Rise from eight hundred.

Chapter 1535 Extra (4)

"With your performance, you still want to join the army? I advise you to stay where you want. You might as well find a wife and have a baby. Keep your boy at home and don't come out to let the villagers talk about our Yang family." Yang Fuquan, deputy director of the armed forces department of Yangyao Town, looked at his cousin who came to find him and was too lazy to give him a good look.

As for this youngest cousin, he is really good-looking. He is fair-skinned, 1.8 meters tall, and has a high school diploma. At the turn of the century, he is not considered a school dropout.

Going to university is really a luxury for Yangyao Town, a small and cold town located in the three northeastern provinces. Over the years, the number of people who can be admitted to university in the entire Yangyao Town will never exceed one hundred.

High school and technical secondary school are the ceiling for most young people's education.

With my cousin's physique and appearance, there is really no problem for him to join the army. The company commander who came to recruit soldiers would definitely take a liking to him at first sight.

  But Yang Fuquan really didn't dare to open this back door!

Who is Yang Ping'an? He is a well-known scoundrel in the surrounding villages. If you say that when he was a child, he would go to the village to pick some vegetables or peaches, it would not be a big deal in the countryside, right?

But this guy is already 20 years old and has no proper job. He stays at home all day. He can't do jobs like growing corn. However, he has learned some skills to make a living from the mountain, but he can't keep the money. He goes up the mountain to catch rabbits and goes down the river to catch fish and shrimps, and then sells them at the town market. Apart from buying a few pounds of corn wine for his 80-year-old grandfather, he spends the rest on playing in the Internet cafe.

Although he did not harm anyone, steal, touch or rob, this behavior pattern made him look like a typical scoundrel in the eyes of the people of Yangyao Town who were determined to get rich through hard work.

In other words, Yang Ping'an did not rely on his good looks to hook up with young girls or wives, otherwise he would definitely have been labeled a second-rate guy.

  But even so, Yang Fuquan, who has always been traditional, would never dare to put such a "rascal" cousin into the army. What if he also "scams" in the army, wouldn't it ruin the reputation of the Yangyao Town Armed Forces Department? Who would dare to recruit soldiers from his Yangyao Town in the future?

Wouldn't that also block the way out for the majority of outstanding young people in Yangyao Town? After all, in this era, if you fail to pass the college entrance examination, you can either go to the provincial capital or the developed coastal cities to work, or join the army and strive to perform well in the army and be promoted to an officer. As long as you are promoted, you will become a citizen of the country, and even after retiring, you can return to the city or county to get a formal job.

Yang Fuquan left Yangyao Town in this way, and finally returned to his hometown as a deputy company-level cadre to serve as deputy director of the town's armed forces department. He was able to get this position thanks to the fact that his old regiment commander happened to be demobilized in the armed forces department of this province and helped him to make a call.

After returning to his hometown to become an "official", Yang Fuquan also became the face of Yangjiashan Village. Basically, the villagers in the village would look for him for anything, not to mention his cousin Yang Ping'an who had not yet given birth to five gods. It was normal for them to ask him for help.

  It’s just that Yang Fuquan could still make some concessions for him on other matters, but how serious was joining the army?

"Brother, I'm leaving then." Yang Ping'an, who was always a bit unreliable, obviously didn't dare to act rashly in front of his cousin Yang Fuquan, who was the face of the family. After being ruthlessly rejected and ridiculed, he could only respond sullenly and turned away.

"Come back!" Yang Fuquan felt a little bit sorry when he saw his cousin's desolate back, so he quickly called him back.

"Brother, is it?" Yang Pingan turned his head with a look of surprise on his face.

"You are already an adult, 20 years old, don't mess around like this. I will ask my old comrades in the county to see if I can find you a job in the factory. Wait for my news." Yang Fuquan said as he took out 50 yuan from his pocket and stuffed it into Yang Ping'an's hand. "Cheng Bo is old, too. You should buy less corn liquor for him. Go buy two bottles of better ones. Tell Cheng Bo that I will go back to the village to have a drink with him on the weekend!"

"I just trapped a rabbit yesterday." Yang Ping'an's first reaction was to refuse, but seeing his cousin's expression that did not allow for rejection, he could only nod and accept it.

