Xu Jiangming looked at the tall, robust man with a square face and some gray hair in front of him and felt a sense of familiarity.
When the older man came down the stairs and Xu Jiangming saw his missing left ear, he trembled with excitement.
That was his former squad leader, Xiao, from his time in the army!
During their years in the military, they ate, slept, trained, and guarded the border of their motherland together!
In one conflict with an enemy force from another country, Sergeant Xiao's left ear was chopped off by the enemy while he was saving him.
Squad Leader Xiao was his savior!
Although Xiao Shan, who is 57 years old, is now retired from the military due to injuries sustained in his early years, his memory remains remarkably good.
come out
He saw a man from across the hall from his son and daughter-in-law's house call him Squad Leader Xiao. He looked up and the face quickly overlapped with the person in his memory.
"Jiang Ming, you are Xu Jiangming..."
Even though Xiao Shan's status and position in the military were far higher than they were two years ago when he was still in service, decades later, when he reunited with his comrades who had fought alongside him against foreign enemies, Xiao Shan was so excited that he became somewhat incoherent.
After recognizing each other, the two old comrades happily opened their arms and hugged each other tightly.
At this moment, reuniting with their old comrades-in-arms, the matter of going down to collect living supplies became insignificant to Xu Jiangming and Xiao Shan.
Xu Jiangming quickly invited his former superior and his savior into his home.
Seeing that the old man seemed to have met an old friend, Song Qiu'e instructed her husband, daughter, and son to go downstairs to collect the supplies, while she went home to prepare tea.
Since the continuous torrential rain, Xiao Rui and Li Qingya braved the rain to bring the elderly man living in the military compound to their home. The elderly man had been locked up at home all day and seemed to have lost his soul.
Seeing that he had found his old comrade-in-arms, Xiao Rui and Li Qingya breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, their elderly father would have someone to chat with in the days to come, so he wouldn't be as bored as before.
Because of the reunion of the two old comrades-in-arms, the relationship between the two families, who are neighbors, seems to have become even closer.
When the five of them walked down the fire escape to the second floor, they had a lot more to talk about.
The group went down to the second floor and saw several speedboats parked outside the narrow corridor.
Each assault boat was manned by two armed People's Liberation Army soldiers, so although there were many onlookers, the distribution of supplies was orderly.
"1701, Xiao Rui; 1702, Xu Haiguo!"
Xu Lai and his group had barely gone down to the second floor when they heard a soldier standing in the connecting corridor calling out the names of their two households.
Upon seeing this, Xu Haiguo and Xiao Rui quickly moved to the front through the narrow passageway.
After the two signed the papers, the soldiers on the assault boats with supplies outside the corridor gestured for them to come forward.
This time, the supplies consisted of a 50-pound bag of rice for each household, a bag of potatoes, a bag of white radishes, two bags of salt, and a box of compressed biscuits.
It must be said that although the variety of supplies was relatively small this time, the quantity was not small.
Why are so many supplies being distributed all at once this time?
Unlike other residents who received so many supplies, he was overjoyed.
As Xu Lai and her younger brother Xu Chao helped their father carry their family's supplies to the stairwell, she turned around and glanced at the stern-looking officer standing behind the soldiers taking attendance.
She guessed that perhaps the higher-ups knew that even bigger rainstorms were coming, so this time they simply distributed a month's worth of supplies.
The first floor was flooded and the elevator had long been out of service. It was easy for the group to walk down from the seventeenth floor to the second floor empty-handed, but carrying such heavy supplies up to the seventeenth floor was much more difficult.
As the pillars of their family, Xu Haiguo and Xiao Rui struggled to carry 50 kilograms of rice up three flights of stairs.
Xu Lai and her younger brother offered to help Li Qingya carry a bag of heavy white radishes.
Like ants carrying food, the five of them walked and rested intermittently, and it took them about half an hour to finally carry the supplies up to the seventeenth floor.
After Xu Lai returned home, Xu Jiangming, who had already caught up with his old comrades, immediately asked Xu Lai and Xu Chao to go and call for help.
"Lai Lai, Xiao Chao, come here and greet your... um..."
Xu Jiangming, caught up in his excitement, momentarily lost his train of thought.
The old squad leader was only five years older than him. He had originally planned to have his granddaughter and grandson call his old comrade-in-arms "Grandpa," but he was worried that his relatively young leader would not agree.
But on ordinary days, the son and daughter-in-law of this old squad leader call their nephew and niece-in-law "uncle" and "aunt".
This generational hierarchy is really a mess!
Unlike her second great-uncle, Xu Lai didn't think too much. This elder looked a bit older than her second great-uncle, so she spoke directly and greeted him, "Hello, Grandpa Xiao!"
Xu Chao followed his sister's steps and then politely greeted, "Hello, Grandpa Xiao!"
"Haha, great!"
Xiao Shan served as a soldier his entire life. In his heart, his country came first, and his comrades who fought alongside him against the enemy were also his family.
So even though he lost an ear to save his comrade and subordinate, he never regretted it.
Although he had met his old comrade-in-arms, who had once saved his life, he did not put on airs as a leader or a savior.
Xu Jiangming never dreamed that after decades apart, his former squad leader would joke with him as warmly as they did back in the army. He couldn't help but tear up again.
The two elderly people chatted about their time serving in the Kunming mountains, their subsequent development and experiences, and their families and children.
Xu Jiangming remained unmarried his entire life for his nephew's family, while his wife in Xiaoshan passed away from illness more than a decade ago.
"Sigh, it's because my husband passed away from an incurable disease that my son insisted on studying medicine!"
As they chatted, Xiao Shan brought up his sad story.
He had never been afraid of anything in his life, except when he learned that his beloved wife, who had always been by his side, had been diagnosed with an incurable disease. He was afraid that she would leave him and their son.
But in the end, their loved one still left them, father and son, far too early.
Xu Jiangming couldn't bear to see his old comrade-in-arms so heartbroken, so he quickly changed the subject, saying, "Old sergeant, it's not easy for us to meet again. I'll have the kids call Xiao Rui and his wife over later, and we'll have dinner at our house tonight!"
Upon hearing this, Xu Haiguo, who was accompanying him, quickly stood up and echoed his sentiments.
After hearing this, Song Qiu'e, who was busy making tea and adding snacks, looked up at the clock on the wall and immediately went into the kitchen.
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