This New Year's Eve dinner was a little dull because of the news that Song Zhanjin was going to the battlefield.
Fortunately, there are many children. When the New Year’s bell rang and Lin Wanjun distributed red envelopes to the children, the children’s joyful laughter dispelled the sadness.
The red envelope was made by Lin Wanjun in advance with red paper, and contained fifty cents, two pounds of national food coupons, and a few fruit candies.
She hopes that in the near future, these children will have enough food to eat, money to spend, and live a sweet and happy life.
She found a few more fireworks and firecrackers from the space and lit them on the open space of the cadre school.
Late at night, fireworks soared into the sky, blooming brilliantly in the inky black sky.
The firelight illuminated people's faces, and there was a bright light in everyone's eyes. Even though they were now in the snow and ice, they firmly believed that the warm spring would eventually come.
It was late at night when everyone finally dispersed, feeling satisfied.
None of the leftovers were wasted, even the fish bones were packed up and taken back by Wang Chuang's mother.
"Oh, you didn't know that fish bone soup is so delicious!"
The old lady's teeth are almost all gone, but she is in very good spirits.
She asked Wang Chuang to go home and get a basin, put the fish head and bones together with the elbow bones in the basin, and mix them all together.
"Xiao Lin, I'll have Wang Chuang bring you fish soup tomorrow."
The old lady was overjoyed and happily went home with the fish bones.
Lin Wanjun and Song Zhanjin cleaned up the mess. The sky in the east was already turning pale and dawn was approaching.
Li Yuetang added coal to the kang stove. The kang was now burning hot. Song Lingyi was lying on the kang and sleeping soundly, holding tightly the red envelope she received as a lucky charm.
"Song Zhanjin, come here!"
Li Yuetang sat on the edge of the kang, and asked Lin Wanjun to get on the kang and sit in the warm quilt, and then looked at her son standing on the ground.
"You are not allowed to sit, stand!"
Song Zhanjin's butt had just touched the edge of the kang, but when he heard his mother's words, he quickly stood up again, with his hands placed vertically at his sides, like an elementary school student waiting for his teacher's criticism.
"When do you leave?"
Li Yuetang asked.
Glancing secretly at his mother, Song Zhanjin muttered, "It's the seventh day of the first lunar month, but actually we're leaving for the provincial capital on the sixth. A military train carrying supplies will depart for southern Xinjiang early in the morning on the seventh day of the first lunar month."
Hearing this, Li Yuetang was silent for a while.
"Will you go to the front lines and fight? Or do logistics work?"
There are many so-called logistical tasks, such as transporting the bodies of fallen soldiers...
In such a brutal war, sacrifices are inevitable, so there will be a special team responsible for transporting the remains of the martyrs back to the rear for proper burial.
"Go to the front lines and fight!"
Song Zhanjin answered truthfully, "I have experience fighting the enemy. This time, I will lead a team of soldiers to penetrate the rear of the enemy camp..."
The rest is military secrets, which he cannot and dare not say.
Li Yuetang knew the rules and did not ask any more questions, but she also knew that her son's mission was dangerous and difficult, and that the slightest mistake would lead to death.
Li Yuetang raised her hand to wipe away the tear that was quietly rolling down the corner of her eye, and then she picked up the sleeping Song Lingyi.
"Lingyi and I will go to bed, you and Junjun have a good chat."
Song Lingyi was half asleep and half awake. She raised her hands and hugged Li Yuetang's neck tightly, calling out "Mom".
Soon, Lin Wanjun and Song Zhanjin were the only ones left in the room.
Song Zhanjin was still standing on the ground, rubbing the corners of his clothes with his hands, like a child who had made a mistake.
"Jun-jun, when did you find out?"
He thought the news of going to the front line was kept secret, and he planned to wait until after the Chinese New Year, on the fifth day of the New Year, to tell his family.
"What do you think?"
Lin Wanjun looked at Song Zhanjin and said, "Have you forgotten my origins?"
After hearing this, Song Zhanjin reacted instantly.
Yes, Lin Wanjun came from that world, and she knew his fate.
"In the original plot, you were supposed to go to the front lines in southern Xinjiang after the Lunar New Year, but not on the sixth day, but on the first day."
Lin Wanjun said, "The reason I'm not sad or worried is because I know you won't die..."
In fact, this reason cannot make Lin Wanjun feel truly at ease.
In the original plot, Song Zhanjin was able to survive that arduous battle because he was the destined hero, and more than 20 of his comrades risked their lives to support him...
As expected, when Lin Wanjun told this story, Song Zhanjin made the decision without even thinking about it.
"In fact, my sacrifice alone is enough to end this battle. My twenty or so comrades don't need to make such a fearless sacrifice."
In this vast river of history, the Southern Xinjiang War was real, and the bloodshed and sacrifice of officers and soldiers also really happened.
When writing this plot, the original author referred to real events and adapted them.
She used the lives of more than 20 soldiers to protect her male protagonist, but she never thought that everyone is the male protagonist of their own life.
There is no distinction between high and low in life!
Lin Wanjun had no better solution.
If this battle really happened, either Song Zhanjin would die or those twenty or so soldiers would die. Someone would always sacrifice.
As if she was in a dilemma, Lin Wanjun felt a little irritated and discouraged.
"It's been a while since I last visited my great-grandfather. Now that you're gone, I don't know when you'll be back. Go say goodbye to him!"
Lin Wanjun changed the subject, and as she thought, a door appeared in front of Song Zhanjin.
He and Lin Wanjun stepped over the threshold together, only to see old man Song Zhengzheng standing on the steps, as if he had been waiting for a very long time.
As soon as he saw Song Zhanjin and Lin Wanjun coming in hand in hand, a look of joy flashed across Song Xiu's face.
Immediately he became furious, took off his shoes and hit Song Zhanjin.
"What bad things did you do outside, you little brat? Did you bully Junjun?"
Song Zhanjin didn't dodge and let the old man beat him up.
Song Xiu was tired from fighting, so he sat down on the steps panting.
Lin Wanjun sat next to Song Xiu and said with a smile, "Grandpa, guess what time it is outside?"
This problem really made Song Xiu feel difficult.
He has been in this spatial world all the time, where there is no day or night, and there is no concept of time at all.
How does he know what year and month it is?
"It's Chinese New Year today. We just finished our New Year's Eve dinner and drank a little wine!"
Sure enough, Song Xiu smelled a faint aroma of wine.
He couldn't help laughing.
"No wonder there are fewer things in the warehouse these days. It must be Chinese New Year!"
In his memory, the last time he celebrated the Chinese New Year was in a cave on the Loess Plateau.
The enemy's red-headed planes circled overhead. He sat on the earthen kang with his wife and children, eating dry radish cubes, yet felt incredibly happy...
"Grandpa, Zhan Jin is going to the battlefield, but his situation is not good, so I came to find you."
Lin Wanjun took out a map, paper and pen, and recounted the battle that determined Song Zhanjin's life or death.
Song Xiu's expression became solemn after hearing this.
“It’s really… difficult to do this!”
He looked at the military map, his brain working rapidly, and suddenly, he raised his head.
"I have a solution!"
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