Chapter 59
The snowstorm was raging, and the only sounds I could hear on the white mountain were the falling snow and my own gentle breathing.
An unknown amount of time had passed, but the Third Battalion Commander, who was standing still and feeling like he was about to be frozen, suddenly saw Chen Shengqing in front of him move.
Braving the wind and snow, he ran along the narrow mountain path ahead, like a cheetah, quickly turning left to a hidden rock. Not long after, a scream came from behind the rock, and at the same time, gunshots rang out, echoing far in the valley, causing the accumulated snow to slide down.
The third battalion commander was stunned for a moment, then he was the first to charge forward with his gun raised.
As soon as they turned the narrow corner, they saw more than 20 fully armed men suddenly emerging from an inconspicuous snowdrift. Chen Shengqing was fighting with one of them, while the others were holding guns and shooting at Chen Shengqing.
"Fuck! Come on!" The third battalion commander roared, and more than twenty healthy soldiers came running behind him, all drawing their swords to fight against those people.
The mountain road was too narrow, and the wind was blowing constantly beside us. It was difficult to withstand the strong wind just by standing. In this situation, if we fired a gun, the bullet would be affected by the wind speed, which was far less flexible than close combat.
The border guards were well-trained soldiers who had been trained for a long time and had fought in harsh environmental conditions at various places along the border. When they rushed forward, those people gave up shooting and drew their swords to fight with them.
The physical fighting skills of those people were actually comparable to those of the border guards, which showed that they were also well-trained.
Gradually, the border defenders realized that something was wrong. The opponents were obviously better physically than them, and they were taller in stature. Their fighting style showed that they were well-trained Soviet soldiers. Under the group attack of the border defenders, the opponents not only did not lose the upper hand, but even showed signs of counterattack.
The situation became tense. The position where the border guards were located was too narrow to accommodate too many people. Half of the accompanying border guard company could only watch from a distance with their guns raised, looking for a suitable opportunity to kill the enemy.
At this moment, Chen Shengqing suddenly grabbed a man and pulled down his mask, revealing a face with blue eyes and a high nose bridge. At the same time, he pointed the pistol in his hand at the man's head and said, "Xenev, it's you."
The other person was held up by him and pointed at his temple, but she was not flustered. She smiled at him and spoke in not very fluent Chinese: "Chen, long time no see, our Miss Anna, I miss you very much."
Chen Shengqing fell silent.
The three battalion commanders who were fighting stopped their attacks, turned their heads and looked at him and asked, "Deputy Commander Chen, do you know them?"
Chen Shengqing said nothing.
The man named Xenev smiled and said, "Chen, why don't you tell them how you got to know us when you were a spy in Moscow?"
"Shut up!" Chen Shengqing smashed the butt of the gun hard on the man's mouth, and the man's mouth immediately started bleeding.
He said indifferently: "Chen, our Miss Anna has been looking for you for several years. You'd better go back and explain to her, otherwise, your wife and children..."
Before he could finish his words, Chen Shengqing hit him hard on the neck with a gun. His eyes rolled back and he almost fainted.
But as a soldier of the Soviet special forces, he was obviously not someone to be trifled with. He immediately thrust the blade in his hand into Chen Shengqing's heart and said with gritted teeth: "Anyone who betrays Marxism-Leninism must die!"
"Captain!" Blood stained Chen Shengqing's chest red, and the third battalion commander rushed towards him almost risking his life.
......
When Yang Qiujin learned that Chen Shengqing was seriously injured, his life or death was unknown, and he was receiving treatment in the military hospital, her mind went blank and she almost broke the bowl in her hand.
She forced herself to calm down and followed Political Commissar Liao to the intensive care unit of the military hospital, where she saw Chen Shengqing lying on a clean white bed covered in blood. There were several doctors and nurses around him, giving him oxygen and treating his wounds.
Yang Qiujin saw a doctor using scissors to cut open the blood-soaked clothes on his left chest, revealing a deep wound that went deep to the bone. There was an abnormal black bloodstain on the wound, and it was unknown how long he had been bleeding.
