Decades have passed, and my parents, whom I remember, have reappeared before my eyes. The joy I feel is beyond words.
But these are just their stories, not real people. If only we could.
After painstakingly compiling information about my parents, I didn't have anyone write down their stories; instead, I kept them buried in oblivion.
They don't need many people to remember them, because there are many others like them who have no name in the long river of history.
In the past two years, two more children, a boy and a girl, have been born into the Shen family.
Fortunately, they don't live in Yu'er Hutong. When the old lady misses them, she can only bring them over on Sundays.
It's not that we don't want them to move in, but the eldest son, Zhengze, and his family of three didn't move in.
It's fair to say that since the proper master of the house hadn't moved in, there was no reason for his nephew to move in.
The old lady's expression was not pleasant because of this, but she didn't directly express her dissatisfaction.
Instead, it is said by other people.
"Nuan Nuan, don't take it to heart by arguing with Mom. You know, she's getting older now, and her personality is becoming more and more like a child's."
Besides, she's like this because she wants to see her great-grandchildren every day, so don't take it too seriously.
"Second sister, what are you saying! If I really cared, I wouldn't be able to live like this anymore, you know?"
"But I'm not afraid. If she insists on doing things her own way, you'd better have something on your mind. It's not like I haven't tried to persuade her, but she just won't listen."
"I don't know about that, but I don't think that kind of thing will happen. If she really had that idea, she would definitely move to my older brother's house first."
"That's true, but I wonder if my sister-in-law and her family have time to take care of Mom and Dad?"
"That's hard to say. My brother's job is indeed more relaxed now, but my sister-in-law's research project is always keeping her busy!"
"What should we do then? I was planning to call and tell Mom to rest at their place for a while."
Otherwise, who knows how much trouble she would cause at home?
"That's probably not very realistic, is it? As things stand, we can't stay at anyone's house for very long."
But ever since she had several children, all she cares about are those little kids. She doesn't need anyone else.
It's just that her older brother and sister-in-law live too far from Beijing, otherwise I think she would have planned to go and visit them long ago.
I was just thinking about whether I should arrange for a few people to join them, since they're still in good health and I could take them on a nice tour of the country.
"Isn't this better than staying home with nothing to do?"
"Aren't you worried that your parents might get so carried away that they don't want to leave? You know, a trip isn't a small matter; the cost alone isn't insignificant."
"Don't worry about that. I'm quite familiar with the tourism industry, and I know a lot about the new tourist attractions that have been developed in the last twenty years."
If they really want to go, there are ways to do it. The problem is that they might not go.
But I recently learned from my family that my second son, Junde, is planning to get married. How could our mother be left out?
But getting married nowadays is too complicated, and customs vary from place to place.
So, we'll have to trouble Mom with this; we'll deal with the rest later!
"Alright! In that case, after Junde gets married, I'll ask them in advance if they want to go out. If they do, we'll arrange for someone to accompany them!"
"Sure? No problem. I think Dad would like to go and see him?"
“I think so too. After all, his old comrades-in-arms are there. If he doesn’t go and see them now, he might never have the chance again.”
"However, this matter should be discussed after Junde's wedding. But I can arrange for people to prepare some things in advance, since they are getting on in years."
"Okay, just let me know if there's anything I can help you with."
"Don't worry, Second Sister, I won't stand on ceremony with you."
"I know, but I'm worried I won't have time to go with them."
"No problem, I'll stay with them. I also want to see the place where my parents used to live."
"Alright then! I'll have to trouble you to take care of the two elderly people!"
"No trouble at all. I'll bring Zhengze's child with me later. Although he's a bit young now, he can understand, and I can properly educate the next generation!"
"That's true. Okay, you can decide this matter."
"Um!"
Revisiting familiar places is indeed a good experience, and this is also the biggest problem we've discovered in our investigations over the past two years.
Many people want to go back and take a look, so why not take this opportunity to satisfy them?
Another advantage is that it's also the best way to educate children, as you can take them along.
But since the children are all grown up and have their own things to do, I'll take my grandson with me.
As for where to go, that really has to wait until after Junde gets married, since that's the most important thing right now.
Fortunately, having prepared for a wedding before, even if this time it's just as troublesome, it won't be like last time, where I was afraid of not doing this or that properly.
With the help of the wedding planning company, this wedding will definitely be no worse than the last one.
As for returning the bride's belongings or the betrothal gifts, they will be handled in the same way as when the eldest son got married.
Others might think the bride price is too high, or that the woman's demands are too much.
But for their own family, there's no need to worry, since the price has always been higher than that from the beginning, so the girl's parents won't say anything.
Junde's wife is a university teacher, and his parents are also university professors. However, they did not attend ordinary schools, but worked at military academies. It can be said that even though they are a military family, they are also a scholarly family.
Most importantly, although the two families did not know each other, they knew some of each other's deeds, after all, the Shen family was also a military family.
As for myself? Although I'm not in the military, my parents are both veteran revolutionaries. In their eyes, a child raised by such a family can't be too bad.
However, they only held the wedding in Beijing. After the wedding, they will probably return to the location of the Junde military unit. In other people's eyes, they may be living apart, but in this case, that won't happen.
After all, Junde's wife is a university teacher, and given Junde's current position, he can accompany his husband to the military, so there is no need for them to be separated.
As for whether to live in the military family compound or elsewhere, it doesn't matter. Even if you don't have a house in the area, don't worry, you can buy one in time.
Besides, the houses are all ready-made, so there's nothing to worry about.
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