Five days later, just after finishing Xiaoyuer and Xiaoxuaner's first birthday celebration, Song Anxin set off.
When the villagers heard that Song Anxin was going to northern Xinjiang, they all came to see her off.
"Aunt Lin, please be careful on your way to the northern frontier."
"Second sister-in-law, please give our regards to Fenghe, and take care on your journey."
"......"
Lin Fengnian and the other children looked reluctant to part with them.
"Mother, don't worry, I'll take good care of things at home. I guarantee things will be just as they are now when I come back," Lin Fengnian said.
"Second Aunt, go and see Fenghe. When you come back, tell me if he's become incredibly brave and invincible," Lin Erxi said.
Lin Fengyao tugged at Song Anxin's sleeve: "Mom, tell Third Brother that I miss him a lot. You must show him the family portrait I drew so he can know what our family is like now."
He also learned about family portraits from his mother. The night before his mother left, he carefully drew everyone in the family on a piece of paper, hoping that his third brother would be happy to see it.
"....……"
Song Anxin waved her hand: "Take good care of yourselves, everyone. Thank you all for coming to see me off. May the plums be plentiful this year... Stay home and wait for me to come back."
The carriage slowly set off and drove out of Linjia Village.
First, they had to gather in Ningdu County. Once they reached the official road, the soldiers' relatives from several nearby counties would gradually be brought together. After being escorted to Liuzhou by the yamen runners, they would be combined with the relatives from all of Liuzhou into a large force. The Liuzhou yamen runners would then escort them to Yunnan Province, and finally, they would travel with the Yunnan Province army that was transporting military supplies.
Although the imperial court granted this special permission to visit relatives, very few relatives actually went to the northern frontier this time. There are about 70,000 soldiers stationed in the northern frontier, but the number of relatives from all provinces who went to visit them was only about five or six hundred. Most of the soldiers' relatives sent letters and gifts.
There are actually more than a dozen soldiers from Linjia Village serving in the northern border region, but she was the only one who went to visit them this time.
The main problem was that transportation was really inconvenient in that era. A round trip would take at least a month, and most people couldn't leave their homes for such a long time. In addition, the weather became increasingly harsh as you went further north into Xinjiang, and some elderly people, even if they wanted to, couldn't withstand the ordeal.
Another important reason is that those who usually join the army are usually children with many sons or orphans who have lost their parents. They have no choice but to go to northern Xinjiang to make a living, and no one pays attention to them.
More than half a month later, the main force entered the Northwest region. The further north they went, the colder the weather became. Finally, a few days later, on the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, they arrived at the Northern Frontier military camp.
Song Anxin got off the carriage and stood with hundreds of military families. Opposite them were countless pairs of expectant eyes of soldiers. The two sides looked at each other from afar, anxiously searching within their respective camps, hoping to see their loved ones.
Several generals produced lists, each responsible for meeting with soldiers and their families in different provinces and regions.
"Soldiers whose names are being called can now go aside and reunite with their families." A general in charge of Yunnan Province cleared his throat and announced loudly, holding a long list of names, "Fu Jialiang from Xiashi Village, Qi'an County, Liuzhou, Yunnan Province!"
A man with a dark face and cracked cheeks walked out from the group of soldiers.
"Oh my, it's my son! My son, how have you changed? Your mother almost didn't recognize you."
An old woman immediately stepped forward and saw that her son's face showed both joy and heartache.
The soldier burst into tears the moment he saw his mother: "Mother, waah, it really is you, it really is you! Mother! Your son has missed you so much, your son is so afraid this is a dream, waah... I dream of you every night..."
The old woman couldn't hold back anymore, and tears streamed down her face: "It's Mother, it's Mother, Mother has come! My son isn't dreaming, sob... My son has suffered so much..."
The eyes of all the soldiers and their relatives around them were moist. Most of them had not seen their loved ones for several years, or even more than a decade. They longed for the day-to-day reunion with their families.
"Next, Chen Datu from Chenjiachong, Linshui County, Liuzhou, Bai Province." The general read out the next name.
A gaunt old soldier with cloudy eyes came out.
"Father! Father!..." A one-armed man from the relatives' side stepped forward. Upon seeing his father's appearance, he knelt down with a thud and burst into tears, wailing, "Father! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's all my fault. You've suffered so much, you've suffered so much... Waaah..."
If he hadn't lost an arm, his father wouldn't have come to the northern frontier to suffer for so many years.
When the old soldier saw his son, he was so excited that he ran over and hugged him tightly, his cloudy eyes filled with tears.
"Big Tree, it really is you, it really is you, you, you've come to see your father." The old soldier choked up, almost unable to speak. "Father doesn't blame you, no, blames you... Waaah... Is your mother feeling any better? Have I received my military pay?"
The one-armed man, with tears and snot streaming down his face, nodded emphatically: "I've received everything. Mother is better now, and she even found me a wife. Father, you now have a grandson and a granddaughter."
"Good, good, it's good that you're doing well..." The old soldier's cloudy eyes, filled with tears, revealed joy.
This was just a drop in the ocean of suffering, and the generals continued to recite the names of the soldiers they had saved.
"Liuzhou, Bai Province..."
“Hong Province, Weizhou…”
“……...”
The soldiers whose names were read out all embraced their loved ones and wept bitterly the moment they saw their families.
There were reunions between husband and wife, tears of joy between father and son, and tenderness between mother and child. The cold frontier seemed less harsh for a moment, filled only with the warmth of human kindness.
As the list of each province was read down to the very end, only a handful of people remained in the relatives' group, while a large group of soldiers remained on the other side, their eyes filled with anxiety and fear.
As the last soldier's name was announced, the relatives' side was deserted. The soldiers opposite stared blankly, their eyes filled with disappointment and desolation. Some soldiers secretly wiped away tears in the crowd.
The generals put away the list and felt very bad looking at their soldiers.
"Alright! Don't be sad, everyone. Although your relatives couldn't come in person, they sent letters and supplies. Go to the rear supply depot to collect them."
Hope instantly ignited in the soldiers' eyes; letters from family were hard to come by even in this northern frontier. The soldiers immediately dispersed in an orderly fashion.
Seeing the soldiers reunited with their families with such emotion, and feeling sad for those soldiers who had no relatives to visit them, Song Anxin immediately stopped herself, her face full of confusion.
Wait, didn't you forget about me?!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com