271 (Special Note: This is a combined chapter of two parts, totaling 4000 words, and the price hasn't increased! +_+)
Because of the heavy rain, Old Man Qi invited Huo Yingjie and He Tiantian to stay for dinner. Since Huo Yingjie was there, Old Man Qi specially prepared several good dishes and even brought out the fine wine that Huo Yingjie had given them, and they drank together.
As for He Tiantian, she ate with Professor Wang and didn't want to sit at the same table with the men. The air was thick with the smell of alcohol, and the food tasted terrible.
"Sweetie, your boyfriend is pretty good." Professor Wang finally found a chance to be alone with He Tiantian and whispered.
Standing together, they are truly a perfect match, a match made in heaven!
He Tiantian smiled shyly and said, "Professor Wang, you flatter me. He is indeed very good. Sometimes Huo Yingjie's excellence makes me feel ashamed of myself."
Professor Wang was taken aback and asked, "Why do you say that? You are also very outstanding! You are the smartest girl I have ever met. You were just born in the wrong era, otherwise you could have had a very bright future. Even in such a difficult environment, you are doing very well."
"Yes, my dad said the same thing," He Tiantian chuckled. Luckily, she knew there would be other opportunities in the future, otherwise she would have been incredibly frustrated.
"Then why do you say you feel ashamed?" Professor Wang countered. "You are excellent, you must be confident. A person's appearance is important, but a person's character is even more important. This is not a feudal society now. Women can also hold up half the sky. They don't need to depend on men to exist. They can have their own value."
He Tiantian certainly understood this principle. In her past life, she didn't even have the courage to glance at Huo Yingjie. In this life, she had tried her best and fought hard, but the influence of her past life would sometimes resurface.
“Yes, I understand. Women should be strong.” He Tiantian said, “From now on, I will work hard to become a strong woman who can hold up half the sky, instead of a little woman who devotes herself to men.”
“Yes, that’s the best way to think. No matter how good a man is, he can’t be better than yourself,” Professor Wang said. “Only when you truly love yourself will others cherish you.”
After decades of ups and downs, Professor Wang has gained a deeper understanding of love. Fortunately, she didn't choose the wrong person; her husband has always stood by her through thick and thin, never abandoning her.
He Tiantian nodded and said, "I understand. We are still young and have to withstand the test of time and distance. Whether we can be together depends on more effort and a longer wait."
“You’re absolutely right,” Professor Wang said. “If this were during the Republic of China era, you could definitely have become a novelist with rich emotions, just like Eileen Chang, and written many moving stories.”
He Tiantian was a little embarrassed by Professor Wang's praise. She was talking about her feelings from her past life, which did not have the literary merit to support a novel.
“I can’t do it.” He Tiantian shook her head repeatedly. “I’m only thinking about studying hard for high school and waiting for the day I can take the college entrance exam. No matter how old I am, I will take the exam as long as I have the opportunity. I want to get into university and become a teacher.”
"We're already in this state, and you still want to be a teacher?" Professor Wang smiled bitterly. "Teaching and nurturing students has always been Lao Gu's wish, but now things are chaotic, and being a teacher isn't easy! However, how can a country and a nation progress without learning and cultural inheritance!"
Professor Wang was heartbroken, but she was just one person watching the country stagnate, and she was deeply saddened.
It's important to understand that while China has stagnated, other countries have progressed. This disparity has widened significantly.
Furthermore, what happens if a country has no schools and there are no suitable people to manage its people?
“Professor Wang, the darkness before dawn won’t last long,” He Tiantian encouraged. “You are very knowledgeable, and you will definitely have opportunities to contribute your remaining energy in the future.”
"I hope so!" Professor Wang said. "By the way, what does your partner do?"
"Weapon research!" He Tiantian said, "It's highly classified!"
"No wonder you have people following you around. The person who can make those people so nervous must be an exceptional talent, and has already developed a project that can solve major national problems," Professor Wang said, sighing with admiration.
Recalling her earlier nervousness, He Tiantian decided to consult Professor Wang.
"Professor Wang, if a girl deceives a boy and tells him a lie, will the boy forgive her when he finds out the truth?" He Tiantian asked vaguely, too embarrassed to mention her own situation.
Professor Wang is so smart, how could he not know what He Tiantian meant!
“There is a kind of lie in the world, a white lie,” Professor Wang chuckled. “Such lies are all for the good of the other person, so if a boy really likes a girl, he will forgive the white lies she told.”
"Really?" He Tiantian's eyes lit up when she heard that.
