Chapter 21
Xia Weining made a plan and went straight to the Xia family. As soon as he entered the door, he called out, "Grandpa, grandma, uncle, aunt, hurry up and pack your things."
Zhou Caimei still had noodles on her hands. "Weining is here. What are you packing?"
"After dinner, we'll go to Beijing."
"Going to Beijing?"
Everyone came out of the house upon hearing the noise, all of them were shocked, "What are you talking about, kid?"
"Grandma, I said we should go to Beijing."
"Why go to Beijing? It's so far away."
"It doesn't matter if it's far, we can take the train, but we must go."
Seeing the determination on her face, the others were a little shaken but did not agree.
Xia Weining had no choice but to persuade them one by one. Grandpa and grandma were the easiest to persuade, as Beijing was the place they longed to go to, but they just felt sorry for the money. Mom and Dad also felt it was too troublesome and they also felt a little sorry for the money. As for Xia Li, she was the one who applauded and cheered, and it was okay as long as she was taken out to play anywhere.
The key now is to win over her parents.
Xia Weining walked into the kitchen with a smile, sat on a small stool in front of the pot door, and scribbled on the ground with a fire stick. "Auntie, you hope that the children at home will live well, right?"
"That's not what all mothers do."
"I agree with this, but have you ever thought about what's best for the child?"
Zhou Caimei stopped what she was doing and turned to look at her. "What do you mean?"
"You've seen city kids while working outside, right? Aren't they all very confident? That's because they often travel around the country or even abroad, so they can see more of the world. We in a small county town can't see much. For Xia Li's own good, we should go out and see more."
"But--"
Before Zhou Caimei could express her concerns, Xia Weining said directly, "Don't worry about the money. I've prepared everything."
"But it's your money."
"What's mine is yours."
Zhou Caimei was stunned. She wondered if Xia Weining came to repay her gratitude. If the ages matched, she would even suspect that Xia Weining was her lost daughter.
"We can't use your money when we go out as a family."
"It's nothing. I earn money to spend on you."
Zhou Caimei was at a loss as to what to do. She could only rub her hands on her thighs to hide her panic.
"Please sit down first. I'll go talk to your uncle."
Xia Weining nodded. She knew that it was not popular for ordinary families in small towns to travel at present. They were all trying to save money. They needed to give them some buffer time before spending money on traveling.
The reason why she had to take her family to Beijing was that she didn't want her grandparents to have any regrets, and also to make up for the guilt she had felt in her heart for many years and no longer carry a heavy burden.
The second reason was for Xia Li. She still remembered the shock she felt the first time she left the province, from a poor county town to the city, experiencing the dazzling lights of a bustling city for the first time. Everything new to her was a huge shock. She saw colorful signboards for the first time and was told they were neon lights, something she had never understood before. She loved looking at these bright things, as if they could make up for the color she had lost in the past. This was also why she loved the city nightscape.
Before she went out, she thought everyone spoke the same language. When she arrived in a foreign place, she found that she could not understand the local language at all. She knew that she could not fit in here, so her sensitive mind became active again. She got used to observing the way others looked at her. After observing it so many times, she gradually didn't dare to look up.
At that time, she didn't understand why she could distinguish between outsiders and locals at a glance just by their appearance.
This obvious difference was a big blow to her, who was already vain at the time, and it exacerbated her inferiority complex. So she didn't want Xia Li to be like this too. She asked her to go out more often so that she wouldn't feel inferior due to the huge psychological gap when she saw the big city.
She wanted Xia Li to be able to accept all kinds of different things very naturally since childhood.
Zhou Caimei dragged Xia Weiguo inside, and the two of them whispered about going to Beijing. "It wouldn't hurt to take Li Li to Beijing to have a look. Mom and Dad haven't been to Beijing either."
Xia Weiguo nodded, "Then go."
"Xiao Xia definitely can't be asked to pay for this." Zhou Caimei took out a passbook. "This is a 5,000 yuan current account. Take it out."
"Okay, let's wait at the credit union."
As the two of them walked out of the room, they were stopped by Xia Weining. "You don't need to withdraw money, I have enough." She took out a wad of money from her bag and said, "Here is 5,000 yuan, enough for us to travel in Beijing for more than half a month."
“That’s your money.”
