"Yes, my son is a soldier guarding the border. He was drafted into the army more than a year ago and has been serving in the Mobei border..."
When talking about her son, the old lady couldn't stop crying.
Her husband's family name is Niu, and since she lost her husband at a young age, she has been raising her two daughters and one son to earn a living alone.
After finally looking forward to her children growing up, and her two daughters getting married one after another, she thought about arranging marriage arrangements for her son, but she had no intention of doing so.
Unexpectedly, she just liked a girl, and her son suddenly told her that she would be drafted into the army.
Mother Niu was worried about her son, so she saw her off one way or another. Finally, her son repeatedly agreed with her that he would write a letter home every month so as not to worry her, so she stopped.
Mother Niu could not have imagined that the back of her son that she saw at that time would become forever.
In the first two months after her son joined the army, she did receive two letters from home.
The first letter was to report safety and briefly talk about life in the military camp. The letter was simple, but it greatly reassured Niu Ma's worried heart.
The second letter was from the son telling his mother that he had made good friends in the military camp.
He said that the man's name was Chen Shaoan, he was from the capital, he was handsome and dashing.
The son was excited throughout the story. He felt very proud that such a handsome young man from the capital came to join the army and became very good friends with him.
My son is living a good life in the military camp and has made good friends. Mother Niu is also happy for her son.
But after that, she never received a letter from her son again.
She waited anxiously for a while.
It was not until later that people from the same county who joined the army with their sons were gradually sent back by the military with news of their death in battle.
Only then did she learn that there was a battle with a small group of soldiers at the Mobei border, and both sides suffered injuries to each other.
After hearing the news, Mother Niu was worried at home all day long, fearing that the court would send news that her son had died in battle tomorrow.
In such anxiety, she spent two months in a daze, and the court had notified everything that should be notified.
Seeing that there was no news of her son's death in the war, Mother Niu breathed a sigh of relief.
But it was just a sigh of relief, because her son never said a word to her again.
Mother Niu was really worried about her children, so she packed up and went to the border alone without telling her two married daughters.
She is old and slow. Even though their county is not far from Beijun, it took a month to travel.
When she went to the military camp and inquired about her son, another month passed.
Finally, Niu Ma got the news that there was no such person in the military camp.
"No such person found?"
Niu Ma looked at the deputy general introduced by her fellow villagers in disbelief.
"How is this possible? My son has been in the army for more than half a year, and he has written to me before..."
Mother Niu showed the letter her son had written to the deputy general.
After reading the letter, the lieutenant general also frowned. Could it be that during the previous battle with Fan Bang, there were missing corpses in cleaning up the battlefield?
So he went back and checked the death list and the injured list again, and indeed there was no name of the mother's son.
"Sir Lieutenant General," the subordinate said, "this man disappeared out of thin air. Could it be that he was too timid to fight on the spot and became a deserter?"
"It's very possible!" The deputy general nodded.
So, Mother Niu came to the border. Not only did she not find her son, but she also asked for a sea fishing document for her son.
Niu Ma was dissatisfied and wanted to ask the deputy general for an explanation, but the deputy general was unwilling to see her again.
The fellow countryman who introduced the deputy general to her also had to come out to dissuade her, "Mother Niu, the deputy general's inference makes sense."
"Your son is nowhere to be seen alive or dead. He most likely became a deserter. If he really hides his name, none of us will be able to find him!"
"I was kind enough to help you meet the deputy general. It would be better not to meet him. Now..."
Mother Niu could no longer hear the complaints from the fellow villagers behind her. She walked into the street in panic and looked for her son alone.
She didn't believe her son was a deserter.
The great-grandfather, grandfather, and father of the Niu family all died while serving in the army. Although the Niu family did not produce any generals, they were full of soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country.
Even though the Niu family made such a big sacrifice, the government deliberately avoided the Niu family when recruiting troops.
The decision to join the army was made by her son on his own initiative. Therefore, Mother Niu firmly did not believe that her son would become a deserter.
only……
In the vast sea of people, she searched for a long time but never saw her son.
When she was desperate, Mother Niu thought of Chen Shaoan's name mentioned in her son's letter.
So, she went to the military camp again, but the result was the same as the last time she came to find her son. Chen Shaoan's name was missing from the army.
After asking around, Niu Ma found out that Chen Shaoan had died in the battle long ago.
When he was feeling sad and despairing, someone who was also from the capital and served in the army on the border sympathized with Niu Ma's plight, so he told Niu Ma that Chen Shaoan was not dead and was still in the capital.
With renewed hope, Niu Ma came to the capital after a hard journey.
She originally thought that after meeting Chen Shaoan, no matter whether she could find her son or not, she would be able to get more or less information about him.
But I never expected that when Chen Shaoan saw her, he not only looked disgusted, but also refused to admit that he knew her son.
Chen Shaoan is the last hope for a son. Even if Chen Shaoan firmly refuses to admit it, she will not want to leave because she wants to get a result from Chen Shaoan.
Only then did Chen Shaoan become unbearable and beat him violently.
Niu Ma took advantage of being beaten to death and sued the Chen family in order to make the matter bigger and force Chen Shaoan to tell some things about her son.
Niu Ma took the letter and held it up in front of Chen Shaoan.
"My son's letter clearly stated clearly that you, Uncle Chen, are the good friend my son has made...Why can't you admit it?"
Chen Shaoan still refuses to change his words, "Let me say it for the last time, I don't know your son, and I don't know why he wrote that!"
"Who knows if your son is using my name to comfort you so that you don't worry?"
"I clearly said I don't know him, why do you insist on forcing me to know your son?"
"Madam..." the old lady said softly, "I have three sons, and I know how you feel about losing your son, but you can't just treat my son with a letter."
"Shao'an has been back in the capital for so long and has gone through so many things. He has long lost contact with the army. You are looking for a son who has not been seen for so long. It must have nothing to do with my son."
"Impossible, impossible, you must be related..." Mother Niu firmly believed that her son's letter would not lie to her.
At this time, the governor of Jingzhao spoke.
"Mother Niu, although I am a parent official who makes decisions for the people, it is really hard for people to sympathize with you for saying that Chen Shaoan knows your son based on a letter, and then you rashly make such a reckless move.
"
"Sir, do you already think that my son is a deserter?"
Mother Niu cried, "My son is really not that kind of person. I just want to ask Uncle Chen to tell the truth..."