, Qiu Daming changed his name to Qiu Yun, and he was later arranged to be reformed in Xinjiang. By the time Qiu Daming finally returned from Xinjiang in 1976, his second wife had already remarried, and his children were also very strange to this father and were unwilling to deal with him.
Qiu Daming felt that it was not interesting to "rely" in his children's home, so he returned to Chongqing alone, built a shack, and made a living by picking up garbage, in addition, the regular subsidies paid by the state became an important source of livelihood.
Bleak and happy old age
Coincidentally, Li Defang's experience in his later years was very similar to that of Qiu Daming. In 1955, after waiting for her husband for 18 years without hearing from her, Li Defang formed a family with another person under the persuasion of others, and the two also adopted a pair of children to accompany them, and their lives were busy and fulfilling.
Later, when her second husband died, Li Defang lived in her son's house, but the old family and young people lived together, and they could not avoid nagging. Over time, her son and daughter-in-law's family had great opinions about her, and Li Defang couldn't stand it, so she could only run away in anger.
However, how can she make a living at an advanced age, Li Defang can only buy something and eat with the remaining money during the day, and then hide in a windless place at night for a night.
Later, Li Defang met a kind person who not only took her to her home, but also cooked for her. Li Defang saw that his goddaughter's family was not rich, so he didn't want to drag down his goddaughter, so he proposed to continue outside the water.
However, although this is a goddaughter, she is very filial and does not want the old man to endure freezing and starvation. Therefore, the goddaughter offered to find her a marriage and find an old man to live with. Li Defang agreed.
When the matchmaker found Qiu Yun (that is, Qiu Daming), Qiu Yun also knew that his life was tight, so he was unwilling to let an old man live a hard life with him, but this matchmaker was not someone else, but a goddaughter he once recognized, so he had to agree to see him first.
This scene is like 60 years ago, except that the two people sitting facing each other have long lost their youth, and the traces of time do not make them recognize each other.
When Li Defang (that is, Liu Zehua) saw Qiu Yun, he felt that although the old man in front of him was old, he was in good spirits, his figure was straight, and he had the demeanor of Qiu Daming back then. However, this idea only flashed for a moment, her husband had already died on the battlefield, where he might still be alive.
Qiu Yun's impression of Li Defang is relatively good, but he is still worried about economic problems, so he directly spread out and said that he was financially strapped and he was afraid that he would suffer a lot of crimes if he followed him.
For Qiu Yun's statement, Li Defang felt that this old man was humble and quite interesting. Later, although the two did not confirm the relationship on the spot, they left a good impression on each other.
Li Defang always came to Qiu Yun from time to time to clean him and clean up the house, and Qiu Yun would always make a table of good dishes to entertain Li Defang. The goddaughters of both sides saw that the relationship between the two elderly families was getting closer and closer, so they proposed to get married quickly.
More than a month later, the two old men simply held a wedding and invited a neighbor friend to have a meal, which can be regarded as completing the form of marriage.
On the wedding night, the two old men sat on the bed and talked about homely things, from the current encounter to the young age. Originally, the two old men talked and laughed, and the chat was quite lively. However, as Li Defang said: "When I was young, I was not called Liu Zehua, but Li Defang, and my family lived in Taheba Stove Village. ”
Qiu Yun was stunned all of a sudden, originally he thought that Li Defang was likely to have the same name and surname as his first wife, but when she said Taheba Furnace Village, he immediately confirmed that the person in front of him was his first wife 60 years ago. He couldn't hold back the joy in his heart, and old tears ran rampant.
"Li Defang, you are really Li Defang, do you know who I am, I am your husband, Qiu Daming"
Li Defang, who was still talking and laughing, couldn't believe it when he heard the name "Qiu Daming", Qiu Daming, this name he hadn't heard for half his life. She never imagined that her husband more than 60 years ago was still alive, let alone that the two were now together again.
The two were speechless and choked, holding their heads and crying, and their vague expression could not hear what they were saying, but although they could not hear clearly, they knew that it was longing.
You say that fate has love, he let the two be separated for 60 years, you say fate is ruthless, and he let people who have been separated for half their lives reunite in their old age, making up for many years of regret.
Happy ending
After the two met again, Qiu Daming sighed infinitely, not only feeling guilty for his wife for waiting for him for 18 years, but also regretting that he had not continued to look for him. He promised Li Defang that he would take good care of her in the future.
From 1997, when the two met again, to 2005, when Li Defang suffered from a serious illness, Qiu Daming always accompanied Li Defang and never left a step.
After Li Defang fell ill, Qiu Daming ran around for her illness, saving food and money, and spending all his savings. Qiu Daming was bent on pulling Li Defang from the hands of death, but after four years of struggle, Li Defang finally died tragically.
In the past four years, Li Defang saw the old man running back and forth for his illness, and it was also painful in his heart, and when he was dying, he specially instructed his goddaughter that after his death, he must help take care of the old man.
It's just that what she didn't expect was that at this age, Qiu Daming had nothing to worry about except her. Now after Li Defang's death, Qiu Daming has lost the meaning of living.
In the days after Li Defang's death, Qiu Daming squatted under the shed with a cigarette in his mouth all day, and the smell of smoke made him cough, but he still couldn't stop, sometimes squatting for a day, not even eating.
More than 20 days later, Qiu Daming also left, walking very calmly and peacefully. This legendary love story has come to an end.