A young boy from the 1970s, separated from his family, fled famine and led his younger brother into

The face and eyes before me did not belong to the Su family, yet they felt strangely familiar!

Lu Zhenguo stared blankly at Xiao Shitou, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something, but his throat felt like it was blocked by a ball of hot cotton, and he couldn't utter a single word. In his mind, countless images related to Su Weiguo flashed uncontrollably.

Together at flight school, they argued heatedly over a single flight maneuver; together on the battlefield amidst gunfire, they entrusted their backs to each other; together at victory celebrations, they drank the strongest liquor, sang the loudest songs, and dreamed of the future after the war...

"Old Lu, let me tell you, my wife's pregnant! And it's definitely a boy! After he's born, he'll call you godfather!"

"Get lost! What if it's a girl? I'm not going to be your in-law!"

"What's wrong with a girl? Even a girl has to call you godfather! My offspring, whether male or female, must be upright and honorable!"

……

The sound of that hearty laughter still seemed to echo in my ears, but before me, there were only two ragged orphans with helpless eyes.

A tremendous, indescribable grief and sorrow, like a flood bursting its banks, instantly overwhelmed the emotional dam that Lu Zhenguo had built up with half a lifetime of military service.

His eyes, under the watchful eyes of everyone, reddened rapidly at a visible speed.

"Commander...Commander?" The guards and sentries standing nearby were all dumbfounded by their commander's out-of-control appearance.

Having followed Lu Zhenguo for many years, they had never seen this political commissar, known for his iron will and composure, show such intense emotions. This was even more shocking than seeing him shot on the battlefield!

When she saw his reddened eyes and his violently trembling fingers, she knew!

This high-stakes gamble, which started in Henan, traversed thousands of kilometers, and involved the entire fortune of himself and his brother, has finally seen the dawn of victory!

Her heart, which had been hanging in mid-air, finally felt a sense of relief as it was about to fall back into place.

But she knew it wasn't enough.

She had to add fuel to the fire, the fiercest fire that would completely burn away all his doubts!

"Uncle..." Su Nianci's voice, at just the right moment, carried a sob and a hint of grievance, "My father's letter clearly said 'Uncle Lu Zhenhua.' But... but the uncle just said that there's no Lu Zhenhua here... I... I thought... I thought I'd never find you again..."

As she spoke, she secretly pinched her thigh with her small, red, frozen hands.

The intense pain caused her eyes, already brimming with tears from exhaustion and excitement, to finally give way. "Plop, plop," two streams of hot, clear tears slid down her dirty little face.

Those tears, like two red-hot irons, burned fiercely into Lu Zhenguo's heart!

Lu Zhenhua!

When he heard that name, his body jolted violently once again!

A secret that had been hidden for many years, known only to him and a few core comrades such as Su Weiguo, suddenly surfaced!

"Lu Zhenhua" was the alias he used when carrying out infiltration missions behind enemy lines during the Korean War.

"Zhenhua" means to revitalize China!

This is the belief etched into the bones of their generation of soldiers!

Back then, they made a pact that this name would be their highest-level "secret code." It would only be used in the most critical situations, when normal communication was impossible.

Su Weiguo actually wrote this name in his last letter to his daughter!

What does this mean?

This means that before his sacrifice, he had already sensed that his family might face enormous, hidden dangers! He couldn't even trust normal organizational procedures, so he could only use this most primitive and private method to leave his children a final way to survive!

Having figured this out, Lu Zhenguo felt a chill run from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head!

He no longer had the slightest doubt!

Looking at the two trembling children in front of him, he felt nothing but endless guilt, self-blame, and... raging anger!

He felt guilty! He had actually let his comrade's orphan suffer such a great injustice on his own turf! He had to wait for almost a whole day in the freezing cold!

Outrage! Who on earth dares to insult the descendants of a hero?! What on earth happened that would drive a decorated ace pilot to write such a desperate "code" in his last letter?!

"Enough!" Lu Zhenguo roared suddenly, his voice like a thunderclap in spring, making everyone present's ears ring!

He snatched the letter and the photo from Su Nianci's hand and held them tightly in his palm!

Then, he bent down and, with a gentler movement than Su Nianci had ever imagined, took off his thick woolen military coat, still warm from his body, and without saying a word, wrapped Su Nianci and the still-dazed Xiao Shitou inside, completely covering them!

"Child...don't be afraid!"

Lu Zhenguo's voice was terribly hoarse, and every word carried the power of thunder and an unquestionable promise!

"Uncle...you're late!"

"From now on, your uncle is here!"

"Even if the sky falls, your uncle will hold it up for you!"

After saying that, he didn't hesitate any longer. He picked up both children from the snow, one in each arm!

One is five years old, and the other is three years old. The two children together weigh only a few dozen kilograms.

But in Lu Zhenguo's arms, it felt as heavy as a thousand pounds!

That wasn't just the weight of two children; it was the weight of a fallen comrade who entrusted him with his life... all the hope!

"Open the door!" Lu Zhenguo, holding his two children, turned around and roared at the tightly closed iron gate!

The two sentries, who had been staring in disbelief, snapped out of their daze and hurriedly pressed the button to open the door!

"Squeak—"

The heavy iron gate, symbolizing majesty and taboo, which had kept Su Nianci away for an entire day, finally opened slowly before her.

Holding his two children, Lu Zhenguo didn't even glance at his dumbfounded subordinates. He strode into what was, for Su Nianci, both the end and the beginning... a brand new world.

His steps were steady and powerful.

His silhouette, stretched long and thin in the afterglow of the setting sun, resembled a majestic mountain that could shield him from all wind and snow.

Su Nianci buried her face deeply in Lu Zhenguo's broad and warm embrace.

She smelled the faint scent of tobacco and the distinctive, sharp aura of a soldier on him, and felt the warmth of his body in the military overcoat that had enveloped her and her brother. Her heart, which had wandered through two lifetimes and was already riddled with wounds, finally found a harbor to rest in at this moment.

She knew that from this moment on...

She and her brother now truly have a home in this world.