shocking change
Summer afternoons are supposed to be lazy and peaceful. Chen Bozhou had just cut a bundle of thin bamboo in the back hills, preparing to build a trellis for the evening primrose seedlings. He shouldered the bamboo poles, humming a tuneless tune as he walked briskly toward the Yun family courtyard.
He had even figured out in his mind how to build the shelf so that it would be both sturdy and good-looking.
However, as soon as he reached the village entrance, he noticed something unusual. The villagers who usually gathered under the tree at the entrance to chat were gone, replaced by an oppressive silence.
When several familiar uncles saw him, they avoided his gaze and seemed to be hesitant to speak. In the end, they just sighed heavily, shook their heads and walked away.
Chen Bozhou's heart skipped a beat, and a sense of foreboding crept in. He quickened his pace, practically running back to the gate of his own courtyard.
The courtyard door was open, and the mother's soft sobs could be heard from inside, occasionally interspersed with the father's heavy sighs.
He dropped the bamboo pole from his shoulder and stepped into the courtyard. He saw his mother sitting on a stone bench in the yard, her face buried in her sleeves, her shoulders shaking.
My father, Village Chief Shen, stood with his back to the door, under the old locust tree in the yard. His back was stiff, as if he had aged a lot overnight.
My brother Chen Boyuan stood beside his father, his brows furrowed, his face more solemn than ever.
"Dad, Mom, brother, what happened?" Chen Bozhou's heart instantly rose to his throat, and his voice was a little dry due to nervousness.
Chen Boyuan turned around when he heard the voice, and when he saw it was him, he moved his lips but could not make a sound. He just handed over an official document with a red seal in his hand, his eyes extremely complicated.
Chen Bozhou took the light yet weightless piece of paper and quickly scanned the words on it. When he saw the glaring words "conscription," "border war," "males of marriageable age," and "Chen Bozhou" listed among them, along with his own name, his mind went blank.
The air seemed to freeze. He gripped the conscription order, his fingers turning white from the force, and the paper made a slight friction sound in his hands.
My mother's crying became more suppressed, and my father's back seemed to be more hunched.
"How could it be...how could it be me?" Chen Bozhou's voice trembled with disbelief. "Didn't they say...didn't they say they would draw the troops?"
Chen Boyuan sighed heavily, his voice hoarse, "It's based on household recruitment, and our village has been allocated five spots. The village head just sent the paperwork... Bozhou, your name... is on it." He paused, then added with difficulty, "In three days... you'll have to report to the county government office for assembly."
"Three days..." Chen Bozhou murmured these two words, and felt a chill running from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, and his limbs became cold in an instant.
He suddenly looked up at his father, "Dad! Can...can you think of a way? We can pay for someone to replace..."
"Shut up!" Village Chief Shen turned abruptly and interrupted him harshly, his eyes bloodshot, his voice filled with a sense of helplessness and desolation. "This is a government decree, a red seal. How can this be a joke? Finding someone to take your place? That's a capital crime! Do you want our entire family to be buried with you?"
The last hope was ruthlessly extinguished. Shen Bozhou looked at his father's painful and resolute face, his mother's tears of despair, and his brother's helpless eyes, and he knew that there was no turning back.
He was like a chess piece held by an invisible hand, and his fate was completely changed in an instant.
He stood there in a daze, the conscription order in his hand seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.
Border warfare… Although he hadn't personally experienced it, he had heard stories of those near-death experiences. This time, the mountains were high and the roads were long, the swords were merciless, and whether he could return alive was uncertain.
What about him and Yunwu? The flower seeds they had just planted, the newly sprouted greenery that had just broken through the soil, the medicinal plantations they had planned together, the countless aspirations for the future they had yet to express...were all to be cut short, or even... parted forever?
This thought bit his heart like a poisonous snake. He turned around suddenly, and without even having time to comfort his crying mother and silent father, he rushed out of the yard like a madman.
He now had only one thought, he must see the clouds and mist immediately!
He ran all the way, his heart beating violently in his chest, almost exploding.
When he rushed into the Yun family courtyard, the noise was so loud that it startled Yun Wu who was wiping medicinal herbs in the house.
Yunwu walked out holding the medicine plaque, and saw Chen Bozhou standing in the yard with a pale face, panting, and a dazed look in his eyes. His heart sank suddenly.
He had never seen Chen Bozhou so distraught.
"Bozhou?" He put down the medicine plaque and walked quickly forward, his tone full of obvious worry. "What's wrong with you? What happened?"
Chen Bozhou looked at his reflection in Yunwu's clear eyes, and saw his brows slightly furrowed with concern. His throat seemed to be blocked by something and he couldn't utter a word.
He could only hand the crumpled conscription order to Yunwu with trembling hands.
Yunwu took it doubtfully and looked down. When his eyes touched the cold official seal and Shen Bozhou's name, the blood drained from his face instantly, leaving it paler than the lime in the corner of the courtyard wall.
His fingertips holding the paper began to tremble violently, and he could hardly hold the thin paper.
He suddenly raised his head and looked at Chen Bozhou. His lips moved several times before he finally squeezed out a few broken syllables: "...Recruitment? ...You want to go...join the army?"
His voice was as light as a feather, but it carried tremendous force, striking Shen Bozhou's heart.
Chen Bozhou looked at his eyes which had lost their luster in an instant, leaving only great panic and emptiness, and his face which was so pale that it was almost transparent, and his heart felt as if it was being torn apart.
"Yes..." Chen Bozhou's voice was hoarse. He nodded with difficulty, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth. "There's a war on the border... The conscription order has come down... In three days... we have to leave."
"Three days..." Yunwu repeated this desperate time, and his body shook almost imperceptibly.
He lowered his head and stared at the conscription order, as if he wanted to see through the words.
The yard was dead silent, with only the heavy and suppressed breathing of the two people.
After a long time, so long that Chen Bozhou almost thought he would faint, Yunwu slowly, extremely slowly raised his head.
There was still no trace of blood on his face, but his eyes were no longer empty. Instead, they were filled with a deep and complex emotion mixed with pain, fear and a certain determination.
He looked at Chen Bozhou and asked word by word in a very soft but unusually clear voice:
"Do I have to go...?"
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