A young boy from the 1970s, separated from his family, fled famine and led his younger brother into

"Tomorrow, we'll take Wangbei back to the capital."

Gu Wanjun's calm yet undeniable words were like a boulder crashing onto the Lu family's heart, which had just begun to warm up, stirring up towering ripples.

A suffocating silence instantly filled the living room.

Zhou Yayun's eyes, which had just shown a hint of a smile, instantly reddened again.

She instinctively reached out, wanting to hug the child she had come to regard as her own son.

But her hand, which was halfway out, fell limply to the ground.

She knew she wasn't qualified.

Lu Zhenguo silently lowered his head and smoked one cigarette after another.

The swirling smoke blurred his usually resolute face and concealed his equally reluctant gaze.

Lu Xingzhou leaned against the corner of the wall.

He looked at Gu Wangbei, who was sitting in Lin Huilan's lap with a blank expression, playing with a brand-new toy car, and then at Lu Nianci, who kept her head down the whole time and whose expression was not clear.

For the first time, his cold heart felt an emotion called "unbearable pity".

Only the person involved, Gu Wangbei, was present.

He had no idea how cruel a farewell he was about to face.

He just felt that the atmosphere in the room was a bit strange.

He looked up at everyone's rather unpleasant expressions, his large, dark eyes filled with confusion.

He slid down from his grandmother's arms and then ran with his short legs to his sister, whom he relied on and was closest to the most.

He reached out his little hand, tugged at Lu Nianci's sleeve, and asked in a worried, childlike voice, "Sister, what's wrong?"

Are you unhappy?

Lu Nianci slowly raised her head.

She looked into her brother's clear, innocent eyes and his concerned little face.

She could no longer control her emotions, which were already on the verge of collapse!

She reached out and hugged her little brother's small, warm body tightly into her arms!

She buried her face deeply in the soft, faintly milky scent of his neck.

She doesn't want to cry.

She didn't want her younger brother to see her vulnerable side.

However, those tears, which I couldn't control, poured out like beads from a broken string!

The collar of my brother's brand-new little military uniform was instantly soaked.

"Sister? Sister, what's wrong? Don't cry, sister!"

Gu Wangbei felt his sister's body trembling violently and her hot tears, and he panicked instantly!

He stretched out his little arms and awkwardly hugged his sister back.

He gently patted his sister's back with his small, tender hands, just as she had comforted him countless nights before.

"Sister, don't cry, don't cry."

"Did someone bully you?"

"Tell Stone to go and hit him!"

As he spoke, he waved his weak little fist.

The sight of her wanting to stand up for her sister but being at a loss brought tears to everyone's eyes.

"No, no one bullied my sister."

Lu Nianci choked back tears as she lifted her head from his embrace.

She hastily wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand, then forced a smile that looked even uglier than crying.

"My sister is happy."

"My sister is happy that we are looking north."

"Happy? Then why are you crying?" Gu Wangbei tilted his head in confusion.

"Yes." Lu Nianci nodded.

She held her little brother's hand and let him sit on her lap.

She looked into his eyes and said in a voice as calm and gentle as possible, "Stone, do you remember?"

"Your sister told you that we need to find a great hero who can protect us."

Gu Wangbei nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

"Now, we've found it."

Lu Nianci pointed to Gu Wanjun and Lin Huilan, who were sitting on the sofa with sad expressions.

"They are your biological grandparents."

"They are your real family."

"Tomorrow, you'll be going back to your own home with them."

"That home was in a place called 'Kyoto'."

"There are very, very big houses there, endless delicious food, and many, many people who love and cherish you."

Are you happy?

Lu Nianci tried her best to make her voice sound cheerful and expectant, but the slight tremor at the end of her voice betrayed the fact that her heart had already been shattered into pieces.

Gu Wangbei did not show the happy expression she expected after hearing her sister's words.

His clear, large eyes were filled with confusion and unease.

He glanced at his kind grandparents not far away, then at his sister in front of him who was forcing a smile.

He remained silent for a long time, then asked in a voice filled with fear and grievance, "Then... what about my sister?"

"Aren't you going to walk with the stone?"

boom!

Su Nianci was in so much pain that she couldn't breathe!

"Sister..." she began with difficulty, "Sister has her own things to do."

"My sister wants to stay here to go to school."

"I'll stay here and wait for Mom and Dad to come back."

"No!"

However, Gu Wangbei, like an enraged little lion, suddenly jumped off her lap!

His large, dark eyes instantly filled with glistening tears!

He gripped Lu Nianci's hand tightly, crying out with all his might, "I don't want to!"

"I don't want to go back to the capital!"

"I don't need a big house!"

"I don't want anything delicious!"

"I only want my sister!"

"Stone, don't separate from your sister! Never!"

He cried so loudly and heartbreakingly!

Those cries of "Sister" filled with despair and dependence were like the sharpest knives, cruelly scraping the hearts of everyone present!

Lin Huilan could no longer hold back; she rushed forward and tried to hug her grandson.

But Gu Wangbei, like a frightened little animal, clung tightly to Lu Nianci's leg and refused to let go!

"I don't want to! I don't want to go!"

"Sister! Please don't abandon me! Sister! Waaaaah..."

He cried so hard he could barely breathe, his little face turning bright red.

That sorrowful and desperate look broke everyone's hearts.

Gu Wanjun closed his eyes in pain.

He spent his life on the battlefield; what kind of tragic separations and deaths hadn't he witnessed?

But what he saw before him made him feel as if his heart was being torn apart.

He knew he had to take the child with him.

This is a responsibility to one's family, and also a necessity for the country.

However, seeing the two children clinging tightly to each other in despair, his usually unwavering resolve began to waver for the first time.

Is what he did really the right thing?

Wasn't he too cruel?

Just when everyone was at a loss, Lu Nianci suddenly stopped crying.

She looked at her younger brother, who was crying so hard he was about to faint, with her red and swollen eyes.

She took a deep breath and then said in an unprecedentedly solemn and firm tone, "Stone, don't cry."

"Listen to what my sister said."