Seeing Xu Keke walking towards them with two children, Zhou Chengguang jumped to his feet. "What are you doing here? This is ridiculous! Who let you come?"
After shouting that, he realized something was wrong and subconsciously looked at the old leader sitting in the middle.
The man raised his hand to stop the soldier who was blocking his way, saying, "This female colleague, let her come over here and talk."
The man before her had dark skin and sharp eyes, as if he possessed the ability to see through everything. Looking at this veteran who had come from the battlefield, Xu Keke felt a little nervous. She subconsciously touched her middle finger; the skin there was rough, but without calluses. She was now Feng Lichun, and she was going to tell the world her story.
"Reporting to the leader, this is... this is my wife," Zhou Chengguang stammered.
The old leader nodded, gave Zhou Chengguang a sharp look, and then smiled gently at Xu Keke, "What's your name? Is that your child behind you? If you have anything to report to me, just say it."
Xu Keke composed herself. "I am Zhou Chengguang's wife, and my name is Feng Lichun. These two children are ours. I'm here today to tell you all about how we've been living in our hometown over the years."
In the third year of my marriage to Zhou Chengguang, he joined the army and went with his unit. He was gone for nine years. I stayed at home, taking care of his widowed mother and raising our two children.
The year he left, my eldest child was only two years old, and my second was still in my belly. There was a disaster in the village, and my family was poor and had no man, so life was hard. But I never imagined that those difficult days would later become a luxury.
The Kuomintang's returning militia had their eyes on our village because they all knew that his father had joined the Red Army. They wanted to arrest my mother and me, saying they wanted to show those people that being a Red Army family member didn't end well.
Thanks to the villagers who gave me information and covered for me, I was able to take my elderly parents and two children and hide in the mountains with the village's Party members.
When they came, we hid; when they left, we went home. My mother-in-law had bound feet. Another Party member from the village and I took turns carrying her on our backs as we ran up the mountain.
The two children were protected by the other comrades and followed behind. Their shoes had fallen off while running up the mountain, and their feet were bleeding from the friction.
Before liberation, the enemy became even more arrogant. They would raid the village almost every two days. We didn't even dare to go back to the village, and the villagers were afraid of being exposed, so they didn't dare to come up the mountain to see us. When there was no food on the mountain, the children even ate tree bark. It wasn't until the People's Liberation Army came and completely suppressed the local puppet government that I was able to take my family home again.
After descending the mountain, I no longer had to live in hiding. I joined the women's militia company and became the platoon leader of the women's militia platoon. When I was with the militia company, organizing the villagers to deliver grain to the front lines, I heard someone mention Zhou Chengguang's name. At that time, I was happy to think that Zhou Chengguang had been out of contact for so many years, but he was still alive.
Later, I received news of Zhou Chengguang, and that's when I brought my child and his mother to find him.
I'm not very educated, and I haven't been with Zhou Chengguang all these years. Our feelings for each other have definitely faded, so I'm thinking of divorcing him.
Zhou Chengguang never imagined they would be living such a hard life at home. He was even stunned for a moment when he heard Xu Keke agree to divorce him.
The old leader addressed everyone sitting below the stage, saying, "Did you hear that? While we were on the front lines, our families and our people were also sacrificing for us in the rear. Our success today is built on their blood and tears. What are we fighting for? It's so that our loved ones and our people can live a good life."
The Party has repeatedly emphasized that once we enter the city, we should not consider ourselves heroes or indulge in pleasure! Therefore, we must correct our attitude and continue to maintain the spirit of hard work and struggle!
Especially leading cadres, who must have played a leading role. This commendation meeting is suspended for now. All cadres should go back and think carefully about what we, as soldiers of the people, should do now that the People's Republic of China has been established.
The old leader swept his imposing gaze across the crowd, causing everyone present to shudder and unconsciously straighten their posture.
"Your name is Feng Lichun, right? Come, bring your child and follow me."
As the old leader got up and walked out, two guards rushed out from the side and quickly followed. Liu Wenda nodded to Zhou Chengguang, signaling him to follow as well.
With her two children in tow, Xu Keke followed her former boss into the adjacent office, which resembled a temporary rest room. Zhou Chengguang also tried to follow, but was stopped by the security guards surrounding the former boss.
The guard had long legs and arms, and a section of white gauze was visible on his wrist, with bloodstains seeping out. Judging from the redness, he must have been injured recently.
As she got closer, Xu Ke could see the bloodshot in her old leader's eyes. At that moment, Xu Ke hesitated. This was her family matter; should she delay his schedule for her own personal grievances?
Xu Keke asked the question directly. The old leader smiled, "Your thinking is wrong. I just said there are no private matters. We serve the people, and you are one of them. There are no big or small matters, private or public matters. As long as it's a matter, we will solve it for the people. This has nothing to do with rank."
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