Chapter 458 (The End)
The couple felt that Wei Yihua might indeed be different from other children.
Ever since discovering that her daughter was very smart, Song Lubai would read books with Wei Yihua every day after get off work. She found that her eldest daughter's thinking was very quick and she was so smart that she couldn't keep up with her pace at all.
It's also possible that she hasn't looked at textbooks in a long time, which has slowed her reaction time when learning new knowledge.
So she went to a bookstore and asked her third sister to send her a bunch of math and physics books from the capital that she would only study in college.
The couple had been paying close attention to Wei Yihua recently. Knowing that she was exceptionally intelligent, they specifically asked for her opinion, inquiring whether she would like to study in the capital.
The educational resources here are really backward. If Wei Yihua continues to stay here, he will inevitably waste his talent. But if they really send their child away, they will really be reluctant.
Wei Yihua really liked the books her mother found for her, and she even secretly read them during class. Song Lubai was called over by the teacher again and reprimanded.
Feeling reluctant, Wei Yihua tilted her head and thought for a moment before asking, "If I go there, will there be teachers to teach me? Can my sister come with me? How many times a year can I come back to see Mom and Dad?"
Wei Yang said, "If you go, depending on your performance, there might be professional teachers who can teach you the things you're interested in. But your sister can't go with you. If you go, she might only come back once a year at most. Do you still want to go?"
A conflicted look appeared in Wei Yihua's eyes.
Song Lubai rubbed her head. "It's okay. If you can't figure it out now, just wait and make a decision. If you want to go, we'll make all the arrangements and send you there next spring."
With six months to go until next spring, there was no need to make a decision now, and Wei Yihua became happy again.
At night, the couple lay together and spoke in hushed tones.
Neither of them wanted to send the child away, but they were also afraid of delaying the child's development.
Even before her daughter had grown up, Song Lubai experienced the melancholy of parting.
She stared at the ceiling, remembering what Wei Yang had once said.
He said the most important person is always your partner, because children will fly away when they grow up.
Thinking about this, she felt fortunate that her partner was a very, very good person.
She shifted her body, nestled in his arms, and placed her hand on his waist.
Half-asleep, Wei Yang instinctively put his arm around her, patted her, and said sleepily, "Go to sleep."
Before the Lunar New Year, Zhang Cui wrote to me saying she wanted to go back to her hometown and asked if I wanted to go back with her.
Since arriving in Xinjiang Province, Zhang Cui has not been back to her hometown.
Taking advantage of Zhang Jianshe's winter vacation, Zhang Cui wanted to take him back to Henan Province.
Zhang Heping's school is located in Henan Province, and it only takes him a day or two to get back to Yangcheng.
Song Lubai didn't plan to go back with her mother. Wei Yang was too busy, so she wanted to take Wei Yihua to the capital during the New Year. On the way back, she could visit Yangcheng.
Despite their reluctance, the couple still sent their child away.
Time flew by and it was now 1983. The spring breeze of reform and opening up had swept across the land of China.
After a trip to the capital for study, Song Lubai had many thoughts and feelings.
Xinjiang province still has many years of hard work ahead if it wants to catch up with the development of the inland areas.
Wei Yihua is indeed a talented child. After passing the assessment, and with Su Hong's recommendation, she was taken in by a very famous teacher. During this trip to the capital, Song Lubai didn't get to see her daughter much because her daughter was always very busy.
The train station was bustling with people. Song Lubai and her colleagues who had come to study together found a spot against the wall to wait.
There were various food stalls outside the train station. Song Lubai greeted her companions and got up to walk to the square outside.
The rice cakes smelled delicious, and as Song Lubai paid for them, she was drawn to the sound of conversation not far away.
"Is your mother really that shameful? I supported you through college, fed you and dressed you well, and now you don't even recognize me? You have no conscience at all!"
“It’s not that I don’t acknowledge it, it’s just that I can’t explain it to you clearly. Li Yan’s family is not ordinary. If it weren’t for him, my job would have been assigned back to Xinjiang Province, and I wouldn’t have been able to come to the capital at all. When I took the college entrance examination, we drew a line between us, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to register at all. His family knows my situation. If we continue to see each other, his parents will definitely not agree. Mom, can’t you think about me? I will make arrangements for you. Can you please stop focusing on other things?”
Song Lubai turned her head and saw a tall young woman wearing a white shirt and black pants talking urgently to the woman in front of her.
