A glorious chapter in history

“No.” This time Ji Yuxing denied it: “He and I came to Shandong because of Mr. Sheng’s arrangement. We went into Huayuelou to gather intelligence.”

"As for romance," Ji Yuxing said, "it might be the unspoken understanding between two people who love each other."

“Loving each other…” He Zhonghua carefully chewed over the words. He had known Zhang Chenglin for so many years, but he had never heard of him having someone he liked.

Ji Yuxing didn't speak again, but just smiled and finally sighed: "For Alin and Fengyue, meeting in Shandong in 1936 was a long-awaited reunion. If Alin were still alive now, I don't know how happy he would be."

After Ji Yuxing and the others left, Fengyue began to prepare for what she had been thinking about, which was also the second thing she had talked about with Ji Yuxing that afternoon—she wanted to turn Huayuelou into a memorial hall for anti-Japanese war heroes.

Ji Yuxing's application for approval was approved a month later, and Fengyue immediately took action upon receiving the news.

Ji Yuxing had his own things to do and couldn't just send people to her, so he could only write a letter to Xin Jie in Shandong, asking him to help Fengyue more in his spare time.

Little did anyone know that Xin Jie would quit his job in Shandong and devote himself entirely to the planning of the memorial hall.

Fengyue used her own savings and some of the savings that Zhang Chenglin had entrusted to her to buy Huayuelou. She also gave the sisters who returned to Huayuelou after the war a settlement allowance to ensure that they would have enough to eat and wear for the rest of their lives, and then dismissed them.

Only then did he finally manage to clear his mind and talk to Xin Jie about the salary issue.

Xin Jie has always been responsive to Feng Yue and Zhang Qizhong's requests, just as he once was to Zhang Chenglin.

But when Xin Jie first heard Feng Yue bring up this issue, he was still taken aback: "No...no need."

Seeing his sudden panic, Feng Yue couldn't help but laugh: "You won't even take my salary? Are you planning to starve in Shandong?"

Xin Jie lowered his eyes and remained silent, not saying a word.

“I’ll pay you the salary Mr. Zhang initially offered you. Don’t even think about giving me more.” Feng Yue smiled gently. “If I give you too little… and Mr. Zhang finds out, he’ll blame me for mistreating you.”

Xin Jie ultimately didn't refuse her. If accepting her money would make her feel more at ease, then he would accept it.

*

Two years later, on October 1, 1947, the first memorial hall for the War of Resistance Against Japan in East China opened in Zaozhuang, Shandong.

On the day of the opening, Vice Chairmen of the Party Dai Zining and Qi Ziyang, Commander-in-Chief Zou Yechun, East China Regional Director Ji Yuxing, and Shandong Regional Director Lu Mingqian were all present, adding to the excitement of this grand event.

After the opening ceremony, Fengyue accompanied these important figures on a tour of the memorial hall, and also served as their guide.

Next to each photo of a hero of the War of Resistance Against Japan in the memorial hall, there is a detailed introduction about them. Some of these introductions were written by high-ranking Party leaders, while others were written by their comrades-in-arms. In short, each one is extremely detailed, as if afraid of omitting a single word of their life story and causing regret to the heroes.

With the utmost respect for these heroes of the War of Resistance, Dai Zining lingered for a long time before the introduction of each hero, reading every word carefully.

When Dai Zining walked up to Zhang Chenglin's photo, she stroked the huge information plaque, something flickering in her eyes.

When Ji Yuxing saw the words on the sign, he immediately turned to look at Feng Yue.

Most of the people who wrote the introductions for these heroes were contacted by Fengyue through him and Xinjie. As for Zhang Chenglin's introduction, Fengyue had also told him that she hoped he would write it, but he declined her invitation. He wrote back to Fengyue at the time, saying, "I don't think I'm more qualified than you to write an introduction about him."

Fengyue never mentioned it again after that, and Ji Yuxing knew that she had taken his words to heart.

But Ji Yuxing didn't know that after Fengyue received his letter, she didn't sleep for several days, going through all that she knew about his life, and found that it wasn't enough.

Therefore, today, under Zhang Chenglin's name, there is no introduction, no elaboration, only one line—

Meeting you, sir, is like arriving in Jiangnan.

Dai Zining gently stroked the line of words for a long time, and said to Fengyue, "This line of words can be a very complete picture of him."

Feng Yue smiled and nodded, without saying anything more.

The first anti-Japanese war memorial hall in East China caused a huge sensation throughout the country. Countless people flocked from all over the country to see the sacrifices made by countless heroes for the country and the people, and to see the efforts and contributions made by the people of East China for today's peace.

This period of history, and the people within it, deserve to be remembered by future generations and to be celebrated for all time.

Later, Dai Zining proposed that she, Feng Yue, and Zou Yechun take the lead in expanding the scale of the East China Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall to include all the heroes and martyrs of the eight-year war and to add more historical facts about the war so that future generations can remember and learn from it.

The only change is that the name of the memorial hall should be changed to the National Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall.

Fengyue had no objection; in fact, she supported it.

Ji Yuxing had no objection; he was ready to sign off on the name change at any time.

