The Rise of the Youth in the War of Resistance

On the evening of August 8, inside a house in Pingxiang.

In that endless dark abyss, Zhao Shao's consciousness was like a lone boat, rising and falling with the tide of memory.

The cold and mechanical power of the system, like a pair of invisible hands, forcibly stuffed his lost past years back into his mind.

In an instant, he seemed to be caught in a turbulent vortex, and from a strange first-person perspective, he began to re-examine every detail of his life since his birth.

He just stared quietly, watching himself being born from that chaotic and dark place.

It was a sunny day, yet also a bit noisy and uneasy. Outside the delivery room, anxious footsteps were pacing back and forth, while inside the delivery room, painful groans and screams were intertwined.

Finally, with a loud cry, he came into this world.

A handsome man, with an upright posture, could not hide the panic and excitement of being a new father. He carefully took the crying baby - Zhao Shao - from the midwife's wrinkled hands.

There was a glint of curiosity and kindness in his eyes. His slender fingers gently teased the wrinkled little life in his arms, and his mouth made some humorous noises from time to time, trying to elicit more responses from the little guy.

However, his actions caused the woman lying on the bed to whisper in criticism.

The woman's face was a little pale due to childbirth, and her hair was scattered messily on the pillow, but she still couldn't hide the tenderness and beauty between her eyebrows. She was Xiuying, whom Zhao Shao temporarily called his mother.

"You, how disrespectful! The baby has just been born."

Although Xiuying's voice was a little weak, it was full of love and anger.

The man scratched his head awkwardly, chuckled, but did not stop what he was doing.

"Xiuying, I'm just curious!"

Time passed slowly, and soon it was time to name the child.

At this moment when everything seemed to be somewhat casual and simple, the handsome man frowned, pondered for a long time, and muttered to himself:

"Zhao Da, Zhao Shi, Zhao Jia..."

He uttered the names one by one, but was quickly denied by himself.

Xiuying leaned weakly against the headboard, looking at the small patch of sky outside the window with a dazed look in her eyes, and said softly:

"Why not call me Zhao Xiao? I know my fate."

Her voice was very soft, but it seemed to carry a sense of vicissitudes and helplessness that came from having experienced the vicissitudes of life.

After hearing this, the man immediately shook his head and retorted:

“Knowing his fate, but knowing that he can’t change it, how desperate he must be!

If you ask me, we should call him Zhao Shao.

Burn away all obstacles that stand in his way, and have a smooth life."

There was a determination and expectation in his eyes, as if he was promising the child an extremely grand future.

At this moment, Zhao Shao, immersed in this memory, felt his eyelids becoming heavier and heavier, and fatigue surged like a tide. He slowly closed his eyes.

In that dark dream world, he thought he was about to return to reality, but fate did not go as he wished.

.........

When he woke up again, he found himself lying in a wooden cradle, surrounded by an empty room.

His tiny body was trapped in this small world, and he couldn't help babbling, as if expressing his confusion and bewilderment about this strange world.

After a while, a soft sound of footsteps was heard. It was Xiuying.

She walked lightly to the cradle, bent down, and gently held Zhao Shao in her arms. Her slender arms swayed slightly as she hummed:

"Strange baby, go to sleep..."

That gentle voice was like a spring breeze, gently blowing through Zhao Shao's heart.

Perhaps it was because of his instinct as a baby, or perhaps it was because Xiuying's arms were too warm and comfortable, but soon, little Zhao Shao stopped making noises and fell into a deep sleep.

In this way, the days flowed calmly and slowly like a gurgling stream, and a month passed in a flash.

For Zhao Shao, who had experienced the baptism of memories for more than ten years, all this seemed commonplace.

After all, in his cognition, in the real world, this was just a short dream time of one night.

During this month, the handsome man who once had a face full of excitement and anticipation never appeared in front of Zhao Shao again.

It was as if he was a gust of wind, coming and going in a hurry, leaving Zhao Shao alone in this empty room. Zhao Shao, who was still in his memory, once suspected that he was not his biological father at all.

However, the gears of fate were turning quietly, and this misunderstanding was soon broken.

It was an ordinary yet somewhat depressing afternoon. The sunlight shone through the mottled leaves onto the ground, forming patches of light and shadow.

One-month-old Zhao Shao was lying in the cradle, waving his little hands, blowing bubbles from his mouth, and entertaining himself.

Suddenly, the door was pushed open and a figure rushed in.

Zhao Shao looked closely and saw that it was the man he didn't want to call his father.

At this moment, he no longer had the cheerfulness and liveliness he had when we last met, and he looked worried.

His hair was a little messy, and there were even a few pieces of pudding on his clothes, as if he had experienced a major change.

As soon as he spoke, his voice was filled with anxiety and panic:

"Xiuying, hurry up and take the child away. If we get caught, none of us will be able to escape."

Xiuying was sorting clothes aside. When she heard this, she suddenly stopped what she was doing and looked up, her eyes filled with fear and confusion.

"What's the matter, so urgent?"

The man took a deep breath, tried to calm himself down, and said:

"Someone from the Zhao family is here, saying they want to take this wild child of mine back home. You better run away quickly.

I'll hold them back, you know, if we let the child go back, then..."

His words stopped abruptly, and Zhao Shao, tired from playing, fell asleep.

At this time, Zhao Shao, immersed in his memories, was full of confusion and madness.

"What's the problem with being caught?"

He kept shouting in his heart, but no one could hear him.

He prayed desperately, hoping that he could quickly wake up from this strange memory and escape from this endless confusion and anxiety.

Perhaps his prayers really worked, and his eyes slowly opened again.

This time, he found himself still in Xiuying's arms, but at this moment, she was running on a rugged path with a look of fear on her face.

Zhao Shao was held tightly in her arms, bouncing up and down as she ran.

He raised his head with great effort and looked behind him, only to see bright torches, like a winding fire dragon, baring its fangs and claws in the darkness.

The jumping flames seemed to be the call of the god of death. As long as they were caught up, it would be a catastrophe.

Zhao Shao's eyes were deeply attracted by the blazing torch, and his heart was filled with fear and curiosity.

At this moment, he saw a flash of determination in Xiuying's eyes.

She looked at Zhao Shao in her arms, her eyes full of reluctance and helplessness. Finally, she gritted her teeth and gently placed Zhao Shao in an empty but overgrown place - Huangzipi.

Her lips trembled slightly, and she reluctantly said:

"Good boy, go to sleep."

As Zhao Shao was about to fall asleep, he heard his mother Xiuying's last words:

"My child, I hope you can grow up happily..."

Fate always seems to favor some people inadvertently.

Perhaps the carnivores had just had a full meal that night and had no interest in the little baby; or perhaps there was a mysterious force protecting him.

The next morning, when the first ray of sunlight shone on the earth, Zhao Shao was found by He Niu and taken home.

Coincidentally, it was because of the time when He Niu was taken away that the Zhao family members who returned to look for him missed him.

.........