"Ping An! You can do anything else except being a soldier! I really can't do it." Looking at his cousin's back as he left in dejection, Yang Fuquan sighed slightly.

The so-called stay-at-home guys and the gangsters in the village are actually just excuses. Yang Fuquan, who has served in the army, knows that the army is a melting pot that can forge anything from black iron to bronze into fine steel.

The real reason for his refusal was Yang Ping'an's family background.

Yang Fuquan's distant cousin, Yang Ping'an's grandfather and his brothers all had a dark history of serving in the National Army when they were young.

Although so many years have passed, soldiers still need to undergo political review. When Yang Fuquan was in the army, the army even sent someone to investigate. However, since there was more than three generations between them, there was no impact.

Yang Fuquan didn't tell his cousin any other reasons because he was afraid that his cousin would blame his uncle.

As he grew older, he also realized that in that era, people had no choice but to do what they wanted. Moreover, it was self-evident what his cousin's empty trouser leg meant to him, a former soldier!

The old man must have experienced some very cruel battlefields, even though he had never told anyone about his experiences in the army.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Grandpa, I'm back! Look, this wine is good, right?" After returning home, Yang Ping'an suppressed his worries and placed two bottles of wine next to his grandfather who was sitting in the shade of the big locust tree at the door to bask in the sun.

Yang Ping'an's parents died in a car accident ten years ago, leaving only the grandfather and grandson in the family, who depend on each other for survival.

The old man with only one leg loved his only grandson very much. Even when Yang Ping'an did not go to work after graduating from high school and lived on the mountain products and his own pitiful five-guarantee money, he did not say much.

Just like he named his grandson Ping An, he never expected his grandson to be successful or anything, he just hoped that he could live a peaceful life.

The old man has no other hobbies except drinking. He doesn't need any snacks to go with his wine. A small bowl of fried soybeans grown in his own field can go with half a pound of wine.

His favorite thing to do was to sit under the big locust tree at the doorstep and stare at the cornfield in the distance. Sometimes he would sit there for an entire afternoon.

Yang Ping'an asked his grandfather why he kept looking at that place. The old man shook his head and said nothing, but his eyes became more bleak and the wrinkles on his forehead seemed to have deepened.

"What's the matter? Did you trap a fox or catch a big fish? Are you willing to buy such good wine?" The old man glanced at the bottle of wine and asked lightly.

"Brother Fuquan paid for it. He said he would come and have a couple of drinks with you on the weekend. It seems I have to go to the mountain twice more in the next two days, otherwise you two won't even have anything to eat." Yang Ping'an lowered his head and answered sullenly.

"You went to see Fuquan and told him you wanted to join the army, but he refused, right?" the old man asked, his eyelids twitching slightly.

"Grandpa, you know, I've wanted to be a soldier since I was little. When I was little, I climbed trees and mountains much faster than Goudan and Heiwa. I went to Internet cafes to play CS to train my shooting skills and reaction. I even went to the mountains to trap rabbits, thinking that if I were in the army, I might be able to use these designed mechanisms to kill the enemy like Rambo in the movie.

I don't understand why you don't let me join the army, and Brother Fuquan doesn't let me go either. I really can't understand it." Perhaps because he was in front of his closest relatives, Yang Ping'an's depressed mood suddenly broke out.

"Oh!" Facing his grandson's venting of depressed emotions, the old man's somewhat turbid eyes flashed with a deep sadness, and he closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh.

Seeing that his grandfather's mood seemed to have become depressed because of his venting, and the wrinkles on his face seemed to have deepened, Yang Pingan couldn't help but feel a deep sense of guilt in his heart.

He was brought up by his grandfather, and the two had a very deep relationship. However, the stubbornness unique to young people would not let him give in so quickly while he was still in a state of deep depression.

"Do you really want to join the army?" The old man, who still had his eyes closed, suddenly said in a low voice.

"Yeah!" Yang Ping'an nodded vigorously.

Ever since he saw the movie "Bloody Battle of Taierzhuang" in the village when he was a child, the eight or nine-year-old child was moved by the soldiers holding explosives and rushing towards the Japanese tanks, and he also wanted to be like them.

"Go and take out the small wooden box at the bottom of my camphorwood box!" The old man took out a key from his clothes and handed it to Yang Ping'an.

  Yang Ping'an was a little confused holding the key!

