"Third brother, don't wait any longer!" someone whispered in the darkness.
"Wait a little longer, wait a little longer." Someone replied. It was Li Fushun.
Their battalion finally succeeded in breaking out of Beidaying.
In fact, none of them knew how many Japanese troops were surrounding them.
But what could so many people do? Their orders were not to resist, and to sacrifice themselves was to serve their country.
Even though their battalion commander Zhang Lianjie fired a shot, he only extinguished the street lamp.
Then their battalion of three companies rushed forward in the darkness.
As they rushed out, they certainly heard the Japanese soldiers' shouting, but no gunshots were heard.
After the three companies met at the agreed location, everyone came to their senses and realized that there must not be many Japanese soldiers surrounding and intercepting them.
This happened during the battle, but at this time Li Fushun discovered that Shang Zhen was missing.
Shang Zhen was brought out from home by him, so of course he has to be responsible. Otherwise, if Shang Zhen has any accident, how will he face his mother again in the future?
Li Fushun asked everyone in their line one by one, "Have you seen Shang Zhen?"
At this time, someone asked him, "Who is Shang Zhen?"
Li Fushun had no choice but to say, "Shang Zhen is just a stick."
But no one told him where Shang Zhen was.
Before breaking out, Li Fushun had always brought Shang Zhen with him. He also specifically told Shang Zhen to stay with him and not get lost.
But how could Li Fushun take care of Shang Zhen in this dark night? He couldn't just tie himself and Shang Zhen together with a rope.
Seeing that Shang Zhen had not returned, Li Fushun thought that Shang Zhen must have fallen behind.
Although the possibility of Shang Zhen being in danger could not be ruled out, Li Fushun still had a glimmer of hope, hoping that Shang Zhen had just fallen behind and he could find him in the dark.
In desperation, Li Fushun said hello to the platoon leader Wang Laomao and took Ma Erhuzi, who was usually on good terms with him, and stayed halfway to wait for Shang Zhen's return.
"Third brother, your surname is Li and his surname is Shang. How come you two are brothers?" The soldier named Ma Erhuzi asked him.
"I have no parents and grew up in Shang Zhen's family," Li Fushun explained.
"Oh." Ma Erhuzi nodded and then sighed, "The debt of favor is the hardest to repay!"
"What debt of favor? It's just a debt of favor from brothers." Li Fushun corrected Ma Erhuzi's statement.
Ma Erhuzi obviously agreed with Li Fushun's statement and stopped talking.
Li Fushun began to whisper about his childhood.
Li Fushun was six years old when he lost his parents and was already sensible. He remembered that he was the third child in the family, which was why others called him Third Brother.
But since his parents were gone, he had to live with his elder and second brothers, but his elder and second sisters-in-law were not easy to deal with.
He had a stubborn temper. Once, he was beaten by his eldest sister-in-law and scolded by his second sister-in-law. He was so angry that he ran away from home. Finally, he fainted at the door of Shang Zhen's house due to cold and hunger.
He was saved by Shang Zhen's mother with rice soup, and lived in Shang Zhen's home from then on.
At that time, Shang Zhen's father was in good health and was a carpenter, so he could make a living.
Li Fushun was very stubborn when he was a child. Shang Zhen's parents were good-tempered and never wanted to beat him.
In the end, he gradually accepted that he was a member of this family.
Having said this, Li Fushun stopped talking, but a scene came to his mind.
That was when Shang Zhen was still little and still needed to be fed every day. (People in Northeast China call a child being breastfed "eating zhaer").
Once, Li Fushun stared blankly at Shang Zhen lying in his mother's arms and eating.
This is the situation nowadays. There are children who continue to drink milk until they are seven or eight years old.
At this time, Shang Zhen's mother saw the envy in his eyes.
At that time, Shang Zhenniang smiled at him and asked him, "Do you want to eat Zhaer too?"
Li Fushun knew that his face turned red at that time.
He also forgot whether he nodded or shook his head at that time, or rather, there was no need to nod or shake his head at all, his eyes were the answer.
Then Shang Zhen's mother said, "If you call me mother, I will let you eat."
Li Fushun remembered what happened next. After all, he didn't have the courage to eat Shang Zhen's mother's food, so he ran away with a red face.
But since that day, Li Fushun started calling Shang Zhen's mother "mother"!
"Third brother, cigarettes." Ma Erhuzi's voice interrupted Li Fushun's memories.
A thin flame lit up in the darkness, which was the light of a match, and then white smoke spread in the darkness.
"Third brother, can we wait for him here? Will he come here? It's dark here, he won't get lost, right?" After taking two puffs of cigarette, Ma Erhuzi asked again.
"You won't get lost. My home, or his home, is right here." Li Fushun explained again.
At this point, the two men stopped talking and just fiddled with their cigarettes.
Just as they were smoking their third cigarette, the eastern sky was already slightly brighter.
Since Li Fushun didn't want to leave, Ma Erhuzi would naturally accompany him. But at this moment, they really heard footsteps coming from the west.
"Who?" Li Fushun whispered, pulling the bolt of the gun at the same time.
Now it is wartime, and it is necessary to use guns.
Yu Fushun and Ma Erhuzi waited for a while and then there was no movement from the other side.
"Third brother, did you hear it wrong?" asked Ma Erhu's opponent.
"It must be Shang Zhen who has returned." Li Fushun said with certainty, and then he shouted loudly, "Xiaoer, I am your third brother!"
Strangely enough, just after Li Fushun finished shouting, Shang Zhen's voice really echoed from the front: "Third brother, I'm Xiao Er, I'm back!"
Shang Zhen's voice had a certain tremor to it. Li Fushun and Ma Erhuzi could imagine that Shang Zhen must have been very nervous to catch up with him given his timid appearance.
"Third brother, how do you know that your brother is back?" Ma Ersihuzi asked curiously.
"He is a coward. He hides as soon as he hears any movement!" Li Fushun said angrily and amusedly.
At this point, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, and the worries he had been having for most of the night finally disappeared.
Footsteps were heard, and Shang Zhen came running over as expected.
But to the surprise of Li Hucun and Ma Erhuzi, the first thing Shang Zhen said when he ran up to them was, "Third brother, I'm hungry. Do you have anything to eat?"