Volume 1 Chapter 3

  The beauty of autumn is mature, it's not as shy as spring, nor as revealing as summer, nor as introverted as winter. The beauty of autumn is rational.

  The young man's surname is Du, and his single name is Hu. The surname Du is very rare, and in the county town of Yuanlin, it is a unique household. According to my father, Du Lao Han, they escaped from famine in Fangcheng County, Henan Province and came to this place. Due to the poor foundation of their ancestors, they did not leave any property for future generations. The only family property was a thatched hut.

  Dù Hǔ is twenty-one years old, with a square face and a sturdy, dark body. He's not tall, of medium build, which is due to his poor nutrition from losing his parents at a young age, resulting in stunted growth. However, his personality doesn't match his name, as he's timid like a mouse, possibly because of his short stature, making him lack courage when encountering things, afraid of people and matters, especially women. When speaking to females, his face turns red, so when seeing a woman's slender body, he dares not look directly.

  He has an older brother named Du Long, who is five years older than Du Hu, and is now twenty-six years old. In terms of both physique and personality, he is stronger than his younger brother Du Hu. When standing together with his younger brother Du Hu, no one would say that they are brothers. The older brother has a tall and majestic stature, broad shoulders and round waist, over 1.8 meters in height, with a rectangular face, thick eyebrows, and a slightly connected beard.

  There is another special feature that sets him apart from others. On the right side of his forehead, there is a lump that has been growing since he was born. It's not painful to the touch and feels hard. Because it doesn't hurt, he hasn't taken it seriously and hasn't had a doctor check whether it's a cyst or a tumor.

  No matter what, he puffed out his forehead like a horn, so everyone gave him the nickname "Dú Jiǎo Lóng" (Solo Horned Dragon), and since his surname was Dǔ, some also called him Dǔ Jiǎo Lóng (Blocked Horned Dragon) because his horn was solitary.

  As he grew older, it was no longer suitable to call him the Lonely Unicorn. Since his family was poor and couldn't afford to remove the horn for a while, everyone showed respect by calling him the Lonely Dragon, thus earning him the honorable title of Lonely Dragon.

  It is said that Dulon's name has another meaning, his fate is unique, offending and colliding, at the age of 12, he killed his parents, all of which are superstitious sayings without any basis.

  However, my parents did die of schistosomiasis at the age of 12 because they couldn't afford to see a doctor. This is a chronic disease, which local people call "big belly disease". Due to the long duration of the illness, it dragged down the whole family, leaving behind only one property, a thatched hut.

  In the same year, his mother also died of liver disease, leaving behind Du Long and his seven-year-old brother Du Hu.

  This was a sad situation for my elder brother Du Long, who had to take on the heavy responsibility of supporting our family at the age of 12. In the early years of the Republic of China, which had just emerged from a feudal society, my two brothers lived in the ancestral property - a thatched hut, sleeping on a broken bed that was already many years old, relying on each other for survival.

  He took care of his younger brother, protecting him from harm and teaching him to be meticulous in everything he did. As a result, his brother developed good habits from a young age and became responsible for taking care of the household. The hardships they faced made the two brothers mature quickly and understand that life is not easy.

  Just because of poverty at home, neither of the two brothers could attend school. Don't look at Du Long as uncultured, but he is clever and quick-witted, with a keen eye and many ideas, and has superhuman courage. Just because of his boldness, he often fails to remain calm in the face of events, and is prone to recklessness, possibly due to his youth.

  Dulon is a young man with great ambitions and aspirations. From an early age, he had vowed to change his own destiny of poverty, but unfortunately, without anyone's help or support, he was unable to fulfill his wishes.

  As the years slipped away, the two brothers grew up and got married one after another, along with all the other young people of Dulong's age. He alone was unable to fulfill his wish, for his family was too poor; which girl would dare follow him and risk going hungry?

  Until I was twenty-four years old, by chance, in a rural area more than ten miles away, I met a woman and fell in love at first sight. Not for wealth or poverty, but only for the person herself.

  Perhaps he was taken in by his appearance, tall and majestic, with a dignified demeanor, a true talent. She voluntarily followed Du Long to get married, moving Du Long to tears of gratitude, vowing to make something of himself, to change the poor and backward appearance, otherwise how could he be worthy of his virtuous wife.

