Twenty

  As they approached the entrance of the village, everyone couldn't help but admire the natural and ingenious design of the village's entrance. They all thought that the ancestors who founded this village must have chosen this location because of its unique natural hidden barrier.

  It seems there is no way forward, with giant rocks scattered ahead. Making a detour around them reveals another mountain wall, which requires traversing through layers of stone walls. After walking for thirty steps, suddenly the path opens up! Looking out into the distance, it's a vast and rare flat plain, hidden in this deep valley surrounded by mountains on all sides. Suddenly, it's like stumbling upon a serene and peaceful scene from a painting of a secluded utopia.

  Looking at the distant scenery of houses and fields, gazing at the faint human figures that have already entered the horizon, looking at the peaceful scene of a world with only a wisp of smoke, for a moment everyone was infected by the picture in front of them, and suddenly forgot all the turmoil and strife in this world! Everyone just wants to settle down here and live here forever! Being a rustic farmer who delights in tilling the land is also good!

  Yes! War can destroy everything and take away many good things. But it can also bring us many beautiful things that are overlooked in peacetime.

  Like the scene in front of him, if it weren't for the fact that he had been dancing on the edge of life and death for days, who would have been infected by its sacred aura? At this moment, all members of the rescue team, including these children who were still experiencing the hardships of life and death, were deeply infected by this beautiful landscape in front of them! Fang Lan was even more afraid that this might be a mirage-like illusion, afraid that everything would suddenly disappear in an instant. He grasped Yan Wei's arm tightly, not daring to let go.

  In the era of peace, we yearn for prosperity. The ten-mile foreign concession in Shanghai is a sea of neon lights and revelry every night, entrancing countless worldly people! At that time, rural villages like this one before us were as common as fish crossing the river in my China! But looking at my country today, the land is on the verge of collapse, and the desolation is unbearable to behold! In such a situation, this scene becomes all the more precious, delightful, and heartwarming!

  It can be seen that nothing in this world is precious, valuable, worthless or contemptible. The difference lies in the environment and the changes of things!

  We pursue wealth, even at the cost of our entire life's youth, giving up everything we can give to pursue it! But when we are surrounded by wealth and hold a handful of gold bars, alone in the wilderness, facing a ferocious wolf, we will realize that all the gold and silver on our body cannot be exchanged for an ordinary kitchen knife from a street food stall at this moment! Obviously, one ton of gold is not as valuable as a kitchen knife at this moment!

  We hold great love in high esteem, and pursue it with a passion that defies life and death! Because it is beautiful, because it is magnificent, because it touches the heart! But when beautiful love encounters the evil of money, watching as so-called love worth less than a penny is dragged away by the guilty hand of wealth! We then realize that those ancient people who praised love must have been soulless, lovelorn individuals from centuries past!

  So we start to pursue money again! When the wealth of being rich is like a stray dog in front of the supreme power, our souls are hit again! The painful and bloody knocks on our hearts tell us that money is as light as a feather in front of power! It will be blown away by a weak airflow at any time without blowing! So we start to understand that only the supreme power is the first of all things! We also begin to understand why the ancients always said that reading books is the highest of all!

  Then we pursue rights again!

  When the arrival of power chases away true feelings, when we are surrounded by a large group of demons and monsters who pursue power, we even miss the days when we were ordinary people and often had the phrase "I love you too". Of course, now people who love themselves are simply flocking to it, but apparently they seem to love their own status more! Not to mention being tempted by the great temptation of power and becoming a sacrifice to power! Or being imprisoned and trapped in court!

  What a person's life really needs, what we are pursuing, is different in every stage of life. Being able to remain calm and rational at all times, using theory to look at life, is not easy.

  "Are we going in like this, or should you and I go ahead and scout the road first?" After these few days of hard work, Wu Huanhua obviously also yearned for this scene! His eyes were fixed on the scenery in front of him as he spoke to Yan Wei.

  "I don't think it's necessary to scout ahead, do we? We're the regular army of the Republic of China, not bandits raiding a village! What's the point of scouting around?" He then gave a loud order: "The whole army will enter the village, keep your guns at the ready and maintain formation." With that, he led the way into the village.

  This is clearly not a Shangri-La written by Tao Gong. Along the way, the villagers' clothing and appearance are no different from those in the outside world, and the gazes of the villagers looking at the crowd are also nothing out of the ordinary. It's just that seeing such a large group of soldiers bringing so many children in, people can't help but feel puzzled and perplexed.

  "Hey fellow villager," Yan Wei walked up to the two peasants standing by the side of the road and asked one of them, "where is the village head around here?"

  "This officer, your army belongs to Officer Zhao, right? Our village chief is inside, you'll find him if you go further in." This rural farmer had obviously seen soldiers before, but he was also somewhat mistaken.

  Yan Wei thought, "This village can't be that big! I'll probably find the person in charge once I go inside." He habitually waved his hand and continued to lead the team into the village.

  As they approached the center of the village, a man in his early forties, dressed in black, came running towards them with a respectful smile on his face. Although they didn't know who he was, judging from his reverent expression, it seemed that he should be the village chief.