Chen Shengqing closed his eyes, his face as white as paper, and allowed the doctors and nurses to insert various instruments into his body without making any movement.
Yang Qiujin had never seen him so weak before. Tears flowed uncontrollably. She walked to his side, held his cold fingers, and cried tremblingly: "Shengqing, how could you suffer like this..."
Political Commissar Liao was beside her and briefly told her about Chen Shengqing's experience. "We suspect that he was an enemy when he was a spy in the Soviet Union. We knew that Tieke Township would suffer snowstorms every year and that he was most likely to be sent to Tieke Township for support. So we used fire and powder in advance to blow up the main road to Tieke Township, causing an avalanche on the road, forcing them to take a detour and encounter an ambush by the Soviet special forces. Those people came to kill Xiao Chen. The knife stabbed him in the heart. Although he dodged quickly and a coin on his chest blocked the fatal blow, he had multiple gunshot wounds and lost too much blood. He was already dying when he was sent to the military hospital. Xiao Yang, you must be mentally prepared."
Yang Qiujin felt as if she had been hit on the head with a stick. She felt dizzy and fell down, almost losing her balance.
Ji Mingchen, who was operating on Chen Shengqing, held her back and said, "Qiu Jin, be careful."
"Ji Mingchen, please, you must save him." Yang Qiujin grabbed Ji Mingchen's arm with tears in her eyes as if she had grabbed a life-saving straw, begging desperately, "Seven years, I have waited for him for seven years, and he finally came back and brought me to follow the army. We have lived a peaceful life for less than a year. He can't die in such an unclear way and let me bear everything alone again."
Ji Mingchen had never seen her cry so sadly before. He felt sad and heartbroken. He promised her, "Don't worry. As long as he is still alive, I will definitely save him from death. Now, go wait outside the ward. We are going to perform surgery on him."
Yang Qiujin was persuaded by Political Commissar Liao, Guo Shengrong and others to walk out of the ward, and stood in the corridor outside the intensive care unit next to the ward for more than ten hours.
During this period, Chen Tianyou heard that his father was dying, and was hurriedly taken to the hospital by Zhao Erfeng.
Seeing Yang Qiujin standing outside the operating room with a numb expression, Chen Tianyou fearfully grabbed her hand and asked, "Mom, is Dad seriously injured?"
Yang Qiujin looked down at him, tears welling up in her dry eyes again.
She squatted down, held Chen Tianyou in her arms, and said with sobs, "It's serious, very serious."
Chen Tianyou couldn't tell what he felt in his heart, but he knew that his mother's tears made him sad. He stretched out his little hand, gently patted Yang Qiujin's back and said, "Mom, Dad will be fine. He loves you the most. He will not be willing to leave us."
Yang Qiujin was deeply moved by his sensible words and actions. She held back her tears, sniffed, and calmed down while holding Chen Tianyou's hand.
She couldn't just cry and grieve at this moment. Chen Shengqing was only seriously injured, and the doctors and nurses were doing their best to treat him. Even if he couldn't be saved, she still had children and two elderly people at home to support. She had to be strong and handle everything so that Chen Shengqing wouldn't have to worry about anything.
She believed that he would be blessed.
A night passed, and at dawn, the door of the operating room was opened.
Ji Mingchen and other medical staff walked out of the operating room with tired faces.
Yang Qiujin hurried over and asked, "Doctor Ji, how was the operation?"
Ji Mingchen felt bad when he heard her distantly calling him "Ji Junyi". "The operation was successful, but he lost too much blood and suffered a severe head injury. He is likely to be unconscious. You must be prepared to take care of him all the time."
"What do you mean?" Political Commissar Liao asked with a frown.
Ji Mingchen pointed to his head and said, "Before performing surgery on Deputy Commander Chen, we performed a full-body examination on him and found that the enemy had injected some unknown drug into the back of his head when he was fighting with the enemy. This drug is not fatal, but it may contain unknown bacterial toxins. I have tried my best to clean it up, but it will take a lot of time to test what drug he was injected with and remove the corresponding drug."