  "People go to high places, water flows to low places", next door to Du Long lived a neighbor, everyone called him Wu Lao Er, Wu Lao Er was not some big shot either, just slightly better off than Du Long's family, otherwise how could he be neighbors with such a poor kid like Du Long in the suburbs?

  Wu Lao Er has a son named Wu Bai Qiang, who is about ten years older than Du Long and is around 36 years old. He was mischievous and troublesome since he was young and never did anything good.

  However, the mischievous child had his own skills. That year, during the war between the warlords and the National Revolutionary Army's attack on Jiangling City, he followed and mixed into the troops. It is said that in the National Revolutionary Army, he got an official position, as a regiment commander, and later promoted to brigade commander.

  Wu Baichuan returned home to visit his relatives, causing a sensation in the entire Yuanlin County, looking very spirited, riding a sorrel horse, wearing a military belt around his waist, a large fur hat on his head, carrying a box of guns on his body, and wearing high-waisted black leather boots, showing off his military might, and even bringing guards with him!

  It is said that the box cannon was made in Germany, and many young people who saw it were envious, of course, my brother Du Long was also among them.

  When Du Long arrived at Wu Baiqiang's home, he was very envious and curiously fiddled with Wu Baiqiang's box gun.

  Facing the tall and majestic figure in front of him, Wu Baichuan looked up and asked, "Who are you? So bold."

  "Next-door neighbor," he smiled and continued fiddling, absent-mindedly responding with a sentence, "I'm Dulon."

  "Dú Lóng?" Wu Baiqiang wasn't clear, he was the neighbor next door, and casually said, "Hey! You little guy hasn't been seen for a few years and has actually developed into such a tall and majestic figure."

  His pistol was disassembled, the slide and magazine, the body separated, all neatly arranged on the table. Then he picked up a cloth and wiped each part clean.

  "Be careful with fire," he said with a smile as he watched, and the neighbor, seeing that he was like this, didn't dare to scold him.

  "Who are you trying to scare?" he began to assemble, "There's no bullet in here at all."

  "Have you played?"

  "No," he shook his head, quickly loading the box gun, "I've played with rabbit hunting guns, this is similar, just a bit more compact." He took aim at the wall with the loaded box gun and pulled the trigger, muttering: "Bang! Bang!"

  "Kid, you're really something," Wu Baichuan looked at the newly reassembled handgun and nodded his head, muttering to himself: "You'd make a good soldier."

  Dulon took out a towel and wiped it again and again, regardless of his hands.

  Wu Baiqiang looked at him and smiled: "How about it? Want to get one too?"

  Duluo nodded and smiled awkwardly, but didn't answer.

  At that time, he had just been married for a few months and was in the midst of his honeymoon. The young couple were inseparable, deeply in love with each other.

  Although Du Long did not respond, Wu Lao Er's son, Wu Baiqiang, remembered it in his heart. Before leaving, he insisted that Du Long follow him to join the army.

  Young people in the same city were curious about Wu Baichang's dress and demeanor, many people begged for it, but Du Long didn't want to miss the opportunity, so he was taken away by Wu Laoer's son as a strong man, and left for more than two years.

  A horse must be ridden, a man must make his way, and raw iron cannot become steel without being tempered. Du Long proved to be good material for a soldier, and after joining the army he studied hard and practiced diligently, learning many military skills in two years.

  At that time, the first domestic revolutionary war had just ended. The Red Revolution was active in Jiangxi's Jinggang Mountains. There were few wars in this area, and the troops only trained. He developed a good martial art, hand-to-hand combat, left and right strikes, front attack and back defense, bayonet fighting, and live ammunition shooting, which was 100% accurate. In an army-wide martial arts competition, Du Long won first prize, earning him a reputation as "Divine Gun Du Long".

  Shen Qiudong, although familiar with Captain Wu Baichang, did not fawn on him, but relied on his own true skills. His rise to fame earned the appreciation of Captain Wu Baichang, and he was promoted from soldier to squad leader, platoon leader, and within a year became the company commander of over 100 men.

  It's been over two years since I left home, and the lonely dragon, who is separated from his new wife, can't help but think of her every night. He misses his wife, but he also misses his sworn brother, whom he raised with his own hands. What to do? Soldiers have their own discipline, and their duty is to obey orders. All soldiers are young people, who doesn't miss home? Without the approval of their superiors, who dares to leave the troops privately? If caught, it's a capital offense.

