Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 2461 The Disappearance of the Bamboo Curtain (Second Update, Please Subscribe)
The small room still retained the musty smell that lingered from the summer.

The biting cold wind seeped into the room through the cracks in the windows and doors, making one instinctively wrap themselves even tighter in the blankets.

Although it was very cold, we didn't choose to use a coal stove in the room, since we only had so many tickets available.

If the whole family used a coal stove for heating, it wouldn't be enough. So, the elderly had to be given priority.

Xu Liang lay on the bed, smoking a cigarette intermittently.

He didn't even smoke the cheapest Daqianmen cigarettes; he rolled his own, using tobacco leaves bought from a market near Yancheng. The tobacco was all grown by farmers in the countryside, and the cigarette paper was newspaper.

As Xu Liang smoked his cigarette, what came to mind?

When he thought of their phrase "a paper tiger among paper tigers," his brows immediately furrowed.

"Didn't they see what it looked like on the TV?"

Of course they saw it; ever since graduating from high school, the few of them had been holed up at Feng Lei's house watching TV every day.

The reason Feng Lei's family has a color television is not because they have overseas connections, but because his father was a college student right after the liberation, and he studied English. Nowadays, many people go abroad for research, but few translate.

So he was selected by the city to go to Siam for an inspection tour. When he returned from Siam, Uncle Feng brought back nothing but this big color TV.

During the day, the younger children would stay at home watching color TV. They watched another world on the television, even though the images were blurry and had double images.

But looking at the dazzling, bustling world, everyone's eyes revealed longing.

Of course, there are still some problems, at least Xu Liang has been thinking about those problems.

How come they live such a good life?
Xu Liang had been pondering this question for some time but hadn't found an answer. However, during their conversations, when they mentioned who had overseas connections or who had gone abroad to study, their words were full of envy.

But listening to his friends' sarcastic remarks today, Xu Liang felt uneasy.

Have you ever considered that their sarcasm might stem from envy of what they can't have?

As the thought flashed through his mind, Xu Liang took a deep drag on his cigarette and then turned his gaze to the distance.

Nanyang...

It's not just SEA, but also Siam, Malaysia, Medanau, Surabaya...

These are all Southeast Asia, another world they learned about through television.

The people there speak the same language as them, and they live lives they can hardly imagine.

Every household owns a car, and every household lives in a small villa.

This is life in Southeast Asia!

As he was thinking this, Xu Liang thought of Qin Yun.

So the reason I thought of Qin Yun wasn't because she was pretty, but because she had mentioned that she had a cousin.

I lost contact with him a few years ago when he was sent to the countryside.

There are many different opinions about where she went.

Some people say that she was carried off by wolves when she went out alone.

Some people say she defected to the enemy country.

Some even said that she was dragged into a ravine by some thugs, abused, and then buried somewhere unknown.

In short, there are all sorts of different opinions.

Xu Liang had met Qingyun's cousin when he was in elementary school. She was not only beautiful, but also sang well.

That's why he thought of the Qinling Mountains.

It was because he believed that Qin Ling was still alive and most likely had gone abroad.

The reason I think this way is because Xu Liang's older brother is also missing.

Ten years ago, my eldest brother, Xu Fei, went to Xishuangbanna to work in the countryside. Eight years ago, his family received his death certificate.

The parents cried their hearts out.

But is the eldest brother really dead?

Even now, Xu Liang still doesn't believe that his older brother is really dead.

He had heard from his elder brother's comrades that many people had fled over there.

Some went to Myanmar and joined the guerrillas, while others went to Shan State.

Those who joined the guerrillas eventually obtained certificates. It was precisely because of this that their families were not "punished on top of their crimes" because their sons were "missing" or "suspected of defecting to the enemy."

But is the eldest brother really dead?
Lying in bed, Xu Liang thought about what he had heard from his older brother's comrade-in-arms.
"...Too many people ran away. Sometimes half of the people in a forest farm would run away. At first, the forest farm truthfully reported that their whereabouts were unknown and that they were suspected of fleeing.

But later, because so many people fled, the forestry station's leaders were also implicated. So, later on, if anyone went missing, they were simply reported as having died of illness.

"Report death directly—"

My elder brother passed away due to illness. The family received a letter from the forest farm, along with a box of ashes.

That's why they weren't implicated because their eldest brother's whereabouts were unknown.

Of course, this was Xu Liang's guess; he had always believed that his elder brother was still alive.