When these words came out, all the officers and soldiers in the corridor took a deep breath.
Yang Qiujin felt dizzy again and couldn't help asking, "What did he do in the Soviet Union to make those Soviet enemies kill him like this?"
Everyone outside was silent for a moment. Guo Shengrong saw that there was no outsider and said softly, "Back then, he ignored all advice and insisted on shooting a Soviet fugitive who killed a border guard. In order to protect his military career, I gave him special training and sent him to the Soviet Union as a spy.
He accidentally saved a Soviet girl named Anna and discovered that her father was a famous Soviet gun expert. In order to obtain the most advanced Soviet gun weapon information, he pretended to fall in love with Anna and successfully gained the trust of her father. He got the blueprints and returned to my country to hand them over to relevant departments for research.
Anna and her father were furious at his betrayal and disappearance. They sent people to our country several times to look for him, but they were intercepted by our border guards. This time, for some reason, they knew Xiao Chen's identity accurately and ambushed him in Tieke Township."
Seeing Yang Qiujin's unhappy face, Political Commissar Liao immediately explained, "Xiao Yang, don't be angry. Xiao Chen did all those things to obtain information. His heart is with you. If it weren't for the information he brought back, our country's firearms would still lag behind the Soviet Union by more than ten years."
"I understand Political Commissar Liao. I am not angry and I will not blame him." Yang Qiujin was unexpectedly calm after learning the whole story.
She leaned against the wall of the corridor and said tiredly, "The most important thing now is to find out what kind of drug he was injected with, and give him the right medicine to wake him up as soon as possible. Before that, I will take good care of him."
The news that Chen Shengqing was seriously injured and unconscious quickly spread throughout the entire border defense force. There was an endless stream of people coming to visit Chen Shengqing, and they all lamented how such a good person could have suffered such a thing.
After Yang Qiujin entertained the guests one by one, she had to look after both Chen Shengqing and Chen Tianyou. She was exhausted from running around. Finally, she decided to send a telegram back home, telling her mother-in-law Li Xiu'e that Chen Shengqing was injured and unconscious, and asking her to come to the border to help take care of Chen Tianyou.
After receiving the telegram, Li Xiu'e felt as if the sky was falling. She immediately packed up the things in her house, sold what needed to be sold, gave away what needed to be given away, and took away what needed to be taken away, and then she headed for the border.
When Yang Qiujin's mother Wu Shulian heard the news, she rushed to her home and burst into tears as soon as she saw her: "My dear mother-in-law, how could our Qiujin have such a miserable life? Shengqing finally came back, and I took her to the army and spent a year with her. How could she have encountered such a thing?"
Li Xiu'e was also upset, but she pretended to be relaxed and said, "Qiu Jin said that Shengqing's operation was very successful, but he was unconscious for some reason. He is still alive and well, and he didn't die. This is already God's mercy, and he is looking after our family. Don't worry, when I go to the army, I will let Qiu Jin write to you frequently to tell you about our recent situation, so don't worry."
After being comforted by her, Wu Shulian felt that life was more important than anything else, so she immediately gave Li Xiu'e a lot of local specialties, some pickled cabbage dumplings, and her own hidden pocket money.
Li Xiu'e accepted everything except the money. She patted Wu Shulian's hand and said, "I know you mean well, but I don't need money. Qiu Jin also said that Shengqing's current medical expenses are all borne by the state. We don't need much money. Mother-in-law, keep your money for yourself."
Wu Shulian couldn't persuade her and had to give up.
To Li Xiu'e's surprise, when she was about to leave, her stepson, who had always been hostile to her, actually took out fifty yuan and handed it to her, saying, "Before my third brother left, he gave me my father's savings certificate, asking me to take good care of you for the sake of the money. I didn't touch a penny of the money on the savings certificate. Take it and use it for my third brother's medical treatment."
