The Fang family's house is a large courtyard near the river. The structure of the roof shows some Chinese style, but the layout of the house is a bit European. The area in the middle of the courtyard is decorated with a bit of the flavor of the Jiangnan water village.
After the car stopped, Fang Lang asked Captain Blackwell to get out of the car and go into the house for a cup of coffee. The captain said that considering Fang Lang had been away from home for so long, it would be better not to disturb Fang Lang from reuniting with his family and wait until tomorrow to come to visit the house. After several attempts at arguing at the door, seeing that the other party was firm in his attitude, he did not force it anymore. They just agreed to come to the house for coffee tomorrow. After that, they left a jeep at the door and left.
When Fang Lang turned around and looked at the door of his house, he saw his family staring at him blankly. When he turned around and saw his face clearly, his mother Yang Xiuer had already run over with tears in her eyes.
Fang Lang put down his luggage without saying anything, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed to his grandfather, father, and mother three times, shouting, "Grandpa, Mom and Dad, the unfilial son Fang Lang is back. I kowtow to you."
Fang Lang didn't know why he knelt down and kowtowed. He thought that this might be the natural reaction of the original owner, and he was also expressing his apology for occupying the original owner's body.
Mother Yang Xiuer had already run over, grabbed Fang Lang's arm, and looked at her son's red forehead, muttering over and over: "My son! You're finally back, you're finally back." As she spoke, she wiped away her tears.
Fang Lang's eyes turned red as well, and he kept saying, "I'm sorry, Mom. I'm sorry for not being sensible and for making you worry."
The mother just kept wiping away her tears and said, "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back. Come on, come into the house! Tao, come and help your brother with his luggage."
Seeing his younger brother being called over by his mother, Fang Lang was not polite. He threw the luggage in his hand to his younger brother Fang Tao and said, "Tao'er, I haven't seen you for the past two years. You have grown a lot taller! You have become a big boy now. No one has bullied you in the past two years since I left!"
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Fang Tao took the luggage from Fang Lang and staggered under the weight. He almost lost his balance. He said with a smile on his face: "Brother, you are finally back. Wow! This bag is heavy. No one bullies me! Xuewu and his friends protected me when we were in school. There were not many Chinese people in our school, so we were very united. Now that Brazil has joined the war, those Japanese classmates have also stopped."
"That's good. If anyone bullies you again, just tell me and I'll take the soldiers to deal with them." After saying that, he patted his brother's shoulder and walked towards his grandfather and father at the door of the house.
I came to my grandfather, held his arm and said, "Grandpa, I'm back. Are you feeling well?"
The old man is already seventy-three years old, but he is still in good health. He does a set of boxing every day. As the old saying goes, seventy-three and eighty-four are two hurdles for the elderly. If you can get through them, you can live to be a hundred years old. Based on Fang Lang's observation, he can't say whether the old man can live another ten years, but there is no problem for him to live five or six years.
"I am an old man and I am in good health. I do some boxing every morning and I can eat and sleep well. But you little brat, you have become successful and even ran away from home. I, an old man, thought that my eldest grandson was gone and I shed tears a lot." The old man said in a very open-minded manner.
Fang Lang thought to himself, I don’t know whether your grandson is dead or not now, but don’t worry, I will help him to fulfill his filial piety to you.
"I'm sorry, Grandpa, I'm an unfilial grandson and I've caused you so much worry."
"It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back safely! Talk to your dad nicely! Stop arguing, okay?" The old man patted Fang Lang's hand that was supporting his arm, and winked at Fang Lang's father who was standing next to him.
Fang Lang understood what he meant and said to his father who had a stern face, "Dad, I'm back. I'm sorry. It's my fault. I shouldn't have left without saying goodbye and made you worry."
My father, Fang Xinshan, was a traditional and conservative person under the discipline of my grandfather. He had a strong sense of family. After my grandmother passed away, my grandfather no longer took care of the family affairs, so my father was the actual head of the family.
