The old man's inexplicable excitement made Li Mu also excited. He realized that this might be a breakthrough to persuade the old man to leave here.
So, he said to the old man seriously: "The information shows that the old man Han Zili is indeed still alive. He has been living in Sichuan since 1955. However, the information fed back by our volunteers said that the old man is a little forgetful. I don’t remember many things from the past very clearly. We only confirmed his identity as a pilot before, but we have never found the specific number of his unit back then.”
The old man suddenly became disappointed and said: "In 1950, I heard that he went to Taiwan, and he was not from Sichuan. How could he have been living in Sichuan? Is it a mistake?"
Li Mu said: "It would not be surprising if there were two Han Zili in the entire national military system back then. However, the National Air Force at that time did not have many pilots, so there should be no possibility of having the same name?"
The old man nodded and said, "What you say makes sense, but we still can't rule out this possibility. And I heard that some people who went to Taiwan back then didn't come back until the late 1980s. They went to Taiwan in 1949 and 1955." It is basically impossible to come back and live in Sichuan."
The old man has special personal memories of that era. At that time, a large number of Nationalist officers followed the Nationalist government to Taiwan. The fundamental reason was not because they yearned for Taiwan, but because they had to leave, and if they left, they would never be able to return. Taiwan will never allow him to come back, so if a National Army soldier or officer went to Taiwan in 1949, it would be basically impossible for him to settle in Sichuan in 1955.
Li Mu said: "It doesn't mention that Mr. Han Zili has been to Taiwan. Could it be that your information is wrong?"
The old man fell silent, and after a moment he said, "I can't guarantee it, because I heard it from someone, and there is no conclusive evidence."
Li Mu nodded slightly and added: "In addition, there is a note on this. Mr. Han Zili's son told our volunteers that the old man is from Qilu. He studied at the Yun Province Lecture Hall when he was young. Later, because he discovered that the Air Force of the Republic of China was weak at that time, That’s why I decided to join the National Air Force, please see if this information is correct.”
The old man's eyes that had dimmed just now shone again, and he said with surprise: "That's right! Zili is from Qilu, and his family is still distantly related to Han Fuju, the then king of Qilu. He entered the clouds in 37 years Provincial Wushu Hall, after Han Fuju was shot by Chiang Kai-shek in Jinling in 1938, he immediately applied to the Central Aviation School. He told me privately that everyone in the Wushu Hall knew that he was related to Han Fuju. , after Han Fuju was also shot, he began to be ostracized in the martial arts hall, so he saw no hope of promotion in the army, so he gave up his plan to become an officer and joined the Air Force."
At this point, the old man hurriedly asked: "Can you get in touch with him?"
Li Mu nodded and said, "Yes, there is his son's phone number on it. If you want to talk to him, I can call him and make an appointment."
"Okay, okay!" The old man said "good" three times in a row, and said excitedly: "You have that on you, right?"
"Hand talk?"
"It's that thing you can carry with you to make phone calls. Your volunteer carried it with him last time, and he told me it was like calling someone."
Li Mu suddenly realized and said, "You should be talking about the mobile phone."
As he said that, he took out his mobile phone and asked the old man: "Is it this kind of thing?"
The old man nodded hurriedly: "Yes, that's it."
Li Mu said: "I'm going to call Mr. Han's son now. If it's convenient there, you can talk to Mr. Han, but... But the information says that the old man's amnesia is a bit serious, and he doesn't even have his unit number. He can’t even remember it, so he may not be able to remember you, so you have to be mentally prepared.”
The old man nodded and said, "Okay, I understand. It doesn't matter if you can't remember. Just make sure it's him."
Li Mu dialed the phone number according to the information. It was a landline number in Sichuan. After the phone rang a few times, a middle-aged man answered the phone. When Li Mu asked if Mr. Han Zili was at home, the other party said : "You are looking for my grandpa, right? My father took him to the hospital for recovery, but he will be back soon. Please call back in half an hour."
Li Mu didn't say anything more, thanked him, agreed to contact him in half an hour, and hung up the phone.
After explaining the situation to the old man, the old man was not disappointed. He nodded repeatedly and said, "Zi Li is one year younger than me. He is now 87. My son can still take him to see a doctor. This shows that his son is very filial to him."
"Yes." Li Mu responded, and then asked the old man curiously: "Mr. Sun, is this Mr. Han your comrade-in-arms?"
The old man said excitedly: "He is my other wingman pilot..."
Li Mu said in surprise: "So that's it, then you are really comrades fighting side by side!"
The old man sighed: "Yes, I have two wingman pilots, and the other one died."
Li Mu felt that it was a coincidence that the old man could find his former wingman pilot in a list. However, if he thought about it carefully, the National Air Force and the Flying Tigers did not have many pilots in total. It was estimated that there would not be one department in an ordinary university in total. There are a lot of people there. Based on my experience in college, I must know everyone in my class. And those who are from different departments and classes, if they look down without looking up, they can know at least half of them, so if I randomly pull out a list of ten people, I don’t even know three or five of them, so it’s a bit hard to explain.
