Whenever you come to the bottom of the Monument to the People's Heroes, it is always difficult to hide your excitement, look up, as if the heroic figures are standing in front of you.
They threw their heads and spilled their blood, and exchanged their young lives for our now happy and peaceful life.
Dong Cunrui is one of these thousands of heroes, and when he mentions this name, his thoughts will fly to that war-torn era.
The bold words of "for the sake of new China, advance" still seem to resound throughout the world, and Dong Cunrui has raised the hope of new China with his flesh and blood, and he is a well-deserved hero.
However, it is such a hero, leaving behind a pair of sad parents, and a daughter-in-law who has not seen each other several times, how will the grief of the loss of a child in old age and the loss of a husband in youth bring to the life of this family?
Time flies, time changes, let's open this dusty past together.
Say goodbye to your wife and go into battle
Dong Cunrui was born in an ordinary poor peasant family in Hebei Province, and the exploitation of landlords and the oppression of reactionaries made Dong Cunrui jealous from a young age, hating the old society of that man who cannibalized people.
At the age of ten, he signed up for the children's group, and soon became a famous anti-Japanese hero with his intelligence and tenacity.
Gradually, little Dong Cunrui grew up, and his parents also began to worry about Dong Cunrui's marriage.
In the old Chinese countryside, deeply influenced by traditional feudal thinking, parents held the principle of "no filial piety has three, no descendant is great", hoping that their children would start a family early and continue the incense.
The Dong family's parents are no exception, and the simple peasant consciousness makes Dong Cunrui unable to resist his parents' orders.
Fifteen-year-old Dong Cunrui married his bride this year, and Lu Changling, who was three years older than him in the neighboring village, was virtuous and honored his parents, and there was no one in the ten miles and eight villages who did not praise.
Dong Cunrui's parents are also very satisfied with this marriage, as the saying goes: "The third year holds the golden bricks", everyone believes that this is Dong Cunrui's blessing.
In those days and now, men and women married first and fell in love later, and the same was true of this young couple.
Especially Dong Cunrui didn't feel anything from the beginning, slowly discovered many advantages in this woman, gradually cultivated feelings, and the family's life became hotter and hotter.
In 1945, the War of Resistance Against Japan had entered its final stage, and the arrogance of the Japanese devils to resist was becoming more and more arrogant.
At this time, Dong Cunrui felt more and more that he should contribute to driving away the Japanese, especially when the old director Wang Ping's instructions before his sacrifice were always hung in Dong Cunrui's heart.
Dong Cunrui, who had just been married for a year, told his wife Lu Changling what he had in mind.
Originally, he was mentally prepared to break up and knead his wife and talk about revolutionary reasoning, but he did not expect that Lu Changling had already seen Dong Cunrui's thoughts, and instead did ideological work for Dong Cunrui.
Lu Changling told Dong Cunrui not to worry about himself, go to the front line to fight ghosts with peace of mind, everything in the family, she will definitely take care of it properly, she will take good care of her parents and young siblings, but he must pay attention to safety.
At this time, Dong Cunrui found that his wife's ideological realm was far higher than he thought, and he was glad that he had married the right daughter-in-law.
Then Lu Changling also persuaded his parents with Dong Cunrui, and the next day sent Dong Cunrui to leave home and go to the front line of resistance against Japan, becoming a glorious Eighth Route Army soldier, standing at the entrance of the village and looking at her husband's figure, Lu Changling's heart was full of pride.
For the sake of new China to advance
Soon the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression ended, and Dong Cunrui, who had experienced the baptism of war, was also constantly growing, his body became stronger, his will became firmer, and his thinking also underwent qualitative changes.
He went from simply resisting oppression to being a revolutionary fighter who wanted to work for the happiness of the toiling masses.
In 1946, when the civil war broke out in full swing, the Kuomintang army also began to attack Dong Cunrui's unit, and at this time, Dong Cunrui, who was already the squad leader, was preparing to go with the team, and he did not understand why the Kuomintang reactionaries did not allow the countrymen who were deeply devastated by the war to live a good life?
Dong Cunrui wanted to use the steel gun in his hand to defend this hard-won victory, but he also knew the cruelty of the war he was about to face, and a heart of loving the party and serving the country made him put life and death on the line.
He once said to Lu Changling: "The Kuomintang reactionaries will not let us live a good life, we will fight with them, and if one day I die, you will take another step, you are still young."
