Chapter 44: Rebellious Son
After seeing grandma off, my sister and her family returned to Beijing, and Liumei and her family were also about to return to Dunhuang.
My sister told Hang Liumei, "You can't just think about yourselves now. You have to think about your children. Beijing's schools are good. Even if you two don't come to Beijing, you should send your children to Beijing in the future."
Hang Liumei suddenly realized that her home was different now. She returned to Mogao Grottoes in a daze. Looking at her son beside her, she couldn't bear to leave. Looking at the murals on the cliff, she couldn't bear to leave either.
Many nights after her grandmother passed away, she dreamed of the day before her departure. When she woke up from the dream, she would occasionally think that it would be great if Sister Xiuchun was still in Dunhuang so that she could talk to her about her grandmother. But Sister Xiuchun was gone, and her grandmother was gone, and Hang Liumei's heart was also scattered.
Legend has it that arhats are "self-aware," bodhisattvas "awaken others," and Buddhas "perfect their awakening and practice." The figures of Kasyapa and Ananda standing to either side of Sakyamuni in the grottoes are vividly portrayed, but her favorite is the seated Buddha from Cave 259 of the Northern Wei Dynasty. This meditating Buddha wears a high bun, and beneath thin, mountain-shaped brows lie half-closed eyes. The corners of his mouth curl upwards in a smile of enlightenment.
Hang Liumei often stood before this statue for long periods, finding peace in her grief-stricken heart. After gazing at it for so long, she even saw her grandmother's spirit in it, and so she placed her grief within the depths of the Mogao Grottoes.
Before we knew it, it was the child’s fifth birthday.
This kid gave Old Jiang and Hang Liumei a headache. He wasn't causing trouble intentionally; he just couldn't be quiet. Wherever there was activity in the office, he was there. Every morning, when Hang Liumei and Old Jiang got up to go to work, he would also get up and start working, destroying every wooden leg in the hut and covering the walls with his calligraphy. Every time they returned home, they would wonder if they had been robbed.
Later, the small house could no longer hold him. The older children ran all over the mountains and fields, and even though he was the smallest, he had to follow behind them, picking fruits, gathering mushrooms, and playing with sheep dung balls. Later, they also learned to go into the river. Jiang Yunyi lost his balance and slipped, almost being washed away. Fortunately, Yuyu, the oldest child, grabbed him.
After returning home, they were beaten by their parents, and Jiang Yunyi was no exception. But the other children learned their lesson after being beaten, but he forgot the pain the next day and even clamored to go fishing.
Old Jiang and Hang Liumei were at their wit's end, so they sent him to elementary school. He carried a small satchel and followed his older brothers and sisters. However, he was too young to even understand what school was all about. While others went to study and write, he was like a mouse caught in a rice jar, perfectly placed to play with. So he often skipped school with a few mischievous children. After two years, he couldn't even read a single word.
That night, Jiang Yunyi curled up in the corner of the kang and slept soundly, while Old Jiang sat by the kang with a frown on his face, looking worried.
Hang Liumei came back from outside wearing her coat. Seeing Lao Jiang's expression, she asked, "What's with that expression? Has the child finished his homework?"
"Let him sleep. If he doesn't, I won't be able to sleep tonight. Look at his notebook. 'One Person, Big and Small Heaven'. Just a few simple Chinese characters. You can write them correctly with your eyes closed, right? Why did he write such a mess? And there are math problems. Five plus ten is fifty, six plus eight is sixty-eight? Why can't I remember how I went to school? Is it so hard to learn some knowledge?"
Hang Liumei took her son's homework book, flipped through it twice, sighed and threw it aside, urged Lao Jiang to lie down inside, then took off her shoes, got on the kang and covered herself with a quilt. After lying down, the two continued chatting.
Hang Liumei said, "The director came to me again a few days ago. Your son organized a tree climbing competition. He called all the children in the institute together, gave each of them a poplar tree, and told them to climb up. If the director hadn't seen them all and called them down, we wouldn't be able to afford the compensation if anyone fell."
