Chapter 184

After the two ministers and the leader greeted each other, everyone was taken to the guesthouse and told to let Xia Juhua and the other two have a good rest and wait for other invited representatives. After everyone arrived, they would discuss the reporting process.

After the leader left, Xia Juhua grabbed reporter Zhang who was leaving with her and opened her large bag to reveal all kinds of food inside: "Reporter Zhang, do you know where the children from Ping An Village are? I think it's quite hot here. Can you take some food to them for me? If they are left out for a few days, they might go bad."

Reporter Zhang hesitated for a moment, took the bundle, and said with a stiff smile, "Okay, I'll deliver it to the soldiers in Ping An Village right away."

Xia Juhua didn't seem to notice anything wrong with his expression. She smiled and nodded at him, saying something like "please" until he left. Minister Lin sat down on the chair next to her, thought for a moment and said, "Since we're here, we'll definitely be able to see the children. Don't worry."

How could I not be anxious? Xia Juhua was as upset as if she were being fried in oil, but she didn't show it at all and continued to nod to Minister Lin's kindness. The acting minister saw that she looked really bad, so he advised her to take a rest first and took Minister Lin out together.

Xia Juhua didn't know how she got through the night. She just felt that she opened her eyes before dawn, then opened them again before dawn, and then opened them again... When the light by the window finally turned white, her eyes were so sore that she wanted to keep them closed for a long time and never open them again.

He still had to look, and look very wide, and have breakfast with the army chiefs as if nothing had happened. Then he was taken to the military camp where the Ping'an Village soldiers were located in a car.

As the assembly whistle sounded, the team of more than a hundred people stood in neat and orderly rows. Xia Juhua, who was standing aside, tried hard to count the shadows of the Ping'an Village warriors among these almost identical figures.

One, two, three, four... There was no □□ and no Liu Zhiliang. Among the eight Ping An Village fighters recognized in total, there was no trace of these two.

Her heart was clenched into a ball, as if someone had stabbed a knife in the cracks. Xia Juhua felt that her heart was broken into countless petals: Pingan Village had sent off a total of 21 soldiers that year, and two retired last year, so there should be 19 more. They all served in the same place, and if they had to go to the battlefield, they should go together.

But just now she only saw eight, eight, eleven short of nineteen!

"Comrades, you have worked hard." The commander looked at the young faces and said with a hint of excitement: "You have defended the position well and protected our land. The motherland and the people are grateful to you!"

"Serve the people!" He was answered by a sound like the collision of steel.

"The motherland and the people have not forgotten you either. They will come from all directions to visit you and tell you about the changes in your hometown and how your loved ones miss you. Comrades, it is because of your perseverance that your loved ones have a good life. Your blood has not been shed in vain, and your sacrifice has not been in vain!"

"Soldiers from Ping'an Village, Pingde County, Chengping District, step out!" the leader gave the order sternly.

The Ping An Village warriors who had already recognized Xia Juhua, some with red eyes, ran out of the line one after another and stood in a new line. Xia Juhua counted them one by one, a total of eleven, and it turned out that she didn't recognize three of them just now.

Among these eleven young and upright figures, none of them is □□, and none of them is Liu Hongliang.

Trembling, Xia Juhua walked step by step to the front of the line of students and touched the heads, faces and bodies of the children one by one. Fortunately, their faces and hands were warm. These eleven children from Ping'an Village were in good health.

Wherever Xia Juhua's hand passed, the soldiers finally shed tears. The shells, hunger, and flying flesh and blood on the battlefield did not make them shed tears, but the rural woman who sent them to the army and stroked their cheeks with her rough big hands made their tears flow like beads from a broken string, unable to be stopped.

"Auntie."

"aunt."

"Captain."

The soldiers called out to them using the names they used at home. Xia Juhua wiped her tears and answered them in a low voice, "Did reporter Zhang bring the food that Auntie brought for you yesterday? Did you eat it all? Is it salty? Can you drink it with some water?"

The warriors nodded again and again, tears splashing everywhere with their movements.

The commander turned his head away silently, forgetting the words he had once taught the young soldiers: revolutionary soldiers shed blood and sweat, but not tears.

The corners of his eyes were equally wet.

Reporter Zhang kept capturing each frame in his camera, hoping that he had brought more film.

Because the soldiers from Ping An Village had stepped out, there were some empty ranks. The soldiers stared at this scene intently, and someone shouted, "Salute!"

They all raised their arms in unison, saluting Xia Juhua and the others.

