Corpse Recovery Diver-Chapter 1196 - 216: 4

Some rickshaw drivers came over to attract passengers, saying they could take him around and give him explanations, but Li Sanjiang refused them all. He preferred to stroll by himself and didn't want to spend that money.

Besides, after these few days of touring, he realized that when it comes to guide introductions, his own Little Yuanhou is second to none. No matter which scenic spot they went to, he could explain everything thoroughly, past and present. With a family member like that, why would he spend money to listen to outsiders?

Strolling around, he started to feel a bit tired. He patted his pocket—oh no, he'd left his box of matches at the hotel.

Li Sanjiang saw a long bench ahead with an imposing elderly man with white hair sitting on it, leaning on a cane. He walked up and asked:

"Hey, brother, can I borrow a light?"

The old man turned his head to look at Li Sanjiang and nodded.

At that moment, a young man in formal attire appeared out of nowhere, holding a lighter.

The old man reached out first, took the lighter from the young man's hand, and handed it to Li Sanjiang: "Here you go, buddy."

"Hey, want a smoke too?"

Li Sanjiang pulled out two cigarettes and held them out.

The young man was about to speak but was silenced by a look from the old man.

The old man took a cigarette and placed it in his mouth.

Li Sanjiang lit his own first, then helped the old man, who lowered his head to shield the wind with his hand.

Soon, smoke swirled in the chest cavities of these two old men, making their longevity seem even tougher.

Li Sanjiang: "Are you used to this cigarette?"

The old man looked at the cigarette in his hand and said: "I've smoked rolled grass leaves before, how could I not be used to it?"

"Really tough, I've never quit smoking my entire life."

"Then you're fortunate, my friend."

"Can't say I'm fortunate, but life's been quite smooth."

Li Sanjiang remembered that during the toughest times on the battlefield, he could still find cigarettes in the pockets of corpses.

However, when he smoked, he would also insert and light one in the mouth of the corpse.

"I can tell from your accent you're not from around here, right?"

"No, I'm from Jiangsu, came to Beijing for a trip with my great-grandson."

Actually, he won the plane ticket in a lottery, but it was indeed his great-grandson serving as the guide. Li Sanjiang deliberately said it this way because he wanted to brag about his descendants' filial piety.

"Then your great-grandson is really filial."

"He sure is, very obedient, smart as a whip, a university student."

"Does he have a girlfriend?"

"Yes, she lives at our place. As soon as he comes back, they stick together playing, inseparable, they get along well."

"Child bride?"

"Not really, her family is here, especially her grandma—kind of snobbish. Might be problematic when they get married later."

"Indeed."

"But it's no biggie, I'm saving up slowly, there's time. Don't underestimate my age; like you, or like that young fellow, I could run two miles with him on my back, no problem!"

"Yeah, you look in good shape, buddy."

"You don't look bad yourself!" Li Sanjiang patted the other's chest.

The old man's face tightened.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Just had surgery."

"Oh." Li Sanjiang hurriedly withdrew his hand, wiped it on his pants, "Sorry, sorry."

"No problem, back in the day, a little cut like this wouldn't even count as a wound."

"You've really suffered a lot."

"No, I've been fortunate enough to live until now, to see now."

"Yes indeed, things have really changed, really changed."

"Have you been to Beijing before?"

"No, but I've been around this area, many years ago, came in from outside the border, passed through here."

"You went outside the border?"

"Of course, there was a war back then, a fierce one, then we entered the border, went south, tsk."

Li Sanjiang took a drag on his cigarette, slowly exhaled, as if reminiscing about the past.

The old man asked with some excitement: "Were you with Fourth Field Army?"

Li Sanjiang: "Cough cough cough..."

Li Sanjiang choked on his smoke, coughed violently.

The old man reached out to help pat his back.

But the more he patted, the redder Li Sanjiang's face got, feeling embarrassed.

When Li Sanjiang finally stopped coughing, the old man asked with a smile: "Which part of Fourth Field Army were you?"

Seeing no escape, Li Sanjiang hesitated, then whispered:

"Um, I was on the opposite side of Fourth Field Army."

The old man showed a thoughtful look—opposite Fourth Field Army, which part could that be?

Seeing the other really thinking about it, Li Sanjiang decided to confess, slapped his thigh, and said:

"Oh, I was just unlucky, always caught for forced conscription—caught once, escaped once, caught again, escaped again, fled from the Northeast to here, then to Xuzhou."

The old man finally understood, and after visualizing the routes in his mind, he slightly opened his mouth, took a while before saying: "You call that unlucky?"

Li Sanjiang explained: "I never fired a shot at the enemy. I always fired into the sky then ran, not just myself, but with people around me, each time more and more."

The old man laughed first, then his face turned serious, placing his hand on Li Sanjiang's hand, solemnly saying: "Well, buddy, you made a big contribution."

Li Sanjiang felt his face burning, quickly waved it off, saying: "It's embarrassing to say, can't say that."

Thinking to quickly change the topic, Li Sanjiang pointed to the young man and asked: "Is that your grandson?"

The old man shook his head: "No."

Li Sanjiang: "Then he's got to be a nephew."

The old man responded: "Something like that."

"You have a daughter?"

"I have several sons, but they're busy with work, hardly see them; yes, they don't like seeing me because I have too many rules, bad temper, always scolding them.