  "This officer, why do you look so unfamiliar? Looking at all of you military officers with your rugged and rustic appearance, and bringing so many children, you must have traveled a lot of mountain roads. I am the village head of this village, just call me Old Fourth Yu. Quick, all of you officers, hurry up and follow me to my home to rest! Let me arrange for the villagers to find a place for you military officers to settle down first. Looking at how muddy you are, last night's autumn rain was really fierce! The road into the village must be difficult to walk on. I'll lead the way in front, officer, please follow me." This self-proclaimed Old Fourth Yu, the village head, said this and then stretched out his hands to gesture for Yan Wei to hurry up and follow him back to his home.

  Seeing that Lao Si was a sensitive and insightful person, which was in line with his own personality, Yan Wei felt a sense of goodwill towards him. He also stretched out his hand to invite him to follow him.

  "I say, Old Fourth, this village of yours is really in a great location! Not to mention the Japanese devils, even a rabbit can't be found if you're not careful!"

  When Yán Wéi mentioned the Japanese devils, this old man couldn't help but look pale and terrified! But he still immediately put on a smiling face and said: "The village has been passed down from our ancestors, and all the villagers, young and old, are surnamed Yóu except for the daughters-in-law who have married in over the years. The village is hard to find, but fortunately it's located between two big mountains, so it's a small basin! The four seasons are mild and peaceful, and over the years, we've managed to make a living for more than 300 households in our village!" After finishing speaking, he slowed down his pace, looked up at Yán Wéi with fear and asked: "Officer, have the Japanese arrived now?"

  It's clear that the Japanese are not isolated from the world. Yan Wei smiled and said, "Now it seems like our entire Hubei province has fallen into the hands of the Japanese! You Lao Si, we soldiers are incompetent and couldn't protect the people's homes. This is...". He turned his head to look at the group of children behind him, pointing and saying: "When Wuhan fell, we risked our lives to rescue these orphans who were left in the city, planning to send them to Sichuan. We didn't expect to end up here, but several children have fallen ill from not eating or drinking well for days! And last night's heavy rain made a few of them develop high fevers! Luckily we encountered your village, so even if it's inconvenient, we'll have to trouble the village chief for a few days!"

  "Officer, look... what kind of talk is this?! Your national army soldiers are fighting bravely in the front lines to protect us ordinary people, and they don't even care about their own lives! And yet you say something as polite as 'disturbing'?! It's really embarrassing for a small person like me! It's an honor for our Youjia Village that your army has arrived here! I represent all the villagers, over 1,800 people, to welcome your army to stay in our village! Don't mention anything else, we have everything ready: food, lodging, and even clean clothes! Not to mention it's our national army on official business, if we saw a child abandoned in the wilderness, wouldn't we rush to take them home first?"

  Yan Wei handed out cigarettes to You Lao Si while turning his head to glance at the children behind him, saying: "Since you, Old You, understand the situation and know what's right, let's not waste words. The kids can't hold on anymore, so first arrange for the villagers to take care of them."

  Watching the children get settled, Wu Hanhui walked up and patted Yu Laosi on the back from behind as he was directing villagers to call out to people outside. Yu Laosi immediately turned around and took a glance at Wu Hanhui's collar insignia, smiling and saying: "Sir, what are your orders?"

  "There's nothing to instruct, just representing the government to express gratitude for your good deed." After that, he actually took out a small gold bar from his pocket and handed it over to You Lao Si.

  This move even startled Yan Wei! He secretly thought: "Heh heh, the Military Affairs Department is really something! Just looking at their moves, they're more generous than our own Commander-in-Chief!"

  Lao Si stared at the small, shiny gold bar and was completely stunned! Who has ever seen this before? For a moment, even he, who was usually quite composed, was left speechless! He simply raised his hand, pointing at the small gold bar in Wu Han's hand, and kept staring at Wu Han.

  Wu Hanhua then grabbed the old man's hand with his left hand and slapped the small gold bar into his palm with his right hand, looking into his eyes and laughing: "You can support the national army in times of national crisis, which shows that your patriotic heart is commendable! In fact, there isn't much, our big and small family of dozens of people, don't know how many days we will bother you here! Even if it's exchanged for silver dollars, it's not enough for each of us to pay two yuan for food! Village head Yu doesn't need to be polite."

  "How can the food expenses be so much? Moreover, it's an honor for our village to serve the national army officers, how can we talk about money?" Yu Lao Si said, holding up the small gold bar in his hand tightly in front of Wu Han Hui.

  Wu Hanhua smiled and said, "The money is for the public house, not mine, so I won't bother to count it carefully. It's all for the country anyway. But there's one thing...". He stared into Yu Laosi's eyes and said, "Immediately inform everyone in the village that before we leave, no one is allowed to go out of the village again, lest the news leaks out! Those who violate this will be severely punished!"

  Lao Si saw Wu Hanhuai's expression change suddenly and thought to himself, "This soldier is still a soldier after all! If something goes wrong, no one in the village will be spared!" He stopped haggling with Wu Hanhuai over the money and carefully tucked the small gold bar into his waist. Smiling at Wu Hanhuai, he said, "Don't worry, officer. Our villagers can generally take care of themselves, even if they don't leave the village for ten days or half a month. You can rest assured. By the way, there are two people in our village who know some traditional Chinese medicine. I'll call them over to take a look at the sick children." With that, he nodded at Wu Hanhuai and busied himself with other tasks.