In May of this year, my elder brother fell ill, and I brought my wife and child back to our hometown to visit him. The four of us—my brother, my sister, my younger sister, and I—finally gathered together again.
Since our parents passed away, reunions among the four siblings have become rare. Seeing everyone this time filled me with emotion. In the blink of an eye, we have all grown old. Fortunately, each of us is living a stable and peaceful life in our later years.
My older sister is a retired teacher. After graduating from high school, she became a temporary substitute teacher at the commune elementary school, later earning a permanent position as a teacher, working diligently until retirement.
My younger sister was admitted to university after the reinstatement of the college entrance examination—the only university graduate among the four of us. After graduating, she settled down in the city.
My eldest brother spent his whole life farming in the countryside, yet both of his children turned out exceptionally well. They were both admitted to university and later settled in the city. My brother and sister-in-law lived in the city for several years, but they were not used to urban life and eventually returned to the village, where they now enjoy a happy and peaceful later life.
After graduating from high school, I joined the army. Later, I was promoted and stayed in the military, eventually retiring as a deputy regiment officer. Looking back, I feel a thousand emotions rising within me. 
In 1974, after finishing two years of high school, I returned home. At the end of that year, I joined the army and was assigned to a unit under the Nanjing Military Region. At that time, for rural children like us, the army was the only path that could change our fate.
After enlistment, I trained hard and stood out in the new recruit company. I ranked among the top in every assessment. After joining the main unit, I became a reconnaissance soldier.
Our company commander was from my hometown in Jinan, and he took good care of me. Because I had some educational background, decent writing ability, and a quick mind, I served for a period as a company clerk, and later as assistant squad leader and then squad leader.
In my fourth year of service, I was recommended by the company to attend training at the division academy. Shortly after returning from training, I was promoted to officer. After the promotion, I returned home to visit my parents. On my way back, I met my future wife on the train.
She was sitting beside me, and during our casual conversation, I learned that she was also serving in the army—coincidentally within the same division. She worked at the division hospital. We had a good impression of each other from the very beginning. After returning to our posts, we kept in touch, and she visited my company many times.
In 1980, after being promoted to deputy company commander, I was selected to attend a two-year military college. During that time, my wife and I officially started dating. After graduating from military school, I returned to my original unit, and at the end of that year, we obtained our marriage certificate.
My wife came from a better-off family. Her parents were both teachers, and her younger sister was a high school teacher.
The year after we married, we had a lovely baby boy. Because both my wife and I were busy with work, our son was mainly cared for by my in-laws.
In 1984, my eldest brother wrote to me saying that our father was gravely ill and wanted to see me. He urged me to return home as soon as possible. At the time, our unit was extremely busy with training, and I couldn’t find the opportunity to return. I planned to go back after finishing the tasks at hand.
But unexpectedly, our unit received orders to participate in combat operations. As the company commander, there was simply no way I could leave at such a critical moment.
With tears in my eyes, I wrote a letter home. Worried about burdening my father, I didn’t tell him the truth—only that I would return as soon as my work was done.
In early December, our unit arrived at the front line as scheduled, replacing a unit from the Kunming Military Region and participating in the Laoshan and Zhushan battles. We stayed on the front line until late May 1985, when we were finally withdrawn and returned to our base for rest.
After we returned, my wife told me devastating news—my father had passed away three months earlier.
At that time, I had been commanding operations on the front line. Fearing it would affect my focus, she chose not to tell me.
When I heard of my father’s passing, my heart grew heavy and unsettled. I immediately bought a train ticket home. When I saw my father’s portrait, I could no longer hold back my emotions. I broke down in tears.
My elder brother told me that in the months before his death, our father longed for my return every single day. Among the four siblings, he had always doted on me the most. Because of my work, I could not stay by his side as often as I wished. Fate had its own plans, and in the end, I never saw him during his final moments.
This has become the greatest regret of my life.
Life is filled with regrets. Some can be remedied. Others—once missed—remain with us forever.
