I noticed that the atmosphere seemed a little bad, so I walked up to everyone and asked cautiously, "What's wrong with you? What happened?" Aunt Xu looked up at me and shook her head sadly. After Meng Dongxue heard my voice, she did not raise her head. Instead, she kept bending over and crying on her knees. She still held a piece of paper in her hand.
I knelt down and asked Meng Dongxue what was wrong and why he was crying so sadly. Then I glanced at the piece of paper he was holding in his hand. It was a letter.
From what I know about Meng Dongxue, although she is an active member of the propaganda team, she is usually a relatively peaceful girl with a somewhat reserved personality. Apart from formal singing and dancing, she rarely goes out to hang out with others. For fun. On weekdays, she occasionally exchanges letters with others, but as far as I know, apart from her family members, there is a pen pal who she has never met and is far away from home.
If it were a pen pal, even if something big happened, he wouldn't cry so sadly or even alarm the whole family. So I concluded that this letter was probably sent from home, and it said something not very good, which was the main reason that made Meng Dongxue cry.
I patted Meng Dongxue on the head and said, "What's wrong with you? Tell me and we can find a solution together." Meng Dongxue did not raise her head, but stretched out her hand towards me and handed me the letter. I picked up the letter and was a little at a loss. I glanced at Aunt Xu. Aunt Xu also nodded slightly with an anxious expression, probably saying that you will know after reading the letter.
From looking up "Dear Daughter", I knew that it was a letter from home. Could it be that one of Meng Dongxue's relatives passed away? I read the entire letter with some uneasiness. The letter was sent by Meng Dongxue's mother. The content probably said that Meng Dongxue's father seemed to have encountered a serious problem. Due to some things some time ago, he stopped continuing. He stayed at work in the workplace, and later became depressed and became ill. Now he is quite seriously ill. The doctor said that this is a mental illness that can only be alleviated through enlightenment, so Meng Dongxue's mother felt that if her daughter could come back to visit her father at this time, it might make him happy, and maybe the condition would get better. But I also know that it is not easy for Meng Dongxue to return home. The younger sister is still young and needs others to take care of herself, so naturally she cannot take care of her father. But at the end of the letter, he asked Meng Dongxue to work hard, contribute to socialist construction, and be a screw in the socialist building.
After reading the entire letter, I said to Meng Dongxue, since everyone has received letters from home, you should go home and take care of her for a while. Fortunately, my father is just in a bad mood and nothing else is serious. If you go back and spend some time with him, he might really get better. But as soon as I finished speaking, Meng Dongxue buried her head and shook her head, crying even harder. I don't understand, because in my opinion, this letter doesn't say much except about her father's illness. Why is she crying so hard? So I turned to look at Aunt Xu to express my confusion. Aunt Xu said, silly kid, you don’t know that these educated youths need to stay for two years, earn enough work points, and pass the political review before they can go home. How can I say I will go back?
Aunt Xu sighed and said that it was because of this incident that Dongxue cried anxiously. She was worried about her family but could not go back.
What Aunt Xu said is probably the truth. I am not an educated youth, so I don't really understand that they have such a strict system. I thought they were just the lively and crazy people I saw on weekdays. So I said, no matter what the rules are at this time, you just need to take a sick leave and sneak away. When the time comes, you will come back quietly. Who will know that you have returned home? Aunt Xu said, Silly child, it's easy for you to say that. Young people like them came to our village because they responded to the country. Are you the one who refuses to obey the country's orders? If this matter was reported to someone by then, Meng Dongxue would not be able to return home for a while, and would have to stay for at least two more years. Don't you think it's a bit cruel to let such a good girl waste her youth in the village?
Of course I feel cruel. From the moment they arrived, I felt that this was a deformed policy, which was cruel in itself. They did not continue to study well and did not enjoy the relatively superior conditions, but they had to go to this remote place. I'm as tired as a dog every day when I have a rough diet. Isn't this cruel?
But I didn't say it out loud. Meng Dongxue cried so sadly, which made me feel uncomfortable. So I said to Meng Dongxue, how about this? You write a letter home in reply, and I will personally deliver the letter to you and help you take care of your uncle. You told your mother in your letter that you couldn't go home for some reason, so you asked me to help take care of her.
