Chapter 36 Little Rabbit, are you a descendant of Ye Wenchang?

  This time, Ye Ying entered prison for his good friend and mentor Gu Xiangying. In June 1962, a famous marshal was investigated by the Central Committee, and Gu Xiangying, as the marshal's protégé, also came under investigation. Ye Ying stood up to defend him, but the details are not worth mentioning. In short, this daredevil was knocked down again for his old friend, charged with an unstable stance, and not having thoroughly eliminated the poisonous roots of petty-bourgeois liberal thought. He needed to be sent back to the great melting pot of proletarian dictatorship for re-forging.

  Five years later, under the mediation of the same old superior, Ye Ying was released from prison and served as the director of the Revolutionary Committee of Steel City, Liaoning Province.

  By 1971, his fate changed again. His former superior became the leader of a counter-revolutionary clique and he was implicated, arrested again, and imprisoned for life without political rights. He was not even allowed to see his family. In the subsequent turmoil in the political arena, he never had the opportunity to return to the stage. In 1983, with the help of an old friend who became the chairman of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, he was transferred here for imprisonment. Originally, Mr. Gu planned to rehabilitate him after a few years, but unexpectedly, in September 1983, Mr. Gu himself died of lung cancer. As a result, this old man became a lonely and forgotten soul.

  In 1951, during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Ye Ying, as the head of a military unit, also participated in that brutal war. At that time, Gao Ping, who was 16 years old, was his communication officer. Gao Ping had always been sympathetic and regretful about Ye Ying's situation, and he had always revered Ye Ying himself. So when Ye Ying lived here, it was just like living in a nursing home, and Gao Ping even assigned two officials to take care of the old man's body and life.

  There's no cleverness that doesn't become a book, and neither Ye Haodong nor Ye Ying could have ever imagined that their first meeting would be in such a place. Ye Haodong and Ye Ying recognized each other because of a game of chess.

  That afternoon, Ye Haodong was so bored that he set up a chessboard in the courtyard and played against himself. Just as he was getting tired of it, an old man came over and insisted on playing a few games with him. Ye Haodong was delighted to have an opponent and agreed readily. However, the old man proved to be no match for Ye Haodong, who beat him four times in a row. The old man became enraged and stormed off, only to return with reinforcements - a group of middle-aged and elderly men from the courtyard. Ye Haodong was not intimidated and continued to play, astonishing everyone with his exceptional chess skills. In the end, the old men all agreed that Ye Haodong's chess abilities were far superior to those of Old Ye, and they invited him into a small building behind the main house, a place he had never been to before.

  Ye Ying was the old Ye that these elderly people who had been locked up for decades would mention. As soon as Ye Haodong appeared in front of him, he was shocked, mainly because this young man with the same surname as himself looked too much like his own youth, and Ye Haodong's mouthful of messy Gangcun dialect further strengthened the old man's speculation.

  However, this old man was just like the young master opposite him, both with a proud and arrogant temperament. The old general didn't rush to ask about Ye Haodong's background, but instead started playing a game of chess with him with great interest. This game of chess ended up being an unfinished one, because Ye Haodong thought he could win, but the old general believed it was a draw. The two argued for half a day without giving in to each other, and the old general's temper flared up, causing him to flip the table over. Ye Haodong's eyes were just as wide as the old general's, stubbornly saying that flipping the table wouldn't work, because he had the entire game stored in his mind and could replay it at any time. The two of them butted heads for more than half a day, until they finally burst out laughing together. These two men both had quick tempers and were also quick to let go, with bold and uninhibited personalities.

  Yue Ying didn't surprise people to death, and directly asked: "Is Little Rabbit a descendant of Yue Wenchang?"

  Ye Haodong initially found it strange, but after some thought, he remembered the legend of the disobedient son that his great-grandfather used to scold countless times when he was a child. The old man would always sigh before talking about the grandfather who had affected his father's fate for life. If Grandpa Ye Ying were still alive, shouldn't he still be serving his sentence? Since his mysterious transfer from the Northern Political Prisoners Management Office in '83, the Ye family had never heard any news of him again, and rumors said that the old man had been persecuted to death.

  Grandfather spoke fiercely, and his grandson was also straightforward: "Is Ye Wenchang your son?"

  Yue Ying burst out laughing: "Little rabbit, how dare you talk to me like that?"

  Ye Haodong refused to show weakness: "Can't I just hug your thigh, cry and shout 'Grandpa' for you to be satisfied?"

  Ye Ying glared at Ye Haodong, this time observing his inner qualities rather than just his appearance. After a long while, he finally walked over and gave Ye Haodong's shoulder a heavy slap, "Little rabbit, your body is indeed sturdy, must be the result of your great-grandfather's training since you were young."

  Ye Haodong nodded: "It's okay, grandpa...grandfather, hey, it's really not habitual to call this title suddenly, or I'll just call you old master, true respect is in the heart and not in the mouth."

  "Your great-grandfather......?"