He knew that his grandfather treasured the camphorwood box very much. According to his parents, even they had never seen the old man open it in front of them. For a long time, the box was buried underground in the yard by his grandfather.

Unexpectedly, there was a small wooden box inside. Could it be that it contained some gold, silver and treasures for him to use to build connections?

You know, it is said that the Yang family was a wealthy family sixty or seventy years ago, but later declined because of the coming of the Japanese.

Since they are a wealthy family, how could they not have some backup plan?

Thinking of this, Yang Ping'an's heart was burning with joy.

However, the small box that was taken out was much lighter than Yang Ping'an expected, so he could forget about the gold bracelets and silver ingots.

The old man who sat in the yard stretched out his hand and gently stroked the small wooden box, which was almost covered with patina, for a long time. An inexplicable vicissitude flashed in his eyes, and he gently pulled away the wooden lid.

There really was no gold, silver or jewelry in the wooden box as Yang Ping'an had imagined, let alone any banknotes, passbooks, bank cards or anything like that. They had never existed in Yang Ping'an's mind at all. There was only a tattered certificate with only edges and corners left, a few black and white photos, and a few medals.

"Haven't you heard in the village that our Yang family was once a wealthy family? The people in this photo are all of them!" The old man motioned for Yang Ping'an to take out one of the photos.

It was an old black-and-white photo, but because it was well preserved, the photo is still very clear even today!

In the photo, three soldiers look heroic in their military uniforms. However, it is obvious that the two soldiers on the sides are more muscular, while the one in the middle is much thinner. As long as you are not blind, you can see that the two soldiers on the sides are extremely caring towards the one in the middle. Otherwise, why would that bean sprout stand in the middle of the three?

"These are your second grandfather and third grandfather." The old man said softly.

"What about the one in the middle?" Yang Pingan asked instinctively.

"It's me. I am the sixth in our Yang family's generation. I have five older brothers and three younger brothers and sisters!" The old man's voice was very calm.

  "Oh my god, where are there so many people in our Yang family?" Yang Ping'an's eyes almost turned into bells!

Sure enough, their Yang family was once a wealthy family, and his grandfather had been a soldier just as the legend said.

"That year, your great grandfather swore to heaven that he would kill the Japanese invaders to avenge the blood feud of our Yang family, so the six of us brothers joined the army to fight the Japanese invaders.

Your great grandfather, fourth grandfather and fifth grandfather all joined the 29th Army. When the Japanese attacked Wancheng, your great grandfather died in battle. Your fourth grandfather died a month later while trying to stop the Japanese pursuit. Your fifth grandfather died in Taierzhuang the following year." The old man's eyes were filled with grief as he spoke of this.

Especially when he thought about the time when he had passed through Xuzhou, if he could talk to the regiment commander at that time, he might have been able to see his fifth brother for the last time there.

  But at that time, the Yang family was in the enemy-occupied area. Not to mention communication, even the death notice, the old Yang family did not receive a single one!

The news was told to the Yang family by a second lieutenant platoon leader from the neighboring county who secretly escaped from the army after the victory of the Great Patriotic War because he did not want to fight anymore.

  Yang Pingan was slightly stunned!

"Your second grandfather and third grandfather took me to join the 67th Army. They both died in the Battle of Shanghai." The old man spoke softly about what happened more than 60 years ago, his voice extremely calm. But tears were gleaming in his eyes!

Even though 63 years have passed, he still clearly remembers his third brother driving out to lure out Japanese planes and then turning back to tell him: "No matter how hard it is, you have to stay alive. One of the six brothers in our Yang family must go back and report the news."

He did it. He fulfilled his promise to his younger brother. After the victory of the Great Patriotic War, he refused the attempts of his superiors and comrades to retain him, gave up his bright future, and stubbornly chose to return to his hometown.

"That document belonged to your third grandfather. The car he was driving was hit by a Japanese machine gun and caught fire. I was able to snatch this little thing."

Yang Ping'an couldn't say a word. Although these grandfathers were too far away from him, and he didn't even know of their existence until today, he could feel the pain deep in the hearts of his grandfathers with calm faces.

All five brothers died in the battlefield. Grandpa must have been extremely heartbroken!

"Then our Yang family." Yang Ping'an squatted down and held his grandfather's withered hand, gently touching the fragments of the document from more than 60 years ago with his fingers.