Only then did Meng Dongxue raise her head, as if she was considering my proposal. But she soon started shaking her head again. She sobbed and said to me that she has been very close to her father since she was a child. If she goes back, her father's mood will get better. Although you can help take care of her, your father's mood will still not get better. . I thought it was right, so I said to Meng Dongxue, don’t you have that kind of camera in your publicity team? You go and take some photos, and I'll take them over to you so your parents can see how you've been doing recently. That's okay.
At this time, Aunt Xu also echoed me and said, I think Shanwa is right. Water from afar cannot quench the thirst of the near. It is useless for you to be anxious here. You might as well just do what he said. Shanwa is all good at this. At this age, he can definitely do this well.
I thought to myself, what do you mean by a person of my age? I am only 25 years old, although I am indeed more stable and mature compared to my peers. Meng Dongxue heard Aunt Xu and I saying this, maybe because she had been crying just now and her head was confused. Now that she thought about it, it seemed that this was indeed the best way she could think of at the moment, so she wiped her tears. He nodded and agreed to me.
Early the next morning, Meng Dongxue dressed beautifully and took me to take pictures with her. She said she was dressed beautifully, but in fact she was just wearing a green military uniform with not many wrinkles. Before taking the photo, she deliberately fiddled with the leader badge on her chest a few times. Not only did she take a few solo photos, she also took a photo with her and me. She told me that when my parents see this photo, they will know that you are really the person I asked to take care of my father.
At that time, all black and white film machines were used, and it took a lot of time to develop photos, and it would take an extra day at the earliest. So that day, Meng Dongxue was also very anxious, so anxious that she even went to the publicity team without energy. I packed my luggage a day in advance, because I estimated that it might take many days to come back.
In addition to some food stamps and dry food, I must bring the tools that I never leave behind. I also installed a few books, planning to read them myself if I have nothing to do. Meng Dongxue's hometown is a county town adjacent to the city where I grew up. There are highways between the two places, but there are very few trains. Therefore, most people who travel between the two places choose to take a boat. Generally speaking, if you get on the boat in one city that night, you can go to the other city the next morning.
Early the next morning, Meng Dongxue hurried to the publicity team to get the photos and put them in an envelope. There was also a letter home to her mother that she wrote while hiding in her room last night while crying. Don't ask me why I knew she was crying. Would I tell you what I overheard while standing at the door? Meng Dongxue handed me the letter and wrote her home address on the envelope, so I took my things and hit the road. Before leaving, Aunt Xu also caught a big rooster for me, saying that it was a pheasant from the countryside. It was nutritious and had good meat quality. She took it to Meng Dongxue's father to replenish his health.
It was already afternoon when I arrived in the city. If I went to the dock at this time, it would still be several hours before boarding the ship. But it would be a waste of time if I just sit and wait. Now that I know that Master is living back in the old house, and more than two years have passed since I was arrested, as long as I don't show off, there must be no problem. So I took this time to go to Master's house. When he saw me coming back, he first scolded me and said, "Why are you coming back now that the martial law in the city is so serious? Are you not going to kill me?" I simply told him that I was going to another county to help take care of Meng Dongxue's father. After hearing this, Master praised me for my love and justice, and then went to cook me dinner.
While eating, I asked my master when I would be able to return to the city. My master said that I should bear with it a little longer. The world will not be in chaos for a few more years. Recently I heard that the army is preparing to take over this mess. I just don’t know when. That’s all. I nodded. In fact, my real intention was that when Meng Dongxue ended her life as an educated youth and returned to the city, I also wanted to come back with her. But I also know that I am different from Meng Dongxue. Her return to the city was glorious and beautiful, but I could only come back secretly.
That night, Master sent me to the pier. He told me that when I am alone when I am away from home, the most important thing is to protect myself and not to show off my edge under any circumstances. This world has no room for people who show off their edge. Since the people above want us to be fools, let us be fools, as long as we understand in our hearts. I nodded, and Master watched me board the boat before leaving. And because I arrived in one night, I didn’t buy any tickets for a bed, so I planned to just find a deck that could block the wind and sit there all night.
The wind on the boat was very strong, and driving in the water often made me feel seasick. So I slept and woke up for a while that night, and it was about 10 o'clock the next morning that I got off the boat and set foot on this land where I had never been but where Meng Dongxue grew up.
