When Gu Qingxiao was twenty, Huang Zhenhua married her. That same year, Gu Qingxiao also became a doctor. Her medical skills were even more superb than her husband Huang Zhenhua's. The couple worked together, one saving lives in the hospital, and the other treating patients in their own pharmacy.
In the second year of their marriage, the couple both joined the Red Army's resistance against Japan, becoming military doctors. At that time, the country was in crisis, and the army needed doctors to treat the wounded. When Gu Qingxiao received this notice at the hospital, she resolutely joined the army. Her husband, Huang Zhenhua, supported her decision and also joined the ranks.
The couple followed the army closely, serving on the front lines, fighting in numerous battles across the country, and saving countless soldiers and civilians. Several times, both were seriously wounded. When Gu Qingxiao was injured, Huang Zhenhua treated her; when Huang Zhenhua was injured, Gu Qingxiao treated him. They were each other's guardian angels. The army and many civilians knew of this couple of military doctors, renowned for their exceptional medical skills and loving relationship.
Nine years later, the nation won the War of Resistance against Japan, and the following year, the couple's first child was born. Gu Qingxiao was thirty years old, and Huang Zhenhua was thirty-four. The couple did not leave the army but continued to contribute their medical skills to the country.
Thus, the two went from newlywed bliss to turmoil, and then to life and death together, supporting, understanding, and caring for each other. They experienced the devastation of a broken country and witnessed the founding of the new nation, a time of great anticipation and national celebration.
When Gu Qingxiao was fifty-six years old, she suddenly fell seriously ill and could no longer stand. Huang Zhenhua found a wheelchair for her. Huang Zhenhua tried to treat and diagnose her, but to no avail; he could not find the cause of her illness.
Gu Qingxiao would gently tell him not to be so persistent, so as not to make things difficult for him. Because Huang Zhenhua had read a lot of medical books and searched everywhere for famous doctors, the best doctor was already by his side, but she was still unable to save herself.
At the age of fifty-eight, Gu Qingxiao had begun to lose her sense of recognition, but she still knew to look for her brother Zhenhua, asking him to teach her to read, write, identify herbs, and buy her hair ties. Huang Zhenhua stayed by her side every day, never daring to leave her for a moment, afraid that if he left, he would never see her again.
In the spring of the year Gu Qingxiao turned sixty, she told Huang Zhenhua that she wanted to go out into the yard to bask in the sun because the weather was cold and she was too weak to even sit up, so she spent most of the winter indoors. Upon hearing her request, Huang Zhenhua placed a reclining chair in the yard, then carried her out of the room. Just as she stepped out the door to leave the yard...
Gu Qingxiao and Huang Zhenhua both recalled how, on their wedding day, he carried her through the Huang family gate. He had originally intended to carry her on his back, but Huang Zhenhua insisted on holding her, saying she was his lover, and holding her meant he could hold her tight and never let go. Huang Zhenhua's steps were heavy, each step difficult; his beloved was so thin she weighed almost nothing, practically skin and bones.
Reclining in her chair, Gu Qingxiao looked at the sun overhead, then glanced at Huang Zhenhua sitting beside her, a slight smile appearing on her face. Fifty years... it's about time.
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