Text: Li Xiaomei
My name is Li Xiaomei, my father was a soldier, and when I was six years old, my father died in the line of duty, and since then, I have lived with my mother. My mother is working as a director in a military hospital and is busy with work. When I was a child, other children had friends to play with, and I had to follow my mother on duty in the hospital.
Doing my homework and sleeping in the hospital became my childhood memories. Maybe I have been exposed to it since I was a child, but I also have a strong interest in studying medicine. When I grew up, I also decided to follow my mother's path. In 1977, I got an excellent score in the college entrance examination, gave up studying at university, enrolled in a military school, and passed a series of physical examinations and interviews before successfully joining the army.
I know that this opportunity is not easy to come by, so I work harder than others in Xi. The army is a melting pot, much harder than I imagined, and it can also make people grow quickly. When I was a health officer in the army, in addition to taking care of patients, I read books and Xi, hoping to be admitted to the First Military Medical University as soon as possible.
This year, a male soldier surnamed Cao came to our clinic, and he was already a squad leader at that time. He was injured during training and was hospitalized for more than half a month. Squad leader Cao is different from others, although he is lying on the hospital bed, he reads books every day, and occasionally takes a pen to write and draw on the book. I was curious and asked him what he was? He said that a good memory is better than a bad pen, and that when you encounter something that needs to be Xi learned, you should record it in time and have time to think about it again and again.
He doesn't talk much, but he's a good person. Once when I ate an apple, the apple was too big for me to eat, so I gave him half of it, I was kind at the time, but he knew how to be grateful, when his comrades-in-arms came to visit him, he also gave me a whole apple, and in front of his comrades-in-arms, he praised me for being beautiful and kind, and being very good to the sick.
Once, when I was changing his dressing, he was a little embarrassed and asked me if I could do him a favor. But it's not good to refuse directly, so he said: What is the matter first, I'll see if I can help?
He blushed with shame and said, "Can you help me borrow some books, I've finished reading the few books I brought." I see you like to read too......
I thought he needed my help to go to the toilet, or something else that was hard to say. Of course I can help with the little thing of borrowing books, and we have a lot of books in our house that my father used to read. I gave him these books, bought him a small notebook for 2 cents, and bought him a good pen for 5 cents.
He had spent all the allowances at that time and refused to accept the things I bought for him, so I promised him that he would pay me back when he paid the allowances, and he would accept them.
Squad leader Cao has thick eyebrows and big eyes, especially when he focuses on reading, he is very handsome. At that time, many female hygienists in our hospital were talking about him behind his back, and to be honest, I also had some good feelings about him.
When I was chatting with him, I asked him where his hometown was. He didn't say much, only the approximate location, and briefly chatted about his impressions of his hometown.
Not long after he was discharged from the hospital, he came to the hospital to repay the money I had bought him a notebook and a fountain pen, and he also gave me a bag of fruit out of gratitude. My affection for him became stronger, and I knew that he was not a thing in the pool, and he would definitely have his own achievements in the future, so I studied harder to Xi, hoping to be admitted to the Military Medical University and meet him at a high place.
In 1980, when I was admitted to the Military Medical University, I heard that he had been promoted to become a platoon commander, so I specially wrote a letter to him to celebrate his promotion and my dream came true. He wrote back to me, and although he didn't say much, I could feel his blessing and joy for me between the lines.
When I was studying at the Military Medical University, I was busy and busy with my studies. In November, my superiors assigned me and two other female comrades-in-arms to participate in field ambulance training in the western region. Although the field ambulance training is very hard, such an opportunity is also rare, and the three of us are overjoyed.
After the training, I was assigned to a front-line unit. On a mission, I accidentally learned that Platoon Commander Cao's hometown was nearby. Out of curiosity about him, I decided to take the time to visit his family.
On that day, the sun was just right, and I rode my bicycle through a golden wheat field, and after asking several people, I came to Cao Paichang's hometown.
Platoon Leader Cao's parents are in their sixties, and the house in his hometown is an adobe house, and the wooden door at the door looks very old. Platoon Leader Cao's mother warmly invited me to sit at home, but fortunately I had bought something before I came, so Platoon Leader's mother left me to eat, and I should come down.
