The next day, Fan Hua and Zhao Yilu set off after breakfast. Fortunately, both bullets injured one of Zhao Yilu's legs, but he could still move his other leg and could basically take care of himself.
Fan Hua drove southeast in the general direction she remembered, asking around and searching for Yuanshan Village in An County.
About an hour and a half later, the car slowly drove into the territory of An County. The car was driving on a bumpy dirt road, and from time to time we encountered several ox carts, donkey carts, human-powered carts and tractors coming to the county town.
Everyone in the car looked at this domineering military jeep. After all, in this era, cars were really rare, especially in this poor and backward countryside.
Fan Hua felt a little timid about returning home. The closer she got to Yuanshan Village, the more nervous she became.
As they got closer to Yuanshan Village, Fan Hua's childhood memories became clearer.
She recognized the big locust tree at the entrance to the village; it hadn't changed much. She pointed to a fork in the road ahead and said, "I remember turning this way. Just a little further and you'll be almost there."
Zhao Yilu nodded. "How about we park the car here? The roads in the village are narrow and difficult to drive. Besides, wouldn't it be a bit too conspicuous to drive into the village?"
Fan Hua thought about it and felt that what Zhao Yilu said made sense. It wasn't far anyway, so she parked the car next to the big locust tree at the entrance of the village.
It was Chinese New Year, and the villagers were relatively free. They liked to sit at the entrance of the village and chat when they had nothing to do. So when Fan Hua and the others got off the car, the eyes of the people sitting at the entrance immediately fell on the two of them.
A gossipy person immediately stepped forward and asked, "Girls, where are you from? What are you doing in our village?"
Fan Hua immediately thought of what her father had told her. Her great-grandfather Fan Dashuan had a brother named Fan Ershuan, who joined the army when he was young and participated in the War to Resist WWII. Later, no one knew whether he was dead or alive, and there was no news from him. He was probably killed on the battlefield.
So Fan Hua started making up stories: "I'm here to look for my relatives. I'm Fan Ershuan's daughter. My father's eldest brother is Fan Dashuan. We're here to look for the Fan family."
Fan Hua muttered silently in her heart: Second Master, I would like to borrow your name to acknowledge my relationship with you. Please don’t mind whether you are still alive or not!
When everyone heard that it was a relative of Fan Dashuan, they immediately became enthusiastic. Among them, a man in his forties or fifties came out and looked at Fan Hua.
After a while, she smiled and said, "They look alike, so alike! Look at the eyebrows and eyes of Fan Mingqi, the kid from the Fan family. They look just like this girl. It's true that the nephew takes after his aunt. They look so alike!"
The villagers watching the excitement around also nodded in agreement.
Fan Hua fell silent, silently complaining in her heart, this isn't a nephew taking after his aunt, it's a daughter taking after her father! She already looked 80% like her original father, so now she must look a lot like her biological father Fan Mingqi in her previous life!
The uncle asked again, "My girl, where is your father, Fan Ershuan? Why didn't he come?"
Fan Hua pretended to be very sad and sighed, "Alas... He passed away two years ago. Before he died, he told me that he had relatives in Yuanshan Village. That's why I came here to look for them."
The uncle's eyes immediately turned red. "Did Ershuan die so young? When we were little, he and I used to go up the mountain together to dig out bird nests. I never thought I'd never see him again!"
Fan Hua's tone was filled with grief and helplessness: "There's nothing I can do. I've been injured too many times on the battlefield and have developed a chronic illness. Sigh..."
The uncle wiped his tears and said, "Girl, come on, I'll take you to Brother Dashuan's house. They will definitely be very happy to see you!"
Fan Hua nodded quickly and pushed Zhao Yilu to catch up with the uncle.
After walking along the narrow village wall for a while, the uncle stopped in front of a yard and called out, "Fan Dashuan, there are guests at your house!"
There was a sound of footsteps in the house, and a thin little figure appeared at the door, about six or seven years old. Fan Hua instantly recognized that it was her father Fan Mingqi, because she had seen a photo of her father as a child in an old photo album at home, and he looked exactly like this!
Fan Mingqi was wearing a piece of coarse cloth that had been washed to a pale color. His eyes were clear and bright as he looked at Fan Hua and Zhao Yilu with a puzzled look on his face.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
