Expedition to Europe

Imadedin was an ordinary Persian teenager.

Before 1923, Imadedin and his family lived in Ramadi. Imadedin's home was on the shore of Lake Habbaniy. There were seven people in the family. In addition to two brothers and a sister, Imadedin also had a younger sister.

Imadedin's family was very common in Persia. Although Persia allowed polygamy, in fact, for ordinary people, this tradition did not mean much. Ordinary Persians could not afford to marry too many wives, and monogamy was more common.

Imadedin's father and two brothers were killed in the Syrian-Iraqi War. Some people said that Imadedin's father did not die, but followed Karim to Iran, but this did not mean anything to Imadedin. Since his father and brothers joined the army, Imadedin never saw them again.

When the Lanfang army advanced deep into Iraq, Imadedin's mother decided to flee with others to avoid the legendary brutal Lanfang people.

The road to escape was difficult. Imadedin's mother died of illness on the way to escape, and his sister was also separated from him. Imadedin's only six-year-old sister was left.

Imadedin was only twelve years old, and the two children began their difficult refugee journey.

When the "return home tide" started, Imadedin and his sister were in Najd, which was relatively lucky. If Imadedin and his sister were in Iran, they would not have the opportunity to return home.

These days, population is a resource. Whether it is Najd or Iran, the demand for population is the more the better. In order to prevent the Persians who originally belonged to the western province of Lanfang from returning to their hometown, the Iranians even built concentration camps in Iran. The Najd people were not so cruel. Because of their relationship with Lanfang, the Najd people allowed these Persians to return home, so Imadedin and his sister stayed on the border during this period.

It is called the border line, but it is actually a small town. There is no obvious border demarcation line in the town, nor high walls and barbed wire. Lanfang people can take a bus to Gaochang every day. Imadedin's dream is to take that bus with his sister.

It is necessary to take a bus. The town where Imadedin stayed is more than 300 kilometers away from Gaochang. Even the nearest populated place is nearly 200 kilometers away. In order to survive, Imadedin has sold his camels. Without the help of camels, Imadedin and his sister can't even leave the town.

Imadedin's impression of the Lanfang people changed from this town. Imadedin clearly remembered that before the Lanfang people came to the town, the town was surrounded by refugee camps consisting of shacks. The sanitary conditions in the refugee camps were poor, living supplies were insufficient, diseases were rampant, and violent incidents occurred frequently. Imadedin's mother died of illness here, and then one morning Imadedin's sister went out to find food, but never came back. If it weren't for the arrival of the Lanfang people, Imadedin and his sister might have died silently and then burned as garbage.

Finally one day, the legendary Lanfang people with green faces and fangs came to this town in a strange-looking car, and then everything slowly changed. The first thing that changed was the refugee camp. Under the command of the Lanfang soldiers, a piece of disorderly shacks was demolished, and then beautiful tents rose from the ground. These tents were all Lanfang people. Although the refugee doors could not be demolished, they could live in them. This was really a world of difference compared to the shacks.

Along with the Lanfang people came a variety of food and basic medical care. Although they were still hungry, no one starved to death. If refugees were sick, they would receive timely assistance. Although in many cases the only means of assistance was the prayers of the Lanfang military chaplains, for many patients, no matter whether it was the "Lord" or "God", as long as God still favored the people on this land, then people had hope of survival.

Imadedin once fantasized in the dead of night that if the Lanfang people had come earlier, then perhaps Imadedin's mother would not have died of illness.

When deciding to return to Ramadi, Imadedin asked his sister for her opinion.

Imadedin's sister had no objection to going anywhere. For Imadedin's sister, home was where Imadedin was.

The only thing that was a little doubtful was Lanfang's faith.

The word Imadedin means "pillar of religion" in Persian. From this name, we can see the expectations of Imadedin's parents for Imadedin. Imadedin's sister is worried that this name will cause trouble for Imadedin.

Imadedin is open-minded about this. After knowing his sister's worries, Imadedin explained it this way: "Our parents have served the Lord all their lives, but the Lord did not let them live a good life. Mom is now dead of illness, and my father is nowhere to be found. If returning to Ramadi can allow you to grow up safely, I will have no problem serving God."

Well, that's no problem. In mid-September, Imadedin and his sister ended their nearly half-year wandering and returned to the Western Province.