Old Jiang turned to look at his son and said, "He can't stay at the institute, and he doesn't study hard at school. Why is this kid so hard to manage? I was so angry that I spanked him again, and he started crying a few times. But you gave him half a bun and he's happy again. He's sleeping soundly right now, and he just farted twice at me. It was so smelly that I thought he had shit his pants."
"Then remind me next time that I won't let him off easy when I deal with him."
"You can't always beat your children. I don't believe in the idea that beatings breed filial piety. I shouldn't have hit him today, but I was so angry. I need to be more reasonable in the future."
Both of them were silent for a while.
Hang Liumei suddenly spoke up, "It won't work if we keep going like this. He started school in the same year as others, and they've already moved up two grades, while he's still in the first grade. Starting tomorrow, you and I will help him with his homework. I don't believe he can't learn."
"It's not that he can't learn, it's that he simply doesn't want to learn. Forget it, let's take our time. How are you these past two days? Are you still having a stomachache?"
"Well, I don't know what's going on. I've had this problem since I lost my baby last time."
"It's all my fault. You were so busy painting that you couldn't take care of yourself, and I didn't keep an eye on you. Last time, you were sick and grandma passed away, so you must have been exhausted. Now he's here, and you must be busy like this and not recovering well. From now on, you should worry less and leave your son's affairs to me."
"I've been thinking about what my sister said these past few days about sending the child to study in Beijing. I don't think the school here will teach us much, and there won't be any relatives to look after him in Lanzhou. If he goes to Beijing, he'll be at my sister and her husband's house, and his cousin will be there for company."
Old Jiang lay down under the quilt and looked at her: "Are you willing to let her go? You just brought her home a few years ago and you're sending her away again. You're not training the child, you're training our will."
Hang Liumei thought about it and just treated it as a casual remark, and the family of three fell into a deep sleep.
Two years passed like this, and at the age of nine, Jiang Yunyi finally made it to the second grade. He went from being a follower to a leader. At the end of the semester, the teacher called the couple to school, placed five test papers with red crosses all over them, and told them that Jiang Yunyi would have to repeat the grade.
The institute was about to embark on a large-scale copying project of the Yulin Grottoes, and this time they would be staying there for a long time, leaving them with even less opportunity to discipline their son. Old Jiang and Hang Liumei were at their wit's end, and after several nights of deliberation, they decided to send him to school with his sister in Beijing.
Jiang Yunyi didn't know what was going to happen. Taking the train to Beijing was like a long autumn outing for him. When he first stayed in Beijing to study, he thought it was great. Finally, no one was restraining him anymore. But as time went by, he felt lonely.
He had a weak foundation and was forced to start from the first grade. On his first day, the teacher asked him to introduce himself. As soon as he opened his mouth, his classmates burst into laughter. From then on, they often imitated his speech, deliberately using a distorted nasal tone.
He was the oldest and tallest in the class, and the teacher had placed him in the last row. After class, a classmate approached him, asking, "How did you get so tall? Do you drink milk every day?" Jiang Yunyi replied, "I grew up eating potatoes and mutton." The classmate asked, "I don't believe you. How old are you?" Jiang Yunyi replied, "Nine."
Nine years old? The classmates were furious. How could he be in first grade at nine? They were shouting everywhere and ran to the teacher to report him. Teacher, he was in the wrong classroom. He was nine years old!
Jiang Yunyi suddenly felt as if he had come to a place he shouldn't have been.
In Dunhuang, he could command the attention of hundreds, but the city kids weren't interested in his skills. They were more interested in who had bought a new comic book, and making plans to go out after school to listen to the radio and watch TV. Jiang Yunyi tried hard to fit in, but he didn't understand the food and entertainment his classmates were talking about. He wanted to show off his parents to his classmates, but they had no idea where Dunhuang was, let alone the Mogao Grottoes.
He developed a low self-esteem, became quiet, and stopped hanging out with his classmates. A school game called "bumping the crutch," also known as "cockfighting," became popular. It involved standing with one leg bent horizontally, holding the ankle with both hands, and jumping on the other leg, using the bent leg to attack the opponent. Whoever landed first lost.
This game must be Jiang Yunyi's strong point, but no one wants to play with him. Since he came to this school, no one is willing to play any game with him.