  Ye Haodong hastily replied: "In '89, before I left, nothing was wrong with me, no illness or disaster. After a big sleep, I never came back. And another person you wouldn't think of also passed away - my old man Ye Wen Chang, liver cancer, died in '93. Now our grandson and I are both fatherless children."

  Ye Ying's expression was gloomy for a long time. After all, he had experienced too many life-and-death separations and had lost two wives and two children during the war years. In 1960, after liberation, he suffered another blow when his third wife and two young sons died of hunger, leaving only his eldest son Ye Wenchang, who was already ten years old at the time. The impact was immense, but at that time, he didn't shed a single tear either. A hero is not necessarily heartless; how can one be a good father without loving his child? Ye Ying's pain had always been there, but like Ye Haodong, he was also skilled at burying his pain deep in his heart.

  Ye Ying fell silent for a long time, then suddenly raised his head, with a faint glimmer of tears in his eyes. But he was given a fierce glare back, and gritting his teeth, he tried to keep his voice steady, asking: "How many sons did Ye Wenchang have? Which one are you?"

  Ye Haodong: "Three, I am the smallest."

  Ye Ying thought for a moment, nodded, and muttered in dissatisfaction: "Good-for-nothing, huh, barely passed. And to Ye Haodong: You're not bad, but your chess skills are nothing special."

  Ye Haodong didn't argue with him this time, and said nothing. The two of them just sat there in silence together.

  Ye Ying's voice rose, somewhat hoarse: "Little thing, you say that Grandpa is not a heavenly life, why do I have to experience the departure of so many people around me in this lifetime?"

  Ye Haodong didn't speak, he continued to mutter to himself: "Those old things that saw Marx and Mao before me don't count, let's just talk about our family. First it was you Fengqin grandma and your two big uncles who were killed by the little devils, then it was Gu Jinghui, killed by the Nationalists, then it was your grandma and your two uncles, later it was your Grandpa Gu, then it was Old Master, now it's your dad. You little thing, tell me, shouldn't I just die alone here? Is it that whoever gets close to me will be close to death?"

  Ye Haodong laughed heartlessly: "Don't be modest, what you said makes sense. I'm in Xinjiang now, and just a few days ago, I almost got taken to the execution ground for target practice. But it seems my life is tougher than yours, and I didn't let you kill me off. I've managed to live again."

  Ye Ying suddenly remembered that he hadn't asked his grandson how he came here, so the grandfather and grandson sat down. Ye Ying had a table of food prepared by the public servant, and they drank Guo Jiao's Maotai while eating and chatting. Only then did Ye Haodong recount his experiences since his father's death.

  Ye Ying this old man is indeed extraordinary. Throughout the narrative process, he interrupted Ye Haodong's speech three times, all of which were about the relationship between the three girls and Ye Haodong. The old man's questions made people slap their thighs and shout "no wonder": "Did you leave your seed behind?" Ye Haodong was so angry that he couldn't help but laugh, while the old man shook his head in enlightenment, "Ah~ I guess it's enough, nowadays young people all talk about not having children or having them late, actually it's all nonsense."

  Ye Haodong finally spoke about the reason he came here, and the old man made a concluding speech: "If you do well, young man, you should be like this. A real man, die with honor rather than live in shame. That prison guard Huang Yangmu is simply asking for death, you should have killed him directly."

  From that day on, Ye Haodong officially moved into the small courtyard specially arranged by Ye Ping for Ye Ying to live alone. It was only then that Ye Haodong understood why Ye Ying could enjoy such high treatment here. It turned out that the commander and political commissar of the Southern Xinjiang Military Region were both old men who had been brought up by their grandfather when he was a military leader.

  At the age of 64, Gao Ping was his communicator during the Korean War, when he was still a young soldier. Ye Ying later promoted him to be an officer, and in the subsequent process of step-by-step promotion, he also played a crucial role many times. When Gu Xiangying was re-appointed, it was Ye Ying who recommended Gao Ping to his old comrade-in-arms, and they came to Xinjiang together with Gu Xiangying.

  Fifty-five-year-old Political Commissar Sun Guangming is Gu Xiangying's son-in-law. This slightly henpecked Political Commissar Sun did not climb to his current position by eating soft rice, but rather his marriage was the result of free love. If we talk about family background, his own background is even better than that of his wife, whose father was a former State Councilor. His own father was a General in the Republic and Chief of Staff.

  These two senior officials are both juniors of Ye Ying, so the old man is a veritable warlord emperor here, with no one daring to say anything or control him. He has extremely high freedom. As long as the old man wants, even letting him travel around the country for a tour would be no problem. His case had long been settled, but now which leader in the central government would still care about this old man who has been far away from the core of power for many years and is already in his twilight years?

  Ye Haodong's recognition of Ye Ying quickly reached the ears of the two big shots in the military district. The next day, the two came together to congratulate them and held a grand lunch for this occasion. Four people, three old soldiers and one young offender, drank away three bottles of Maotai.