Chapter 138

In the winter of 1977, Lin Tao and her family went to Shanghai again to celebrate the New Year.

Because his former colleague from the transport factory was critically ill, Lin Changhai decided not to go to Shanghai with them to celebrate the New Year this year. Instead, he went to Xiangcheng to visit his old partner.

The last time I went to Shanghai for the New Year, I only brought Yueyue with me, and now I’ve brought Xingxing with me too.

It was Xingxing's first time to travel far away. After getting on the train, she looked left and right. Her big eyes, like Yueyue's, were full of curiosity. Yueyue, who had experience riding a train, told her brother what this was and what that was. The two siblings got along very well together. People on the train were surprised and said how come the relationship between the siblings was so good. They were not like the two furry kids in their family, who would fight whenever they were together. They didn't look like relatives, but enemies.

In fact, this is also thanks to Lin Tao. Some parents, after giving birth to a younger child, don't care much about the older child. If the younger child makes a mistake, the older child is blamed. The older child actually feels very disappointed.

But this situation would never happen in Lin Tao's family. At least Li Chengxi and Lin Changhai both dote on Yueyue a little more, but Yueyue dotes on Xingxing the most, so the relationship between the two siblings is very good.

After we got off the train, my uncle and his family drove over to pick us up.

Over the past few years, Shanghai has undergone a lot of changes. Walking on the street, you can obviously see that the colors of people's clothes have become much brighter, no longer the same black, white, blue, gray and green as in the past few years.

When I went to the supply and marketing cooperative again, those bright colors such as red and pink were also put up for sale.

Lin Tao wanted to buy a piece of bright red cloth to make a quilted jacket for Yueyue, but Yueyue said that red was too bright and she didn't want it. She chose a piece of lavender cloth and said that it would be good to make clothes with it.

I remember that Yueyue’s favorite thing to wear was her red shirt. Now she has grown into a little girl, and even her taste has changed.

My grandmother is getting older every year. She is 85 years old this year. The hair that was not completely white a few years ago is now completely white. She has also lost a few teeth. It is not convenient for her to eat now. If she wants to eat meat, she has to cook it into minced meat before she can eat it, otherwise she can't chew it.

Perhaps because she knew she was getting old and didn’t have many years left to live, when she saw Lin Tao and the others again, grandma was more reluctant to let them go and became more talkative.

When my aunt talked to Lin Tao about this, she could only sigh: "Your grandma is old and afraid that she will die someday. She wants to talk to you more while she can still talk to you. You should be patient. If you feel annoyed, don't be unhappy. Old people are old and easily wronged."

Last time, Lu Bowen showed a little impatience, and his grandmother was sad for a long time. Later, Lu Bowen was scolded by her and Lu Xiangdong for more than a month.

Lin Tao quickly said, "Aunt, how could I be impatient? I know how good grandma is. Yueyue and Xingxing also like grandma, so you can rest assured."

What the old man is most reluctant to leave behind are the children at home.

Several of Li Chengxi's cousins ​​have married and had children, and the family has become more lively than in previous years.

As the first child in the family, Yueyue was the eldest sister. She played with them and read comic books. When her uncle was young, he even bought a black-and-white TV. He could watch TV when he turned it on.

Yueyue had never seen a TV before and found it very rare. It was magical to be able to sit in front of the TV and watch it for a long time, and to see someone on the TV who could even talk.

On the other hand, Lin Manman and Li Mingcheng also came to Shanghai to celebrate the New Year this year.

They arrived two days later than Lin Tao. Li Mingcheng was engaged in political work and happened to have some unfinished work, so he arrived a little late. When they arrived in Shanghai, it was already the twenty-eighth day of the lunar year, and the day after tomorrow was the 30th day of the lunar year.

Li Guodong was born in a grassroots family, a child of a poor family. Most of his family members had died because of the invasion of the Japanese devils. The relatives he had were beyond the fifth degree of mourning, and they all came to extort money from him. Later, all the ties were cut off.

The couple brought their children to Shanghai. Unlike Lin Tao and her friends, they were not picked up by relatives, but they were also picked up by security guards. They got in the car and drove to the rest home.

Lin Manman and Li Mingcheng's first child was a boy named Li Ziyan. The birth was delayed because Lin Manman was pregnant several days beyond the expected date.

This name was given by Li Mingcheng, and it was quite casual, but if you don't know the story, it sounds okay. When Lin Manman heard this name, she frowned and asked Li Mingcheng: "If a son is named Ziyan, then if a daughter is born, should she still be named Nuyan?"

Li Mingcheng smiled and said, "Because it's a son, it's okay to give him a random name. If it's a daughter, then we'll have to think carefully about the name. How about calling him Man Man?"

"The mother's name is Manman and her daughter is also named Manman. Have you ever seen parents name their children like you did?" Lin Manman was speechless.