Li Xiu'e was holding the five big reunion cards, feeling very upset. After a while, she said, "Shenggui, thank you. In fact, for so many years, I have always loved you like my own son. I just don't know why you can't get close to me."
"It's my problem." Chen Shenggui said with his eyes lowered, "I have never been able to accept my father remarrying. I put my hatred for my father on you, causing you to suffer for so many years. Mom, I'm sorry, please forgive me."
The cry of "Mom" made Li Xiu'e burst into tears. She patted his shoulder gently and waved to him, "I forgive you. Shenggui, go back and live a good life with the second son's wife. When Shengqing wakes up, you can come to the border to visit us when you have time."
"Okay, have a nice trip."
Li Xiu'e arrived at the border defense force five days later. Yang Qiujin and Chen Tianyou were waiting for her at the gate. When they saw her, the two women talked for a few words and then couldn't help hugging each other and crying.
Chen Tianyou patted their backs like a little adult and said, "Grandma, Mom, don't cry. It won't look good if you cry. Dad is still waiting for you."
"Yes, Tianyou is right. It's useless for us to cry here." Yang Qiujin wiped her tears and helped Li Xiu'e carry the large and small packages. "Mom, why did you bring so many things here?"
"They are all some bacon and salted vegetables, as well as dried chili peppers from our own home, wild peppercorns, and some things your mother brought for you." Li Xiu'e, wearing a rustic jacket and a sling on her back, followed her into the army, looking around as she walked, "Aren't we going to the hospital first?"
"The hospital is inside the military base, Mom, put your things away first. Shengqing is just unconscious now, but everything else about his body is normal. There are nurses in the hospital helping to take care of him, so he won't have any serious problems." Yang Qiujin said as she walked in front.
Li Xiu'e had absolute trust in her daughter-in-law Yang Qiujin. After hearing what she said, she felt that there was no big problem with Chen Shengqing. She heaved a sigh of relief and followed Yang Qiujin to the house where they lived.
Chen Shengqing is now at the rank of deputy regiment commander. According to military regulations, they can move to a bigger house. However, Chen Shengqing was suddenly injured and fell into a coma. Yang Qiujin does not have the time or energy to move to a bigger house. They still live in the original house, and Li Xiu'e temporarily lives in the same house with Chen Tianyou.
Chen Tianyou was so happy that his favorite grandma lived in the same house with him. He no longer had to worry about ghosts or monsters eating him at night. He excitedly pulled Liu Xiu'e and chattered non-stop.
Li Xiu'e had been traveling for several days and was very tired. Yang Qiujin boiled a pot of hot water for her so that she could take a good bath. She then cooked a meal. After the three of them had their meal, Yang Qiujin took Li Xiu'e to the military hospital.
In a solitary ward, Li Xiu'e saw her son with all kinds of instruments and tubes inserted into his body. He had his eyes closed and wore an oxygen mask below his nose. He was much thinner than he was a year ago. There was also a strange machine next to him that kept beeping.
Yang Qiujin explained to her that the machine was monitoring Chen Shengqing's heart functions. The beeping sound meant that his heart functions were fine. If the sound became rapid or there was no beeping sound, it meant that Chen Shengqing was in poor condition.
Li Xiu'e suddenly realized what was going on. Looking at her unconscious son, she couldn't help but hold his hand and shed tears of heartache.
Yang Qiujin took Chen Tianyou out of the ward, leaving the mother and son alone together. It was not until it was getting dark that she went to call Li Xiu'e to go home.
When they learned that Chen Shengqing's mother had come to the army, officers of all ranks in the border defense department expressed their condolences to Li Xiu'e.
Guo Shengrong also told Li Xiu'e that they had already found the best doctors in the capital to prescribe medicine for Chen Shengqing's treatment, and they were also hunting down the enemy soldiers who attacked Chen Shengqing at the time.
Unfortunately, after seriously injuring Chen Shengqing, they all jumped down from the Jianshan Mountain Range. They all had small parachutes on their backs. By the time the third battalion commander of the border defense department led his men to chase them down the mountain, they had long disappeared.