Not long after I arrived at Platoon Commander Cao's hometown, everyone in the village knew about it, and they gathered around the door to look inside, and there were a few young girls who asked me if I was the target of Platoon Commander Cao? I smiled and explained that I and Platoon Commander Cao were comrades-in-arms, and this time I was passing by to have a look.
Even though I explained it, their expressions were clearly not in disbelief.
Platoon Commander Cao's mother was afraid that I would be shy, so she specially asked me to sit in the hall, and we chatted for a while, mainly about what happened before Platoon Commander Cao became a soldier. Platoon Leader Cao's mother said that Platoon Leader Cao was very sensible when he was a child and always helped the family with farm work. After serving in the army, he also saved money and sent most of his allowances to his family.
When he talked about Platoon Commander Cao, his mother's eyes flashed with tears of pride. At that moment, I suddenly understood what children mean to parents. The fact that a child has a future is probably the most gratifying thing for parents in their lives.
I knocked on the side and asked Platoon Commander Cao about his personal affairs, and Platoon Commander Cao's mother sighed: Hey, this child is very stubborn, he went home to visit relatives when he was the platoon commander, and I asked him to hurry up in his hometown to talk about family affairs. But he didn't say that he was delaying other girls, or he didn't want to get married. No, he's still single.
When she finished speaking, she looked at me, and I blushed with shame. In fact, before I came, I also thought carefully about whether I was a bit in a hurry to do this? After all, Platoon Commander Cao had never confessed to me. But I didn't want to miss him, or rather, I wanted to get closer to him, so I put down the girl's reserve and face and went to his hometown.
Before leaving, Platoon Leader Cao's mother prepared a package for me to bring to Platoon Leader Cao. She held my hand and told me to tell Platoon Commander Cao that they were all right at home and that there was no need to worry about it.
When I was about to leave, Platoon Leader Liu's mother took out a handkerchief embroidered with orchids, and she told me that she had embroidered it herself, hoping that I would not dislike it. I put away my handkerchief, my heart filled with gratitude. I know that this is not just a gift, but also a heavy emotion.
After returning to the unit, I took the time to go to the company and gave things to Platoon Commander Cao. He asked me with concern, how were his parents, and I nodded, telling him everything that had happened when I went back. He couldn't laugh or cry, and the tears he coughed came out.
When we parted, I showed him the handkerchief embroidered by his mother, and I wanted him to understand that I liked him. At that time, Platoon Commander Cao also sensed my intentions, but he just said lightly: Our hometown is too poor, there are no good things to give you, just don't dislike it.
I told him not to play stupid, he should know what I mean. As a girl, I think I've shown it obviously, maybe he knows that he can't avoid this topic, so he slowly said: You are too good, you deserve better, I don't deserve you.
I don't think there is anything that is worthy or unworthy of feelings, only whether they like each other or not. We are both cadres, so we can interact normally. And I'm sure he'll have more to offer in the future.
But since this separation, I have noticed that Squad Leader Cao is deliberately avoiding me. I wrote to him and he didn't reply, I went to him, and he didn't come out to see me.
Half a year later, when I went to look for him again, I learned that he had been promoted again, but he had been transferred to the border area, far from us. I didn't know how to contact him, so I cried a lot about it.
Later, his former comrade-in-arms told me that in fact, he also had a good impression of me, but when I confessed, he had already learned that he was going to be transferred to the border area, and he didn't want us to live apart, and he was reluctant for me to suffer with him on the border side, so he had to refuse me.
At that time, I turned the grief of love into the motivation to study Xi, and all my grades were excellent. After graduating from military school, I became a subordinate to my mother and also lived a busy life of three shifts.
In the blink of an eye, decades have passed, and now I am retired and my children have a family. Looking back when I was younger, I occasionally laughed at myself for being too impulsive. But this is my youth, flamboyant, energetic, and know how to fight for myself. Even if you miss it, you have no regrets.
After all these years, I have never seen Platoon Commander Cao again, and I heard that he changed jobs after working in the border defense for many years, and I think he must have become a family and live an ordinary and happy life.
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