Chapter 25 The First Letter from the Mountains
Cheng Ying followed Li Zhuzi's mother into the Li family's courtyard. Da Huang followed behind her and saw an old man with gray hair coming out of the main room. Da Huang wagged its tail at the old man.
The old man smiled kindly and reached out to stroke Big Yellow's head. He took a big bone from the house and tossed it to Big Yellow, muttering indistinctly, "Big Yellow, it's been so long since I've seen you. This is a bone I specially packed for you when I visited relatives in the county last time. You can eat it, eat it."
The bone was very dry and brown, with not a single bit of meat on it, but Dahuang was very happy to see it.
After all, these days everyone is short of food, and people can only eat meat a few times a year. It's already quite kind of someone to care about this dog and give it bones to gnaw on.
Dahuang wagged its tail at the old man for a while before it started to bite the bone, lying in the corner of the Li family's clean and tidy main room and gnawing on it.
"Comrade Cheng, come in and have a seat." Li Zhuzi's mother warmly greeted Cheng Ying and introduced her to the old man, saying, "This is my father-in-law, and also Zhuzi's grandfather."
Then she introduced Cheng Ying to the old man, "Dad, this is Cheng Jiantong's eldest daughter, named Cheng Ying. Cheng Jiantong is no longer a postman, so his daughter is taking over. From now on, she will deliver Zhuzi's letters."
"So you're that old rascal Jiantong's daughter. You do look a lot like him." The old man looked Cheng Ying up and down, grabbed a handful of longans that he usually couldn't bear to eat, and handed them to Cheng Ying. "Girl, eat up, they're delicious. These are some good things that my husband Dazhu mailed back to me and his mother."
In the future, many longan trees will be planted in Qingqu Town, but in the 1970s, there were only a few longan trees. The families who planted the trees were reluctant to eat them and sold them to grocery stores.
In those days, dried longan was considered a precious snack. Cheng Ying quickly declined, "Grandpa Li, I don't want it. I'll just have some water. I'll leave after I finish reading the letter to you."
Li Zhuzi's mother brought her a cup of her own freshly picked and brewed old mountain tea, placed it in front of her, and said, "Comrade Xiao Cheng, just accept it. It's not much, just a handful. You can have it as a snack on the road, so you won't be so lonely."
"Well... okay, thank you, Grandpa Li." Cheng Ying thanked him politely, put the dried longan into her crossbody bag, and then placed the heavy mailbag on a large chair behind the door of the main room.
She took the envelope from Li Zhuzi's mother, carefully tore it open, and found two sheets of paper inside, along with two 10-yuan notes. She quickly handed the notes to Li Zhuzi's mother.
These days, many people would put money and banknotes in envelopes and have the post office deliver them directly to the recipient, which showed their trust in the post office.
Because the postage for letters within the county was only four cents and for letters across provinces it was eight cents, and the letters could be delivered directly to the recipient, it was a relatively inexpensive and common way to send money in those days.
It's much more convenient than sending money through the post office, where the recipient has to obtain the remittance slip from their local post office and then collect the money from there.
However, such envelopes can also be lost, usually due to errors in transportation. Once an error occurs, the entire transportation route must be held accountable. It is rare for staff to know that there is money in the envelope and pocket it.
But such things have happened before.
Some recipients are deaf-mute, illiterate elderly people, or widows and orphans, with no relatives to support them. This makes them easy targets for unscrupulous individuals who embezzle the money.
In his previous life, Cheng Jiantong, under the pressure of Huang Cuizhi and Cheng Yiguo's crying, tantrums, and threats of suicide, gave the postman job to Cheng Chunfu. Cheng Chunfu then used excuses to embezzle money from several people. It wasn't until many years later that his misconduct was exposed, reported to the post office, and he was dismissed by the post office's leaders and arrested and sentenced by the police.
The envelope written by Li Zhuzi belongs to one of the families whose money in the letter was embezzled by Cheng Chunfu.
In her previous life, Cheng Ying had heard Cheng Jiantong mention that Li Zhuzi was the only soldier from Aimen Village to serve in the navy in the coastal areas. His father died the year he was born, and he was a posthumous child. His mother only gave birth to him, and his grandmother died when he was fifteen. In the end, his grandfather, his mother, and he were left to depend on each other for survival.
When he was eighteen, he was admitted to high school and happened to be caught up in the ten-year turmoil. Because the county came to the countryside to recruit soldiers, he resolutely chose to join the army and was eventually assigned to the coastal area to serve in the navy.
In his third year serving in the navy in the South China Sea, he died a heroic death due to a military conflict. Before his death, fearing that his mother and grandfather would not be able to accept the fact that he had died, he asked his comrades to inform their unit not to tell his family about his death. He also asked his comrades to write letters to his family every month in the same tone and style as him, to give his family a glimmer of hope.
Following his last wish, his comrades wrote to his family every month, increasing the amount they put in the letters from ten yuan to twenty yuan. This money was contributed by several of his surviving comrades, who each contributed five yuan a month to mail the letter, a practice that had been going on for almost four years.
Besides money, they also frequently used Li Zhuzi's name to mail local specialties to the Li family, fulfilling their filial duties on Li Zhuzi's behalf.
The large sum of compensation for Li Zhuzi's sacrifice was also distributed to Li's family by the local government under some pretext.
With that money, the Li family's life was significantly better than before.