Guo Shengrong blamed himself and said, "Sister Li, it was because our border defense department did not do its job well that the enemy elements were able to infiltrate our country and cause such great harm to Deputy Head Chen. We failed to protect your child. We are really sorry."
After listening to this, Li Xiu'e was very calm and not emotional. She said, "Since my son joined the army, I have been prepared for him to sacrifice for the motherland. Now that he is alive and well in the hospital, it is already very good for me. I don't blame you. I believe that the party and the organization will definitely seek justice for him."
Suffering comes inexplicably, but life must go on.
When Li Xiu'e came, Yang Qiujin felt much more relaxed. She handed over the tasks of picking up and dropping off Chen Tianyou and taking care of Chen Shengqing during the day to Li Xiu'e. She continued to go to work, and took over Li Xiu'e's shift at night to take care of Chen Shengqing all night long.
In order to prevent Chen Shengqing from developing bedsores and skin deterioration due to lying in bed for a long time, the first thing Yang Qiujin did when she arrived at the hospital after get off work every day was to get hot water for Chen Shengqing to wash his body, help him move the muscles of his hands, feet and legs, and then shave him, cut his hair and trim his nails.
We also regularly feed him nutrient solution and various medicines prepared by doctors. Although he is not swallowing consciously, it is good that he can take in something.
When it was late at night and everyone was asleep, Yang Qiujin would move the radio that Chen Shengqing had assembled for her into the ward and play songs and news for Chen Shengqing. She would also sing and recite poems, and occasionally read the latest essays to him to stimulate his hearing and help him wake up earlier.
In the spring, she often picked some fresh wild flowers on the roadside on her way home from get off work and put them in vases. Sometimes she would go to the homes of ethnic minorities who liked to grow flowers and buy some beautiful flower pots to put in the ward. By autumn, the windowsill of the ward was filled with various pots of withered flowers she bought.
Her unswerving care for Chen Shengqing moved the entire border defense department. When the Ava newspaper learned of her touching story, they wanted to interview her, but she declined.
The Soviet enemy that seriously injured Chen Shengqing was unknown. The officers of the border defense department also advised her not to go out to work at the farm, so as to avoid being caught and persecuted by Soviet enemy agents. She could not give up her work at the farm, and ran back and forth between the farm and the hospital regardless of wind or rain. She persisted in this way for more than a year. How could she take the initiative to publish an advertisement in the newspaper and expose herself to death?
Her sister Yang Qiuyue watched her busying around, she was so tired that she was at least a lot thinner than before, the flesh on her cheeks was gone, her eyes looked particularly big, and her face was often full of fatigue. She said with great concern: "Sister, why don't you not come to the farm? I'll do your job for you, and you just stay in the hospital and take good care of your brother-in-law."
"No need." Yang Qiujin shook her head and said, "If I leave all my work to you, others will not know how to frame me. Your brother-in-law has been much better recently. Sometimes when I sing and recite poems to him, his eyelids will move. The doctor from the capital said that his condition is getting better and better. They have also developed the latest medicine for him. I believe that your brother-in-law will wake up soon."
Chen Shengqing has been lying in bed for almost a year and a half. Can he really wake up?
Yang Qiuyue was very suspicious and could not help but comfort her, saying, "Sister, it is a great honor for your brother-in-law to meet you. He will definitely wake up for you and Tianyou."
Is Chen Shengqing lucky? Maybe. At least he has his children and his mother-in-law by his side, and they all believe that he can wake up.
But when will he wake up? Yang Qiujin felt that she could no longer hold on.
After sending her sister away, Yang Qiujin touched the back of Chen Shengqing's thin hand and couldn't help crying softly: "Shengqing, please wake up. You have been sleeping for a long, long time. I have to take care of you, the children, support my mother-in-law, and go to work to earn money. I am really tired."
The hot tears dripped onto the back of Chen Shengqing's cool hand. Where Yang Qiujin couldn't see, Chen Shengqing's eyelids moved again.
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