75: Chapter 75 Take a Look at This World
When the news of a loved one's death reaches home, it is undoubtedly the most painful blow.
Just at this moment, Li Yans Mother walked out of the courtyard.
Li Yans Mother's face looked somewhat weathered, covered with the marks of exposure to the elements.
Seeing the courtyard gate wide open and Wang Ye standing outside, she looked puzzled.
Then she saw the girl crying, her shoulders trembling slightly.
Li Yans Mother, not understanding the situation, walked up to ask.
"Nier, is there a guest here? Why are you standing at the gate instead of inviting them in?"
Upon hearing this, the girl hurriedly wiped away her tears.
However, her reddened eyes clearly could not hide her emotions.
Li Yans Mother immediately noticed that something was wrong with the girl.
She looked at Wang Ye; although he was wearing ordinary coarse linen clothes, she could see a unique temperament about him.
She felt as though she had seen this temperament before.
Li Yans Mother thought carefully and quickly recalled where she had seen it.
It seemed she had seen it on those Chinese Soldiers who were her son's comrades.
At the thought of her son, Li Yans Mother suddenly froze.
She glanced at Wang Ye, then at the girl beside her who had stopped crying, and seemed to vaguely guess something in her heart.
She stood there, stunned.
Seeing her mother like this, the girl beside her finally burst into tears.
"Mother..."
The girl threw herself into her mother's arms and began to wail.
She was holding a handkerchief in her hand, and when her mother saw it, her own eyes also turned slightly red.
Seeing this, Wang Ye stood where he was, feeling very heavy-hearted.
An inexplicable irritability welled up in his heart.
This scene tugged at his heartstrings.
He did not want to witness such a scene.
Inside the livestream room, the audience saw this scene and felt a complex mix of emotions, their hearts heavy.
"This is just too painful to watch; my heart feels so heavy."
"Learning of a family member's death, no matter who it was, would be this heartbreaking."
"I just put myself in their shoes and completely broke down. I can't even imagine what I would do if my loved ones left me."
"Is this the price of war? Behind every one of the Chinese Soldiers who died on the battlefield, there are thousands upon thousands of families, thousands upon thousands of loved ones."
"War is truly terrifying. If a war were to break out, we would be the ones in this picture. Facing the departure of a loved one, we could only be helplessly sad."
"The death tolls we see now are just numbers. But very few people talk about the sorrow and suffering behind these numbers."
"Some of these fallen Chinese Soldiers were the only sons in their families, children to their parents; others were someone's husband or a child's father. Or perhaps they were childhood playmates or like-minded friends. Every person's death brings sorrow and grief to many others."
The audience in the livestream room felt complicated emotions.
They understood many of these truths.
However, without personal experience, no matter how many truths they know, they remain just truths.
Only an actual event can make a person learn a lesson.
"Li Yan is only nineteen, right? Has he never even been in a relationship?"
"Seems so. I've never heard him mention liking any girl, let alone getting married."
"Then doesn't that mean he has no descendants?"
Seeing this, the audience in the livestream room all fell silent.
Carrying on the family line is very important to most Chinese people.
Especially for the Chinese Soldiers going to the battlefield, if they had an heir, they would have no regrets even if they died.
At the very least, their loved ones at home would still have the child to focus on.
His bloodline could still continue.
Even if he died, his descendants would be endless.
Seeing the audience's words, Wang Ye felt even heavier in his heart.
At this moment, the girl had stopped crying.
She pulled away from her mother's embrace and looked at Wang Ye.
"Big brother, are you my brother's comrade?"
The girl's voice carried a slight choke.
"Yes, I am his comrade. He asked me to bring that handkerchief to you."
"My brother, did he ask you to give us any message?" The girl clutched the handkerchief tightly in her hand.
There were words on the handkerchief; it was the last letter Li Yan had prepared long ago.
On the second day after he arrived at the battlefield, watching countless comrades he knew die before his eyes.
He realized that wanting to leave alive was very, very difficult.
Therefore, he had prepared his last letter.
After he met Wang Ye, he had a feeling in his heart.
That was, the man in front of him would be able to help him take his letter home.
If he could get the letter home, then even if he died, he would have no regrets.
"He said, in sacrificing his life for the country, he did not bring shame upon you." Wang Ye didn't know how to answer, so he could only say this.
Upon hearing this, the girl's eyes turned red once again.
The weight of this sentence was so heavy.
Hearing Wang Ye's words, Li Yans Mother's tears could not stop flowing.
A mother bids farewell to her son as he travels, never imagining that this departure would be a final farewell.
She still remembered her son's words before he left, "Mother, I will not bring shame to our family."
That is how it is when joining the army; no one knows if death will descend the next moment.
Although they had long thought in their hearts that such a day might come.
But when this day truly arrived, the pain in their hearts was still difficult to calm.
Time gradually approached noon.
Li Yans Mother and the girl seemed to have cried until their tears ran dry.
Wang Ye searched his person and took out a few silver dollars.
And a wristwatch.
This was all the possessions he had on him.
He stuffed these into the girl's hand.
The girl came to her senses and saw Wang Ye turn and leave.
Wang Ye had completed the task of delivering the handkerchief.
He did not want to stay any longer.
His presence would only make the two of them sadder.
Their son's comrade had returned.
But their son, their brother, had not returned.
"Wait..." The girl wanted to chase after him, but Wang Ye had already left their home.
The girl chased after him, but could not see Wang Ye's figure.
Looking at the few silver dollars and the wristwatch in her hand.
The girl stood at the gate, not knowing what to think.
Leaving Li Yan's home.
Wang Ye let out a breath.
He walked aimlessly through the village.
Now that he had completed Li Yan's last wish, he didn't know what to do.
In fact, there was nothing he could do.
Unless he committed suicide, which would allow him to return to the battlefield.
However, committing suicide now didn't seem to have much meaning.
To re-experience the cruelty of the battlefield?
If that were the case, Wang Ye was already tired of these things.
Compared to war, he wanted to understand this game world more.
This game world was too big.
So big that it seemed to be a real world.
"Brothers, I am lost; I don't know what else I can do." Wang Ye spoke to the audience.
Hearing Wang Ye's words, the audience in the livestream room started to offer him suggestions.
"Brother Wang, why don't you go and explore this world?"
"That's right, I'm really curious about what China is like in a world like this."
"I'm already tired of watching the war; it's too depressing."
The audience's suggestions matched Wang Ye's own thoughts.
He immediately agreed to the audience's suggestions.