  Shen Qiudong had also privately asked Captain Wu Baichang for leave, "I've been away from home for over two years now, I want to go back and take a look, even if it's just a glance before rushing back."

  Squad leader Wu Baiqiang refused to approve, his response disappointed him, "Am I not the same as you? I've also been away from home for over two years, if we're going back, let's wait until there's time and go together."

  "When is there time?"

  "I will let you know when the time comes."

  Squad leader Wu Baichang said this and has long since thrown it to the nine heavens, how can Du Long wait for him on the left and right? In secret, he raised a house of concubines, if he wants to go back, he still needs the concubine's consent.

  "A hero is helpless against a beauty" Wu Baichuan, the team leader, was a hero in front of his comrades and a fierce figure in front of the local villagers. But when he saw his young and beautiful wife, he became as timid as a rabbit. He didn't even dare to speak loudly, like a mouse seeing a cat. His wife couldn't bear to part with him, wanting him by her side every day, wrapping him around her finger, making Wu Baichuan's soul flutter, and he forgot all about going home for a visit.

  After getting the words from Captain Wu Baichang, Shen Qiang Dulun couldn't hold back his desire to return home. He waited left and right but didn't see any response from the captain, so he was depressed every day and often drank wine to drown his sorrows.

  One evening, Wu Tuanzhang went to the division headquarters for a meeting. Shen Qiang Dulon was bored alone, so he found several fellow officers to drink and chat with, aiming to relax and speak their minds.

  He raised his wine glass and sighed, "Alas, how I wish I could go home for a visit."

  These good officers and Du Long are quite familiar with each other, they know more about his family situation, often joke together, all young people, singles bored, gathered together to have fun.

  A crooked-mouthed officer raised his wine glass and handed it to Du Long, joking: "Are you going home to see your young wife who just got married? You've been away for two years without taking care of her. Can she stand it? Are you so at ease?"

  "What's there to worry about? I have a younger brother at home, and he's the one who's in charge!" Another man holding a wine cup also came over, it was unclear if he was drunk or just joking.

  "Look at his nonsense, how can that be? They have a thatched cottage with one bed, his wife sleeps on it, where does his brother sleep?" Another officer raised a question.

  "Good grief, there's no need for you to worry about this, little brother has already climbed onto sister-in-law's bed..."

  "Ah, this doesn't count for anything..." Another high-ranking officer also said with a smile.

  "Haha……" The people present burst into a loud and hearty laughter.

  It was originally a joke, the speaker was unintentional and the listener had a mind. But in Du Long's heart, he muttered to himself, "Yes, where does my brother live? Is it really like what they said..."

  One sentence became a heart disease for Du Long, my younger brother was raised by me with one hand, treating him better than myself, without any second thoughts, how could he forget the kindness and do something that brings shame to our family, if so, then he is worse than a beast.

  He thought of his wife again, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he became. "How could you betray me like this after only two years of marriage? Have you no shame?" He was furious, his anger burning hotter by the second. He clenched his teeth, trying to suppress his rage, but his eyes flashed with uncontrollable fury, like a lion provoked. "I must go back and get to the bottom of this. Love is selfish, it cannot tolerate even a grain of sand. If this is true, I will..."

  He didn't wait until everyone dispersed and left with an excuse.

  The wine continued to muddle his mind, the more he thought about it, the angrier and more worried he became, until finally making a bold decision, "Go home, go home immediately."

  He immediately led out a war horse from the stable, he wanted to go back overnight to investigate and try to return before dawn. And brought with him the command knife used on the battlefield, in case of encountering bandits blocking the road while walking at night.

  He galloped swiftly under the faint moonlight, gazing at the dense stars in the sky, passing by patch after patch of reeds and cluster after cluster of trees...

  At this moment, the gentle and kind image of his wife appeared in his mind, and the silly appearance of his younger brother also emerged. The two of them would never do anything to wrong him, so what was their situation?

  This time when I go back, I must be affectionate with my wife, after all it's been more than two years since we last saw each other, how much I miss my wife...

  Wish to know what happens afterwards

  See next chapter