When the Republic of China was established, these exiled youths were already around 16 or 17 years old. Motivated by national and familial vengeance and a desire to help build a new China, many of them agreed to return home and join the military. Among them was Ashan's father, who returned to China with the others and enrolled in the Yunnan Military Academy.
At that time, the Yunnan Military Academy was one of the earliest military schools founded in the early years of the Republic of China. Its students came from various parts of the country and overseas, including many Korean revolutionaries. Many of these students later became senior military officers, such as Ye Jianying, who served as a marshal in the People's Republic of China, and Lee Beom-seok, who served as the Minister of Defense under South Korea's Syngman Rhee administration.
It was common for students at the military academy to adopt new names. This was partly because their original names might have sounded too rustic or inappropriate for revolutionary soldiers, and partly as a way to express their determination to save the nation. Therefore, Ashan's father chose the name "Xingguo" (which means "Revive the Nation") upon his enrollment.
Thus began Ashan's father's lifelong military career. He participated in numerous campaigns, including the Northern Expedition, the War of Resistance against Japan, and the campaign against bandits. He was wounded multiple times, and his body bore scars from being shot twice caused four holes.
Ashan's mother came from a scholarly family in Suzhou. Her father had passed the imperial examination during the Qing Dynasty and was known locally as Yang the Scholar. After the Republic of China was founded, he still viewed the revolutionaries as rebels and continued to wear a queue (a traditional Manchu hairstyle) as a symbol of his loyalty to the Qing Dynasty. He only reluctantly cut it off when almost no one else wore it anymore, thus adopting the "rebellious" Western hairstyle. Ashan's mother was one of the few educated women in her hometown, which made her more progressive and hopeful about the future of the new China.
Ashan's parents met through a matchmaker. By then, Ashan's father was already a lieutenant colonel and significantly older than Ashan's mother, leading to strong opposition from her father, Yang the Scholar. He angrily exclaimed, "These revolutionaries took away my Qing Dynasty official position, and now they want to take my daughter's life too. How can I agree to this?" After a prolonged "revolution," Yang the Scholar finally gave in to his daughter's persistence and the matchmaker's persuasive words, reluctantly agreeing to the marriage.
It is truly unpredictable how life unfolds. Ashan's father, who had lost everything due to the Qing government, ended up marrying the daughter of a former Qing official. If this isn't fate, what is?
當民國成立，這批流亡在外的少年們已經近十六、七歲了。為了國仇家恨及嚮應建設新中國，其中不少少年就相約回國從軍。阿三爸也就和大家一起回到國內，投入雲南講武堂。
當時雲南講武堂，是民國初年最早創辦的軍事學校之一，其中的學生來自海內外各地，也有不少韓國的革命志士。後來不少的學生都成為軍方的高級將領，例如曾任中共大元帥的葉劍英，及韓國李承晚政府時代的國防部長李範奭等。
早年就讀軍校的學生，大都會另取名字。一方面是為了原來的名字可能太土太俗，不適合作革命軍人；一方面也藉此表達愛國救國的決心。於是阿三爸就取了「興國」作為入學的名字。
從此阿三爸就開始了他一生的軍人生涯。歷經北伐、抗戰、剿匪等，參加了大大小小不少的戰役，曾多次負傷，身上也留下了兩眼四孔子彈打穿了的傷疤。
阿三媽出身蘇州書香人家。爸爸曾中滿清舉人，家鄉內都稱其為楊舉人。民國成立後，這位老先生仍然認為革命黨為亂黨，一直還留著辮子，表示是滿清遺臣，多年都不肯剪去，直到幾乎都沒有人再留辮子了，才悻悻地剪掉，而成了「亂黨」風行的西洋頭。阿三媽是少數家鄉裏唸過書的女子。所以觀念比較新，也對新中國的未來充滿了憧憬。
阿三爸媽的相識，是經由媒妁之言。當時阿三爸已經是官拜中校，年紀也比阿三媽大十幾歲，所以楊老先生非常反對。他憤憤地說道：「這些革命黨把我的滿清官都革掉了，現在又想來革我女兒的命，這怎麼可以答應！」經過了不算短的「革命」，楊老先生終於拗不過女兒的堅持及媒人的巧語，而勉強答應了這門婚事。
世事真是很難預料，阿三爸因為滿清政府而家破人亡，後來又反過頭來竟然娶了前滿清舉人的女兒。這如果不是緣份使然，那又是什麼呢？
Yunnan Military Academy 雲南陸軍講武堂，又稱昆明講武堂。