Lu Changling didn't wait for Dong Cunrui to finish speaking, so she quickly covered his mouth with her hand, she held Dong Cunrui's hand and said: "Don't talk nonsense, you have to destroy the enemy well in front, I will wait for you at home, and when you come back after the victory, the two of us will serve our father and mother well." ”
Still
After Dong Cunrui set out, Lu Changling took on the burden of the family, collecting crops while spinning thread to make military shoes to support the front line, demonstrating the ideological consciousness that a revolutionary soldier's family should have, and like her husband, she used her actual actions to contribute to the cause of the people's liberation war.
In April of that year, the Kuomintang attacked Dushikou with heavy troops, and Dong Cunrui's unit was stationed here, facing the enemy's crazy attack, the heroic commanders and fighters were not afraid of sacrifice and repelled the enemy's repeated charges.
Dong Cunrui also captured a machine gun in this battle, and the seventeen-year-old Dong Cunrui was also credited with a great achievement.
In the ensuing battle, Dong Cunrui showed his bravery as always.
In the Battle of Chang'anling, he led his sixth squad to defeat the attacks of the Kuomintang army again and again, holding the position with a tenacious will to fight, and the young Dong Cunrui became a veritable combat hero.
During this period, Dong Cunrui made seven military merits and won four medals, which took only two years.
A year later, Dong Cunrui joined the Communist Party of China with his unremitting efforts, and since then he has been more strict with himself, never forgetting that he is a Communist Party member, this year he was only eighteen years old.
In 1948, the 11th Column was ordered to attack Longhua County, and Dong Cunrui's company wanted to take the heavily guarded Longhua Middle School, which at this time had already become a roadblock on our army's way forward, and the dense bunkers spat out murderous tongues of fire, and the PLA would pay a heavy price for every step forward.
At this time, Dong Cunrui, as the leader of the demolition team, stood up again, handed over the allowance he carried with him to the company commander, told the company commander that if he could not return this time, he would pay it to the party fee, and then picked up the explosive bag and flew out of the position, braving the rain of bullets and bullets to rush to the enemy's bunker.
When Dong Cunrui came to the bunker, he found that the bunker was built on top of a dry bridge, and there was nowhere to secure explosive bags under the stone arch, which greatly damaged Dong Cunrui.
The machine guns on the bunker kept strafing outward, our soldiers fell one after another, time was no longer waiting for anyone, and at this moment, Dong Cunrui made an amazing decision.
He resolutely held up the explosive bag with his hand, his eyes looked firmly into the distance, and shouted: "For the new China, go forward!" ”
With a loud "boom", the pillbox was destroyed, and the soldiers also broke through the enemy's blockade and won the Battle of Longhua.
But Dong Cunrui also sacrificed his life at the age of nineteen, he was worthy of the title of a member of the Communist Party, but he could no longer see his family and his lover Lu Changling.
After the battle, the company searched the scene but could not find a trace of the hero.
All the people were grief-stricken, and Dong Cunrui's deeds then spread throughout the entire column and military region.
However, the leaders of the army faced a dilemma, how to tell the family about the hero's sacrifice?
Keeping filial piety for three years does not remarry
The news still came back to Dong Cunrui's hometown, when the Dong family's parents and lover Lu Changling heard the news of Dong Cunrui's sacrifice, everyone couldn't believe that it was true, and the letter from not long ago was still on the table, how could this person say that there was no more?
Dong Cunrui's mother hugged Lu Changling and cried like tears.
Father Huang Quanzhong pretended to be strong to ask Dong Cunrui about the situation at the time of his sacrifice, and when he heard his son pull the explosive bag, the old man could no longer contain his mood, and the old man said to the visitor in tears: "Cunrui, it's good."
Originally, the purpose of raising a child was to prevent aging, but I didn't expect the white-haired person to send the black-haired person, and the mood of the two old men can be imagined.
With the help of the villagers and the local government, they arranged a funeral for Dong Cunrui in accordance with local customs, and Lu Changling never imagined that what her husband said to him back then would now become a reality.
After that, Dong Cunrui's parents did not come out for a long time, and Lu Changling also washed his face with tears all day.
She always felt that Dong Cunrui did not leave, as if it would appear in front of her eyes in the next second, and her biggest regret was that she could not leave a man and a half woman for Dong Cunrui.
In order to alleviate his feelings of missing her husband, Lu Changling worked harder than before, going out to farm during the day, and rushing back at night to cook for the family, washing and shabu, sewing and mending seams.
She held up the sky at home, and whenever she saw this, the hearts of the old couple were not tasteful.
