The Lotus Pond Reflects the Shadow of the Sword

In the summer of 1937, Chen Shouyi, the young owner of the "Yuxingchang" grain store on Baoding West Street, was looking forward to the future with his fiancée, Su Yuning, a female normal school student at Lianchi Academy, when the news of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident broke the tranquility. The Japanese army approached Baoding. Chen Shouyi and his father delivered food to the 29th Army defending the city. They witnessed the fierce battle at the South Gate (Yongning Gate) and the tragic destruction of the city. After the fall, Chen Shouyi pretended to cooperate with the Japanese army in requisitioning food and secretly sneaked into the underground transportation lines; Su Yuning used "Huaimao Sauce Garden Apprentice" as a cover to deliver information at Lianchi Academy. In 1938, the two defected to the Eighth Route Army in the Mancheng Mountains. Chen Shouyi relied on his water transport experience to help the Baiyangdian Yanling Team ambush Japanese motorboats, while Su Yuning protected the wounded at the Mancheng Han Tomb, transforming from a "weak scholar" into a qualified soldier. From 1939 to 1943, they formed the Baoding Armed Forces Team, dug tunnels in Qingyuan countryside to resist "mopping up", raided train stations at night, blew up Japanese arsenals, and rescued compatriots in labor camps. During this period, the old man Uncle Li, the young team member Wang Xiaobao and others died one after another, but more Baoding people awakened - soy sauce garden owners, normal students, and water transport porters joined in, using local methods such as "hiding medicine in pickles jars" and "bell tower fireworks messaging" to deal with the Japanese army. In August 1945, when the Japanese army was on the verge of looting, Chen Shouyi teamed up with the Yanling team to block water transportation, and Su Yuning organized people to protect food. On September 2, the Japanese army signed a surrender document at Baoding Normal University, and Chen Shouyi and Su Yuning returned to Lianchi Academy. At that time, the lotus leaves turned yellow, and the bell tower bell was no longer an alarm, but a signal of peace. It witnessed Baoding's rebirth from the war, and also engraved the next generation of people's epic struggle to "defend the home and the country."