Zhu Jiabao was very pragmatic: "Whatever my wife says goes, I'll listen to her."
Liu Yumin said, "I want to spend the Spring Festival in the hospital this year with Zhao Tiezhu and Miao Yang. They are both quite lonely."
Both were pitiful people. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, when the Japanese invaded the village, they insisted that there were Eighth Route Army soldiers in the village and demanded that they hand them over. Because no one in the village revealed the Eighth Route Army soldiers, the inhumane people massacred the entire village. There were more than a thousand people in the village, and apart from Zhao Tiezhu and a few childhood friends who escaped by going hunting in the mountains, no one survived.
The villagers were horribly wounded by machetes, and several had fatal bullet holes. Six men dug a large pit for two days in the dead of winter without eating or drinking in order to bury their fellow villagers.
After burying six villagers, he went to join the Eighth Route Army. Unfortunately, the other five were killed in action, leaving only Zhao Tiezhu. He was covered in wounds from fighting bravely, some of which were so deep that the bone was visible. He survived only because of his toughness, which shows how hard he fought on the battlefield.
Now, he suffers from pain all over his body in winter, and because of severe physical exhaustion, he is out of breath even when walking. It is a miracle that he is still alive. Therefore, he can't go anywhere except the hospital. Even if he wants to go back to his residence, he will relapse and have to come back after a few days. The conditions at home are not as good as those at the hospital. The temperature here is suitable for recuperation, and it is frequently disinfected so there are not many germs. Most importantly, it is convenient for emergency treatment here.
As for Miao Yang, she was even more pitiful. She had just gotten married and was in the midst of her sweet marriage when her husband was conscripted into the army. Her husband's family thought she was a jinx, so they would beat and scold her at every turn. Not only did she have to do all the housework, but they also didn't give her any food, and her own family didn't support her.
Later, when puppet troops came to the village and forced the villagers to hand over grain, she saw her husband, who was also aiding and abetting the evildoers. Feeling betrayed, she put rat poison in the puppet troops' food in a fit of rage, and the whole group died.
Fearing retaliation from the puppet army, her in-laws wanted to hand her over. Miao Yang ran away when no one was paying attention. Hearing that the Eighth Route Army was dedicated to the people, she inquired along the way and finally found the place. She fought bravely against the enemy and killed countless Japanese soldiers in her lifetime.
However, this also left him with a host of illnesses. Back then, conditions were poor. He would wash his clothes with cold water during his period in the dead of winter, and he would stand guard in the snow. The cold would seep into his body. In particular, he continued to fight even after being wounded on the battlefield. After the armistice, his wounds were not fully healed, and he would be attacked by the enemy and sent back to the battlefield, which led to reinfection and sequelae. The knife and gun wounds on his body left him with varying degrees of hidden injuries. Now, his health is so poor that he can't warm up in winter no matter what he does.
What's worse, after liberation, she learned that her husband was actually a member of the Eighth Route Army and had been an undercover agent for the puppet army. She was so shocked that she almost died. She developed a heart condition after that. Her health was already poor, and the heart condition worsened day by day. Now she can only keep her alive with medication and she is afraid she won't live for more than a month.
She wanted to return to her hometown in her final days to be buried with her husband, to repent to him in the afterlife. She planned to be taken back to her hometown after the New Year, where she would spend her last New Year before saying goodbye forever.
Zhu Jiabao also knew about the two of them. He could only sigh for Miao Yang. Such things were too common at that time. His identity was a secret, and he couldn't tell his family or even his bedmate. It wasn't until after liberation that he discovered he had mistakenly killed many of his own people. The killer's original intention was to rid the people of harm. He was unaware of the truth, so it was difficult to determine who was right and who was wrong.
Zhu Jiabao agreed: "I'll listen to my wife. We'll go talk to them together in a bit."
They are all elderly people living alone. If they hadn't adopted Fanfan, they would have been just as lonely. They are all fellow sufferers and can empathize with each other.
Having resolved this matter, Liu Yumin changed the subject: "Old Zhu, can't you just not provoke Master? He's so old, his energy can't compare to yours, can't you just let him go?"
Master's face changed when he heard Lao Zhu's name, which showed that Lao Zhu had angered him again. Why couldn't Lao Zhu let go of his old grudge? When Lao Zhu wanted to provoke someone, he could really drive them crazy.
Zhu Jiabao naturally objected: "Anyway, I swore back then that I would anger him to death sooner or later, or I would change my surname from Zhu. I cannot betray my ancestors."
Liu Yumin found it laughable. What did this have to do with betraying one's ancestors? What era are we living in with feudal superstitions? If there really is a God, where was He when the country almost perished? If there isn't even a God, who cares about oaths?
Zhu Jiabao said solemnly, "Don't disbelieve me, there really are immortals my ancestors have seen. Anyway, I must be surnamed Zhu. Whenever I see my master, I will make him angry."
Liu Yumin asked, "When did you make that vow?"
Knowing when to swear an oath allows you to know how to break it; this is called using barbarians to control barbarians.
Zhu Jiabao said confidently, "Of course, I swore it in my heart."
When he was pursuing his wife, his master, relying on being her mentor, blocked him and introduced his own prized student to her first. If it weren't for his interference, it would be different whose wife she would be now, because his master had too much influence over her.
Liu Yumin advised, "If you haven't sworn an oath to God, then just shut up. Master doesn't have many years left, so please let him have a more comfortable life from now on, okay?"
Others see their master as hesitant and afraid to take risks on the battlefield, but the truth is that these doctors are too weak in combat and too few in number. Their deaths are not a pity, but if they die, the soldiers will be wounded and have no one to treat them, and they will die even faster and in greater numbers. In order to treat more people, they must first protect themselves.
After liberation, my master was not idle. He was in charge of the operation of the entire hospital, and he was also responsible for treating several old revolutionaries. He was very mentally exhausted every day, and his body was already overdrawn. It is not an exaggeration to say that my master does not have many years left to live. If my master continues to overdraw, even a few years will be a luxury.
Zhu Jiabao still feels very aggrieved when he thinks about it: "Back then, he wanted to match you up with Ma Yushu, and he kept belittling me. You were almost swayed, and I almost gave up. Ma Yushu is still not married, which means he hasn't given up yet."
He went to great lengths to win his wife's heart, only to be stopped by his master time and time again. His master even wanted him to marry someone else, practically saying that his wife would agree as long as he asked. Luckily, he confessed his feelings beforehand, but he couldn't get over this hurdle in his heart.
Liu Yumin didn't know whether to laugh or be angry: "Ma Yushu was once Master's apprentice. I only admired him. I've told you so many times, Master didn't mean it that way at all. Besides, he has a fiancée. She was separated from him during the war. He's still unmarried because of her. What are you thinking about all day long?"
Zhu Jiabao muttered to himself, "Who knows if what he said is true?"
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