Nandu News, intern reporter He Wei - The romance between Shenzhen and Hong Kong was separated for 65 years. Xu Yougen, an 87-year-old veteran of the Hangzhou Anti-Japanese War, has an unfulfilled wish: he hopes to find his first love from Hong Kong, Li Yu, whom he lost contact with 65 years ago due to the war turmoil. In 1945, after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Xu Yougen's unit took over the Guangjiu Railway and was stationed in Shenzhen. Li Yu, who had relatives doing business in Shenzhen, frequently traveled between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Coincidentally, one of Li Yu's relatives was detained at the company where Xu Yougen was stationed. Li Yu often visited her relative, and thus the two met. That year, Xu Yougen was 22 years old, and Li Yu was 19, studying in Oi Man Tai in Kowloon, Hong Kong.
After some time of getting to know each other, the two confirmed their romantic relationship. Xu Yougen once applied to his superior for marriage, but due to his low rank (quasi-warrant officer) and young age, he did not meet the conditions for marriage and was not approved. In 1946, the civil war broke out, and Xu Yougen followed his unit north, losing contact with Li Yu.
On the day of departure, Li Yu cried so much that she collapsed at the dock. Xu Yougen dared not look back at his close friend, Yu, and boarded the warship with tears in his eyes. Lying on the deck, he looked up to the sky and sighed deeply! Thereafter, due to the turmoil of war and the strict investigation of foreign policies, they lost contact completely.
In a "recall letter" to Nandu reporters, Xu Yougen wrote: "At that time, Yu did not allow me to leave. I had already taken off my military uniform, put on civilian clothes, and prepared to stay in Guangdong. But then again, I thought about the many years of military life, without any special skills. How would I live if I left the army? It was truly difficult! Difficult! Difficult!" After much deliberation, Xu Yougen still chose to leave with the army. Before leaving, he gave all the valuable things he had to Li Yu as living expenses and promised: as long as the warship could dock in Shanghai, he would definitely leave the army and find a way to take her there!
After the founding of New China, Xu Yougen returned to his hometown. In 1954, at the age of 31, Xu Yougen married a wife ten years younger than him, and then began a simple farming life. Decades have passed, and the elderly couple is healthy, with a large family, leading a very happy life.
The daughter-in-law of the elderly man hopes to fulfill the last wish of the elderly man. On October 29, Nandu reporters attempted to interview the elderly man by phone, but due to the hearing problems left by the war, he was unable to accept a phone interview. However, upon learning of Nandu reporters' wish to interview him, the elderly man voluntarily wrote down the story between him and Li Yu.
Xu Yougen (also known as Xu Hongxiang), born in 1924, currently resides in Tingshan Village, Dayuan Town, Fuyang City, Zhejiang Province. He was the deputy platoon leader of the Second Platoon, Seventh Company, Third Battalion, Eighty-Ninth Regiment, Newly Compiled Thirty Division of the original Army. He participated in the Anti-Japanese War's Myitkyina Campaign and Namkan Campaign.
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Li Yu: Born in 1927, 84 years old this year, studied in Oi Man Tai, Kowloon, Hong Kong in 1945. Their last meeting was near Shanghai Street in Oi Man Tai.
An 87-year-old veteran of the Anti-Japanese War from Hangzhou, Xu Yougen, writes down the love story from 65 years ago.