If reality and ideals really come to a fork in the road, if you have to choose one, how do you choose?

This is the problem that Sergeant Luo Ping'an is facing now.

Luo Ping'an ranked third at home.

There is an older brother who is six years older than him and a younger sister who is four years younger than him.

For Sergeant Luo Ping'an, joining the army was his biggest dream.

Originally, children from a small mountain village had no idea about the troops, but on the way to the Red Army's Long March, the Red Army passed by here received selfless help from local villagers, leaving behind a good story.

But this is all the past.

If he hadn't met a soldier in his teens, perhaps Luo Ping'an's life would be like other men in the whole village - at most, he would go to the county town to study high school, then abandon school, return to the village to farm in his own fields, and then go to the next village or the village to talk about a wife and children, and walk on the road to the warm kang of his wife and children.

That year, the school was in summer vacation, and Luo Ping'an, who was still in the fifth grade of elementary school, saw the soldier for the first time.

Passing through the village is a field force that trains. In this small village, a little thing will become news and will soon spread from the beginning of the village to the end of the village.

Some people in military uniforms entered the village and stationed on the threshing grounds in the village and the wasteland at the entrance of the village. The people were still holding guns.

The temptation of guns to children is fatal.

In the county where Luo Ping'an is located, many villagers still retain the habit of hunting, and almost everyone has a local gunpowder gun at home.

But that was just a local hunting rifle after all, and it was incomparable to real guys.

When Luo Ping'an arrived at the entrance of the village, he saw a large group of soldiers busy setting up tents from afar, carrying Type 81-1 automatic rifles on his back.

In the sun, the black gun body emits a seductive light.

This is the first time Luo Ping'an has seen a real gun.

With just a glance, Luo Ping'an fell in love with this real guy crazy.

He followed the children in the village and watched the soldiers' every moves by the wasteland at the entrance of the village all day long.

Seeing these children staring at them, a soldier who couldn't figure out whether it was an officer or a soldier, took off his empty gun, and waved to let Luo Ping'an come over and let him touch him for a while.

The troops were stationed in the local area for three days. Luo Ping'an did nothing for three days. Every day, he woke up and ran to the stove, spooned a large bowl of sweet potato porridge, and then fried the cakes left after pressing the peanut oil with salt. He slapped a large bowl of rice and rushed to the entrance of the village for half a day.

During the three days in the local area, the soldiers went to the mountainside near the village for several offensive drills, and fired a lot of guns and fired a lot of empty bullets.

The gunshot left a deep impression on Luo Ping'an's memory.

It turns out that real guns are so crisp, which is so different from the dull shooting sound of the adults in the village.

A soldier even gave Luo Ping'an a shell, which was kept as a treasure by him.

Three days later, the soldiers who were training left.

However, Luo Ping'an's heart was also taken away.

Luo Ping'an, who was only eleven years old at the time, had already vowed to join the army when he grew up.

This ideal was accompanied by Luo Ping'an's growth until he graduated from high school in the county.

The young people in the village have a very high level of education after graduating from high school. In Luojia Village where Luo Ping'an is located, no college student has ever been seen since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

So young people who graduate from high school have two ways to go - either go out to work and go to coastal areas to earn money; or stay in the village, farm, raise chickens and sheep, and then say that their wife gets married and has children.

Luo Ping'an chose the third path.

He wants to join the army.

My father was very opposed and said that you went to the army, what should I do at home?

This is very realistic.

After my brother graduated, he went to work on the coast.

My sister is not a strong laborer in junior high school, not to mention that her grades are good. Even in the middle school in the county, she will always be the first in the class. Unless she fails the exam, her status as a top student will not be shaken.

There is a reason why my father objected.

Luo Ping'an knew that his father was in poor health in recent years and had been coughing all the time. Many times his mother was taking care of the work in the fields.

After graduation, my father could breathe a sigh of relief, after all, he had a strong labor force. When his eldest son went to work, Luo Ping'an, who was the second child, had no choice but to support this family.

Become a soldier?

It took only a few years to go there, what's the matter? What should I do if my family matters?

This is the most realistic farmer's idea, simple and accepting fate.

Luo Ping'an refused to accept his fate.

Since he was eleven years old, he has decided to join the army.

