Jiang Cheng may shamelessly add the word "great" to himself for now, but in his heart, his father deserves that word more than he does.
When Jiangcheng was a child, he especially loved listening to his father tell stories from the past.
A long, long time ago, Jiang's father was just a young man in his early twenties. College students were still very rare in those days, and it was something that people would celebrate by setting off firecrackers all over the streets when someone got into college.
In that era, going to university seemed to mean a life destined for glory, because becoming an intellectual was always better than being a farmer or grandparent.
Jiang's father went to a medical university, studying a good major that would guarantee him a good job. After graduation, everyone was waiting for him to find a good job. His grandmother was eagerly hoping that he would get a job in a public institution so that she could brag about it in the alley and be praised by others for raising her son well.
However, Jiang's father was fooled by a friend in his dormitory. Instead of going to his workplace to look for a job, he secretly went home, packed his bags, and asked Jiang's grandparents for 300 yuan, lying that he was going to travel and broaden his horizons.
Alright, after paying the money, the elderly couple happily awaited their son's return from his trip.
Unexpectedly, four months passed without a trace! They never imagined that their eldest son would go to the mountains to teach with his classmates, insisting on being a teacher there for two years, thinking that since he had some education, he should make a contribution.
Jiang's father really dared to go to the mountain valley more than 500 miles away!
When Grandpa Jiang found out, he was so angry that he wanted to take the train to find him and slap him twice.
We work so hard to send you to school, only to send you to some remote mountain village to do good deeds?
"I think he's gone stupid from studying!" Grandpa Jiangcheng cursed. "There are so many poor kids in the world, are you going to teach them all? He can't even feed himself and still has to rely on his family for food. What a compassionate person he is, with all this talk about the Leshan Giant Buddha!"
He sent a message through someone, telling his son to come back immediately.
But to my surprise, the message came back two weeks later.
What's wrong?
Go back! I'll come back after I finish teaching for two years!
He couldn't take it anymore! The old man grabbed his bag and headed to catch the train, determined to bring that kid back to him!
After many twists and turns, and two transfers along the way, the old man flagged down a dilapidated farm tricycle when he reached the dirt road leading into the mountains. It was practically falling apart. The tricycle sped into the mountains, and the last leg of the journey was on foot, which took a full three hours.
It almost killed the old man from exhaustion.
Upon arriving at the small mountain village, we inquired and found out, "Teacher Jiang? Teacher Jiang lives at the end of the village. She should be resting now, as the students have finished school."
"The end of the village?" Old Master Jiang moved his feet again, lit a cigarette, and became increasingly irritable after the ordeal. His face looked like a stormy night.
When he arrived, the first thing he saw was a short, dilapidated house. It was made of very little bricks and tiles, and some parts were just piles of earth. There were four or five rat holes in the gaps at the bottom of the wall that hadn't been sealed. There were many farm tools scattered around the yard, and a string of dried chili peppers hanging on the wall. It looked gray and drab.
He searched the house but couldn't find his son. Then he ran outside to a small vegetable patch where two figures were squatting.
Both of them were wearing dark blue earthen coats, covered in dust, and their hair was disheveled, making them look like wild men.
He walked over, intending to ask for directions, and patted one of the men on the shoulder. The man was tending to sweet potato vines in the field and was startled, jumping up abruptly.
The man was covered in dust and dirt, with cracked sores on his face from the cold. His skin was very dark, but he wasn't short. The original blue of his jeans was no longer visible. The old man vaguely felt that the jeans were familiar, and upon closer inspection...
These are the jeans I asked someone to bring back for my son from the city. They were so expensive!
Upon closer inspection, the tall man in front of him was his son!
Good heavens, the old man's anger flared up instantly. He grabbed the shovel next to him and was about to hit him. Jiang's father panicked and ran away as fast as a rabbit.
They ran and chased each other, fighting for more than ten minutes before finally stopping, panting heavily.
The first thing the old man said was, “You bastard, come back with me. I’ve farmed to support your education for over ten years, and you’ve come here to farm, huh!”
Jiang's father stiffened his neck and said, "I'm not going back!"
Later, the old man went back on his own the next day.
There is no other reason.
After staying overnight, I saw the children coming to class the next day. The children were scattered in the classroom. Some stood while others sat, and the most they had was a pencil. They didn't even have paper. They used scrap paper to write, filling the entire sheet with words without leaving any gaps.
There wasn't enough room for anyone to stand inside, and seven or eight people were still lying outside the window. Since there weren't enough pens to go around, they used twigs to write and draw on the ground.
It's early spring, and the weather is still cold.
The students were all frozen like potatoes just dug out of the ground, their faces were chapped and couldn't be washed clean, they would sniffle every few seconds, and their clothes were tattered.
Some were better off wearing their family's thick coats, with three or four patched holes that didn't stop them from being warm. A little worse off wore layers of thin clothes, with a half-ripped windproof coat on top. The worst off were so cold that their hands and feet turned blue, and they had to sew two tattered coats together to make one. There were also those who wore the women's clothes from their families, bright red clothes, which looked strangely festive.
However, the freezing weather did not stop them from laughing.
This doesn't stop them from swarming around the teacher during breaks to ask questions.
That doesn't stop a fervent light from shining in his eyes.
That ray of light represents the longing for school.
“Dad, I came into this mountain so that they can leave it in the future.”
After hearing this, the old man remained silent for a long time, took a puff of his cigarette, tossed two hundred yuan to his son, and left.
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
