Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Regiment Commander and the Political Commissar-Veterano centenário clama por justiça e cinco grandes regiões militares ficam abaladas(Grande Soberano)

"It's me... it's me..."

Wu Shanhe's voice choked up, but suddenly, it turned firm and resonant.

"Independent Regiment Political Commissar, Wu Shanhe... reporting to the Regiment Commander!"

These were the words Wu Shanhe said the first time he met Ye Yuan.

Sixty years had passed.

Yet, that voice still sent ripples through Ye Yuan's heart.

"Political Commissar? My Independent Regiment doesn't need a Political Commissar."

Ye Yuan said with a smile.

This was also the very first thing he had said to Wu Shanhe.

The two had met in 1939. Although Ye Yuan respected Wu Shanhe for being an intellectual trained at a military academy, he didn't believe Wu Shanhe could be of any help to him. As for Wu Shanhe, he felt his talents were being wasted, having been sent to serve as a political commissar for an Independent Regiment that didn't even have a proper designation.

Because of this, they couldn't stand the sight of each other.

That changed on the sixth day after Wu Shanhe arrived at the regiment. The Japanese launched a massive five-day sweep near the Independent Regiment's station. The regiment's location was exposed, leading to a battle that remained etched in Wu Shanhe's memory.

The Independent Regiment suffered heavy casualties; three battalion commanders were killed in action alone. Wu Shanhe had an arm blown off by artillery fire and passed out in the trenches. When he finally woke up, he was lying on a heated kang, with a severely wounded Ye Yuan still forcing himself to stay awake to look after him.

Later, he learned from soldiers who had broken through the encirclement that Ye Yuan had already led his team out. But upon discovering Wu Shanhe was missing, Ye Yuan had turned back and fought his way through piles of corpses to rescue him.

From that day on, Wu Shanhe was completely won over by Ye Yuan, and the two forged a revolutionary friendship that would span sixty years.

"Regiment Commander, I'm coming to find you!" Wu Shanhe said with deep emotion. "You left without a word back then. I searched for you for five years, and now, I have finally found you."

Ye Yuan waved his hand dismissively. "You're so busy, don't go running around."

"If I don't see you this time..." Wu Shanhe's voice was hesitant. "I'm afraid I'll never see you again in this lifetime."

He was ninety years old now, and Ye Yuan was approaching a hundred. As veteran soldiers who had survived the battlefield, reaching such an advanced age was already incredibly rare. No one knew whether tomorrow or an unexpected event would come first. That was why he was so desperate to see Ye Yuan.

"Alright then, take care on the way."

Ye Yuan nodded slightly.

Before his voice had even faded, Sun Weiguo's voice came through. "Don't worry, old commander, I will ensure the Political Commissar arrives safely!"

Ye Yuan chuckled and said softly, "Alright, alright, we'll talk when we meet. Phone calls are expensive."

Before hanging up, he heard a hearty laugh from the other end of the line.

The call had been made in the morning.

They arrived in the middle of the night.

Ye Yan'an and Yan Zi were already nodding off from exhaustion. Looking at Ye Yuan, who sat there with his back straight as a ramrod, Ye Yan'an whispered, "Grandpa, why don't you go to sleep? If that grandfather doesn't arrive tonight, are you going to wait up all night?"

"You two go to sleep first," Ye Yuan said softly. "I'll just wait here."

He understood his old comrade's temperament far too well. Since Wu Shanhe said he was coming, he would have departed immediately, without delaying for a single second. It was just like the fiery, impulsive temper he had when serving as his political commissar back in the day.

"This..." Ye Yan'an and Yan Zi exchanged a glance, seeing the helplessness in each other's eyes. Would this stubborn old man really just wait like this?

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Huh? He really came?" Ye Yan'an exclaimed in surprise before standing up and walking toward the door.

When she opened it, she saw two dust-covered elderly men standing outside. One was Sun Weiguo, whom she recognized. The other was a one-armed old man.

"Hello, Uncle Sun, hello, Grandpa," Ye Yan'an said politely. Although Sun Weiguo was old enough to be her grandfather, he was still a generation junior to Ye Yuan, so she addressed him as Uncle.

"Political Commissar, this is the old commander's granddaughter, Ye Yan'an," Sun Weiguo explained with a smile.

"Good, good, good..." Wu Shanhe said, moved.

"Shanhe." Ye Yuan's voice came from the living room.

Ye Yan'an immediately stepped aside, showing she knew how to behave.

The two men, whose combined ages were nearly two hundred, stood there—one at the door and one in the living room—staring at each other.

Time seemed to stop at that moment.

"Hahaha..."

The two old men burst into hearty laughter together, their resonant voices so loud it seemed as if they might shatter the glass.

"Regiment Commander!" Wu Shanhe strode in and used his only arm to hold Ye Yuan in a tight embrace. "I knew you weren't dead! You didn't die back when the artillery fire was raining down, so how could you possibly die in obscurity?"

"Seeing that you're both doing well puts my heart at ease," Ye Yuan said, his face filled with emotion, his voice trembling slightly.

"Doing well? Why wouldn't we be?" Wu Shanhe answered without hesitation. "We eat meat at every meal—that was something we couldn't even dream of back then!"

The two slowly separated. Wu Shanhe looked around. "Your place is pretty decent, too."

Ye Yuan smiled, choosing not to mention what had happened earlier.

"You must be hungry. I'll go make you something to eat," Ye Yuan said, turning toward the kitchen.

Wu Shanhe sighed with nostalgia. "I've been craving the old commander's cooking for decades."

Sun Weiguo nodded repeatedly beside him.

Ye Yan'an looked puzzled. "Huh? Grandpa's cooking... it's not actually that good..."

"You don't understand," Wu Shanhe said, looking at Ye Yan'an with eyes full of kindness. "Back then, when we were constantly on the run, we never knew where our next meal was coming from. Your grandfather would keep changing up how he cooked for us. Even though it was always just wild roots and tree bark, he could always come up with something new."

"Even though life is better now, we can never taste that flavor from back then again."

Ye Yan'an nodded without saying anything.

Wu Shanhe studied Ye Yan'an, then turned to look at Sun Weiguo. "Is this lass Xiao Bao's child?"

Sun Weiguo was startled and shook his head. "I don't know."

Ye Yan'an answered crisply, "The 'Xiao Bao' you mentioned must be my Uncle. I am Ye Xia's child."

"Ye Xia..." Wu Shanhe frowned, a look of contemplation on his face. "I don't know... that must have been after '49."

Ye Yan'an suddenly thought of something and looked at Wu Shanhe with anticipation. "Grandpa Wu, do you know my Uncle? Is he still alive?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Shanhe fell silent. Even Sun Weiguo lowered his head, his expression turning solemn.

Ye Yan'an's question seemed to have touched upon a past they were unwilling to speak of.