Chapter Thirty-Five: Two Old Men and a Turn of Fate

  In those days, Ye Haodong became very interested in the old man who was detained in the adjacent single room No. 1, who would talk about counter-revolutionary and riotous ideas in his sleep but not say a word during the day. At first, the old man didn't pay much attention to Ye Haodong. But Ye Haodong was too bored, so he kept talking to the old man about his own affairs, whether there was anything going on or not. As time went by, the old man gradually reacted to Ye Haodong's words that intentionally provoked him, and occasionally even argued with him for a few sentences. The old man's words made Ye Haodong clearly feel that the person on the other side of the wall was an ultra-old rebel, and also extremely violent.

  As time passed, the two became more familiar with each other. In recent days, apart from eating and sleeping, they had not stopped chatting. The old man's offense was never mentioned, but Ye Haodong could imagine that it must be something serious. Not only was the old man locked in a single room, but also because of his refined and intelligent demeanor, Ye Haodong thought that someone like him would either not make mistakes or make big ones if he did. During their conversations, they had never reached an agreement until Ye Haodong said those words that day, which made the old man fall into deep contemplation for a whole day, ending this endless debate.

  "You say it's for national independence, for freedom, you just want to make trouble, you want to rebel. I want to ask you, do you have ancestors? What kind of life did your ancestors live? Why didn't they rebel against the Qing government? What is the trend of the times, do you understand?

  During the time of Tang Taizong, Li Yuan had surrendered to your ancestors, but what happened afterwards? Your ancestors were chased by Li Yuan's son and some fled to Europe, while others surrendered. Do you know why?

  The hearts of the people are set on great things, it is an unstoppable trend! You say that if everyone in the world were loyal and filial, there would be no change of dynasties, this becomes one of your reasons for rebelling. But have you thought about which rebellions succeeded during peaceful times?

  You really think so, that's why you've done those things to plot and stir up the trend of the times, secretly colluding with foreign powers. Do you think you can create a Chinese version of Georgia and Chechnya?

  Wake up! The current trend of the times is development! There can be war for this, there can be peace for this. Do you think that the foreign power supporting you is helping you achieve your so-called lofty ideals?

  Have you thought about it, in the Middle East, those fellow Muslims are fighting against that same power for the same ideals as yours? Why don't they talk about ideals and democracy when facing the Muslim brothers in the Middle East?

  In the end, you're just a small pawn used by them to blackmail the Chinese government. Do you really think you have more chips than the Chinese government?

  Stirring up the trend of the times? Have you seen the trend clearly? You're just a group of people being used, with empty and unrealistic ideas in your heads, traitors to the country!

  From an individual's perspective, I admire that you're a bold and daring man. But as a member of the Chinese nation, I look down on you, it's just a bunch of nonsense, purely eating too much and getting bored."

  Ye Haodong's words were a summary statement he had concluded after the two people had debated for several days, and almost every word had been pent up in his heart for a long time, so in the end he almost shouted out these words. He never thought that his words not only had the effect of stunning the audience but also saved his own life.

  After that argument, the old man was silent for a whole day. Later, he called in the management personnel and said he wanted to confess his guilt.

  On the tenth day of Ye Haodong's detention, the old man was due to be sentenced. Before leaving, he suddenly broke free from the police escort and came to Ye Haodong's cell door, withstanding the electric baton behind him, and said some inexplicable words to Ye Haodong: "Little devil, I've calculated it for you, your big luck in seventy years is coming, you said last time you had a noble person helping you to survive, now I'm telling you, this time you won't die either, your savior is coming soon. Considering the free fortune-telling and all the worldly experiences I shared with you these days, when you get out, pass on a message for me, tell my son to kick that scoundrel Houbad egg out, great things in the world should follow the trend, if it can't be done, give up quickly. If he really wants to take risks, he should leave something behind like his old man did."

  Ye Haodong remembered that when he was bored, he told the old man about his own 70-year-old fortune, and it was hard to believe what he said. He didn't dare to hope too much, but what Ye Haodong couldn't have imagined was that in the evening, his benefactor really came. Moreover, this benefactor's background is a local tyrant-level figure who can be called a "土皇帝" (a colloquial term for a powerful and influential person).

  The local National Security Bureau Director Shang Yunxiao and the Xinjiang Military Region Major General Commander Gao Ping came together to ask about Ye Haodong's case. Ye Haodong was confused and taken away by these two big figures. In the military region's detention room, what followed was endless interrogation, with strange content. It turned out that it was all about Ye Haodong's conversations with the old man during his detention in the restricted area.

  Through someone else's introduction, Ye Haodong only knew that before he was detained, this old man named Kryia Khanjiang had been held in custody for nearly two years since 1997, but hadn't said a word! Ye Haodong was the only person to have had verbal exchanges with him in those two years. The surveillance and eavesdropping devices installed within the prison recorded their several loud and intense conversations. The old man's sudden confession caught the attention of the leaders, and it wasn't until then that the National Security Bureau retrieved the video recordings from the detention center for those days. Ye Haodong, with his exceptional eloquence, was a wrongly imprisoned young offender who had just entered the vision of the top leaders.

