It was in a brutal battle, and the young and heroic regiment commander Shi Wenshan sacrificed his life for the country and died heroically. When the bad news came, his elderly mother was so grief-stricken that she thought about her son for 17 years. The years passed inexorably, and when a mysterious letter came to the door, the old man's eyes flashed with hope again. What exactly is written in this letter? Where did it come from? How will the contents of the letter change the fate of this poor mother? All the mysteries will be slowly revealed in the following stories......
1. The beacon was in flames, and the regimental commander was martyred
It was the final stage of the brutal War of Liberation. With the People's Liberation Army's successive counteroffensives, the Kuomintang reactionaries were driven to a corner of Dongshan Island in Fujian Province and fought alone. In May 1949, the People's Liberation Army launched a general attack on Dongshan Island, and the two sides fought fiercely and filled with gunsmoke.
Shi Wenshan, then 26 years old, was born in a poor peasant family and was devastated by war since childhood. When he was 16 years old, his father died in an air raid, and he gave up the opportunity to study and went out to work in order to support his family. A few years later, when the Kuomintang warlords rampaged the village, he witnessed the brutal persecution of his neighbors, and in anger he joined the Communist Party, vowing to exterminate the reactionaries.
In 1948, Shi Wenshan went to the Northeast Anti-Japanese Federation, and was soon promoted to the head of the regiment because of his outstanding talent and fearless courage. Finally, in the Battle of Dongshan Island in 1949, he was ordered to lead the soldiers to charge forward. In the midst of a fierce battle, a cannonball hit his side, Shi Wenshan was shot in the leg and fainted. When he opened his eyes again, he found that he had been carried on a stretcher by the fighters, bleeding so much that he had lost so much life that he had no life.
Mother Shi Shi was heartbroken when she heard the news, and a few days later, a soldier sent Shi Wenshan's relics and last words: "Mother, I will sleep in this hot land forever, you still need to support this family and live for the future of the country." The mother couldn't cry and built a grave for her son in his hometown.
2. The widow struggled to live and sacrificed
Shi Wenshan's sacrifice brought endless sorrow to this ordinary farmer. Shi's mother was over sixty years old at the time, and she lost her only son, as if she had lost all her support for life. Her husband died many years early, and now she has been hit hard again, and her life has become even more difficult.
Despite the help of the villagers and the preferential treatment of the families of the martyrs by the state, life is still difficult. When her son was on the front line, Shi's mother said to the villagers with tears: "If Wenshan has a case, my old bones will not be able to hold on." Now that the bad news has come true, she has not eaten for several days and is on the verge of collapse.
There was only more than one acre of land and a small tiled house left in the family, and Shi Mu relied on her own hands to cultivate it to maintain the family's food and clothing. However, she was too old to do heavy work, so she could only entrust the dry land to the villagers to cultivate on her behalf, spin and weave at home, and sell it for a meager income. During the harvest season, she tried to help in the fields, but she often couldn't carry it long before she had to go home to rest.
Despite this embarrassment, sacrifice is one of the things she must do every year. Every year on her son's birthday and death anniversary, she would prepare some of her son's favorite dishes, place them neatly in front of the grave, and recite the sacrifice reverently, as if her son was still alive. At the end of the service, she often wept bitterly until she was exhausted. Sometimes he prayed for several days on end, limping with a cane until the last wisp of cigarette smoke was extinguished, and then he returned to the dilapidated house where there was no son.
In that turbulent era, there were too many widowed mothers who had lost their children. But for some reason, Shi Mu became more and more obsessed with this fate. Maybe the son was too filial during his lifetime; Maybe it's because she's old and frail, and it's hard to have any hope of having an heir; Or perhaps, Shi Wenshan was still thinking about his lonely mother at the last moment of sacrifice...... In any case, the sacrifice became the last spiritual sustenance of the unfortunate old woman.
3. A mysterious envelope is revealed in the house
It has been 17 years since Shi Wenshan died. One sunny day, a young man in military uniform came to a remote mountain village, holding an old letter, and asked the villagers about an old man surnamed Shi.
"Granny Shi? Oh, the old lady who lived in that shabby grass hut. A neighbor pointed out, "Her son died on the front line and has never married, and he is living a miserable life." What do you ask her for? ＂
The young man's face was embarrassed: "The stakes are very high, I have to explain it to her personally." With that, he walked towards the old house at the end of the village.
As soon as I entered the house, I saw a gray-haired, hunched old lady stirring a pot of rice, and neat offerings and incense candles were placed next to her. Turning around, the old man looked at the strange soldier in surprise.