Grandpa's hands are actually a little cold in this early summer!

"During the eight years we were away from home, the Japanese invaders and traitors were rampant in the countryside, and the people were living in misery. Of my three younger brothers and sisters, only one sister survived. Several of my older cousins ​​joined the Anti-Japanese Guerrillas, and none of them came back.

We were the only hope for the elderly. Your great grandfather was devastated when he learned that the eldest, fourth, and fifth sons were all gone. He fell ill and died before I returned. The three aunts and the other two uncles who stayed at home waited until I returned, but they were hit again when they heard the bad news about the second and third sons. In ten years, they were basically gone.

My Yang family is so big, but later on, during the New Year, not to mention full seats, one side was enough for one person." At this point, the old man's eyes finally burst into tears.

  Yang Pingan was completely stunned!

Nothing could be worse than the destruction of a family and the loss of loved ones!

It turns out that war is so cruel!

Yang Ping'an finally understood where his name Ping'an came from. His grandfather, who had experienced so much hardship, hoped that he could live in peace. That was the simplest and most extravagant wish of their generation.

"Grandpa, I'm sorry. I just realized it now. You should have told me earlier." Yang Ping'an couldn't help but shed tears.

"It's all in the past, it's all in the past. The country is good now. Even though your grades were not good, you still finished high school. In our time, it was good to have a school to go to. Every family had land, and as long as you had hands and feet, you would not starve to death." Seeing his grandson crying, the old man patted Yang Ping'an's hand gently and comforted him.

"Take this and go to the Armed Forces Department to find Fuquan and tell him that you want to join the army. If the army requires a political review, this will be the proof." The old man took out a somewhat gray medal from the innermost part of the small wooden box.

The medal was not small, weighing at least 20-30 taels, with the word "特" on the surface and the words "Awarded by the 4th Line Regiment directly under the 23rd Army Group!" engraved on the back.

"Which unit is this 23rd Army?" Yang Ping'an asked subconsciously. As he saw the biggest one, the 4th Regiment and the like were automatically ignored.

"The Sichuan Army, right? They're the troops that came from that place that likes to eat hotpot. Our commander's hometown is there." Speaking of his commander, the old man's cloudy eyes suddenly seemed to light up.

A bitter smile appeared on Yang Ping'an's face.

Although he didn't know much about the history of that era, he still knew that they were not from the same faction! Later, they became rivals. If he took the medal issued by this unit, it would be a miracle if the unit would recognize it.

"Just go when I tell you to. If Fuquan doesn't dare to answer, then let him find his leader. If he doesn't even dare to find his leader, then let him get out and never come to my house again." When the old man saw his grandson's look, he didn't know what he was thinking, so he frowned and raised his voice.

Even though the old man had a broken leg, he had been in the army for many years and still had the aura he needed. Not to mention Yang Ping'an being afraid, even if someone had come to cause trouble for him based on the legend, he would still have sat at the door like this, and if he had just narrowed his eyes slightly, those people would not have dared to move.

  It was not until many years later that Yang Ping'an understood what that kind of momentum was called: murderous aura!

Yang Pingan's scalp tingled when he thought of his grandfather with a broken leg who had fought his way out of the bloodbath during the Battle of Hengyang. Fortunately, he was just a little naughty, but not reckless. If he really hung out with the hooligans in the town, it would be hard to say whether there would be a modern version of the sacrifice of relatives for the sake of justice.

  The medal was given to Yang Fuquan a few days ago, but there was no reply. Yang Pingan also lost interest in joining the army. If he missed this year, he would be 20 and 21. It would be better for him to stay at home and plant rabbits to accompany his grandfather!

When my grandfather is a hundred years old, I will go out to work and earn money to marry a wife and have a baby. If you like guns, then go to the Internet cafe in town and play some CS.

Yang Pingan, who was walking down the mountain carrying two rabbits, had already started planning for his future when he heard a shrill cry: "Uncle Pingan, something happened, something happened!"

  Looking from afar, the person shouting at the foot of the mountain was none other than his cousin who was only three or four years younger than him!

Could it be that something happened to Grandpa? Yang Pingan was so panicked that he dropped the rabbit and ran down the mountain.

