When the group returned, it was already completely dark, the village was pitch black, and all around was silent except for the crunching sound of their footsteps on the snow.
It was already quite late, but Jian Dan and his companion were leaning against the fireplace, eating snacks and chatting animatedly.
However, Xiao Huizhou had already enjoyed a delicious late-night snack and was rolling around on the kang (heated brick bed). When he saw his father return, he stretched out his hand from afar and called out "Ah ah!" Lin Dongfang rubbed his hands to ward off the chill before picking up his wrapped-up son.
"Son, time to come home!"
Jian Dan didn't try to stop them. Everyone knew that they had just met and were just talking about their own business. Mingzhu and the others knew this too, which was why they waited until so late.
The room was warm from the fire, and the group quickly warmed up. Only then did Cheng Jin bring up Cheng Jia's matter.
Similar to what he told Cheng Chao that day, after the war many years ago, he suffered a severe stress reaction and his memory became confused. By chance, he met that lady, and under her "protection," Cheng Jia really became a missing person.
His stress response has been affecting him, or more accurately, at first he was affected, but later he was dominated by this subconscious reaction. Even though he noticed that things were unusual everywhere, he was always unable to hold on when he was about to wake up, or he was unintentionally interrupted.
Especially recently, after he avoided certain foods, his consciousness returned more and more frequently, and the intervals between them became shorter and shorter. Although each bout of consciousness was not long, sometimes only a few minutes, these abnormalities were enough to attract his attention.
After so many years of professional experience, even though he had just regained consciousness, his body's instincts were still there, and his vigilance had returned. After seeing the radio, coupled with his intentional or unintentional probing, and the other party's behavior and condition, he became even more certain that he seemed to be in a den of thieves.
However, decades of revolutionary education have deeply ingrained themselves in me, and there are some things that I won't necessarily accept just because I participated in them.
It could be considered cooperation, or it could be considered inside-outside coordination, or to put it simply, it was an instinctive reaction. In the end, in a moment of clarity, he personally pinned the person down.
Speaking of the man's shocked eyes, Cheng Jia himself couldn't explain what he was thinking at that moment. He had regained his senses, but his memories of the past twenty years were not completely blank. His mind was filled with them, playing back and forth frame by frame.
It can't be said that every moment was calculated; there was warmth, mutual reliance, and even the fruit of love. Cheng Jia couldn't possibly be the Cheng Jia he used to be without any distractions. He knew very well that no matter what, he had changed.
I am the kind of person I hated most twenty years ago.
Who would have thought that, after all the twists and turns, I would end up like that myself.
He longed to go home and see his family, but he was truly ashamed.
For the past few decades, he was a pillar of strength and a true man. No matter what, whether he was schemed against or it was his destined calamity, these past twenty years have been a stain on his record, a stain that he himself cannot forgive.
In his heart, this was not only a betrayal of his family and the army, but also a near betrayal of his country, making him a complete sinner.
Although he managed to atone for his mistakes in the end, he still couldn't get over it in his own heart.
So he had no face to make any demands. When the troops came, he took the initiative to request that he be sent down to a lower-level unit for training, as if he had already sacrificed himself, as a form of punishment for himself.
After a long silence, he finally asked a simple question.
"Didn't he ever think about his parents, brothers, and son?"
Cheng Jin sighed.
"What he meant was that he was too ashamed to face anyone anymore. Letting us know that he was still alive, and that he was living in this way, was worse than being dead to him."
It just goes to show how different people's values are. Some people believe that it's better to live a miserable life than to die, and in order to prolong their lives, they are even willing to be servile and have no dignity.
Some people, however, value many things more than life itself.
People's values are closely related to the values of this era; they would rather die than submit, and they want to leave behind a clean reputation.
She couldn't judge other people's choices. If she were in that situation, she might make a similar choice, preferring to leave a good impression on those around her rather than letting her current ambiguous image tarnish her reputation.
However, to put it bluntly, it doesn't have much to do with simplicity.
To put it simply, he's an old man from the next room. If you get along well, you can visit each other more often; if you don't, he's just a distant relative.
Or, to put it bluntly, if Cheng Chao is close to this father, then Jian Dan will be willing to spend more time with him.
Conversely, if Cheng Chao keeps her distance from this father, she certainly won't marry someone who makes him uncomfortable.
No matter what, her primary concern was Cheng Chao's feelings. Comparing the two, their positions in her heart were clearly different, with one being superior to the other.
Although Cheng Jia is an elder, he is still a stranger to her.
Cheng Chao was the person she trusted most here. He could be a friend, a partner, a comrade-in-arms, or an older brother. Even though the father and son later became very close, it couldn't change the fact that Jian Dan still favored him.
"Uncle, does Brother Chao know you're here?"
Cheng Jin sighed.
“I didn’t tell him specifically, but he should be able to guess. He’s had a sullen face ever since he came back.”
well!
It's not his fault. He had resentment towards him when his mother passed away, but every time, they would end up arguing after only a few words.
After the person disappeared, he never said anything more. We could all see that he was worried about him. Yes, we all hoped for a miracle and that he would really be alive.
Now a miracle has happened, and Xiao Chao was the one who most wanted him to come back. But then this happened to him again. He's innocent, everyone knows that. It's just that this is a hurdle that's hard for Xiao Chao to overcome.
Jian Dan also realized that the mother had passed away early and the father had been absent for so many years when he needed his love. The family was left with only a child who was just over ten years old. The father's return should have been a good thing, a great surprise.
However, for the past twenty years, Cheng Chao has lived a life almost like an orphan, relying on his uncle for survival year after year. Meanwhile, his father, whom he thought was no longer alive, was living a happy life with someone else elsewhere. How could Cheng Chao possibly accept this?
Jian Dan also felt sorry for Cheng Chao. In a way, both of them were innocent. If anyone was at fault, it was Cheng Jia, whose actions were not voluntary. But the facts were there.
No matter how he tries to explain, Cheng Chao longed for a family, but could not have it. Yet, he fulfilled that desire for someone else elsewhere. In Cheng Chao's heart, he has the right not to forgive this.
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