"Are you...? ＂
"Granny Shi, I am a soldier of the Thirty-seventh Army and the Fiftieth Army, and I have been ordered to bring you an important letter. The young man respectfully handed over the crumpled letter with both hands, and said after a moment of silence: "This is the last letter left by your son Shi Wenshan, the head of the regiment, before he died in battle, I hope you will open it yourself." ＂
Shi Mu's body trembled suddenly, her hands hung weakly, and her face was full of disbelief. She had seen her son's last letter 17 years ago, and the words were full of enthusiasm and infinite concern for his mother. But at that time, the casualty list had been sent back, and she thought that her son had completely passed away with the rain of bullets. Now that a long-lost letter from home has been delivered to his hand again, how did his son write this note under the fire of the front line?
"Text... Is Wenshan still alive? Shi Mu's voice had begun to tremble, and her eyes couldn't stop staring at the letter, and there seemed to be a glimmer of hope in her heart.
"The letter was undoubtedly written by the head of the regiment. The young man replied solemnly, "I don't know the rest of the details. Open the letter and read it now, and you may have the answer. ＂
4. A new identity unravels the mystery
Shi Mu trembled and opened the envelope, only to see the familiar handwriting:
"Mother, it's me, Wenshan. You may have thought that I had died, and your heart must be filled with great sorrow. In the fierce battle that day, I was unfortunately shot and lost consciousness. When he woke up again, he had been carried away from the front line by the fighters and sent to a military hospital for treatment ... ＂
It turned out that Shi Wenshan was seriously injured by a bullet in the Battle of Dongshan Island in May 1949, but he did not die. He was found by the soldiers in time, rescued, and survived. However, at that time, the situation was urgent, and the war was stalemate, and the military regretted that it was not possible to send the news of his serious illness back to his hometown.
＂... It took me months in the hospital to survive. After the victory in the war, I have been trying to find you, but to no avail. I don't want you to live in the shadow of pain forever... ＂
The letters tell what happened to Shi Wenshan after his death. After recovering from his serious injuries, he wanted to return to his hometown immediately to comfort his grieving mother. However, due to the turbulent times, there is no information about the hometown, and the whereabouts of the mother who has no children and no daughters are even more helpless. He had no choice but to stay in the army and slowly look for clues by inquiring about the news.
＂... After a long time, I finally joined the army and officially enlisted, and I take this opportunity to find out your whereabouts. Over the years, he has traveled all over the country and has been promoted to general step by step... ＂
Sure enough, in the era of great turmoil, the population information was chaotic and disorderly, and Shi Wenshan's efforts were again and again in vain. He had to find his mother hard in his military career, and soon because of his outstanding military achievements, he made many meritorious deeds, and was promoted all the way to the post of general.
＂... Mother, I haven't seen you for many years, are you healthy now? I've been looking for you, and now I've finally got a message from you where you're going. Soon I will return to my hometown and see you again... ＂
5. The reunion of mother and son should not talk about the painful past
Every word in the letter seemed to be a cool spring breeze, waking up Shi Mu's long-lost hope. She was so excited that she couldn't help stroking the family letter with the New Year's veil, and tears came out of her eyes. At this moment, she finally knew with certainty that her son had not really passed away back then, but had been searching for her whereabouts for a long time.
"Wen Shanhe... He's alive! Alive! Shi Mu muttered to herself, and suddenly remembered something and hurriedly asked the soldier who delivered the letter: "Then where is my son now?" When will I be able to come back? ＂
"The head of the regiment has been ordered to return to his hometown, and he will be able to reunite with you soon. The soldier replied respectfully, "He has been looking for you, and now he has finally achieved satisfactory results." ＂
After hearing this, Shi Mu's heart was ecstatic, and she couldn't help but cry with relief. Although her son's departure brought her great pain for 17 years, now everything will usher in a new beginning. She vowed to welcome her son's return with the greatest enthusiasm to make up for the regret and separation of this long time.
Sure enough, just a few days later, one early morning, a military vehicle drove at the entrance of the village, and an old man in military uniform slowly walked down from the car.
"Wenshan! The old man recognized at a glance the face that was still familiar under the military uniform, and it was her son Shi Wenshan. And Shi Wenshan immediately trotted towards the dilapidated thatched hut, his eyes moist.
"Mother! ＂
"My son, you are back at last! ＂
A hug instantly dissolved the barrier of time and space, and hugged the mother and son tightly from life and death. The two had nothing to say, just wept bitterly and couldn't help themselves for a long time. When others saw it, they also burst into tears.
After that, Shi Wenshan, as a high-ranking official of the general, resettled his mother and took her away from his barren hometown to live a carefree old age. The mother and son are never separated, and having each other is a family joy. It's just that the scars and tribulations of those 17 years have turned into an insurmountable chasm, sealing the beauty of their beginnings forever in the picture scroll of the past.