In Fang Lang's impression, his father was always very strict and believed that a good son would be born under the stick, so Fang Lang and Fang Tao were often punished by the family since they were young. However, after being educated by their father, they were two sons with completely different personalities. Fang Lang was never afraid of being beaten. He was naughty and mischievous since he was a child, and he was on the verge of death, frantically testing his father's bottom line. Fortunately, his mother and grandfather protected him and he was not beaten to death halfway.
The younger brother Fang Tao was a monkey frightened by killing a chicken to scare the monkeys. He was frightened by his father's scolding of his brother since he was a child, so he dared not resist. He was very obedient and became a good boy. His academic performance was very good, but he was too honest and was often bullied by his classmates at school. When Fang Lang was at home, someone bullied his younger brother, and Fang Lang would go over and beat them up. Gradually, everyone knew that he had a brother who was like a devil, so no one dared to bully him. This is why Fang Lang would ask him if he was bullied as soon as he came back.
Fang Lang could see that his father's eyes were slightly red, and he clenched and unclenched his fists, obviously trying to calm himself down. His mother was worried that his father would say something hurtful again, so she stood beside him, grabbed his hands and patted them gently.
In the end, my father just said, "Come in!" and led the way into the yard.
The mother beside him was obviously relieved. She followed her father, waving repeatedly, and held Fang Lang's arm as they walked home, as if she was afraid that Fang Lang would run away again.
After everyone entered the house, they moved a few stools out of the living room and gathered together to ask Fang Lang about his recent situation. Fang Lang also picked out some light things to talk about, and did not dare to talk about his injury. He just said that he saved an American on the battlefield, and then the other party helped to find a connection to transfer Fang Lang away from the front line. Now he is in charge of a transport ship, responsible for traveling between Brazil and Italy, so he has the opportunity to go home to visit his family.
Everyone felt relieved after hearing this. Only the old man had followed his great-grandfather through the chaos of war in his hometown and knew the dangers of the battlefield. The experience was definitely not as light as Fang Lang described. However, the old man would definitely not expose Fang Lang's evasion in front of his family.
Just when everyone was somewhat relaxed, my father said, "The sea is not safe. There are German submarines everywhere. Have you forgotten why Brazil joined the war? Wasn't it the German submarines that attacked the Brazilian transport ships?"
After hearing what his father said, his mother's heart began to lift again. She looked at Fang Lang with a worried look on her face and said, "Son, is that so? Then can we not go?"
Fang Lang didn't know whether to laugh or cry after hearing his mother's words. He was about to comfort her when he heard his father say, "Woman, what nonsense are you talking about? Do you think being in the army is the same as being at home? You can do it if you want to, and not do it if you don't want to! If you don't go, you will be caught as a deserter and shot."
His mother trembled all over at his father's words, and tears were about to burst out again. Fang Lang said quickly, "Mom! Don't worry! Now my son's ship is under the heavy protection of the escort fleet. There are planes in the sky and warships on the sea. It's very safe. Besides, the Allies have counterattacked into the European continent. The Axis powers will not be able to jump around for a few days. I estimate that the war will end this year."
In order to dispel his mother's doubts, Fang Lang accidentally revealed the history. But he didn't mind, because first of all, they were all his family members, and there was nothing he couldn't tell. Secondly, everyone on both sides of the war knew that the balance of victory had already tilted towards the Allies, and victory was only a matter of time.
Fang Lang's words aroused his father's interest. He asked Fang Lang, "How do you know that the war will end this year? You, a soldier, must not believe the army's propaganda. These are deliberately spread by the superiors to encourage you to fight to the death."
He didn't expect his father to be so knowledgeable and not be misled by the overwhelming propaganda outside. This gave Fang Lang a new understanding of this feudal patriarch who had never been to São Paulo.
"What are you looking at me like that? Is what I said wrong?" Father Fang Xinshan noticed that Fang Lang was looking at him strangely and couldn't help but speak.
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