He couldn't believe his elder brother had died thousands of miles away in Xishuangbanna. "Could he be abroad?"

In the dead of night, Xu Liang smoked his pipe while pondering whether such a possibility existed.

Rather than pondering this possibility, it's more accurate to say that we're clinging to a sliver of hope.

Was that ashes really my brother's?

Only God knows for sure.

Outside the window, the wind was biting cold and snow was falling heavily, but inside the room, the young man harbored a certain hope.

Hope certainly exists in this winter, after all, spring will follow winter.

While Yancheng is covered in ice and snow, Southeast Asia, thousands of miles away, should theoretically be like spring all year round. However, in the northern highlands of Shan State, every morning, frost turns the leaves, branches, and wild grasses all white, and the world covered by frost does look somewhat like the scenery of the North.

On one side of the border barbed wire fence, a patrol team of soldiers wearing M65 trench coats always keeps their eyes on the other side of the barbed wire fence while they are on patrol.

This barbed wire fence is like an insurmountable barrier, stretching for hundreds of kilometers along the border. On the south side of the fence, due to the annual spraying of defoliants, only some weeds grow, and no trees can be seen.

This is the case for the entire 2km area. The reason for this is to prevent infiltration. The open view allows the soldiers on the watchtowers to have a clear view of everything, thus ensuring border security.

As the group of soldiers patrolled along the barbed wire fence, they encountered a group of soldiers in green uniforms.

The two groups of soldiers walked toward each other across the barbed wire fence.

When they were about five or six meters apart, both groups of soldiers slowed down simultaneously. Over the past few decades, they had passed by their predecessors countless times in this manner.

Although they were separated only by a barbed wire fence, they never communicated with each other. In fact, they had even clashed in earlier years.

The conflict was quickly resolved, but both sides remained very vigilant and never dared to let their guard down.

The same is true now.

They seemed to be sizing each other up, and just as they were about to pass each other by as they had done countless times before, the border guard on the north side of the barbed wire suddenly took the initiative to greet them.

"Hello."

Hearing the sounds coming from the other side of the barbed wire, the southern border guards were taken aback at first, then they stopped at the same time and looked at each other with some surprise.

They clearly hadn't expected the other party to greet them first.

"Hi, hello."

When they uttered this greeting, their tone carried a certain uncertainty.

After all, they had never spoken across the barbed wire fence in all these years.

"It's so cold today! It's only November, and there's already frost. This never happened in previous years."

The officer on the north side of the barbed wire fence once again broke the silence around it.

"Yes, yes... the weather is quite cold, and the frost came a bit early this year."

Second Lieutenant Zhang Lianming looked at the other party with some surprise.

"It seems like we've met several times already."

The officer opposite him continued to engage in conversation, and Zhang Lian was clearly at a loss in the face of such initiative.

After all, according to past habits, the other party would often either treat them coldly or glare at them angrily.

When has she ever been this amiable?

"probably!"

Zhang Lianming nodded, and then said:

I met you two years ago.

"Yes. I just arrived here two years ago..."

The officer nodded, then took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and said proactively:
"Would you like to try some Yuxi cigarettes?"

Before Zhang Lianming could refuse, he handed him the cigarettes through the barbed wire fence. Faced with the other party's enthusiasm, Zhang Lianming took the cigarettes and then took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

"Lotus, this is from our side, you should try some too."

The two packs of cigarettes were passed to each other across the barbed wire fence, and the soldiers offered each other cigarettes, lit them, and took a few puffs. The atmosphere on the scene became increasingly harmonious.

The soldiers, who were initially somewhat unfamiliar with each other, seemed to become familiar with each other at this moment.

In fact, they were familiar with each other. After all, they had patrolled this place countless times in the past, passed by each other countless times, and seen each other countless times.

But only today did they break the silence for the first time and have this contact.

Their conversations mostly revolved around patrols. Those from the north wondered if the boots they wore on patrol would cause blisters, while those from the south wondered if they would mistake people for each other since they didn't have military ranks.

In short, although they seem familiar, they are also strangers.

Although it was a bit cold, at that moment, they stood there chatting through the barbed wire fence like long-lost friends.

As we chatted, the conversation naturally turned to the hottest news of the moment.

The officer opposite Zhang Lianming asked:
"I heard that Chang'an has already sent troops to Lebanon. Will you be going there then?"

(End of this chapter)