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New Year's Eve, 1999.
As usual, Jian Yi was writing articles at the newspaper office when the New Year's bell rang. Fireworks filled the sky outside the window, and the new millennium was ushered in amidst the jubilation and celebration of the people across the country.
Jianyi looked out through the small square window in front of her, her mind slightly distracted.
Colorful fireworks illuminated the sky, making Beijing's night scene magnificent and dazzling.
"Knock knock—"
There was a knock on the newspaper office door. Jian Yi paused, then got up to open the door.
The mail carrier outside, his military green coat covered in snow, asked her, "Hello, is this the Times newspaper office? I'm looking for an editor named Jian Yi."
Yi Jian opened the door a little wider so the mailman could feel more of the room's warmth: "That's me."
The postman took off his snow-covered leather gloves, rubbed his stiff hands, opened his mailbag, and took out a letter: "This is for you."
Jian Yi stared at the handwritten words on the envelope for a moment, then quickly said, "Thank you."
Taierzhuang District, Zaozhuang City, Shandong Province
—Sent by Zhang Qizhong
Jian Yi took the letter and entered the room. Amidst the dazzling fireworks and the joyous revelry, he felt a moment of disorientation.
"Bang--"
Another burst of fireworks exploded high in the sky, pulling Jianyi back to reality. At the beginning of the 21st century, Jianyi slowly unpacked this letter from the end of the 20th century.
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A month ago, the newspaper office where Jianyi worked, "Times Newspaper," received a notification from its superiors:
As the new century approaches, we remember our predecessors, remain true to our mission, and forge ahead. Our organization is committed to creating a heroic publication. We ask each editor to explore and interview 1-2 heroic predecessors who made significant contributions to the construction of New China, compile their stories into a book, and present it to the new millennium.
The newspaper staff were in high spirits. Some wrote about living heroes and predecessors to facilitate interviews, while others wrote about revolutionary martyrs who had passed away but left behind a large number of works, autobiographies, or other materials to facilitate data collection.
Only Jian Yi, after three sleepless nights, chose two ancestors who were neither alive nor well-documented—
Zhang Chenglin and Gu Shiyue.
I quickly searched through all the documents I could find that described them during their lifetime, but the information I obtained was still very limited.
Zhang Chenglin: The second son of the villainous warlord Zhang Deyue, he was killed in Beiping on October 1, 1937, and was posthumously awarded the title of "National Hero" by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on October 7, 1949.
Gu Shiyue: Founder of the East China Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall, passed away on October 2, 1949 in Zaozhuang City, Shandong Province.
Besides these, the only information Jianyi could obtain was: the East China Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall, now renamed the National Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall, and its current curator, Zhang Chenglin, son of Gu Shiyue, Zhang Qizhong.
In mid-December, Jianyi bought a train ticket and went to Zaozhuang, Shandong, to visit the National Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall.
The records in the Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall cover the period from February 1937 to August 1945, and are detailed and complete. Countless patriots and revolutionary predecessors are recorded in the museum, including their lives, experiences, and relationships with the Party and the country.
However, apart from that old list of fallen heroes published by the CCP Central Committee in 1945 after the end of the War of Resistance Against Japan, there was no other place containing Zhang Chenglin's name or information.
Jian Yi couldn't help but wonder, wasn't Zhang Chenglin Gu Shiyue's lover? Why didn't Gu Shiyue collect information about Zhang Chenglin when she was gathering materials from those years?
Besides visiting the National Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall, Jian Yi had another important purpose for this trip: to meet Zhang Chenglin and Gu Shiyue's only child in the world, Zhang Qizhong.
Unfortunately, Jian Yi visited Zhang Qizhong several times, but was refused by Zhang's family on the grounds that "the master is too ill to receive guests."
Simple and helpless, they had no choice but to give up.
Before returning to Beijing, he still sent a letter to Zhang Qizhong.
The letter contained only one sentence:
In your opinion, what kind of person was your father, Zhang Chenglin?
Half a month later, Jian Yi finally received the reply from Shandong.
On the enormous sheet of paper, only 17 characters were written in a crooked and messy manner:
“I have never met my father, but everyone says he is a good man.”
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Another two weeks passed, and the red-covered "Xingjing Daily" Millennium Special Edition magazine was snapped up as soon as it hit the market.
Among a group of very famous and respected revolutionary predecessors, two very unfamiliar names were prominently displayed on page 25 of the magazine.
The article begins like this—
The story takes place in East China in 1936. Beneath the facade of peace lies a turbulent undercurrent. In this time of national crisis, the nation needs its youth. China is vast enough to accommodate the future, but some must remain in the past—revolutionaries, predecessors, youth, and you and me…
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