Back To The 80s-Chapter 541 - 534: Lone Wolf_1

Once Li Fengmei finished chatting, she abruptly changed the subject, saying, "My sister Fenghua also wants to move to the provincial city and make a life here. What do you think?"

"Didn’t Fenghua get married? Why does she suddenly want to move to the city?" Gu Xiaobei asked, looking puzzled.

"She’s not getting along with her mother-in-law, and since she gave birth to a girl, her mother-in-law has been giving her a hard time. Fenghua isn’t the kind to suffer in silence. They quarrel often - small quarrels every day, bigger ones every so often. Fenghua says she feels suffocated at home, and she wrote to me asking if she could come here."

Gu Xiaobei hesitated before saying, "Whatever you say, Fenghua is a married woman. Unless her husband is willing to move with her, I think we should not get involved in this. If a couple lives separately, there is bound to be trouble sooner or later."

Clapping her thigh in agreement, Li Fengmei said, "That’s exactly what I was thinking. But my husband Zhang Lijun read the letter and said that Fenghua mentioned both of them would come together. They even discussed what they would do once they were here..."

Gu Xiaobei nodded, "That sounds better."

In his younger days, Gu Xiaobei used to be jealous of Li Fenghua. But then he realized that everyone has the right to have their own feelings and besides, Li Fenghua hadn’t done anything egregious.

.........

At the end of July, Old Ji came to the provincial city from Shule River.

When Ji Xiangdong went to pick him up at the station, he was saddened to see that Old Ji had lost weight. "Did you get sick, Old Ji? Is that why you postponed coming?" he asked with concern.

Old Ji coughed a few times before replying, "Just a bit of a cold, but I didn’t get better quickly."

"Let’s go to the small courtyard I’ve prepared for you to rest first. Then we can go to my mother’s place," Ji Xiangdong said, worriedly regarding Old Ji’s pallid face.

Old Ji nodded, "Alright, let’s have a break. I’m not as young as I used to be, can’t handle a long train ride anymore."

Ji Xiangdong flagged down a three-wheeler on the street and made his way to the small courtyard in the suburbs.

Old Ji was quite satisfied with the small courtyard Ji Xiangdong had purchased. There was space to grow vegetables and raise chickens.

In the house, Ji Xiangdong had cleaned it up the day before, and the bedding was freshly made by Wen Xiuqing.

"Lie down and rest, I’ll sort out your luggage for you," Ji Xiangdong said, carrying two big bags into the house.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, Old Ji quickly took one bag from Ji Xiangdong’s hands. Like unearthing a treasure, he took out a glass-encased frame from it. Inside were five or six pictures.

Like a rare gem, Old Ji carefully cleaned the pictures with a soft cloth, looking around the room. Finally, he decided to put them under his pillow.

During all this, Ji Xiangdong happened to glance at the photos and saw a young woman holding a child. Photos of the kid ranged from one year old to five. Ji Xiangdong had seen these photos twice before, and now seeing them again, a flash of insight struck him. The similarity between the young boy and the soldier he had met in the train crash was uncanny.

Could his sense of familiarity at that time come from here? Ji Xiangdong reached out and asked softly, "Old Ji, can I take a look at those photos?"

Old Ji laughed and replied, "Sure, I used to hide them for fear of being mocked. But now, I’ve made peace with it. It isn’t something shameful after all." With that, he passed the photos to Ji Xiangdong.

Ji Xiangdong meticulously examined the picture of the boy at five years old. In his mind, he superimposed the image of the young soldier he had seen with the young boy in the photograph. Could it be the same person?

Old Ji, seeing Ji Xiangdong engrossed in the photos, chuckled and said, "That’s my wife Li Yuzhen and our son, Little Goudan. I didn’t mention this before because I was ashamed. During the time when I was imprisoned in the cowshed, my wife and child eloped with someone else. If this got out, wouldn’t it be embarrassing? When I got out of the cowshed, I went to her house to find them. Her elder brother told me she’d eloped with a traveling salesman. " After telling his story, Old Ji let out a self-mocking laugh. Despite it all, he still treasured these pictures as if they were a treasure.

Ji Xiangdong furrowed his brows. The woman in the picture looked dignified and beautiful. She didn’t seem like someone who’d do something like this. He couldn’t help but ask, "Are you sure there’s no misunderstanding?"

"What misunderstanding could there be? She even got her family to cut ties with me. If not, with me as his father, my son wouldn’t be able to hold his head up in public. By the time I got out of the cowshed and went to their house to find them, her elder brother told me she had eloped with a peddler," Old Ji sighed in resignation. Despite it all, he still cherished and treasured these photographs.

Ji Xiangdong didn’t mention that he had met a young soldier who bore a striking resemblance to the boy in the photograph. After all, as per the timeline, the age of the soldier he met should match with the age of the boy in the photograph. Could it really be him?

Ji Xiangdong remembered that the young man had mentioned he was going to S City to attend a military academy - the country’s West Academy of Military Science. So, to find him, he should look for someone from X Province Border Defence Corps who had been admitted there.

Thinking of this, Ji Xiangdong couldn’t help but feel excited. If it were truly as he suspected, Old Ji could finally be reunited with his family.

Before anything was certain, Ji Xiangdong decided to keep quiet to avoid disappointment.

........

On the border line.

Lu Zhanguo led a team of five, including Lone Wolf, as the first combat team to infiltrate behind enemy lines through the dense jungle.

Wu Aihua and his team provided cover from the outside.

In addition to the mines set by the enemy, there were also elusive enemy snipers in the thick jungle.

They each proceeded slowly and carefully, taking each step with caution.

Lone Wolf was at the rear of the group, walking backward to keep an eye on their rear.

Suddenly, cries echoed through the dense forest.

The group immediately switched to combat mode, and following Lu Zhanguo’s hand signals, they stealthily moved closer to the source of the noise. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

A pregnant woman from Yue Country was lying there, her belly swollen, seated on the ground, holding her ankles, wailing in pain. Upon closer look, a beast-like trap could be seen clamped around her foot.

The group remained hidden, watching the crying woman detachedly.

The pregnant woman seemed to be in insurmountable pain. She was rolling on the ground, wailing, intermittently speaking in her language, "Help! Please help me!"

Lu Zhanguo signaled for the group to quietly retreat. It was too abnormal for a heavily pregnant woman to be in a forest. He couldn’t gamble with his and his teammates’ lives.

Lone Wolf was the last to go as the group retreated quietly, moving a few dozen meters.

Then Lu Zhanguo heard a dull thud behind him. Turning around, he saw that Lone Wolf had thrown a dagger that had pierced the pregnant woman’s heart.

One of the young scouts named Wang Biao seemed incredulous. He looked at the woman fallen in a pool of blood and then at Lone Wolf, filled with reproach.

How was this different from the enemy’s atrocities? The other party was an unarmed pregnant woman. How could he hurt her?

Lu Zhanguo merely glanced at Lone Wolf, motioning the team to quickly retreat without making a sound.

He saw the mixed emotions of each team member but now wasn’t the time to discuss or explain.

Once they had safely returned to base, Wang Biao, unable to restrain himself, pointed at Lone Wolf and berated, "How could you bring yourself to harm a pregnant woman? We always criticize them for shooting our civilians. How could you do such a thing today!"

Lone Wolf kept his mouth shut, gently cleaning his rifle without offering an explanation!