Chapter 153

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

In the blink of an eye, a week passed, and the day arrived for Wang Dashan to enlist.

Village Committee Secretary Zhang Zhongtian personally held an incomparably grand send-off ceremony for Wang Dashan.

In front of the village ancestral hall, banquet tables were set up, and the whole village was invited to eat.

At the same time, incense was offered at the ancestral hall, and a worship ceremony was conducted.

An auspicious hour was chosen, then a big red flower was pinned on Wang Dashan, and only then did the whole village escort Wang Dashan out of the village together.

This was the first time in Wang Dashan's life he had been treated like this — a riot of flowers, the support of ten thousand people, firecrackers and gongs and drums sounding in unison, villagers offering cheerful laughter and blessings.

He felt that enlisting this time was the right choice; just for this one moment of glory, he was already satisfied — as for what came after, it no longer mattered.

Reaching the village entrance, Wang Dashan turned back to look at all the villagers who had come to see him off:

"Everyone rest assured, I will definitely make a name for myself in the army!"

Having shouted this one line, Wang Dashan boarded a small sedan that would take him to the county town.

The mountain road was bumpy, and Wang Dashan's heart rose and fell in turn.

The send-off procession behind him gradually receded into the distance, and in a blink it vanished from sight.

Wang Dashan's eye sockets reddened.

This land that gave him birth and raised him — in his heart he both loved and hated it; the love had no reason, the hate had ten thousand reasons, yet at the moment of leaving he could not help but feel a melancholy sorrow.

Wang Zhanggen and Li Xiulan stood at the village entrance, watching the rolling yellow dust kicked up by the departing vehicle, their hearts also a mix of a hundred feelings.

Their eldest son, whom they had originally held the least hope for, had now become the first to make something of himself.

His enlistment brought the first honor to this family.

Both Wang Zhanggen and Li Xiulan felt proud to have such a son.

Before long, Village Committee Secretary Zhang Zhongtian brought a plaque inscribed with the words "Honorable Military Family" and had Wang Zhanggen nail it beside the family's main gate.

Wang Zhanggen nailed up the plaque, looked at it left and right, and the more he looked, the more he liked it.

After Wang Dashan went off to the army, the house seemed to grow a little emptier.

Although ever since Wang Dashan started junior high he had rarely come home — only two days a week at most — now that he had gone to the army, it would be at least two years, and for these two years they would not see him at all.

Thinking of this, Li Xiulan could not help but feel a touch of worry in her heart.

She worried whether her son was doing well in the army, eating well, whether it would be too hard for him.

A month after Wang Dashan went to the army, he finally made his first phone call home.

"Son, are you doing alright?"

Li Xiulan hurriedly asked.

She also said:

"If it's too hard to bear, just come back; we won't force it."

These words revealed just how inexperienced and illiterate she was.

Once you've enlisted, how can there be any principle of leaving whenever you want?

If you quit halfway, that's equivalent to desertion.

"What kind of talk is that? No matter how bitter or tiring, you must grit your teeth and endure — you must not lose our Wang family's face!" Wang Zhanggen said sternly from the side.

Wang Dashan on the other end of the phone chuckled:

"Mom, don't worry; for me this isn't too hard — it's just training every day. At school I also trained every day; there's not much difference! I can stick with it!"

Li Xiulan asked again:

"How's the food in the army? Do you want me to send money so you can supplement your meals?"

But Wang Dashan said:

"The army food is great — meat and eggs supplied to the full every day, and there's even milk to drink!"

Then he added:

"If you really have money, enroll my younger brother in an English tutoring class. He really wants to master English; his grades are so good, he can't let English hold him back."

Li Xiulan nodded:

"Okay, okay, I'll go check it out later."

But then her tone shifted:

"However, I don't know where to find a tutoring class for him, or where to register."

Wang Dashan said:

"Give the money to my younger brother and let him go find one himself."

Li Xiulan said:

"I'll wait until he comes home on the weekend and then talk to him about it."

This phone call, the couple Li Xiulan and Wang Zhanggen chatted a great deal with their eldest son Wang Dashan.

Only then did they learn that their son had gone to Anhui to serve.

Anhui was far away.

Shangou Village lay in the Yuebei region, still one or two thousand kilometers from Anhui; they heard the train ride alone took one or two days — such a distant place, who knew if their son could get used to it.

This weekend Wang Xiaohua came home.

The stubborn couple Li Xiulan and Wang Zhanggen finally relented and agreed to enroll Wang Xiaohua in a tutoring class.

Wang Xiaohua knew this was his elder brother's special reminder, possibly paid for with his elder brother's army income.

So he actually went against his usual habit and refused:

"Forget it. The high school entrance exam is only a few months away; signing up for tutoring now is just cramming at the last minute and won't be of much use. Keep this money for Big Brother. When he retires from the army, use it to help him marry a wife or start a business."

Li Xiulan said nothing more. She knew Wang Xiaohua was compromising.

Wang Zhanggen quickly put on a smile:

"You kid, you're finally becoming a bit sensible. You know money doesn't come easily!"

Then he said with a beaming smile:

"Even if you don't attend tutoring classes, getting into high school isn't difficult at all. There's really no need to spend that money!"

Wang Xiaohua gave a dry laugh and did not argue.

Because he knew he simply could not change his father's stubborn mindset.

However, he also made a request:

"Dad, Mom, after the high school entrance exam, I want to get my teeth fixed."

Wang Xiaohua's teeth grew very poorly, uneven and crooked, which made his mouth stick out a little. His appearance was not very good-looking, even somewhat ugly.

Being short was one thing, but because of his teeth he was also ugly—truly poor, short, and ugly. This made him extremely insecure.

In the past he was naive and didn't pay attention to these things, but with the arrival of puberty, even though he didn't say it out loud, he still cared very much in his heart.

He really hoped he could become a little better.

He heard that orthodontics could make crooked teeth straight and turn a protruding mouth into a normal mouth.

He very much wanted to change these things.

There was a classmate in his class who was getting orthodontics. He asked that classmate, and it actually wasn't very expensive. Getting it done in County Town cost just over three thousand yuan.

So now he wanted to solicit his parents' opinions, hoping they could give him some support.

However, his parents' reply once again disappointed him.

"Why go get that done? Original teeth are best. Even if they're not very straight, they can bite hard things. If you get them fixed, you won't be able to bite hard things anymore, and when you're old, they might all fall out quickly."

Li Xiulan said this.

Then she patiently persuaded him:

"Son, listen to Mom. Mom is doing this for your own good. Mom won't harm you. Let's not get your teeth fixed. Let's just study hard. There's no need to care so much about looks!"

Li Xiulan's words came from her heart. She really thought this was for her son's good, not a fake excuse.

When Wang Xiaohua heard these words, he felt angry in his heart:

"I don't need to bite hard things. I just need straight teeth. Even if they fall out when I'm old, so be it. People can't waste their youth just because of things that will happen when they're old!"

Wang Zhanggen immediately put on a stern face:

"What kind of twisted principle is this? Your mother is right. She's doing it for your own good. You're just too vain. At such a young age, just study hard. Don't care so much about your appearance!"

Wang Xiaohua waved his hand:

"Fine. Remember what you said today. If I can't find a wife in the future, you'll have to take responsibility for it!"