Li Mingcheng said, "Then let's call her Manman, which means happy and contented. How about that? Manman, let's have another daughter in the future. After this, we won't have any more children."

Having a daughter is everything. A daughter is a parent's little cotton-padded jacket. When he looked at his brother's daughter, he felt jealous.

Lin Manman also wanted to have a daughter. When she was pregnant, she originally thought it was a daughter. People say sour food means a boy and spicy food means a girl. When Lin Manman was pregnant, she wanted to eat spicy food. Some people also say that women will look better and better when they are pregnant with a daughter, but their skin will be bad when they are pregnant with a son. Lin Manman's skin was also very good during pregnancy, and it was white and tender.

Because of these, when Lin Manman was making children's clothes, she prepared clothes for little girls. But she was shocked when the baby was born, it turned out to be a boy.

Yanyan was born in December 1975. She is now just over two years old. She can walk on her own and speaks well. She is chubby and very cute. She doesn't look like Manman, but more like Li Mingcheng.

The family took a car to the retirement home. The houses allocated to retired cadres by the retirement home were all two-story small buildings with their own entrances and yards. The environment was quite good.

The guard stopped the car at the door and helped Li Mingcheng to get the luggage. Lin Manman carried Yanyan out of the car. After just two steps, Li Mingcheng said, "Let this kid walk by himself. You must be tired after sitting on the train for so long."

Yanyan was not angry. After hearing what his father said, he struggled to get down from his mother's arms and walked by himself. Not only did he walk by himself, he also helped his mother carry some luggage. He was a man and he wanted to protect his mother!

Since she started dating Li Mingcheng and got married, several years have passed and her child is already two years old. Lin Manman has never met her mother-in-law Zhang Sufen and her father-in-law Li Guodong.

This was her first visit, so she was a little nervous. While the guard was getting her luggage, Lin Manman lowered her voice and asked Li Mingcheng, "My parents won't dislike me, will they?"

Li Mingcheng soothed her, "Don't think too much. My dad won't care about these things, and my mom wouldn't dare dislike you."

Lin Manman: “…”

While the couple was talking, Yanyan was the first to reach the door of the house.

At home, Zhou Sufen knew that Li Mingcheng and his wife were coming home today. Although it was Li Mingcheng who forced her and threatened her with sterilization at the beginning that forced her to accept Lin Manman as her daughter-in-law, now that she has grandchildren, there is nothing she can do no matter how much she dislikes her.

They had finally come back, so she had to take good care of them and not show any dislike for Lin Manman. Otherwise, she knew her son well, and if they didn't get along well this time, it would be difficult for her to see her grandson in the future.

Early in the morning, Zhou Sufen went to buy food, intending to cook a delicious meal to entertain them.

Just at this moment, there was a knock on the door. Zhang Sufen thought it must be Li Mingcheng and his men, so she quickly took off her apron and went to open the door. When she opened the door, she saw a two-year-old child standing at the door with a bag in his hand. He looked 80% similar to Li Mingcheng.

When the young man saw Zhang Sufen, he called out, "Grandma!"

"Hey, grandma's good grandson." Zhang Sufen's eyes were warm and she was ready to hug Yanyan.

At this time, Li Guodong came out of the house. His eyes lit up when he saw Yanyan. He walked over and said, "Chengxi? Chengxi is back. Come on, Dad will buy you a warship model. Last time you said you wanted a turret warship. Dad remembered it. Now I'm taking you to buy it."

Perhaps Li Guodong's nonsense scared Yanyan, so she turned around and ran away.

At this time, Li Mingcheng and Lin Manman had also walked to the door. When they heard what Li Guodong said, they looked at each other and knew that Li Guodong was very ill. Not only was he unrecognizable, but his health was also not good. Compared with his previous burly appearance, he was much thinner and no longer the appearance in Li Mingcheng's memory.

"Mom, why did my dad become like this?" Sitting down, Li Mingcheng asked Zhang Sufen.

Zhang Sufen said: "Since that year, he has been forgetting things more and more every year, and he always talks about things in the past."

The names he mentioned most often were "Li Chengxi" and "Lu Xiangchun". Sometimes when she went to talk to him, he would tell her to go away and go find Lu Xiangchun or Li Chengxi.

Maybe this was her retribution. When she married Li Guodong, everyone envied her for marrying well and becoming the wife of a leader. They said she was lucky, but when Lu Xiangchun came back, she got pregnant. If she hadn't gotten pregnant at the time, Li Guodong would probably have divorced her.

Lu Xiangchun suffered a lot following Li Guodong, but she was the one who reaped the rewards.

Now her retribution has come. Li Guodong has Alzheimer's disease and has forgotten everyone except Lu Xiangchun and Li Chengxi. He doesn't remember Zhang Sufen or the son she gave birth to.