However, adding the word "national" to the name involves more approval processes, which cannot be resolved overnight.

*

Winter passed and spring came. Feng Yue, Dai Zining and others worked hard day after day for the Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall. In the blink of an eye, another two years passed, and it was spring of 1949.

That day, Dai Zining, who rarely had a moment of leisure, wanted to rest for a day and stayed at Zhang Chenglin's house, letting Zhang Qizhong play cards with her.

After lunch, she received a letter from Beiping.

The sender of the letter was Gong Jingyi, the current person in charge of Beiping.

However, the letter was written by Cai Zheng'an, the president of Peking University.

The letter, printed on Peking University letterhead with red letterhead, contained several pages of neatly written resignation letter.

Dai Zining read the letter of resignation with a solemn expression, word by word. In her heart, she was extremely unwilling to agree to it.

Cai Zheng'an served as the president of Peking University for many years, working diligently and conscientiously. He was regarded as a mentor by many Peking University students, who pointed out the path of life for many of them and cultivated many pillars of the Party and the country.

But at the end of this resignation letter, Cai Zheng'an wrote these two sentences—

"In my life, I have no regrets towards heaven and earth, North China, Peking University, the Party and the people."

"But I have failed my students; I failed to protect them when war broke out."

Dai Zining didn't see any resolute determination in those two lines, but she could see Cai Zheng'an's guilt. It was that if she had rejected his resignation letter, he could have continued to work diligently in this position for another ten or twenty years.

However, the guilt he felt for the students who sacrificed their lives in the past War of Resistance against Japan would only intensify as he served in office, and would never be eliminated in his lifetime.

This is far too cruel for him.

So after much deliberation, Dai Zining signed the resignation letter and sent it to Shanghai.

Along with Cai Zheng'an's resignation letter, Dai Zining also sent a letter. The letter contained only a few words, simply conveying her thoughts to the Central Committee, hoping that the person making the decision would consider his life's contributions and reflect on the true feelings of humanity.

"Cough cough cough—"

Fengyue returned late at night. Zhang Qizhong, who had to attend class the next day, had already gone to bed. Dai Zining was in her room, organizing the information she had just received about the anti-Japanese war heroes in the southwest region.

Hearing the sound of a door opening and closing outside, accompanied by two faint coughs that Feng Yue deliberately suppressed, Dai Zining put down the documents in her hand, got up and went out.

In the kitchen, a medicinal soup was simmering on the earthen stove. Feng Yue picked up the medicine bowl and poured it out. The pungent bitterness made Dai Zining, who was standing at the door, frown. But Feng Yue held the bowl and drank it all in one gulp as if she couldn't taste the bitterness at all.

The medicine smelled so strong that Fengyue's cough improved a bit, and thankfully she was able to speak fluently for a while.

"Madam, you're still up so late?" Feng Yue looked up and saw Dai Zining standing at the kitchen door, and asked with a smile.

“The Southwest Anti-Japanese War materials arrived in my hands this afternoon,” Dai Zining explained calmly why she hadn’t slept, but her eyes were full of worry for Fengyue: “You should rest for a while and take care of your health before continuing to worry about the memorial hall.”

"It's nothing serious, it's probably just a cold from the temperature dropping these past few days," Feng Yue put down the bowl of medicine in her hand, her smile becoming even gentler: "A few doses of medicine will do the trick."

Dai Zining looked at the determination in her eyes and didn't say anything. Feng Yue was actually very similar to Zhang Chenglin. Once she made up her mind about something, no one could easily change her will.

She wanted to improve the anti-Japanese war memorial hall, so she devoted all her energy to it. Nothing and no one else could hinder her actions and plans, not even when she was sick.

Fengyue's cough had actually started to appear after the New Year. At first, it wasn't too serious. When she went to see a doctor, he just said it was a cold and prescribed some medicine and told her to rest well.

However, after so long, it not only did not get better, but became more and more serious. Fengyue still did not care at all and still devoted all her energy to the Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall.

Since Fengyue and Ji Yuxing first mentioned the Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall in 1945, and Ji Yuxing submitted an approval report and began renovations, four years have passed in the blink of an eye in their efforts to build the national Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall.

For the past four years, she has been working tirelessly day and night to maintain the memorial hall, and her health has been deteriorating.

During those four years, apart from the Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall, she didn't care about anything else. If there was anything that could distract her, it would only be Zhang Qizhong.

That was her lifeline, the very thing she had broken bones and tendons to hold onto, and the only thing she still had left to cling to.

Despite being ill, Feng Yue remained steadfast on the front lines of building the Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall. She personally reviewed all the materials, the list of heroes, and all the historical records, and handled all the major and minor matters of the memorial hall herself.

The final planning for the Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall was completed in mid-September. After inspection and approval by the national party leaders, it was decided whether it met the standards of a national Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall. If so, it could be renamed, officially opened to the public.

The day after the inspectors left, Fengyue fell seriously ill and never recovered. Dai Zining firmly sent her to the hospital, ordered people to keep an eye on her and make sure she didn't overwork herself, and to take good care of her.