"I've already said that my money is your money. This is what I really mean." Xia Weining's expression suddenly became solemn, and his tone was also serious. "To me, you are my family."
Zhou Caimei's hands were trembling, her lips were moving up and down but she couldn't speak. She was shocked and heartbroken. At this moment, she seemed to have some kind of resonance with Xia Weining, a kind of life connection that transcended time and space.
Thanks to Xia Weining's unremitting efforts, the family boarded a train to Beijing. This was the first time that Xia Li walked out of the small county town. He was curious about everything around him. He leaned on the window with his hand on his chin, staring out the window intently, not wanting to miss any scenery.
Just this moment made Xia Weining feel that going to Beijing was an extremely correct decision.
She took a taxi directly from the train station to the hotel, which she had booked in advance, so she could check in directly, put her luggage away and take her family out for dinner.
Zhou Weiguo followed behind and sighed, "Weining is really capable. Without you, we wouldn't be able to come to Beijing and have fun. We don't know anything here."
"Don't worry, everything is arranged."
The next day, the most important thing was to go to Chairman Mao Memorial Hall. At that time, no reservation was required and we could just queue up to enter. My grandparents were very excited and felt much better.
Xia Weining handed the chrysanthemums to her grandparents. At this time, she could already feel their inner excitement. Their hands holding the flowers were trembling. Her father and mother walked behind with solemn expressions and respect. This was the common belief in everyone's hearts, and they all came to pay homage with an extremely pious attitude.
Following the large group in an orderly manner, they put down the flowers and bowed. Grandma suddenly knelt on the ground and kowtowed several times. Xia Weining, who was standing behind, suddenly smiled. She understood the unique emotions of the older generation, and many years later, more young people would fall in love with him and learn from him.
Grandma was still crying after leaving the memorial hall, and kept saying that she was very happy to see him in person in this life, which fulfilled her wish.
Looking at the satisfied and happy faces of her family, Xia Weining finally understood the significance of the Internet comment many years later that one must take their parents to Beijing in their lifetime. She also understood the significance of visiting the Memorial Hall.
"Little girl."
Xia Weining hurriedly turned around and vaguely seemed to see a figure smiling and waving at her. She covered her mouth excitedly.
"Are you confused?" The kind voice made her burst into tears.
"You're already amazing, you need to rest, relax and be yourself."
Tears began to burst out. At that moment, she seemed to have caught the light, dispelling all the fog and curing the inferiority in her heart. It turned out that there really was such a power that could strike the soul directly.
For the first time, she felt that she was not so bad and that she did have her strengths. She found the gap to forgive herself and began to try to understand and tolerate herself. This was a call from her soul and an opportunity for her to suddenly realize and transform.
At this moment, Xia Weining in two different time and space overlapped with that many years later. Although he could not sort out his thoughts, he gradually became clear-headed.
After dinner, we visited the Forbidden City. Xia Li was very interested in everything at first, but his energy was like electricity, which was quickly exhausted. He sat on the steps and said he was tired and didn't want to walk anymore no matter what. Everyone sat down to rest.
Xia Li asked for her father's cell phone to call Sheng Xuan's house. As soon as the call was connected, she showed off, "Do you know where I am now?"
Sheng Xuan cooperated and asked, "Where?"
"Beijing, have you been here? We're in the Forbidden City now. It looks exactly like the one on TV. We can even find where Xiaoyanzi lived, and there's also the Cining Palace, where Empress Dowager Cixi lived."
"Well, then?"
"Beijing is so huge," Xia Li said with increasing excitement. "Tomorrow we're going to climb the Great Wall, the one in the textbook."
"I know."
"I'll tell you what the Great Wall looks like when I get back."
Sheng Xuan said calmly: "I have climbed it before. My parents took me to Beijing."
Xia Li's face instantly turned ugly. This was considered a failure in his pretense. He felt very embarrassed and his voice began to choke. "Are you making fun of me?"
"I'm not laughing at you."
"Then you say Xia Li, I am wrong, and everything you said is right."
Sheng Xuan: “…”
Just as Xia Weining was about to step forward and say something, Sheng Xuan's voice came from the phone, "Xia Li, I was wrong. Everything you said is right."
Just one sentence made the little girl burst into laughter. She wiped her tears happily, and her voice tone rose a lot.