“Of course it’s true,” Professor Wang said. “However, the lies you told shouldn’t hurt him.”
He Tiantian nodded and said, "How could I hurt him!"
Professor Wang looked at He Tiantian with a half-smile, as if he could see right through her thoughts.
He Tiantian was mortified and stammered with her head down, "Actually...actually..."
"Hehe!" Professor Wang chuckled. "Actually, you're a good girl. You wouldn't do anything to hurt your lover. However, there are many unavoidable difficulties in the world that you need to think about and make decisions for yourself. Tiantian, you must always remember that your fate is in your own hands, not in the hands of heaven!"
He Tiantian was stunned by Professor Wang's words; Professor Wang was definitely a feminist.
If she had interacted with Professor Wang properly in her past life, perhaps she wouldn't have ended up on that path.
Oh well, I'm incredibly grateful to have another chance!
She's so lucky!
Her fate is in her own hands, not in the hands of heaven!
The rain stopped in the afternoon, but we couldn't go up the mountain, so we rested in the afternoon.
Huo Yingjie, Zhang Aijun, and Li Yunzhong drank until their faces were flushed! When they got home, Zhang Aijun forced himself to stay awake, while Huo Yingjie and Li Yunzhong fell fast asleep.
Grandma Qi sat under the eaves twisting thread, humming a local tune.
"Grandma, what are you singing?" He Tiantian wasn't sleepy. She moved a small stool and sat down next to Grandma Qi, tilting her head back.
Since Huo Yingjie arrived, He Tiantian hasn't had a proper conversation with Grandma Qi.
"Hehe, it's just a local folk song," said Grandma Qi. "I just don't understand why we can't sing it anymore. In the past, our family would put on a big opera every year during the Spring Festival, it was so lively and festive!"
He Tiantian smiled, and Grandma Qi was reminiscing about her past again.
Throughout her long life, Grandma Qi relied on memories to sustain her for most of the time! Perhaps only in her memories could she reunite with her family!
“Yes, it used to be quite lively, but now there are only model operas,” He Tiantian said. “But at least there are still movies…”
"Ugh, what movie is this? It's not good," Grandma Qi whispered. "Those Japanese were very powerful, but I drove them out. People's lives aren't just about fighting Japanese devils! We also have family, love, friendship, so many stories, and even some old-fashioned stories..."
He Tiantian was very impressed by what Grandma Qi said.
Alas, Grandma Qi was born in the wrong era. If she had lived in ancient times or in the future, she would have had a bright future.
However, Grandma Qi was old, but she eventually had her son, and it was like seeing a rainbow after the rain!
"Grandma, it's neither too hot nor too cold today, and I'm not sweating. Didn't you say you were going to reorganize the photos?" He Tiantian asked. Those movies, novels, and TV series will all be included in the future.
"Oh right, I had forgotten if you hadn't mentioned it," said Grandma Qi. "Sweetie, go to the drawer and take out the photo album."
He Tiantian turned around and quickly walked to the cabinet. There was no lock on it, but Grandma Qi had tied it with a sturdy little rope.
He Tiantian took out the photo album and gave it to Grandma Qi. Then she took the sieve used for drying vegetables and put the photos on it one by one.
He Tiantian took out a photo of Qi Shuliang wearing a Zhongshan suit and praised, "Grandma, look, my uncle is so handsome!"
“Yes, Shuliang is like my maternal grandfather, who is also my father,” said Grandma Qi. “Back then, my father was a famous handsome young man in Taoyuan County. But as he got older, he became addicted to women and wine and gradually lost his looks.”
He Tiantian smiled but didn't reply. She then said, "This is a family photo of the three of you."
"Yes, I insisted on having these photos taken. Back then, we didn't have the money, and my husband didn't want to spend it, saying it was a waste of money. But I didn't listen and insisted on taking the pictures," Grandma Qi said with emotion. "If we hadn't taken them, I wouldn't be able to look at them often now, and I might have forgotten what they looked like."
While tidying up, He Tiantian saw several photos of women in cheongsams at the back. Her eyebrows and eyes looked very similar to those of Grandma Qi San. She asked, "Grandma, is this you?"
"Yes, I was a young girl back then!" Grandma Qi chuckled. "About your age now. Decades have passed in the blink of an eye; your youthful beauty and dark hair have turned into wrinkled, white hair..."
He Tiantian and Grandma Qi were under the eaves, sorting through photos and telling stories from the past.