  After being detained in the military district's detention room for three days, Ye Haodong's case finally took a turn for the better. The main responsibility that he should have borne fell on the vegetable Huang Yangmu, and the secondary responsibility actually fell on Lin Xiangwu, who was in charge of supervision but failed to do so. He was given a major demerit within the party, with the reason being that Xu Shao had just arrived and had not yet fully grasped the situation of the squadron. Xu Shao was the third person responsible and only received an oral warning from his superiors. Ye Haodong was miraculously defined as having suffered sufficient abuse to cause a fatal self-defense reaction, after which he punched Huang Yangmu more than thirty times on the head. Several forensic doctors and "experts" from the re-education hospital stood up in court to testify that this was indeed the case. As a result, Ye Haodong was able to be recognized as having acted in complete self-defense, with no responsibility for the entire incident. This also made Ye Haodong the only person to have been recognized as having committed three acts of justifiable defense.

  He will spend the rest of his sentence in a special prison for military and political prisoners in the Military Region, all handover procedures were completed within one day, and Ye Haodong was taken to the new place of serving his sentence in a daze, an extremely special place, the Political Department of the Southern Xinjiang Military Region, the Management Office for Reforming Political and Military Criminals.

  After undergoing several rounds of high-level interrogation, Ye Haodong finally ran out of things to say. The Military Region's Political Department and the National Security Bureau gradually lost interest in him. Ye Haodong also finally had the leisure to thoroughly understand this strange special prison.

  This is a small courtyard located in the core area of the garrison's direct troops. There are no high walls, no guards on duty, and no searchlights here. There are also no cruel management cadres, and even daily management is very relaxed. The prisoners living here are mostly over 60 years old and few in number, and they can move around freely among themselves. Although the management here is so loose and the security is so lax, Ye Haodong absolutely believes that no matter how powerful the prisoner is, there is absolutely no chance of escaping from here! Not only because there are surveillance and monitoring devices everywhere in this courtyard, but also because of the tens of thousands of troops stationed around this courtyard and their closely connected and heavily guarded military camps.

  Half a month after moving in, Ye Haodong met a close relative with significant blood ties but had never seen each other before - his grandfather, Mr. Ye Ying.

  This is another legendary figure with rich colors.

  Ye Ying, born in 1915 in a small official family in Fengtian City, his father Ye Boda was a late Qing dynasty scholar and had served as a minor official in the Qing government and also as a minor civil officer under Zhang Da's command. In 1931, he entered the Northeast Military Academy with excellent grades, which was founded by the Northeast Army, and the same year, the Japanese army launched a military attack on Fengtian City, and the September 18th Incident broke out. At the age of 16, Ye Ying enlisted in advance and became a platoon leader in the Northeast Army. Nine months later, at the age of 17, Ye Ying became the youngest battalion-level officer in the Northeast Army, because all the officers above the company level in his unit were killed in action, and the unit's organization was retained, and he also gave a highly motivational speech to mobilize a group of young people to join the army, and thus promoted to battalion commander. In that era, such things were not uncommon and nothing special.

  The biggest turning point in Ye Ying's life occurred in 1938. That year, he had been promoted to Colonel and commander of the 102nd Regiment of the 53rd Brigade of the National Revolutionary Army's 66th Corps, while also serving as acting brigade commander of the 53rd Brigade. It was also that year that a man named Gu Xiangying, a Communist from Fengtian, became his chief of staff, and they quickly became close friends. Under Gu's influence, Ye began to think more deeply about revolution and the fate of China, and after years of contact, by the end of 1944, Ye, who had become Major General and commander of the 105th Division of the 66th Corps, finally made up his mind to lead his troops in joining the Communist-led Eighth Route Army.

  The following year, the Anti-Japanese War was won, and the shadow of civil war loomed. He resolutely led his troops to join the party's ranks before the outbreak of war, and he himself also joined the party that year, taking the lead in accepting reorganization and becoming the deputy commander of the 7th column of the 4th Field Army of the Liberation Army. The subsequent events, the two parties' civil war, Ye Ying followed the 4th Wild War to fight in the south and north, establishing brilliant military achievements. After the founding of the New China Republic, he was also rewarded for his meritorious service and became one of the republic's generals, with a glittering major general rank and the identity of deputy secretary of the Northeast Bureau making him quite glorious for several years.

  He was first imprisoned in 1958, that year he was implicated by the chairman of the Northeast Administrative Committee Gao Mou four years ago and became a prisoner. However, with the help of his former superior, he returned to work in 1962. When he returned home, he learned that his wife and two young children had starved to death two years ago.

  Fate seems to be intentionally tormenting the Ye family's three generations, just when the whole family thought good days were back, this bold and reckless general messed up again.