After showering them with compliments, cigarettes, and money, they finally got the clothes delivered—not by themselves, but by a staff member. The uncle and nephew were extremely grateful.
Wang Dong walked along, wiping away tears. The two of them waited outside, hoping to at least catch a glimpse of him. Just then, they heard, "Grandpa, Grandpa, hurry up!"
"Hey kid, slow down! Don't you know where you are? Always making such a fuss."
The two looked up and saw a boy running ahead. He was wearing a dark blue cotton-padded jacket and trousers, a dog-skin hat, and was fair-skinned, tall and strong, about 160 cm tall. He looked just like a silver doll from a New Year's painting.
It was pitiful that this father and son hadn't seen each other for over eight years; they met face-to-face but didn't recognize each other. Zhao's father, dressed similarly, jogged over, calling out, "Hey, hey, hey... grandson, slow down! Come in, turn right, go up to the second floor, the third office!" Upon seeing Zhao's father, Qi Zhijun seemed frozen in place, as if under a spell. Because Qi Zhijun was wearing a hat and scarf, Zhao's father didn't recognize him.
"Okay! Grandpa, slow down! I'm going first!" With that, he ran off like a whirlwind.
Zhao's father slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Hey! This kid has no sense of depth, just like his tiger father!"
Without waiting for anything else, they slowly walked forward. Meanwhile, Qi Zhijun and his nephew stood to the side waiting for someone. However, the people they met were different.
A moment later, a middle-aged man dressed in an official's uniform and wearing a dog-skin hat came out with Zhao Aiguo and called out from afar, "Master Zhao!"
"Hey! Director Feng, I'm sorry to have found you out in this cold weather!" Zhao's father also went up and politely shook hands with Director Feng.
The two went inside together. At the door, Zhao's father turned back and said, "Grandson, if you don't want to come inside with Grandpa, you can play here by the door for a while. Grandpa will leave after I finish my business!" Zhao Aiguo nodded vigorously, "Don't worry, Grandpa, I'll just roll a snowball here and clean up the doorway for my Uncle Feng!"
Director Feng said with a smile, "Just like our Da Hu when he was a kid, he's quick-witted and a good young man!"
Zhao's father chuckled, and the two walked inside. Zhao Aiguo scooped up a snowball with his hand, threw it on the ground, and started rolling it around until it reached Qi Zhijun's feet. Qi Zhijun looked up and was immediately struck dumb.
Zhao Aiguo had no idea he had actually met with his biological father, and then turned and rolled back. When Wang Dong realized something was wrong, he whispered, "Uncle, what's wrong?"
Qi Zhijun choked up as he said, "That snowball effect is patriotism!"
Wang Dong was stunned, as if struck by lightning. It took him a moment to remember that Aiguo was his cousin, who was about ten years younger than him. Upon closer inspection, the tall, chubby boy, about 1.6 meters tall, who looked like a silver doll in a New Year's painting, was completely unrelated to the sallow-skinned, thin, and frail Qi Aiguo.
As the child drew closer, Wang Dong glanced at Qi Zhijun, changed his expression, and went over to him, saying, "Little brother, where are your parents? How could they leave you here alone?" Looking at Zhao Aiguo's neatly dressed and tidy clothes, and his rosy cheeks, a mix of emotions welled up inside him.
Zhao Aiguo glanced at Wang Dong warily but didn't say anything, then rolled the snowball back. Just as Wang Dong was about to chase after him, he heard Zhao Aiguo call out, "Grandpa!"
Director Feng escorted Zhao's father out, and the two shook hands. Director Feng beckoned Aiguo over, stuffed a handful of candies into his pocket, patted his head, and said, "Good lad!"
Zhao's father chuckled and said, "Just like his tiger father, he's a good-looking guy!"
Zhao Aiguo said with a smile, "Grandpa, tigers and bears look exactly the same!"
The two adults laughed heartily, and Director Feng said gently, "It means you're just like your father, strong and good-natured! You're clearly an outstanding successor to our communism!"
Zhao Aiguo nodded vigorously, his big, watery eyes fixed on Director Feng as if to say, "Praise him more, praise him more."
A surge of pride welled up inside Zhao's father, even more so than when he was praising himself. He had to feign seriousness, saying, "Alright, you can't praise a child like that, it'll corrupt him. You get back to your work, we're leaving now!"
"Alright, then I'll have to trouble Master Zhao."
"Don't be so polite!" Zhao's father waved his hand and pulled Zhao Aiguo back. When Zhao Aiguo turned around, he found that the two people were still looking at him. They whispered something in Zhao's father's ear and pointed to where Qi Zhijun and Wang Dong were.
Father Zhao glared at Qi Zhijun and Wang Dong, then narrowed his eyes and left with his grandson.
Wang Dong felt a pang of guilt. If it weren't for him, his uncle and aunt might not have gotten divorced back then. Aiguo was still a member of the Qi family, and a sense of shame welled up within him. He whispered, "Aunt Wei really won't let us see the child even once? Is she really a member of the Qi family?"
Qi Zhijun smiled bitterly and shook his head. "If he doesn't want to see it, then he doesn't have to. It's a good thing for him too." Then he remembered Zhao Dahu coming to him and saying both soft and hard things. Because he was also afraid that Aiguo would be affected by his family and fail the political review, he personally signed Qi Aiguo's death certificate back then. Thinking of this, his eyes reddened.
In fact, in life, many people and opportunities are the same. If you don't cherish them or let them go, they will become something that others dream of and scheme to get, something they want to cherish and pamper!
At this moment, Qi Zhijun may or may not have regretted abandoning the mother and child, but he was glad that he had remained clear-headed in his feelings. His final act of tenderness towards Wei Shuqing was to let her go and give her freedom.
As soon as Qi Zhifang entered the door, her mother, Wang Hong, surrounded her, all asking, "What happened to Fangfang?" "Will Fangfang be able to come back?" "Where did her sister go?"
Wang Dong rubbed his face and sighed, "After I come back in a couple of days, I'll go back to the place where I was sent to work in the countryside."
The women behind them were all crying, and the two men could only turn around and leave, unable to comfort them. They couldn't very well say, "It's okay, she's still young, she can change!" But no one would give them a chance to change something like that!
Xiao Cui listened briefly and then left. What a waste of such a good person as Wang Yanda! Thinking of Wang Yanda made her extremely sad.
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