A courtyard house; Li Yunlong, a subordinate of the deputy director of Harbin Military Engineering I

Zhang Renfeng quickly stepped forward. The two were about to shake hands, but Comrade Li suddenly hugged him tightly, his arms wrapped around him, his voice trembling: "Back then, you were only ten years old! Now you're so much taller than me? It's been thirteen years since the 1937 reorganization, hasn't it? We haven't seen each other for thirteen years!"

Zhang Renfeng was a little breathless from his hug, and patted his back with a smile: "Yeah, thirteen years. Brother Li, you haven't changed much, except you have a few more gray hairs."

Comrade Li released him, looked him up and down for a while, and wiped the corner of his eye with the back of his hand: "Back in 1937, you were already the political instructor of a battalion in the 772nd Regiment, and I was the regimental commander of the 115th Division. We met once in Yan'an when we attended a meeting."

Later you went to the Taihang Mountains, and I went to Shandong, then to Northeast China and North China, each busy with our own lives, and we never had a chance to meet again. Now, thank goodness, we've finally met.

He turned and pointed to several people behind him, introducing them one by one: "This is Mo Wenhua, the director of the political department of the Seventh Red Army, and now the first political commissar of the military region. Do you remember him?"

Zhang Renfeng quickly saluted: "Old Director!"

Mo Wenhua was about ten years older than him and had taken good care of him when they were in the Seventh Red Army. Zhang Renfeng was always grateful to him.

Mo Wenhua stepped forward, shook his hand, and said with a smile, "You've grown up."

Comrade Li then pointed to a burly middle-aged man: "This is Lu Shaowu, a former battalion commander of the Seventh Red Army, now the commander of the Baise Military Sub-district. You even learned bayonet fighting from him back then."

Lu Shaowu grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth: "Back then, the little brat wasn't even as tall as a gun, and he couldn't even swing a big knife properly. I taught him for three days, and finally he could lift the knife."

Everyone burst into laughter.

Comrade Li then introduced several old comrades-in-arms, including Xie Fuming and Jiang Maosheng. Some of them came from the Seventh Red Army, while others were people he met later during the War of Resistance Against Japan and the War of Liberation.

The group of people stood on the platform exchanging pleasantries for a while, while passersby curiously stared at the group of people in military uniforms.

Comrade Li pulled Zhang Renfeng's hand and walked out: "Come on, let's go to the headquarters to see the old commander. Commander Zhang was overjoyed to hear you were coming back, and he had the meeting room prepared early this morning, saying he wanted to have a good chat with you."

The youngest kid in our uprising army back then is now a deputy commander of a corps in the People's Liberation Army. He'll have to take a good look at you.

When Zhang Renfeng heard the words "Commander Zhang," a surge of warmth welled up in his heart again.

Zhang was the highest-ranking leader of the Baise Uprising and the Longzhou Uprising, the commander-in-chief of the Seventh and Eighth Red Armies, and is now the Secretary of the Guangxi Provincial Party Committee and Commander of the Military Region.

The old commander was nearing sixty and in poor health. Upon hearing that Zhang Renfeng was coming back, he specially arranged a meeting. This kindness warmed Zhang Renfeng's heart.

The group left the station and got into a jeep to head to the military headquarters.

Zhang Renfeng followed Comrade Li upstairs and into the conference room.

There were already about ten people sitting inside, most of them wearing military uniforms, and a few wearing Zhongshan suits.

In the very center sat an elderly man with gray hair and a thin frame. The deep wrinkles on his face could not hide the sharpness in his eyes.

Zhang Renfeng saw him as soon as he entered the room, snapped to attention, and saluted: "Old Commander!"

Commander Zhang slowly stood up, supporting himself on the table. His gaze fell on Zhang Renfeng, and he looked him up and down before smiling.

His smile held a mixture of relief and emotion as he beckoned to Zhang Renfeng, "Come here, let me take a good look at you."

Zhang Renfeng stepped forward and stood in front of Zhang Yunyi.

The old man reached out and patted his shoulder, his hand landing lightly and steadily, exactly the same way he had patted his head twenty years ago that night in Baise: "You've grown up. You were only this tall back then."

He raised his hand to indicate a height, "Following behind Old Deng like a little shadow. Now look at you, your shoulders are so broad, you're a whole head taller than me."

A good-natured laugh rang out from inside the house.

Zhang Renfeng grinned, but his eyes were a little hot: "Old Commander, how are you feeling?"

"Very good, very good." Zhang Yunyi waved his hand, gesturing for him to sit down, and then glanced around at the people in the room. "Look at him, that youngest Red Army kid from the Seventh and Eighth Red Armies uprising is now the deputy commander of the Yunnan Military Region."

Zhang Baopo from Guangxi Province is now a deputy corps-level cadre, just like Deputy Commander Li. What do you call that? You call it "the revolution has successors!"

Everyone applauded, and Zhang Renfeng, feeling a little embarrassed by the praise, quickly said a few words of modesty.

But he knew in his heart that the old commander's words were not just praising him, but also meant for everyone else present—the team that came out of Guangxi Province back then, although countless people sacrificed their lives, those who survived were all outstanding and became pillars of the new China.

Although Lao Zhang is not from Guangxi Province, he is from Hainan.

In fact, this meeting was far more than just a reunion. As the deputy commander of Yunnan Province, Zhang Renfeng was tasked with suppressing bandits, and he did an outstanding job. The bandit suppression task, which originally took two years to complete, was actually completed in just a few months.

Therefore, before setting off, he received an order from the Central Military Commission to share his successful experience. He only gave a report and a brief exchange, while the Yunnan Provincial Military Region Staff Department arranged for someone to come and provide specific guidance.

We also hope that through this exchange, we can save the old army commander, because the situation in Guangxi Province is much more complicated than that in Yunnan Province.

Because a war is about to break out in the Northeast, and Guangxi Province has sufficient troops, only by eliminating the bandit problem as soon as possible can troops be dispatched north.

It was already dark when the meeting ended.

Comrade Li saw Zhang Renfeng off, and the two stood on the steps in front of the headquarters building, watching the lights of Nanning city gradually illuminate in the twilight.

He lit a cigarette, took a puff, and said, "Commander Zhang, thanks to your summary report, I thank you on behalf of the military region."

"It's what I should do, Brother Li!" Zhang Renfeng said.

Commander Li glanced at the sky. "Oh dear, it's getting late. I'll go to Baise with you tomorrow. Your elder brother, Zhang Rende, will arrive early tomorrow morning. I'll arrange for someone to pick them up and take them back to your hometown."

"However, you should be mentally prepared. After we started the uprising, most of the people in your village were Han Chinese. Even two years after we left, quite a few of them joined, and the retaliation against them was particularly severe. I'm afraid..."