Finally one day her mother Sun Zhen couldn't bear it anymore, she said to Lu Changling: "Child, don't wronged yourself, Cunrui is gone, you don't have children, let's take another step, don't delay yourself."
Hearing this, Lu Changling cried out at once: "Mom, don't say it, I want to accompany you for the rest of my life."
The kind Lu Changling knew what it was like to lose his relatives, and the two old men lost their sons who had been raised for nineteen years, and this feeling was even more painful than his own.
She couldn't bear to choose to leave at this time, and the life together for many years had made Lu Changling regard the second elder as his biological parent from the bottom of his heart.
Since then, Lu Changling has been more filial to the two old men and helped his younger siblings.
She wanted to do her son's duty instead of her husband, so she decided to be secretly strong and work hard silently to change herself from the daughter-in-law of the Dong family to the daughter-in-law of the Dong family, and never mention remarrying from then on.
Three years passed in a blink of an eye, China has always had a tradition of observing filial piety for three years, and seeing that the filial piety period has expired, the old couple started the idea of letting Lu Changling remarry.
In fact, in their hearts, they have long regarded Lu Changling as their own daughter, and after getting along with each other over the years, the old couple is a little reluctant, but they feel that they can't be so selfish.
Looking for an opportunity, Sun Zhen said to Lu Changling again: "It's been three years, you have also done what you should do, you are still young, Dong Cunrui will not agree to you doing this in Tianyouling, do you remember what he asked you back then?" While you can still give birth and raise, quickly find a good family to marry, just as a mother marries a daughter."
But Lu Changling just smiled faintly, and never spoke again, and the old couple had no idea for a while, so they had to give up, thinking about waiting for the right opportunity to talk again.
The general changed fate
In the fifties, Dong Cunrui's deeds had spread throughout the country, and he was also rated as a national combat hero, and on this day, Chen Renlin, the political commissar of Dong Cunrui's former army, specially came to visit the hero's family on behalf of the organization.
As soon as the general entered the door, he gave a standard military salute to Dong Cunrui's parents and wife Lu Changling.
General Chen said that the country will not forget all the contributions Dong Cunrui has made to the people, and then handed over condolence money, and then he and the three people started a family routine and asked for warmth.
General Chen Renlin also came here for another purpose, that is, to solve some practical difficulties of Dong Cunrui's family.
After explaining his intentions, Lu Changling only proposed that he hoped that the organization could help solve his sister's learning difficulties, and said nothing about other things.
As soon as her mother Sun Zhen saw that the opportunity came, she quickly proposed to General Chen to persuade Lu Changling to remarry.
After General Chen listened, he immediately said to Lu Changling in a serious manner: "Comrade Dong Cunrui has sacrificed his life for the country for many years, and what he hopes is that hundreds of millions of toiling people can live a good life, including you, he also hopes that you can live a happy life. ”
The stubborn Lu Changling still did not agree, but the general and the two old men still did not give up.
From then on, every few months, General Chen would come to visit the second elder and continue to do Lu Changling's work by the way, perhaps the general's sincerity moved Lu Changling, and Lu Changling decided to obey Dong Cunrui's wishes and pursue his own happiness.
Soon after, a young man came into Lu Changling's field of vision, he was an ordinary worker in a nearby factory, they were about the same age, the young man was honest and willing to work, the key was to Lu Changling.
General Chen and the two old men were also very satisfied after learning about the young man's background, so it didn't take long for the two to get married.
After marriage, Lu Changling often returned to the Dong family to visit Dong Cunrui's parents and younger siblings, and she really regarded this place as her maiden home from the bottom of her heart.
Seeing that the former daughter-in-law finally found herself and felt happy, the two old men also felt sincerely pleased for Lu Changling.
After a while, Lu Changling became pregnant with a child, perhaps because of the creation of people, and Lu Changling had a difficult birth during childbirth.
At that time, the medical conditions were very poor, and Lu Changling suffered from severe postpartum sequelae after giving birth, and died not long after, leaving behind a child who had just reached the full moon.
When they heard the news of Lu Changling's death, Dong's father and Dong's mother couldn't believe it, they didn't believe that this kind daughter-in-law's life was so bitter, and they could only endure the grief again to hold a funeral for Lu Changling.
This is a regrettable ending, the hero of the motherland has enough reason to be admired by the people, and the hero's wife deserves the best happiness.
But the world is unpredictable, there seems to be a force to fulfill them, maybe because they miss too deeply, maybe they wait too long, and Lu Changling eventually follows Dong Cunrui.
May they find peace in another world and no more suffering.