Because the two were speaking in the local dialect of Henan Province, Song Lubai could hear every word clearly.
The woman in front of the young woman was wearing a headscarf, and the edge of the headscarf revealed almost entirely white hair.
Song Lubai could only see the profile of her face peeking out from under the headscarf, covered with dry, fine lines, and her outstretched hands were also marked by the vicissitudes of time.
"I scrimped and saved to raise you, and now you don't even recognize me. How can you be so heartless? I should have drowned you back then. I'm living on you, and this is how you treat me. I'd rather be dead. God, what sins have I committed!"
Lin Jinyao, who is now in her prime and seems to have a respectable job, stomped her foot in anger. "Mom, why can't you think about me anymore? Don't come here to set up a stall anymore. I will give you a salary every month. You can just enjoy yourself. I'm just not by your side. I didn't say I would abandon you. Why can't you think about me?"
Liu Mei's eyes widened as she knocked over the stand in front of her, scattering the bright red, round candied hawthorns all over the ground, attracting the attention of the surrounding travelers.
Lin Jinyao knelt down, crying, and started picking up the candied hawthorns. "I told you I would arrange everything for you, and I would give you money so you wouldn't have to work. How is that not being filial to you?"
Liu Mei bent down and poked her head viciously, saying, "Filial piety? You don't even acknowledge your own mother anymore, and I'm not even your mother anymore. What kind of filial piety is that? You may be capable, but you don't even acknowledge your own mother. Do you think people will respect you?"
"You shouldn't stay here. Why don't you come back to our hometown with me? With your qualifications, you can still find a good one. I'll take care of your child, and we can live a good life together as a family."
"You are my child. If I want to enjoy happiness, I want to enjoy it by your side. You don't acknowledge me and raise me outside. What kind of life is that, all alone? You won't even know if I die one day! Is that a blessing? If you want things to be alright, listen to me..."
Even though Song Lubai couldn't see the woman's full face covered by a headscarf, she knew that she was Liu Mei.
When paying, the old woman selling rice cakes shook her head and said, "That mother and daughter have to fight every few days. And that girl, she found a good boyfriend, and she doesn't even recognize her own mother anymore."
Song Lubai left with the rice cake, and Lin Jinyao's cries echoed in the square outside, drowned out by the hustle and bustle of the crowd.
She took the train to Shicheng and visited her mother, carrying her belongings.
Her mother has retired. Since she has nothing to do on weekdays, she opened a shop selling dumplings and wontons with a retired colleague she knows well.
When Song Lubai entered the store, she took out the plaster she had brought back for her mother from the capital.
"Put it on the painful area to relieve the pain. I bought it for you from a big pharmacy in the capital. If you did less work, you wouldn't have been in pain for so many years."
Zhang Cui said with a smile, "Idleness leads to illness. I don't feel anxious when I have something to do, and I'm willing to do it even if my arms and legs hurt."
Song Lubai chatted with her mother and saw that she was in good spirits, so she took a car home the next day.
In the shop, Zhang Cui's partner said, "Your daughter and son-in-law are successful and busy with work, but they are also very filial. It's just that we don't see each other often."
Zhang Cui sighed and said, "That's right, I've given birth to three, and none of them are with me yet..."
As she picked through the vegetables, she thought, "It's good if my child is successful, but it's better if he's not successful and I still have him by my side."
After being away for a month and a half, Song Lubai returned to Baishui City and felt a sense of familiarity, as if no matter how nice the outside world was, it couldn't compare to her own home.
Two years ago, the corps was reinstated, and Wei Yang gained the title of division commander. The two of them moved again, and their new place was guarded. Outsiders had to go through multiple registration and inspection processes to get in.
She carried her bag and hummed a little tune as she entered her courtyard.
The window glowed with a dim yellow light, and the sound of the television came from inside the room.
Song Lubai quietly pushed open the door and saw Wei Yang lying on the chair, fast asleep.
Hearing the noise in the bedroom, Wei Yiping put down her book, opened the door and saw her mother had returned. Just as she was about to call out to her mother, her mother held up one finger, signaling her to go back to her room and close the door.
Wei Yiping found it amusing; her mother was still so childish.
Song Lubai tiptoed up to Wei Yang, pinched his nose, and said, "Guess who I am."
Waking up from her presence, Wei Yang scooped her up onto his lap, wrapped his arms around her waist, and said sleepily, "My wife."
She nestled on his shoulder and said with a smile, "I'm back."
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