B City Railway Station, 1978.
"Honey, are you sure it's today? This is the last train, and we still haven't seen Mianmian come out." Lu Changzhi stayed with his wife at the train station, waiting anxiously.
Counting on their fingers, they realized that they hadn't seen each other for a long time since their second daughter, Lu Mian, went to the countryside in 1972.
As the saying goes, distance makes things better. Even though they weren't very close before, over the years, as time went by and they were separated, they started to pay more attention to their second daughter, whom they hadn't cared much about before. When they heard that their daughter was coming back, they waited for her here early.
Because they had neglected their daughter for so long, they couldn't even remember how old she was. But the thought that their third son was already married made their guilt towards their second son grow stronger. If they hadn't been delayed by their rural assignment, she would probably be married and have children by now.
Thinking of this, Lu Changzhi mentally cursed himself again.
"It's today, how could I possibly be wrong?" Zhang Fang said, wearing a thick coat and holding a military green cotton-padded jacket that she had made herself.
Winters in B City are bitterly cold. She was worried that her daughter, who hadn't been back for many years, wouldn't be used to the damp and cold weather here. So, after learning that her daughter had been admitted to a university in B City and could return to the city, she worked overtime to make this garment so that her daughter could wear it immediately after getting off the train.
“Our second son is really promising. He can take good care of himself at such a young age. After so many years in the countryside, he got such a good score as soon as the college entrance examination was reinstated. If he didn’t want to stay in B City and live with us, he could have gotten into Tsinghua or Peking University with that score.”
Lu Changzhi chuckled. His children resembled their father; his daughter was so smart, it must be because her father was also very intelligent.
At this moment, he selectively forgot about his youngest son who always ranked last in exams.
"My Mianmian has always been sensible and intelligent." Hearing her lover's words, Zhang Fang was so sad that she almost burst into tears.
The second daughter's position in the family has always been awkward. They haven't put much effort into her, but she takes good care of herself and has never complained to her parents.
Zhang Fang felt more and more that she, as a mother, had failed to fulfill her responsibilities during the first ten years of her child's life when she should have been pampered, allowing her and her daughter to live in that kind of environment, which forced her daughter to be sensible, capable, and mature.
"Why are you crying? If Mianmian sees this, she'll think you don't welcome her back." Lu Changzhi looked at his wife wiping away tears, at a loss for what to do. He forgot that he should take out a clean handkerchief to wipe his wife's tears, and subconsciously used his relatively clean sleeve to haphazardly wipe Zhang Fang's face, making her both laugh and cry.
"I'm not crying, I'm happy."
Zhang Fang sniffled. Her husband was right; she shouldn't be crying. Her daughter had been admitted to a top-ranked university in B city, and after graduation, she would have a secure job. What did she have to cry about?
Furthermore, over the years, her daughter has refused her subsidies and has instead been sending her money. With the money her daughter sent back, along with her savings from working over the years, she bought a spacious house with a small yard, intending to give it to her daughter.
She hadn't given her daughter anything all these years, so she was sure Mianmian would be very happy to see it now.
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