In 1978, Zhou Yongju, who was waiting for his fiancé Shi Qingcai to retire from the army, received a letter. In this letter, Shi Qingcai told his fiancée : I can’t leave this year. The company has heavy tasks, so I will stay for another year to bring new comrades... At the end of the letter, Shi Qingcai wrote to Zhou Yongju, my parents are sick and my family is poor. I rely on you to take care of me and wait for me, just for one year.
At that time, Zhou Yongju had not yet married. Since Shi Qingcai had been working in the army, Zhou Yongju had already begun to take care of Shi Qingcai's parents and family as a prospective daughter-in-law.. After receiving the letter from her fiancé, Zhou Yongju waited with great anticipation for her fiancé to return from the army a year later. However, what Zhou Yongju waited for was the news of her fiancé's death.
Smoke at the Border
Shi Qingcai, a soldier from Chongqing who was drafted into the army in 1971, originally planned to retire in the spring of 1978. However, Shi Qingcai's original retirement time coincided with the most intense period of the counterattack against Vietnam. Considering that Shi Qingcai has always been the backbone of the army, the organization asked Shi Qingcai to stay in the army for another year to lead new comrades.
After learning the news, young Shi Qingcai agreed without any hesitation, because the duty of a soldier is to obey orders. Shi Qingcai was unwilling to abandon his comrades at this critical moment, but what he worried about most was still his fiancée who was thousands of miles away in Dazu County, Chongqing.
Shi Qingcai comes from a poor rural family in Dazu County, Chongqing. His father and younger brother are in poor health, and his mother is blind. Shi Qingcai had a fiancée named Zhou Yongju at the time. Zhou Yongju and Shi Qingcai were from the same village. The two grew up together and were childhood sweethearts.
Shi Qingcai enlisted in the army in January 1971. In order to take care of Shi Qingcai's parents and younger brother so that Shi Qingcai could serve in the army with peace of mind, Zhou Yongju took on the responsibility of taking care of Shi Qingcai's family as his fiancée. In this way, Qingcai served in the army for seven years.
In January 1979, Shi Qingcai's unit entered level one combat readiness . At this time, Shi Qingcai had just been promoted to platoon leader. In the second month, Shi Qingcai's unit was ordered to Yunnan to participate in the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam . The battle that Shi Qingcai participated in was the Vietnam "No. 4 Bridge Anti-Ambush Battle".
According to the overall tactics, Shi Qingcai's 446th Regiment and 445th Regiment advanced on the frontal battlefield from the No. 4 Bridge. At the same time, part of the 447th Regiment and the 445th Regiment attacked from the right and center in two directions. . February 28, 1979 In the afternoon, the 446th Regiment moved closer to the target along the highway. The Vietnamese also attached great importance to this battle.
Suddenly, artillery fire from both China and Vietnam resounded through the valley and smoke filled the border gates. The main force sent by the Vietnamese army confronted the 446 regiment head-on. In this war, a regiment leader called the regiment leader witnessed the sacrifice of his son. Shi Yongcai also died in this battle.
At this time, Zhou Yongju, who was happily waiting for the news of her fiancé's discharge from the army in her hometown, did not expect that she would receive bad news. In the wedding room that Zhou Yongju carefully prepared for the two of them, she opened the package sent from the army. Inside was a martyr's certificate and some relics of Shi Qingcai's lifetime.
The death of her fiancé made Zhou Yongju feel like the world was shattered for a while. Zhou Yongju cried until she fainted and then woke up and cried again. For several days, Zhou Yongju was immersed in great grief. Later, Zhou Yongju thought that Shi Qingcai's family still needed to be taken care of by herself, so she made a decision that surprised everyone.
Abandoned House
Many years after Shi Qingcai's death, one day a group of strangers came to the small village where he lived. These people said that they were Shi Qingcai's comrades who wanted to see the current situation of his family. However, when these people arrived at Shi Qingcai's ancestral house, they were shocked by what they saw. The house of martyr Shi Qingcai has been turned into ruins.
Although the main structure of the house is still there, it looks like no one has lived in it for a long time. The inside is covered with cobwebs, and many walls have collapsed and bricks are exposed.. These comrades couldn't believe that this was Shi Qingcai's home.So what happened after Shi Qingcai died?
Zhou Yongju was very sad after learning the truth about her death, but she couldn't bear to leave a poor family that had lost its eldest son. At that time, people around him advised Zhou Yongju to marry someone else. After all, Zhou Yongju and Shi Qingcai were not married yet, so it was easy to find a family with better conditions.
Zhou Yongju made a decision that surprised everyone. She decided to marry Shi Qingcai's younger brother so that she could continue to take care of the family. Zhou Yongju became Shi Qingcai's sister-in-law despite everyone's opposition. However, due to Shi Qingcai's sacrifice, Shi Qingcai's father passed away not long after.
At this time, Zhou Yongju and Shi Qingcai's younger brother already had a child. Shi Qingcai's mother was also Zhou Yongju's mother-in-law, and she wanted Zhou Yongju to have another child, even a descendant of Shi Qingcai. at least left a descendant in the lineage of his eldest son. At that time, this idea was very common in many backward rural areas.
However, having a second child at that time violated the family planning policy, and someone reported this situation to the local family planning office. The Family Planning Office sent staff to ask Zhou Yongju’s family to pay the fine, but Zhou Yongju’s family was too poor and had no money to pay the fine. The staff of the Family Planning Office took the poor pig away from Zhou Yongju's pig pen.
The blind mother-in-law could only ask Zhou Yongju to carry her to the countryside to reason with her. In the end, Zhou Yongju scraped together more than 1,400 yuan to pay the fine. Around 12000, Zhou Yongju's mother-in-law also passed away. Not long after, Zhou Yongju's husband also passed away because he was seriously ill and had no money for treatment. In the end, only Zhou Yongju and two children were left in Shi Qingcai's family.
At that time, Zhou Yongju and her two children went to the city to work. In this way, the old dilapidated house of Shi Qingcai's family has been vacant. It wasn’t until his comrades came over more than ten years later that they discovered that the old house of his former comrade Shi Qingcai was in dilapidated condition.
Sweeping the grave of Shi Qingcai
Comrades from the 149th Division who participated in the Vietnam War in 2013 reunited, and Shi Qingcai's 446th Regiment was affiliated with the 149th Division. Most of these young people who were in their prime are now in their 50s or 60s. They wanted to pay homage to those comrades who had sacrificed their lives, so some comrades went to Dazu County, Chongqing, Shi Qingcai's hometown.
After these people learned about Zhou Yongju's touching deeds, they thought of inviting Zhou Yongju to go to Yunnan to participate in worship activities. Shi Qingcai was buried in a martyrs cemetery in Yunnan after his death. It's not like Zhou Yongju didn't want to go see her husband before, but considering the travel expenses and her own financial situation, she never made the trip.
summary
Last week at the 35th anniversary commemoration meeting of the self-defense war against Vietnam in 2014, Yongju finally realized his wish and came to the cemetery of his fiancé. At this time, 35 years have passed since Shi Qingcai died.
At this time, Shi Qingcai's parents and younger brother were no longer alive. Zhou Yongju was crying bitterly. The 3,500 soldiers present had red eyes when they saw Zhou Yongju's reaction. In the end, these 3,500 soldiers all saluted this man with military salutes. Tribute to the former quasi-military wife!