In your life, maybe you only have one chance to join the army, how can you just miss it?

The father and son had a big quarrel over this and parted in a bad mood.

Fortunately, my mother felt sorry for her son and worked with her father for a whole day of ideological work. Three days later, her father shouted him with a shady face and said, "Summer is gone." You can join the army. You can plant me well for half a year. When the year is growing at the end of the year, my father promises you to join the army and realize your dream, so that you won't be shady with me every day at home. I am your father, not your enemy!

After hearing this, Luo Ping'an jumped three feet and shouted several times, saying long live dad!

This scared the old man who had experienced that special era and quickly scolded him, saying "Long Live" was what you said? You are reactionary!

I don’t know whether it is reactionary or not. Anyway, Luo Ping’an was like a tireless ox in the six months after graduation to the end of the year, and he was as dark as the charcoal pulled out of the stove.

The military service went smoothly.

My mother had a distant relative in the county armed forces department, and he was familiar with the recruitment of troops.

When I asked, I said that there are indicators for recruitment at the end of the year.

So, that year, Luo Ping'an was the first to register in the county. He went to the village committee early, found a cadre in charge of the armed forces, and clamored to join the army.

The young people in Luojia Village were not very enthusiastic about joining the army. In addition, there were not many households in the village, so the county's indicators were not even here in recent years, so the county's other places were allowed to complete the task.

This time, the village cadres were the first to see that there were people in Luojia Village who took the initiative to join the army.

Luo Ping'an was wearing his military uniform very smoothly, but when there was only two months left for a physical examination, something big happened at home.

My father vomited blood and was sent to the hospital to diagnose advanced lung cancer.

Luo Ping'an felt like he was hit hard.

This means that his plan to join the army is about to fail.

When he leaves, who will take care of his family?

My sister is still in junior high school. Do you want her to drop out of school?

My brother works in a coastal city, and is busy all the time. He just got married and planned to take root in a coastal city and become a city home from now on.

Want him back? It seems that his thoughts are too selfish.

But in the end, Luo Ping'an still put on his military uniform and came to the army.

The reason is very simple. My mother saw that the second son Luo Ping'an was obsessed with the army.

As a rural woman, she doesn’t understand the great principles and doesn’t know what ideals are.

However, if his son cannot become a soldier and stay here, he will never be happy for the rest of his life.

She understands this.

Brothers fighting tigers, father and son fight.

Brother Luo Tianxiang quit his job and returned to this small mountain village from the coastal city.

After the funeral of my father, Luo Tianxiang patted his younger brother's shoulder and said, "Brother, go, join the army and find your ideal. My brother is holding on at home."

Luo Ping'an couldn't help it and cried loudly on the spot.

The deep love between brothers and sisters is nothing more than this.

More than a month later, Luo Ping'an put on his military uniform and left.

Because this military uniform is hard-won, Luo Ping'an works harder than any soldier of the same year.

When he first arrived in the army, he had already stood out since his responsibility and was the best among the soldiers of the same year.

The recruit period was just over, and he was selected to the reserve team of the Special Forces Brigade, where he went through rigorous training. Finally, he passed five levels and defeated six generals, and successfully entered the "Red Arrow" Brigade.

Even in the "Red Arrow" Brigade, when he mentioned Luo Ping'an, the leader of the Third Battalion, the cadres who knew him gave him a thumbs up and said, "Good soldier!"

But no one knows.

The reason why Luo Ping'an worked so hard is not only because his own ideal is to be a good soldier, but more importantly, if he is not a good soldier, he will not be ashamed of his father's spirit in heaven, nor will he be sorry to everyone in the family - his brother, his mother and his sister.

If nothing happened, Sergeant Luo Ping'an's future military path should be like this - transfer to a non-commissioned officer, then stay in the army and continue to serve. Maybe there is a chance to participate in a special forces competition or something, and be awarded for his proud military qualities and then be promoted.

Even if you don’t have any promotion, you can at least get enough military affair. Then, like veteran Zhang Zhiang, you will be a soldier king who is not a cadre but better than a cadre.

However, reality is reality after all.

Some people are born to break out of the thorns of life.

Luo Ping'an's military dream was hit hard by reality.

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Chapter completed!