"Uncle Ping'an, you should go home soon, go home soon!" The fifteen-year-old boy must have been running all the way here, and his speech was a little incoherent.

"What's the matter? It's my grandpa." Yang Ping's heart sank suddenly.

“It’s Master Hua!” The young man just nodded, and when he saw Yang Ping’an’s face suddenly turn pale, he quickly shook his head: “It’s not Master Hua!”

Yang Pingan wants to eat people.

"A lot of cars and people came to the village, all looking for my grandfather." The young man finally said a complete sentence.

Yang Ping'an, who ran back to the village with the boy, finally understood why his cousin said there were so many cars and so many people. There were really a lot of cars, some black and some green, more than a dozen in total.

There were even more people, some wearing suits, some wearing Zhongshan suits, and some wearing military uniforms.

Yang Ping'an, a little dazed, walked towards his home woodenly. Perhaps someone had said that Yang Ping'an was from this family, for the group of middle-aged people standing near the door all smiled kindly at him.

As soon as he walked into the door, Yang Pingan was even more confused.

A group of old men and a silver-haired old lady surrounded grandpa.

Was this, the former creditor coming to visit? This absurd thought miraculously flashed through Yang Ping'an's mind.

Otherwise, why would so many old men gather in my house?

"Is this Brother Bicheng, is your grandson safe?" The old lady's eyes were still a little red, obviously she had just cried.

"Ping An, come here." The old man stood on one leg and asked Yang Ping An to call people in a domineering manner: "This is your Grandpa Niu, this is your Grandma Erya, this is your Grandpa Tu Dou, this is your Grandpa Chuan Zi, and this is you."

Yang Ping'an was like a puppet, constantly lowering his head and calling for help.

The old men all nodded with a smile.

The old lady held Yang Ping'an's hand, her eyes reddened again, she turned back and said angrily: "Brother Bicheng, you are really unkind, it's ok to just go home, but you didn't tell me that I gave you the wrong address, and you even changed your name. The commander and our comrades have been looking for you for decades."

"I don't want to trouble you, and I don't want to trouble my superiors. I'm living a good life now!" the old man replied somewhat embarrassedly.

In those days, he was also panicked and changed his name to protect his family. Later, as transportation became more convenient and information flowed more smoothly, he was afraid that too much time had passed and his old comrades had long forgotten him. He also didn't want to embarrass himself. If his grandson Yang Ping'an had not insisted on joining the army, he would not have taken out the medal. Originally, those things would have gone to the underworld with him.

He was already very satisfied to have survived that brutal war.

"No matter what, you can't run away this time. I called the commander and told him that I found you. He and Sister Mingyue were very happy, but he was also very angry. He said that if you don't want to live, don't you want to die? Your old squad leader Abacus is waiting there for you to see him for more than 40 years. How can you bear it?" the silver-haired old lady said again.

"It's my fault. I'll go and apologize to the squad leader!" Upon hearing this, Yang Bicheng burst into tears.

"Yang Ping'an, right?" The old man named Tu Dou, who was obviously several years younger, looked at Yang Ping'an with a smile. "You want to join the army?"

"Yeah!" Yang Ping'an nodded repeatedly.

"Okay, then pack up and accompany your grandfather with us."

"Where are you going?" Yang Ping'an obviously didn't react.

"Join the army? Go to Taihang, where your grandfather fought." The old man looked at Yang Bicheng. "Brother Chengzi, your grandson is stupid, he doesn't have the demeanor you had when you were young! If you tell him that you, Yang Bicheng, have killed hundreds of Japanese soldiers, he will be scared to pee his pants, right?"

"When I was his age, I was even dumber than him! It's because I met my superior!" Yang Bicheng laughed.

That demeanor and spirit were completely different from the usually taciturn grandfather in Yang Ping'an's eyes.

But Yang Ping'an was really shocked. His head was still buzzing even after he got in the car and boarded the plane.

It’s really true that old men are too good at bragging.

But the old men did not lie about one thing: Yang Ping'an really joined the army.

Three days later, Yang Ping'an put on a new military uniform. He was specially recruited into the army and would be trained with the new students of the special forces academy.

It was like a dream! Especially when I heard my grandfather's name appear in a real battle example during the Great Patriotic War.

The word "特" at the front of the medal represents special military merit!

His grandfathers were anti-Japanese heroes!