I don't know how much this has affected Lao Zheng. The reason I only came back now is to give him some time. He doesn't want the children to see him in such a dejected state. He said he wants to be the children's hero forever. How can any hero be weak and cry?
I think, since he doesn't want the children to see him like this, as his wife, I can only respect his wishes.
After listening to Wang Xia's story, Ruan Ruan was hearing about their family for the first time. She also learned for the first time that Commander Zheng, who had such a good personality, had such a background. It seemed that his grandmother must have treated him very well, making up for the lack of love from his parents. That's why he asked his wife not to return after learning of his grandmother's death.
Since ancient times, loyalty and filial piety have been mutually exclusive. As a soldier, he had his mission; as a grandson, he was unable to return to fulfill his filial duty to his grandmother on her deathbed, which will be a lifelong regret for him.
Ruan Ruan had no position to comment on this matter; all she could do was advise them to take heart.
"And what did you bring back?"
Looking at the things on the ground—bowls for eating, blankets—it seems they brought all their belongings from their hometown.
“The old lady passed away, and no one lived in the house. After we left, that family would definitely move in under various pretexts. So, I went to the brigade leader and entrusted the house to him for safekeeping. Whether it is kept for the village or rented out is fine. The money will go to the village as our contribution. As for these things, I originally wanted to give them to my family, but they didn’t want them and asked me to bring them back. I thought that the journey was not too tiring, so I brought them all back.”
At this point, Wang Xia could already imagine that after she left, that family would definitely move in without her consent, and once they moved in, they would definitely not be able to get the house back. That's why she thought of handing the house over to the brigade leader, so that at least they would have a place to stay when they wanted to go back.
Upon hearing Wang Xia's proposed solution for the house, Ruan Ruan thought it was a good idea.
Knowing where Wang Xia had been for the past few months and that she had now returned, the two chatted for a long time. It was mostly Ruan Ruan listening while Wang Xia talked. Before they knew it, it was already past three o'clock, and they were both sleepy, yawning one after another. After agreeing to go mushroom picking together the next day, Ruan Ruan went home to rest, deciding not to go up the mountain today.
In the evening, after dinner, Ruan Ruan deliberately went to the yard to look at the stars (actually feeding the mosquitoes) to listen to what was happening at Commander Zheng's house next door. Apart from hearing some children saying they missed their fathers, she heard them asking if they had a good time at home. It was all meaningless talk. She also confirmed what Wang Xia had said in the afternoon: Commander Zheng wanted to be a hero in the children's hearts forever, so how could he easily show his vulnerability to others?
Seeing that there was nothing to gossip about, she went inside, closed the door, lay on the bed, read for a while, then turned off the light and went to sleep.
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