Chapter 425 Goodbye
Thirty-eight-year-old Lu Dongcai has lost the slightly sharp edge he had in his twenties and has become more reserved and mature. He wore the navy blue Zhongshan suit that Hu Qingqing had made for him earlier and helped Chuyi carry his luggage to school.
After Chuyi paid the tuition and settled in the dormitory, he called Chuyi: "Come on, I'll take you to see your uncle and third uncle."
Chuyi is almost sixteen this year and is a tall and graceful young lady. Probably because she has always been following Hu Qingqing, her personality is very similar to hers. She loves to talk and laugh. She has a pair of big eyes like Lu Dongcai, and her facial features are a bit like Hu Qingqing. She is a very bright girl.
"My uncle and third uncle are both at work right now. Will they bother me?"
Lu Dongcai smiled and said, "Then let's go and take a look. It won't be considered a disturbance."
It was just to let Chuyi see the place. It was the first time she was away from home alone so far, and she wanted to know that she had relatives in the city, so she wouldn't be too scared if something happened.
After visiting the Public Security Bureau and the county government, Lu Dongcai took Chuyi to the department store to buy things.
It was my first time to come to the county town on the first day of the New Year. Everything I saw was new to me, so I stopped and walked along the way.
Lu Dongcai had already walked to the entrance of the department store, but when he turned back, she was still quite far away.
Lu Dongcai shouted, "Chuyi, hurry up!" He bought the things, sent him back to school, and then went back to Lujiazui.
He didn't notice that there was a disheveled and ragged man huddled in a corner next to the department store.
When she heard his voice, she suddenly opened her cloudy eyes, looked at him blankly, and then looked at Chuyi.
The man who had been hungry for who knows how many days and had no strength at all suddenly felt strong again. He stood up by holding onto the wall and shouted, "Dongcai, Chuyi!"
Lu Dongcai brought Chuyi in. Chuyi gently tugged at Lu Dongcai's sleeve and said, "Dad, I think I heard someone calling us."
Lu Dongcai also heard it, went in and out again, and saw a woman whose face was so disheveled that it was almost impossible to see clearly running towards him, shouting his and Chuyi's names.
He subconsciously reached out and pulled Chuyi over to block him behind him. He only took a glance and turned back: "Let's go. I don't know where this lunatic came from."
Having said that, he hurriedly pulled Chuyi away.
He could recognize it; it was Li Laiying. It was a mess, but the general outline could still be made out.
After the divorce, they sent her back to the Li family. Later, it was heard that the Li family married her to a widower in a mountain valley on the other side of the town.
Then I never paid attention again.
He never thought about seeing each other again, nor did he think that they would see each other here, in this way.
Li Laiying rushed in like crazy: "Chuyi, Chuyi, I am your mother, I am your mother!"
Lu Dongcai covered Chuyi's ears, walked quickly, didn't buy anything, left the department store in a hurry, and arrived at the county high school in one breath.
After stopping, Lu Dongcai took a deep breath and took out some money and food coupons from his pocket and gave them to Chuyi: "Don't go today. Go back to the dormitory and rest. You just need a kettle and a basin. Go buy them later. Go with your classmates and don't run around outside alone, okay?"
Chuyi took the money, looked at him, and said after a long time: "Dad, that was really me--" She didn't say "Mom".
In her memory, she only had one mother, the woman in Lujiazui who loved to talk, laugh, and take her out to play and get scolded together.
Ever since she could remember, someone had been harassing her, saying that she was not Hu Qingqing's biological daughter. At first she didn't believe it, but after hearing it so many times, she went back to ask.
Gao Xiulan did not hide it from her. She knew very well what kind of person Li Laiying was.
She didn't want me because she was a girl.
If she doesn't want me, why should I think about her?
Lu Dongcai nodded: "I haven't seen her for many years, it must be her."
Chuyi pointed inside the school and said, "Dad, come with me to walk around the school again. Tell me about her. I want to know."
"Didn't your mother-in-law tell you all this before?"
Chuyi said: "That's different. What my mother-in-law said is what my mother-in-law said. I want to hear your opinion again."
Lu Dongcai sighed helplessly: "You, what's so good about this?"
"Then you want to know! She's so mean and doesn't want me, so how did you fall for her?"