After an unknown amount of time, Huo Yingjie woke up, feeling a bit thirsty, and went to the kitchen to find some cold water and drank a bowl.
"Brother Yingjie, come and see the photos." He Tiantian called out to Huo Yingjie when she saw that he was awake.
Huo Yingjie also wanted to see what the son that Grandma Qi San had been longing for looked like!
"Okay!" Huo Yingjie smiled, walked over, and picked up the family photo. "This..."
The young man standing behind the two adults must be Qi Shuliang. Why does he look so familiar?
I feel like I've seen this somewhere before...
"What's wrong?" He Tiantian asked, puzzled. "Don't you think Uncle is very handsome?"
Huo Yingjie recovered from his shock and replied, "He is very handsome. I was quite surprised to see someone even more handsome than me!"
"Haha, stop being so vain," He Tiantian pouted. In terms of appearance, Huo Yingjie and Qi Shuli were equally matched.
Grandma Qi was also very happy. Seeing Huo Yingjie was like seeing her son when he was young!
But at this moment, Huo Yingjie's heart was far from calm.
He remembered who the familiar-looking person in the photo was!
That's a leader of the Chinese community overseas!
However, that person's name is Qi Shu, not Qi Shuliang!
Huo Yingjie searched his memory and vaguely remembered that Qi Shu's ancestral home was Taoyuan County, Huai City, Anhui Province. He didn't know anything more specific. However, he had met Qi Shu before; Qi Shu was quite old, but his son resembled him, bearing a seven or eight-tenths resemblance to the man in the photograph.
Qi Shu is Qi Shuliang!
This discovery thrilled Huo Yingjie!
This person has a great influence in the United States. In his previous life, he was Qi Shuliang, who led many Chinese people to negotiate and promote the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States.
Huo Yingjie only knew the result, but not the specific process, so when his elder brother Huo Yingjun was working at the US Embassy on assignment from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he provided Qi Shu with information.
However, he is rather arrogant and distrustful of the mainland, and has always been used by another force.
But later, something happened that caused a major change in Qi Shu.
Qi Shu is already very rich; money cannot sway him.
If money and profit cannot move a person, then the only thing that can move them is "emotion".
Someone must have found out that Grandma Qi was Qi Shu's mother, and reunited them, which is why Qi Shu changed his previous behavior.
Now that such a great achievement is right in front of him, Huo Yingjie will never let it go.
That evening, Huo Yingjie said to Zhang Aijun and Li Yunzhong, "I'll have Tiantian borrow a bicycle from the village later. I'm going to the county town tomorrow."
"Why are we going to the county town?" Li Yunzhong asked. "We should have enough food! We don't need to buy any."
Zhang Aijun also looked at Huo Yingjie with curiosity.
"I want the person who took the photos to come over and take some pictures of me and Tian Tian!" Huo Yingjie said, he already had an idea.
"Huh?" Li Yunzhong was even more puzzled. "You can just go to the photo studio. Why make someone come all the way here? It's so far from the county town!"
Huo Yingjie made a face and put on a pitiful expression, saying, "This time when I go back, the organization has given me an even heavier task. I may not even see my beloved woman during the New Year. If I go to a photo studio, I won't be able to capture the scenery. I want to take a few pictures here, so that when I see the photos, it will be like seeing Tiantian."
Li Yunzhong was on such a mission for the first time and was unaware of the researchers' frustrations, but Zhang Aijun often carried out missions to protect researchers.
Sometimes, people are so involved in a project that they're often away from home for six months, a year, or even two years!
Some people were taken directly to deep mountains and forests, and when they wanted to get out, they couldn't find a way out.
“Okay! Yunzhong, go to the photo studio tomorrow and have the photographer come over,” Zhang Aijun said. It wasn’t a big deal, and he could handle it.
When I arrived, Director Hua gave me instructions.
"But what if the photographer doesn't come?" Li Yunzhong had no experience and was worried that he wouldn't be able to get one.
"Is that special pass you have just a piece of paper?" Zhang Aijun retorted. This kid is quite clever, but he just can't get it right when it comes to the crucial moment.
"Oh, oh!" Li Yunzhong nodded repeatedly. Before, he was just a lowly soldier who ran errands, so he never had the chance to get involved in these things!
Huo Yingjie told He Tiantian that they would go to Secretary Qi's house together to borrow a bicycle.
Upon recognizing Huo Yingjie and Li Yunzhong as soldiers, Secretary Qi thought of his own son in the army and, without hesitation, lent Li Yunzhong his new bicycle. (To be continued.)
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