Swish!
At a single command.
The entire squad of young soldiers behind him moved in perfect unison, as though they were one person.
They snapped into a goose step.
Their right arms rose swiftly.
They gave this weathered, hundred-year-old veteran the most precise, most honorable military salute!
Their eyes brimmed with undisguised respect and admiration!
The sudden scene stunned the passersby around them.
People who had been hurrying along stopped in their tracks.
Passing vehicles slowed down, some even coming to a stop.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Every gaze settled on the old man, medals hanging on his chest, his figure slightly stooped in the night.
No one made a fuss. No one whispered.
Everyone simply watched in silence, expressing their deepest respect for this unknown old hero in their own way.
Through his slightly clouded eyes, Yue Qinhu looked at the young, upright soldiers before him, all about his grandson's age. Faced with the sincere respect on their faces, he seemed at a loss.
His muddled mind did not seem to have fully grasped what was happening.
Only instinctively, trembling, he raised his right hand, covered in age spots and scars, and returned their salute.
"Good... good..."
Yue Qinhu's lips trembled as he kept murmuring.
"You've all grown up... so tall, so strong..."
"Good... this way... no one will dare bully us anymore..."
"No one will dare..."
The old man's voice came in broken fragments, thick with emotion.
In the quiet night, every word reached everyone's ears clearly.
Yue Xiaofei could no longer hold back. He turned his head away, unwilling to let anyone see his reddened eyes.
A trail of tears slipped silently down his cheek.
Grandpa!
Granduncle!
And the countless fallen heroes like you!
Can you see it?
This peace, this flourishing age, is everything you wished for.