33 God Blessed Our Huaxia (1/2)

Mister Liu, whose actual name was Liu Huajun, had been a soldier in the Sino-Vietnamese War, and was its sole, rare survivor.

Liu Huajun was low key. Based on his past contributions on the battlefield, he could have been an army-ranked public servant if he had stayed in the military. However, he personally did not like to meddle with the politics. In his words, he said that he could do well in fighting a war, but his political knowledge was worse than that of a primary school child. So he had retired and returned to his native place to lead the peaceful life of an old man. Every day he would jog around and do some exercise, and he liked that way of life.

In terms of finance, the government provided him with a retirement fund of more than ten thousand dollars a month. He also had a son and a daughter: he was living a happy life. With his respected reputation, not only the leaders of the city, but even Ministers had to pay him a visit when they were in Shencheng. No one would believe that such a great man was going for a morning run with Hong Xiaofu.

”Mister Liu.” Hong Xiaofu followed Liu Huajun. He spoke while running, ”How tough was it, when you were fighting the war?”

As an orphan from a young age, Hong Xiaofu enjoyed listening to stories about wars and how the country had protected its own territory. Everytime he listened to such stories, he felt that it had not been easy for the country to reach its current state of development. He reckoned it would have been impossible for him to be well and living, had it not been for the protection of the country.

When watching the video that had gone viral, Year Hare Affair, Hong Xiaofu and Shen Xiaoling had sobbed. Why else would he be so positive about life? It was because he knew that he owed his safe and peaceful life to those who sacrificed theirs to protect the country. Their forefathers had sowed for them to reap the benefits.

Clearly, Mister Liu was one of them.

”The situation now and then is totally different.” As he spoke of the past, Mister Liu was instantly lively. He always knew that Hong Xiaofu was a child with a good heart, who had good morals too—that's why he enjoyed telling him about things of the past. And why else would he let Hong Xiaofu use the wi-fi in his home?

”Thinking back, when I was younger.” They arrived in the park and Mister Liu brought Hong Xiaofu to sit down on a long bench as he continued, ”Forget smartphones and wi-fi, you could barely find bicycles around. You would count yourself lucky if you were not starving and freezing. Not many people in your generation can take hardship. In my time, people were not even taking public transports to school and to work...many were travelling a few kilometres by foot every day.”

Hong Xiaofu was helping Mister Liu massage his arms as he smiled and replied, ”I know, you didn't have it easy. I saw it on videos. Mister Liu, you know about the recovery of supernatural influence, right?”

”Of course.” Liu Huajun said as he nodded, ”There used to be some guy who came to inspect the area, I even met him. When I first knew him, he was still a small kid asking candy from me, now he is already a government official. I have heard about the Awakeners from him. Just because I'm over seventy years old, my mind is not rusty yet. About the Awakeners, the country values them significantly.”

Hong Xiaofu became excited in an instant and he said, ”Mister Liu, could you tell me more about it?”

Liu Huajun was clearly someone who could stop talking once he started—he was very engaged in the conversation. He giggled and pinched Hong Xiaofu's nose as he immediately started thinking about what else he could tell Hong Xiaofu. He said, ”I knew you would be interested to find out. I can tell you, but on the condition that you don't ask about the confidential information. I can't tell you those, but I can pick out the things that you are allowed to know.”

Hong Xiaofu nodded eagerly, ”Yes, please, tell me about it!”