3121 Respected
Today… J5, who made his parents proud, would never wake up again. He lay there quietly. He couldn’t hear his parents’ heart-wrenching cries. Their cries made all the soldiers’ eyes turn red.
His mother, whose hair was white at the temples, held the coffin tightly with both hands. No matter what, she didn’t believe that her son had closed his eyes forever. He couldn’t open his eyes and call her ‘Mom’ anymore. She shouted heartbreakingly and cried. The messy white flowers floated in the cold wind. She protected her son who was lying in the coffin tightly. She cried until tears of blood seemed to be dripping out of her eyes.
J5’s father didn’t cry loudly. When he saw his son’s pale face, the man who held the responsibility of the family punched his chest with his fist. He pounded it hard to express his pain.
J5’s sister was persuading their mother while the brother was persuading their father. The moment the coffin lid was closed, the old mother, who still couldn’t accept it, fainted.
When Ye Jian saw this scene, she cried and bit her lower lip until it bled.
J5 came from a remote mountain village. The first person who was informed of J5’s death was his younger brother, who was a policeman. His younger brother went back to the village to fetch J5’s parents. It took them two and a half days to reach the capital city.
A son was his mother’s flesh. From the moment J5’s mother knew that she was going to go to the capital city, she knew that something must have happened to her son. It was something she didn’t want to see happen.
The old mother, who fainted from crying because of her sorrow, got into the car with the help of J5’s sister and Ye Jian. The doctor immediately took care of the martyr’s mother.
“Thank you, comrade.” J5’s sister thanked Ye Jian. She was similar to J5 and had thick eyebrows. She was wearing the uniform of the Railway Bureau. When she heard from her younger brother that her eldest brother had died, she was on the night s.h.i.+ft. When she heard the news, she endured her sorrow and finished her work. Only then did she return to the village with her younger brother to fetch their parents.
Ye Jian rubbed the back of J5’s mother’s hand and said softly, “You’re welcome. This is what I should do.”
“Eldest Brother is my mother’s greatest pride. She boasts to everyone about him. Last time, she even said that when Eldest Brother came back for the new year, she would let him marry the lady who’s been waiting for him so that she can have a grandchild earlier…”
When J5’s sister was talking about J5’s past, her eyes were filled with pride too. Ye Jian listened quietly and learned about J5’s other side from J5’s family.
One was to work hard because his father was a soldier. From a young age, he had always wanted to become a soldier. From the moment he became sensible to the moment he entered university, every time someone asked him what his wish was, he would answer that he was willing to become a soldier.
Then, he finally became a soldier. He became an indomitable and respected soldier!
J5 wasn’t buried back in his hometown. He was buried beside countless heroes and martyrs who sacrificed themselves for their country. He would rest here and wait to meet everyone again.
White chrysanthemums were placed in front of the tombstone one by one. Ye Jian looked at the valiant J5 in the photo and saw the determination in his fearless eyes.
The snow was so heavy that it blurred everyone’s vision. The soldiers standing in front of the tombstone took off their caps and saluted, sending their comrade off.
Pigeon, White Crane, Long Eagle, Weaver, Azalea, Chi Lu, Sparrowhawk, Blood Swallow, Loach, Snow Eagle, Z7, T6, and so on were all comrades that Ye Jian knew and who had fought together. Looking at the familiar faces in front of her, Ye Jian saw their red eyes and clenched their fists when they took off their caps. Only then did Ye Jian know how strong their friends.h.i.+p was.