Li Guodong also suffered from incontinence, the injuries he received in the war when he was young, and he had to suffer when he was old. Zhang Sufen was concerned about Li Guodong's face and did not hire a nanny. She did all these things herself over the years.

At first, many people said that she married Li Guodong because of his position, but she knew in her heart that she admired and loved this man from the bottom of her heart, so she did not want to find a nanny and let the nanny see the old general who fought on the battlefield become what he is now.

Over the past few years, not only has Li Guodong changed, but Zhang Sufen has also aged a lot. Although she is only a dozen years younger than Li Guodong, she has a lot of white hair on her head.

Lin Manman was listening nearby and could only sigh.

Li Guodong looked at Yanyan and said, "Chengxi, Dad has to go to the war and can't spend the New Year with you. You are a man, take good care of your mom for Dad, and I will reward you when you come back. Chengxi, you have grown taller again. I met your teacher today. She said you are very smart and will definitely have a bright future. I said, you are my son, how can you not have a bright future? Chengxi, your mom is mad at me, go and say something nice to her for me. Chengxi... Dad is sorry for you and your mom. It's Dad's fault..."

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The year 1977 was not a peaceful one. On the fifth day of the first lunar month of 1978, Li Guodong suddenly fell ill and was rushed to the military hospital.

Li Guodong showed symptoms of myocardial infarction and passed out.

After the doctor's treatment, Li Guodong regained consciousness for a while. During this time, Li Mingcheng went to find Li Chengxi. They also saw that Li Guodong was not well. They were afraid that this would be the last time they would see each other. However, Li Chengxi and Lin Tao took the children to the zoo at that time and were not at Lu's house.

Even though the Lu family met Li Mingcheng and heard that Li Guodong was dying, no matter how much they hated him, they did not stop Li Mingcheng from looking for Li Chengxi.

When Li Mingcheng found Li Chengxi, Li Chengxi and Lin Tao were watching a seal show in the kindergarten with their two children. After a few years, the Shanghai Zoo had been renovated and there were more animals than before.

Li Mingcheng: "Brother, Dad is dying."

Li Chengxi followed Li Mingcheng to the hospital and stood in the corridor of the hospital, where he paused. He remembered that in the same corridor, he knelt down and begged Li Guodong to see his mother for the last time, but Li Guodong did not go. At that time, he thought that he would never go to see Li Guodong in the future.

Seeing that Li Chengxi was not leaving, Li Mingcheng asked hesitantly, "...Brother?"

"Go ahead, I'm right here." Li Chengxi said.

Lin Tao held Yueyue in one hand and Xingxing in the other. Seeing that Li Chengxi was standing still, she also stopped and looked at Li Chengxi.

Without asking too much, she had already said that she would support Li Chengxi no matter what decision he made in this matter.

The trip back and forth took a lot of time on the road. At this moment, Zhang Sufen's sad cry was heard from the ward. Li Guodong had passed away.

The last people Li Guodong met were Zhang Sufen, Lin Manman and Yanyan.

He first told Zhang Sufen a few words, then looked at Yanyan beside the bed and smiled: "Is this Yanyan? She looks so much like Mingcheng when he was a child. I wonder if Xingxing looks like Chengxi when he was a child, and Yueyue... Chengxi..."

After saying this, Li Guodong died completely, and the color of his face gradually turned blue-gray.

Zhang Sufen burst into tears.

As the eldest son, Li Chengxi had to be present at Li Guodong's funeral. No matter how much he hated Li Guodong in his life, he still handled the funeral properly and did everything he should do.

At the funeral, all of Li Guodong's former comrades-in-arms came and shed tears. They didn't understand why Li Guodong died at such a young age, he was not even 70 years old.

Only Zhang Sufen knew that Li Guodong had spent these years in regret. He had never been able to accept Lu Xiangchun's death, so after suffering from Alzheimer's disease, he forgot everything except Lu Xiangchun and Li Chengxi.

But over the years, Li Chengxi has never brought his children to visit Li Guodong.

Zhang Sufen must have been resentful of Li Chengxi in her heart. She wondered how he could be so cruel. After all, he was her biological father, and she didn't even get to see him for the last time before he died. She also couldn't see Yueyue and Xingxing, the people she wanted to see so much.

When Li Mingcheng told her about this, he looked at the sad Zhang Sufen and said, "Mom, have you forgotten that Aunt Lu wanted to see Dad but was unable to do so?"

Zhang Sufen was completely speechless. It was retribution. This was all retribution.

But she had to do what Li Guodong said to her before he died. Zhang Sufen wiped her tears and went to find Li Chengxi.

Zhang Sufen: "Chengxi, your father asked me to do something before he died. I came to discuss it with you."

Li Chengxi looked at Zhang Sufen. The older Zhang Sufen looked much more haggard than she had been in the past. He could never like Zhang Sufen as his stepmother. He said expressionlessly, "What's the matter?"