Knowing the reason behind the incident, Cheng Ying looked at Li Zhuzi's mother and grandfather, and couldn't help but feel a little sad.
Li Zhuzi's mother, despite the opposition of her own family, insisted on giving birth to him and raised him with great difficulty, enduring the gossip of the villagers and the help of her parents-in-law. When he chose to join the navy, his mother and grandfather were very proud of him.
But Li Zhuzi's young life was forever frozen on the southern coast of the motherland. He was still young and had not left any descendants for his family. He was afraid that his mother and grandfather would not be able to bear the blow of his departure, so he would rather ask the army and the local government not to inform his family of his death or issue a martyr's plaque, and asked his comrades to imitate him and write letters to their families.
Who could bear to break the last wishes of such a filial and patriotic young man?
Cheng Ying slowly unfolded the letter, held it in both hands, and read it aloud in a clear and gentle voice: "Dear Grandpa and Mom."
It has been seven years since I left home. Due to the special circumstances of my unit, I have been on duty at sea. As in previous years, I have been unable to return home to visit you. I feel deeply guilty and helpless.
I am a navy soldier, a soldier of my country. My country needs me, and I will serve my country forever. For this reason, I cannot go home. Please understand.
I will write to you regularly and send you money. It's not much, but it's a token of my appreciation.
I'm eating well, sleeping well, and in good health here at the military base. Everything is fine, so please don't worry.
Mom, last time you asked the postman to write me a letter saying that Grandpa's health was getting worse and worse. Sometimes he would get confused, wander around, and fall and hurt himself. I wonder if Grandpa's health is any better?
Mother, you said in your letter that you miss me very much and want to come to my unit to see me. I am very happy that you want to see me, but my unit is always on a mission at sea and it is inconvenient to receive military families to meet. So let's not talk about it.
Mom, I received the local specialties you mailed to me last time. I really like them, but my comrades don't like them. Next time you want to mail something, just send me one portion. Don't send too much and waste money.
Finally, I wish my mother and grandfather good health and a long life—from Li Zhuzi, who loves you both.
Yours sincerely!
The date the letter was written is appended below.
After listening to her read the letter, Grandpa Li said with a smile, "Dazhu is still the same as ever. He's having too much fun outside and doesn't want to come home."
Cheng Ying looked up, glanced at him, and then looked at Li Zhuzi's mother.
Is this old man, Mr. Li, senile? Or does he have dementia?
Li Zhuzi's mother put her index finger to her lips in a shushing gesture, her eyes filled with tears, and said to Grandpa Li, "Dad, that's just Zhuzi's temper. He's always been very naughty, and once he goes out, he doesn't want to come home."
"Yes, he's quite resilient." Old Master Li chuckled, bent over, and slowly walked to the door. He gripped the wooden door with one hand, calling out Li Zhuzi's name, telling him to hurry home and stop playing outside, or he'd get a tan.
As Li Zhuzi's mother watched Li's grandfather leaning on the half-meter-high threshold of the living room, calling for Li Zhuzi to come home, tears welled up in her eyes. Finally, she couldn't help but cover her face with her hands, sit on a stool, and sob softly.
Hearing her cry, Da Huang stopped gnawing on the bone, got up, sat down at her feet, looked up at her, and made low whimpering sounds, as if asking: "Human, what's wrong? Why are you crying? You smell sad. Do you need my help?"
When Li Zhuzi's mother heard its voice, she let go of its hands and saw it sitting obediently beside her legs, its dark eyes showing a worried expression. Her eyes reddened, and she reached out to stroke its furry head, silently shedding tears without saying a word.
When Cheng Ying saw Li Zhuzi's mother's actions, a thought suddenly occurred to her: Did Li Zhuzi's mother really not know about Li Zhuzi's sacrifice?
It is said that mothers and children are connected at heart. Many mothers can sense when their children are in trouble. When Li Zhuzi sacrificed his life, did Li Zhuzi's mother really not have any telepathic connection?
Li Zhuzi served in the army for three years and was killed in action four years later, a total of seven years have passed. Although his comrades in the same unit have been writing letters to Li Zhuzi's mother in his own voice, Li Zhuzi has not returned home to visit his family in seven years, nor has he mentioned his promotion in his letters. Even if Li Zhuzi's mother is illiterate, cannot read, and is unaware of the rules and regulations of the army, she should have guessed what was going on when the county's armed forces department and relevant government departments gave her a large sum of money four years ago.
Cheng Ying thought for a moment, maybe Li Zhuzi's mother had guessed, but dared not ask, dared not believe.
Li Zhuzi was the child she had raised with great care and love, the child she cherished dearly since childhood. Even if she had a hunch, as long as there was a glimmer of hope, she would not believe that her child was dead.
She placed all her hopes on the monthly letter her 'child' would write to her; as long as the letter arrived on time, it meant her child was safe and sound.
Despite feeling uneasy, she still placed her hopes on the postman who delivered her letters every month.
As long as the letter reached her, her child was still alive, and she still had hope and something to look forward to. This was her only thought for the rest of her life.
At that moment, Cheng Ying suddenly understood why Cheng Jiantong had delivered mail to the villagers all these years, rain or shine. It turned out that when postmen delivered mail, they were not just delivering packages to the villagers, but also carrying the expectations and hopes of each and every one of them.
This sense of responsibility to ensure that mail is delivered is something every mail carrier should do.
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