"She wasn't like that when we first met. Actually, it wasn't that far away. We weren't in the same brigade, but we weren't that far away either. I've almost forgotten what I was doing, going to their brigade. I remember the first time I ran into her, she was washing clothes by the river, and I asked for directions. It's been over ten years now, so I don't remember it so clearly, but back then she was very quiet, pretty, and hardworking."
"I was still very young at the time, so of course I liked her. It was also the right age for marriage, so I took the initiative to tell your mother-in-law that I had taken a fancy to her. As you know, your mother-in-law is the easiest to talk to. Once I told her I liked her, she agreed and asked someone to take care of the matter."
"Things were fine for the first two years, but after I got pregnant with you, things started to change. I'm not her, so I can't really explain why. But I've never let her down in my life. No one in the Lu family has ever let her down. She brought this upon herself."
"Chuyi, if you want to go and recognize her, I won't stop you."
"But you have to remember that everyone's blessings are limited in life, so you have to know how to cherish them. For those who don't know how to cherish their blessings, their blessings will only become shallower and shallower, and there will be no good results."
Chuyi nodded: "I know. It's not like I don't have a mother. I won't miss someone who doesn't want me."
Lu Dongcai nodded. "You should be good, study hard, and try to get into university, and go to the capital. Your aunt, uncle, and youngest brother are all there, so you should work hard too."
Chuyi agreed: "Dad, Uncle Dongping came back that year and said he wanted to take you into business, why didn't you agree?" She had asked this before, and Lu Dongcai always said that children don't understand. She is now in high school and is no longer a child.
Lu Dongcai smiled and said, "I, your father, am not very successful. That's all I want to achieve. I just want to simply cultivate the little land I have."
"We are a big family with so many brothers and sisters. Some have gone here and there, leaving only your mother and I at home. If we also leave, what will happen to your grandfather and mother-in-law? They are so old. If we bring them to the city, they have lived there all their lives. They may not be used to moving to a new place when they are old."
"The city has its own advantages, and the mountains have their own advantages. I don't plan to go far. I just want to stay there peacefully. No matter how far you go, no matter how long you go, no matter who comes back, you will have a place to stay."
After saying that, he patted her shoulder and said, "Go ahead and study hard. Dad has to go, or he'll miss the bus to the commune."
I sent him to the school gate on the first day of the new year, watched him go away, and stood there for a long time.
She was thinking, as expected, she was still too young and she still didn't understand what her father said.
Isn't the city good? Everyone wants to come to the city! My parents are really a little weird.
Thinking of this, she thought of the woman she met in the department store before, and she thought that maybe that was one of the reasons.
Lu Dongcai has traveled the road from Xinxi County to Lujiazui not many times, but each time he traveled, it felt different.
He thought back to the time he met Li Laiying that year. They were so young then, and he had imagined their lives together would be so simple and beautiful. But it was that woman who had torn their lives apart beyond recognition.
The beauty of today was repaired bit by bit by another woman.
So, what if we say goodbye? They are not even strangers.
The last time the brothers were reunited was when Gao Xiulan passed away.
Lu Minghai and Lu Mingjiang, one living to sixty-nine and the other seventy-two, passed away one after the other. Zhang Hongying followed suit two years later. Perhaps due to her personality, Gao Xiulan remained open-minded throughout her life. People who are open-minded live longer.
As she got older, her health was not very good, but she managed to hold on until the end.
When she died, Lu Dongcai was fifty-six years old, and Lu Dongping was also not young. Together with Lu Donglin, they drove back from the capital with their children.
After not seeing each other for many years, the brothers all have gray hair.
Lujiazui is still the original Lujiazui, but it is no longer the original Lujiazui.
After the reform and opening up, things have changed with each passing day, and even in rural areas, earth-shaking changes have taken place.
A main road runs directly from Ganling Commune to Lujiazui, and it is even paved with cement, so cars can drive directly to the door of the Lu family.
In Lu Minghai's words, Gao Xiulan is the person who has had the most difficult life.
She followed him when he had nothing, took care of him, took care of his brothers, gave birth to children for him, and even took good care of his nephews and nieces.
After a life of hard work, he passed away in an unprecedentedly lively manner.
After a busy period, everything returned to calm again.
The five brothers, just like when they were little, sat on benches at the foot of the wall facing the West Mountain.
The setting sun dyed half the sky red, and finally illuminated the wall, shining on the bodies and faces of the brothers.
They have already walked most of their lives, and they don’t know if after today they will have the chance to sit together like this again, facing the sunset, shoulder to shoulder.
(End of full text)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