Unexpectedly, someone was willing to recruit him. A small boy lost a competition and came to Jiang Yunyi to help him fight. Jiang Yunyi was so excited that he knocked the opponent away in the first round. The boy fell on his back and knocked over a series of desks.
The teacher naturally called the parents. Jiang Yunyi watched the kind aunt bowing and apologizing to other parents one by one in the office, and for some reason he started crying.
He wanted to go back to Dunhuang. But his parents said their work wasn't over yet, and the schools in Dunhuang weren't good, so they told him to listen to his aunt and study hard in Beijing. So he listened to them and stayed in Beijing, trying not to cause any trouble, but he dreamed of going home.
Finally, after graduating from elementary school, Hang Liumei went to Beijing to see her son and took him away when she returned. She had figured it out and she would rather he not understand his studies than live happily with his parents.
Hang Liumei had long noticed that the longer her son stayed in Beijing, the more withdrawn he became. When she asked him about school, his teachers and classmates, and his schoolwork, he would simply say, "Fine." Hang Liumei couldn't see why. When they sat down to eat, he found a corner of the table with his bowl in hand. When Hang Liumei tried to take him out for a stroll, he showed no interest in anything.
She said, Mom will take you to see a movie, Jet Li's "Shaolin Temple", boys like it very much these days.
Jiang Yunyi finally reacted. Good.
After coming out of the cinema, he said out of the blue, "Mom, is my tuition in Beijing expensive?"
What's wrong? My parents can take care of the money. We can afford it. Don't worry about it.
Mom, I’m not good at studying and I’m wasting your money. Otherwise, I won’t study anymore and you can send me to Shaolin Temple.
Hang Liumei didn't know what was going on, so she went to get his schoolbag to see how far he had studied, but found that the bag was broken and he had tied it together himself.
Hang Liumei held her son's schoolbag and asked, "What's wrong with your schoolbag? Mom will buy you a new one."
It was torn apart in a fight with someone who stole money from my classmate.
Hang Liumei chose to believe that her son was not lying. She sat next to him and asked softly, "Is this classmate your good friend now?"
Jiang Yunyi shook his head. He was afraid of the hooligans, and also afraid of me. Then he continued to stare blankly at his homework book.
Her sister and brother-in-law have become key teachers in the school, and they also have heavy research tasks. Hang Liumei feels that she can no longer let her sister do all the hard work for her. She is the mother of this child, how can she just give birth to the child and not raise it?
So Jiang Yunyi returned to Dunhuang and began junior high school. As expected, his grades were mediocre, and he only managed to attend a junior college in Xi'an. But his personality had changed, and he was able to gather friends wherever he went. He loved tinkering with machines, so Old Jiang brought him the electronics from his research institute and discovered that he had some talent.
After graduation, he and a few friends opened a small shop, selling scooters and repairing cars. As long as he didn't go astray, Lao Jiang and Hang Liumei would be fine. They were grateful that he could still have a job.
So they were sincerely grateful to the wheat ears.
After Jiang Yunyi started college, he let his imagination run wild. One night, he went out to race his motorcycle with others and hit his head. In the same hospital ward, he ran into Mai Sui, who had broken a bone while rock climbing. They fell in love at first sight, sharing the same uninhibited personality and unrestrained hobbies. Jiang Yunyi decided to marry Mai Sui after she graduated from college.
From then on, he prioritized family above all else. With his parents' example of a long-lasting marriage before him, he was even more convinced that his own marriage would have the same outcome. He embraced the old-fashioned philosophy of family management: men should earn money and work hard, while women should support and raise children. He wanted nothing more than to return home to a warm stove, a warm meal, and someone to chat with.
Success and failure are all due to Xiao He.
After their divorce, Hang Liumei told her son, "I sent you away twice, leaving you dependent from childhood. I wasn't a good mother." It's because of this that you've become obsessed with creating the perfect family of a virtuous wife and filial children, like those depicted in novels. Mai Sui has her own vision for life. Son, only when you figure it out can your marriage be better.
Jiang Yunyi asked his mother not to apologize all the time.
Hang Liumei later realized that not only did he not want her to take the blame on him, but more importantly, he was still unwilling to admit that his marriage had failed.
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