"Uncle, you're back." Sheng Xuan's voice came.
Sheng Huaizhou then said "hmm" and asked, "Who are you calling?"
"Xia Li, her family went to Beijing for fun."
Sheng Huaizhou didn't say anything else, just sat aside and wrote a few words.
Sheng Xuan read the words on it, "Xia Li, did Teacher Xia go to Beijing with you?"
"Yes, Teacher Xia came with us."
As expected, Sheng Huaizhou sneered. No wonder the lights next door have not been on for the past few days.
He also had some doubts in his heart, so he asked Sheng Xuan: "How does your teacher Xia treat Xia Li?"
"Very good." Sheng Xuan scratched his head and added, "Teacher Xia is kind to everyone because he is a good person."
Sheng Huaizhou did not comment on this answer. He was too lazy to discuss with a child whether Xia Weining was a good person. He got up and went upstairs. As he reached the stairs, he suddenly remembered something.
Staring at the phone in Sheng Xuan's hand, questions flooded into his mind. Why was Xia Weining so kind to Xia Li? They both had the surname Xia. Are they related?
Xia Weining brought his family to Beijing this time for another purpose, which was to take his grandmother for a physical examination. Only by finding out the cause of the disease could the right medicine be prescribed, instead of relying on intravenous fluids to temporarily suppress the discomfort every time.
But this caused some conflicts.
My grandmother had a heart disease, and it would cost a lot to cure it. The high cost was beyond the reach of an average family. When the doctor announced the treatment results, everyone fell silent. My grandmother kept urging me to leave, and at the end she was a little angry, "Why did you bring me here, kid? I'll just die. Why spend all that money?"
"Do you want to take medicine every day and endure the pain?"
"It's incurable." Grandma pulled Mom out and said, "Let's go home today."
Xia Li was so frightened that she didn't know what to do. This was not the time for her to interrupt.
Xia Weining was crying in the back, and everyone else responded with silence. Some difficult words were expressed implicitly in this way.
She had no doubt about her parents' love for her grandmother. When love exceeds one's ability to bear, it will be daunting and people will not have the strength to support it. She knew how anxious and worried her family was when her grandmother was sick, but the surgery fee of more than 100,000 yuan was indeed difficult to afford.
Grandma would not spend so much money on her own medical treatment. To her, she is far less important than her children and grandchildren.
The return train was filled with awkwardness and discomfort. Xia Weining could sense that her family was somewhat dissatisfied with her, thinking that she was meddling too much, but they refrained from blaming her out of consideration for her feelings.
Xia Weining felt very disappointed. She didn't expect it to end like this.
In fact, she could also understand her family's dissatisfaction with her. It was okay for some trivial matters in normal times, but as an outsider, she had no right to interfere in such a big matter, let alone make decisions for them. It was because she was too anxious and did not handle the situation well that she acted in an extreme manner, leading to this embarrassing situation.
This is the importance of a sense of boundaries. No matter how good the intentions are, excessive intervention in other people's lives will cause dissatisfaction. Every family has different rules of life, whether they are explicit or tacitly understood in private, and they cannot be easily broken.
At this moment, she finally understood that to her family, she was just an "outsider" with whom she had a good relationship.
Xia Weining was in a very heavy mood. This was what it meant to do good things but end up with bad results. She acted on her own regardless of the actual conditions, thinking that everyone should accept her arrangements because it was for their own good, but she forgot whether this kind of goodness was what others needed.
After sending her family home, her mother ran out and handed her a cloth bag, "Take it."
After saying that, he left without looking back.
Looking at the money in her hand and her mother's departing back, her heart was broken. She slowly squatted on the ground, twitching and crying, but trying hard not to make any sound.
She blamed herself for messing it all up, and the anger in her heart was poured into her hard teeth. She bit her lips hard until she could taste blood in her mouth.
Her tears gradually wet the cloth bag containing money in her hand. Judging from the thickness, there must be about ten thousand yuan in it, which was a repayment for all the money she had spent during this period, and even a lot more.
She didn't know what this meant. Was it to separate everything and keep herself away from their lives?
Xia Weining didn't dare to think about it.
Her consciousness gradually faded away, and her mind was filled with the eyes of her family. She fell to the ground weakly.
After all, this gap was caused by herself.
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