Quick Transmigration: After Fake Death, All the Protagonists I Flirted With Went Crazy

Chapter 296 The Dilemma of Family and Country (Chen Bai's Side Story)

At first, An Ding was actually very busy, almost like he was doing the work of two people. But Chen Bai didn't really want to stay. He submitted a leave request to his superiors and stayed for half a month.

"Chen Bai, you should know that we are currently short-staffed."

“I know, but I want to go to northern Shanxi.”

The person sitting in the chair was taken aback, sighed softly, gave Chen Bai a deep look, and signed his name on the leave slip.

Traveling alone can be a bit boring, and as Chen Bai watched the scenery rushing past the train window, he felt a little timid.

With a hint of weakness and helplessness.

He used to be able to confidently say that he would avenge A Yao, but now that his own family is in charge, he doesn't know what to say to Gu Yao.

Carrying some offerings, Chen Bai staggered up the mountain. He felt the wind was quite chilly and tightened his clothes.

As you walk deeper into the woods, two solitary graves stand side by side, as if two people are embracing each other.

Chen Bai set out the offerings, lit the candles, and the paper money turned to ashes in the wind.

"Ah Yao, everything is fine now."

"Those bastards who usurped our place have been driven out. You, down there... are you alright?"

Chen Bai paused, his voice choked with emotion, and blinked, tears still streaming down his cheeks.

Perhaps feeling ashamed of himself, Chen Bai wiped away his tears and began to ramble on about his recent situation over the years.

“My father retired these past few years, and the central government has taken good care of him. I also got promoted. That senior colleague from the intelligence department got married and had a very beautiful child. And…”

The young man's voice was gentle yet helpless, only reporting good news and not bad, and he choked up a little at the end.

"Ah Yao, we're all doing well, it's just..." I miss you a little.

Chen Bai lowered his eyes, threw the last few pieces of paper money into the fire, and slowly stood up.

"Never mind, there's nothing more to say."

With calloused fingertips, she touched the blue stone tablet. "A-Yao, even if you become a member of the Yan family, you still have to come back and visit the Martyrs' Cemetery. Don't forget your family after you get married."

In the end, Chen Bai seemed a little defiant, and reached out to poke at the name.

Just like the time I poked Gu Yao's forehead years ago.

It was as if Gu Yao was still in front of him, still the child who used to ask him for candy when he was little.

His younger brother, Gu Yao.

Chen Bai sighed, silently withdrew his hand, and turned to walk down the mountain.

The wind swirled up the ashes of paper, and the sound of chanting drifted from a distant Buddhist temple.

One person, a solitary figure; two lonely graves.

With the situation just stabilized and everything in need of rebuilding, compiling a list of martyrs was a matter for later.

Ultimately, the living are more important.

Chen Bai looked at the list of martyrs that had been submitted and sighed deeply.

These past ten years have been incredibly tough.

Those whose names have been recorded are all relatives or friends who haven't all died.

How many bones lie buried beneath the yellow earth, nameless and faceless?

The more Chen Bai looked at the list, the more upset he became. He decided to close it and go outside for some fresh air.

***

As Chen Bai gently stroked the new stone tablet, he was at a loss for how to face Gu Yao.

Even though we are separated by a blue stone tablet, it can be considered a reunion.

He felt the gentle breeze brushing past his ears and thought the sun was shining brightly that day.

But the scene on the execution ground that day was still etched in his mind.

That was his lifelong regret, a nightmare he could never escape.

Ah Yao, so upright and honest, was taken to the execution ground, his body covered in wounds.

But his eyes shone with an unusual brightness as he looked at the beast who was pronouncing his "crimes," and then at the apathetic "compatriots" below the stage. It was as if he had long foreseen his fate.

Calm and composed.

Across the commotion of the crowd, those clear, bright eyes seemed to meet his own as he hid in the shadows, too afraid to utter a sound, before quickly looking away.

He spat at Wang Jing, who was still trying to pin charges on him, using every foul language he had ever learned.

That was the first and last time Chen Bai saw Gu Yao curse someone so bluntly.

He berated everyone in front of him until their faces turned ashen, wishing they could kill him immediately.

But the person in charge of the execution today is a superstitious person who has done many bad things and insists on following the ancients' way of carrying out the execution at noon.

Gu Yao looked at Wang Jing, whose face was ashen but who seemed helpless against him, and smiled, like a victorious rooster, head held high, exuding a fierce aura.

As the group approached him, Chen Bai saw a calm expression on the blood-stained face. The man glanced at the crowd watching the performance and declared loudly, "I, Gu Yao, have given my life for my country today, without regret!"

He then withdrew his gaze, ignoring the stares of the crowd below, and faced death with equanimity.

Chen Bai could see clearly that those people, no, they should be called walking corpses, had no emotion whatsoever on their faces.

It's as if the people being persecuted now are not their own compatriots.

Despite being stabbed more than a dozen times, the stubborn man didn't utter a single scream.

Through the crowd, Chen Bai saw the regret on Wang Jing's face and the indifference of the crowd.

They were like spectators watching a play, getting a free show, and even able to comment on its quality towards the end.

That was the first time Chen Bai had doubts about what he had done.

Can he really save the country?

Can he really save such a callous and indifferent country, a country mired in deep-seated problems?

But it was Gu Yao who shattered this doubt.

When Chen Bai was dragged back to his temporary residence by his companions, he was no longer aware of the emotions around him.

He was always taught to love his country and save it.

But this incident had a huge impact on him.

He developed a high fever that night.

In a daze, he returned to the day he sent Gu Yao abroad, and asked Gu Yao the same question he had asked back then.

"Ah Yao, can we really save the country?"

This was his deepest suspicion.

The person didn't turn around; the clear, crisp voice entered his mind without the slightest hesitation.

"I don't know if I can save the country, nor do I know if I will live to see the day when dawn breaks."

But I would rather become a candle, burning out the light of a firefly to illuminate this long night.

Even if my efforts are insignificant.

At that moment, Chen Bai fell silent.

At this moment, Chen Bai also fell silent.

Facing this blue stone tablet, he was at a loss for words. He gently stroked it with his fingertips and then withdrew them. In an instant, he stood up straight and gave a standard military salute. "Comrades Gu Yao, Yan Yu, and He Yanshen, thank you for your contributions to the Republic!"

His straight figure walked out.

Outside, the sun is shining brightly.

Gu Yao, a revolutionary martyr, was unfortunately arrested in Beiping. He refused to surrender and died under a hail of knives at the age of thirty.