The entire venue fell silent.
No one had expected him to begin his speech this way.
"My grandfather's name is Yue Qinhu."
Yue Xiaofei's voice was low and strong.
"Many of you may not know that name. He was once the regimental commander who defended Jiangcheng. During those hardest years, he led a force short on clothing and food, held firm against the ferocious assault of an entire enemy division, and saved that city."
"After the war, he received a plaque bearing the words [Pillar of the Country]. But instead of hanging that honor in his home, he buried it in the hills behind his house, together with a register of his fallen brothers."
"Later, he became one of the Dragon Kingdom's first intelligence operatives, code-named [Old Farmer]. On an unseen front, he protected this country for decades."
"He accomplished so much, but his files remain top secret to this day. Now he is old and has dementia. He lives in a run-down residential complex in Jiangcheng, just like any ordinary retired old man."
At that point, Yue Xiaofei paused.
In the front row of the Reviewing Stand, tears already glistened in Elder Xu Anbang's clouded eyes.
He remembered his old comrade, a hot-tempered man who had always charged ahead of everyone else.
In front of television sets.
In a small village deep in a remote mountainous region of the Dragon Kingdom, a white-haired old man sat beneath the great locust tree at the village entrance, listening to the live broadcast on his radio.
When he heard the name "Yue Qinhu," a shudder ran through him, and he sprang to his feet.
With trembling hands, he drew a yellowed old photograph from inside his clothes.
In the photograph, a young officer smiled with an arm around his shoulders.
"Commander... that's