Thinking about the small number of National Air Force members, the total number of pilots in the Flying Tigers at that time was also not too large. Maybe among the surviving American Flying Tigers, there would be people known to Mr. Sun Xiaozhong.
Li Mu suddenly remembered that at the press conference of "Flying Tigers" in Hollywood, one of the American Flying Tigers invited by Spielberg was an old man named Paul Crawford. There was a paragraph in his memory. History is the story of how he, as a member of the Flying Tigers, set up aircraft to protect American bombers, was shot down by the Japanese army, and was rescued by local villagers. In the memories of old man Sun Xiaozhong, he also had a very similar experience...
So, Li Mu asked Sun Xiaozhong: "Mr. Sun, do you know an American Flying Tiger named Paul Crawford?"
"Paul Crawford?" The old man suddenly asked in surprise: "How do you know this person?"
Li Mu said: "I met him when I was in the United States. He was invited to the press conference of our movie "Flying Tigers" in the United States."
The old man clapped his legs and said excitedly: "I didn't expect that he was still alive! Although I was in the National Air Force, I was actually under the command of Chennault like the American pilots of the Flying Tigers, so Paul Crawford De was also my comrade at the time. I said before that he was shot down by the Japanese while covering a bomber. During the escort mission, his plane was also shot down by the Japanese. Oh, the Japanese shot down the real murderer that time. , knowing that those American bombers had just bombed their hometown, and they were fighting us desperately. They just wanted to hit us with their planes... "
After sighing, the old man returned to the topic: "We were shot down by eight fighter planes that time. Paul Crawford and I both parachuted and landed in different places. We were rescued first by different villagers, and then again. We were sent to hide in a town at that time, and we happened to meet him at that time. We hid together for a while with the help of local fellows, and finally escaped successfully. In total, we lived together in the cellar for more than a month. moon… "
Li Mu immediately said: "After some time, we will invite other surviving American Flying Tigers, including Paul Crawford, to come to China. In addition to him, there may be other old acquaintances of yours."
A trace of excited anticipation flashed in the old man's eyes.
Li Mu didn't say much more about the rest. Instead of persuading the old man to agree to go down the mountain, it was better to induce the old man to want to go down the mountain himself. Paul Crawford was only a possible success factor, and more importantly, Han Zili.
Immediately, Li Mu whispered a few words in Liu Xinxin's ear, and Liu Xinxin immediately found an excuse to go to the toilet and came out of the thatched hut. Then he used his own mobile phone to call Mr. Han Zili's son and told him about the situation. I explained the special situation to the other party...
When the half-hour appointment time came, Li Mu called Mr. Han Zili's son again. The call was quickly connected. Mr. Han's grandson said, "Mr. Li, right? My father and grandfather are back. I asked my grandfather to listen to the call." ?”
Li Mu said hurriedly: "Okay, please let Mr. Han listen to the call."
The other party said: "There is something wrong with my grandfather's memory. Please say hello to Mr. Sun. If my grandfather cannot remember anything, please forgive him."
"Okay." Li Mu said, "Then I'll give the phone to Mr. Sun."
After handing the phone to the old man and telling him how to use it, Li Mu said to the old man: "Mr. Han's memory is not very good. He may not be able to remember you. Please forgive me."
The old man nodded repeatedly, took the phone, and asked tentatively with a trembling voice: "Brother Zili?"
At this moment, in the old brick building in the suburbs of Sichuan, three generations of the Han family are gathered around the landline phone, which is on speakerphone. Mr. Han’s son, daughter-in-law, and grandson are all listening nervously to the phone. Recently, In the past few years, the old man's memory has become worse and worse, and he cannot remember many things. His relatives hope that he can regain some precious memories of the past through this reconnection with his comrades.
Mr. Han sat in front of the phone in confusion, not knowing who was going to talk to him. When he heard the other end of the phone call him Brother Zili, he suddenly felt a little dazed.
The old man is 87 years old. Over the years, very few people have called him such a title. It made him feel extremely strange for a while, but subconsciously he felt very familiar.
The old man frowned and thought for a long time, but still couldn't retrieve that memory. Out of politeness, he said loudly: "I am Han Zili, who are you?"
"I am Xiaozhong, Sun Xiaozhong, do you still remember me?"
"Sun Xiaozhong?" The old man frowned even more tightly. This name seemed to touch a certain string deep in his memory, but he couldn't figure it out clearly for a while.
At this time, the old man hurriedly said: "12th Squadron, Sixth Group, National Air Force, don't you remember?"
There was silence for a long time on the other end of the phone, and suddenly there was a trembling exclamation: "Are you the squadron leader?!"
(End of chapter)