Xia Juhua was stunned for a moment, put down her hand that was stroking the warrior, and took two steps back. The warriors of Ping'an Village also saluted her. She bent down deeply and bowed to the warriors.

"Captain Xia, you can't do that. You can't do that." The commander didn't expect Xia Juhua to bow to the soldiers, and hurried forward to help her up.

Xia Juhua wiped away her tears, smiled at the commander, and said to the soldiers: "This bow is not only for me to salute you, but also for all the people in Ping'an Village, Ping'an Village, and Ping'an Village. You deserve it. You have guarded the country's borders and have not brought shame to Ping'an Village or Ping'an Village. You are all great!"

After saying this, she couldn't help but lower her head and wipe away the tears that were overflowing again.

The leader asked the other warriors to disperse, and the warriors from Ping'an Village went to the meeting room with Xia Juhua and the others to talk about family matters. Xia Juhua did not ask the children who had just come off the battlefield about what they had done in the battle with the enemy, but only told them about the recent situation of each family.

The soldiers just listened at first, and then gradually asked about their concerns. Xia Juhua was able to answer them one by one, and also explained the preferential policies of the brigade for military families again: "Don't worry about your families. Even if the land is divided, our brigade has a factory. Every year, your mother's subsidy will be issued. Every family has someone working in the factory, and there is no shortage of cash."

"You don't have to send your own allowances home, just use and eat what you need." Xia Juhua looked at the children with distress, their skin color had become more than one degree darker than before she left. Some of them had obvious scratches on their faces from the artillery fire, and she couldn't stop crying.

The soldiers nodded one after another, looking at Xia Juhua without blinking. Xia Juhua felt sad and comforted them in a low voice: "It's good to come down. You can go back to the northwest after a few days of rest. Maybe you can all take a vacation and go home to visit. Auntie will make dumplings for you at home."

The soldiers nodded one after another, still reluctant to blink, and Xia Juhua continued: "Our lives are really good now. I didn't lie to you just now."

"Well, we know that life at home has improved." Li Zaili, who also came from the Ping'anzhuang production team, forced a smile and said to Xia Juhua: "In recent years, the things that Auntie sent us have become more and more, and they have become better and better. We know that life at home has improved a lot."

Xia Juhua also forced a smile: "Your family has built a new house, it's at the west end of the village, behind the Zhijun family's house, it's all brick and tile, your mother left the west wing for you, she said you can mark out the land for the house after you return home, but she won't listen."

When she mentioned □□'s name, Li Zaili's face darkened: "Auntie, didn't you go to the hospital to see the volunteers?"

In the hospital. Xia Juhua's heart was confused for a moment, and she didn't know whether to cry or laugh - the fact that someone was in the hospital meant that they were still alive, so she should laugh; but a healthy person who was admitted to the hospital would have injuries on his body, so she should cry.

Compared with the worst possible outcome, Xia Juhua felt that laughing was better than crying, so she actually laughed: "You are the most numerous, so of course I will come to see you first."

The soldiers all lowered their heads at once. Xia Juhua asked anxiously, "Zhijun, are you seriously injured? And Zhiliang, is he also in the hospital?"

"Zhiliang hasn't come down yet." Li Zaili shook his head: "He is the leader's communicator and has to come down with the leader." As for Zhijun, let the aunt see it herself.

Her tense heart suddenly relaxed, and Xia Juhua almost collapsed on the chair, but she was still holding on and questioned the other soldiers who were not present one by one.

There are five who have not come down yet. There are two who are being treated in the hospital like □□. There are 19 Pinganzhuang fighters. None of them are in danger of death. That's not entirely true. The five who have not come down yet...

Xia Juhua no longer thought about the five children. She only wanted to see the three Pinganzhuang children lying in the hospital beds. She stood up and said to the soldiers, "I am so happy to see you are doing well. But Zhijun and the others are still in the hospital. I have to go see them too."

The soldiers nodded sensibly, their eyes still fixed on Xia Juhua, so she had no choice but to say, "I will give you a report in two days. I will talk to you then."

"Auntie." Li Zaili called out.

Xia Juhua smiled back: "What's the matter?"

"I didn't eat enough bacon pie."

"Okay, I'll borrow a stove from your troops tonight and make it for you."

"Auntie, you must keep your word." All the soldiers asked together.

Xia Juhua smiled and nodded at them: "Little bastards, when has Auntie ever broken her word? Even your parents dare not distrust Auntie."

"We all believe in you, Auntie!"