To be honest, Imadedin really wanted to go back to Ramadi - no, it is no longer called Ramadi now, but Lakeside Town - even if he couldn't live there, he would take another look at his former home. However, the Lanfang soldiers did not meet Imadedin's wishes. Imadedin and his sister wanted to go to Baling, which was once Beirut.

After arriving in Baling, the Baling government settled Imadedin and his sister in a temporary town.

This is a small town in the desert with no lakes, no oasis, and no farmland. There is only an intermittent well that can provide part of the domestic water supply.

"How will we live in the future?" Imaddin was a little desperate.

"Don't worry, since the Lanfang government has brought you back, it will definitely not let you starve to death -" The person who answered Imaddin was the newly appointed mayor of Lanfang, a retired soldier from Lanfang named "Cheng" , although Cheng did not have a foot, no one dared to look down upon Cheng. Imaddin heard that the soldiers who sent him and his sister here called Cheng "old squad leader" and respected Cheng very much.

Of course, perhaps what frightened Imaddin even more was the pistol on Cheng's waist. Imaddin had seen Lanfang soldiers use this weapon. In the refugee camp in Najd, Lanfang soldiers used this pistol to kill nearly a hundred people. The bad guys in the refugee camp.

Cheng spoke in Chinese. Because he had the experience of dealing with the Lanfang people in the refugee camp, Imaddin could only understand part of it. When Cheng spoke, there was a person beside Cheng who translated every word. There will be no miscommunication.

"This is our future home. Our task is to plant trees. We don't have to worry about water and saplings. In a few days, a drilling team will come to help us dig wells, and then someone will send saplings. We don't have to worry about food and saplings." , in the next six months, these will be the responsibility of the Lanfang government. Our only task is to plant trees, plant as many trees as possible - before the saplings have been transported, you have to start learning Chinese and translate Will only stay here Three months, after three months, if there are still people who cannot speak Chinese, they will be deported - so you all should be careful, you have not been truly accepted by the Lanfang government yet, and you want to become a real Lanfang People, in addition to being able to speak Chinese, each of you must plant a hundred trees within a year. Pay attention to this number, it is a number that must be survived-" Cheng kept talking in the small square in the center of the town, but Imaddin was a little absent-minded. .

There was only one sentence echoing in Imaddin's mind: You have not been truly accepted by Lanfang.

This made Imaddin feel very scared. Imaddin did not want to live a homeless life anymore, and he could not lose his sister, his only relative.

"So, how can we make Lanfang truly accept us?" Imaddin asked the most critical question unconsciously.

Imaddin's question caught Cheng's attention, not the question itself, but the pronunciation of "Lanfang" when Imaddin said it, which was very standard.

"This is a good question. If you can speak other Chinese characters as well as you did when you said 'Lanfang' just now, then you are qualified to join Lanfang. It is not necessary to become a glorious Lanfang person. It's easy, kid, you still need to work hard." Cheng Rao looked a little pleasant.

Read the original article in Liu#9@书/吧!

"I will definitely work hard." Imaddin was determined.

"Okay, today is Sunday, and it is worship time. You can choose to go to church or to the mosque. There is only one principle, and that is no force. I don't care what your previous canons were, but in our Lanfang, any No one is allowed to force others to believe in religion. This is You must keep this in mind as it is a serious crime to be beheaded." After Cheng finished speaking, he seemed to remember something. He pointed to the church next to the small square and said, "If you go to the church to pray, there will be unexpected surprises. Father Henry has prepared some. If you go to church, you can get one apple."

After Cheng finished speaking, he turned around and entered the church.

At the door of the church, the only priest in the town was looking at the residents of the town with expectant eyes. There was a table next to the priest, and everything on it was filled with red apples.

Cheng said "non-interference", but in fact, the people in the town have no choice, because there is only one church in this town and no mosque. If the people in the town want to go to the mosque to participate in religious ceremonies, then They have to build one themselves.

This is probably unrealistic. The Persian Church these days has little financial resources and no wealthy donors to provide donations. It cannot be compared with the Catholic Church, which has a large family and a large business.

Seeing Cheng taking away the biggest and reddest apple, everyone was a little moved, but long-term habits kept them silent.

Thinking of what Cheng said just now, Imaddin was finally the first to stand up: "I serve God from today on."

Just when Imaddin stood up, Imaddin's sister followed behind Imaddin without any hesitation.

"God bless you, child, you deserve this." The priest picked up a big, red apple and gave it to Imaddin, and then handed one to Imaddin's sister.

"I - I also serve God." Someone immediately stood up.

In the face of survival, faith is really not important.