Chapter 138
Qiao Wei was so certain that Yan Lei became serious.
“If my son has such talent, let alone leaving home for thirty years, even if we were separated for a lifetime, I, as his father, would support him.”
Yan Lei was a typical man of this era; Qiao Wei fell silent.
Yan Lei noticed this and turned to Yan Xiang: “Xiangxiang, what are your own thoughts?”
Yan Xiang had been listening intently from the start and finally understood why his mother was hesitant.
Seeing that his father had handed the choice to him, he also hesitated for a moment and glanced at Qiao Wei.
Qiao Wei sighed and said, “You don’t need to worry about me. Tell us your most honest thoughts, and we’ll listen before making a decision.”
Yan Xiang asked, “If I go there, will I be able to see more? Learn more?”
With this sentence, Qiao Wei understood Yan Xiang’s choice.
After all, this county town was too small for this child to spread his wings.
That document was submitted through official channels via Yan Lei’s hands.
This was because the National Defense Science and Industry Commission had another formal name: the Science and Technology Commission for National Defense of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
Going through the Military Unit’s channels was the safest route.
Three months later, people arrived from Beijing.
When Qiao Wei saw that person, she gasped imperceptibly and respectfully shook his hand.
Young people of her generation only had reverence for this person, but that could only be expressed online. Qiao Wei never expected that one day, thanks to Yan Xiang, she would be able to meet and shake hands with such an extraordinary scientist.
That person was the Chairman of the Science and Industry Commission; he had come in person.
He spoke with Yan Xiang behind closed doors for several hours, and upon coming out, he said to Yan Lei and Qiao Wei, “Please entrust this child to me.”
Just as Qiao Wei had predicted, Yan Xiang was to be taken away.
But this… was also what Yan Xiang wanted.
Standing behind that person, Yan Xiang’s eyes shone with a light Qiao Wei had never seen before.
For the first time in his life, he was having such an in-depth conversation with someone of the same intellectual level. The other person could understand what he was saying.
During this conversation, Yan Xiang let out exclamations of “Wow~” several times.
The sound was drawn out, undulating, and even had twists and turns.
It was as if he had returned to his childhood, discovering the world.
Qiao Wei saw how bright Yan Xiang’s eyes were, looking forward to going to a new world, to meeting many very intelligent people, or rather, the most brilliant minds in this world.
Qiao Wei knew that the time had finally come for him to spread his wings, leave his parents, and soar.
Yan Lei shook hands with that person: “He is our son, but even more so, he is a son of the Party and a son of the nation. From now on, Yan Xiang is entrusted to the nation.”
After staying for two days, Yan Xiang was to leave with those people.
Qiao Wei said, “Take two photos of home with you. When you miss home, take them out and look at them.”
Yan Xiang said, “Okay.”
Qiao Wei gave him two photos.
One was a family portrait of the four of them. It had been taken at the end of last year and was still fresh. Yan Fu’s little face looked like an apple.
She was still sucking on her fingers, looking especially adorable.
The other was a solo portrait of her mother from over a decade ago.
In that photo, her mother was very young; she was just a teenage girl back then. Perhaps because her grandfather hadn’t passed away long ago at that time, there was no smile on her face.
Yan Lei glanced at the photo and said nothing.
Yan Xiang said, “Don’t we have recent photos? Take one of your recent photos.”
Qiao Wei, however, said, “The family portrait is a recent photo. For the solo one, take this one.”
She said, “Remember, this is Mom.”
Yan Xiang nodded.
Yan Xiang carefully put the photos away, said goodbye to his mom and dad, and kissed Yan Fu’s little cheek: “Big brother is leaving, you must listen to Mom.”
He got into the black car and set off on the road away from home.
In a small place, it was rare to see so many cars at once, and many people gathered to watch. They didn’t dare to get close, watching from afar, whispering and pointing.
When the car reached the main street, he occasionally looked back and saw Jun Jun in the distance, running after the car.
The sturdy, tall teenager was waving his arms vigorously.
But the motorcade’s speed increased, and the teenager finally couldn’t keep up and stopped, shouting something in this direction.
The noise of the cars was too loud, and the teenager was too far away; in the end, Yan Xiang didn’t know what he had shouted.
The teenager’s figure became smaller and disappeared from sight as the motorcade turned a corner.
Yan Xiang turned around, knowing that his childhood had ended.
[At first, I would write letters home. Although those letters would be censored, they could still reach Mom and Dad.]
[But later, I had no content to write to them. Because the most important parts of my life were things that couldn’t be written in letters.]
[Later still, I entered a place with a higher security clearance, where contact with the outside world was not allowed. My family and I lost contact from then on.]
[It was only then that I truly understood Mom’s hesitation back then. So, this is what parting is like.]
[Although we couldn’t be in contact, I knew Mom would understand.]
[She would understand that I am very happy here.]
Qiao Wei did not cry when Yan Xiang left.
But after he had left, she shed tears all through that night.
After all, the child and mother had spent more time together. Since she transmigrated here, the person who had spent the longest time with her was not even Yan Lei, but Yan Xiang.
From a tiny little thing to someone taller than her now. Every little detail was an important part of her life, and even her existence.
Yan Lei comforted her for a long time.
The next day, he saw her in the corner of the yard, squatting in front of that stone, as if saying something.
He didn’t go over, just watched from afar.
Two years after Yan Xiang left, the Great Man passed away, and the whole country was shaken. Immediately following that, the Gang of Four counter-revolutionary clique was smashed.
People ran to tell each other the news.
Qiao Wei looked at the huge headline on the front page of the newspaper, knowing that the chaotic and absurd era was finally coming to an end, and she let out a long breath.
But at the same time, the reckoning began.
Those who had rocketed up to seize power during the movement were purged and removed from office one by one. Some even went to prison.
Meng Zuoyi rehabilitated many people.
Those who had been raided and lost their property had their assets returned, and those who had been sent to the “cow sheds” and lost their positions were reinstated.
But those who had lost their lives would never come back.
The large background board in the Revolutionary Committee Residential Compound’s auditorium was dismantled.
The Librarian brought people to move away the dozen or so boxes hidden behind it that were acting as counterweights; only then did Meng Zuoyi learn about this matter.
“Are these the books Old Xiao couldn’t let go of?” he asked Qiao Wei, “You hid them?”
Qiao Wei said, “It would have been better if I hadn’t agreed to him.”
Meng Zuoyi comforted her, “Don’t think too much; this is all fate. With Old Xiao’s constitution, he simply couldn’t endure it. Leaving sooner or later, it’s all the same; leaving a day earlier means suffering a day less.”
Meng Zuoyi turned to leave, but Qiao Wei called out to him, “Director.”
Meng Zuoyi turned back.
Qiao Wei told him, “Huang Zengyue and I hid them together. I couldn’t have done it alone.”
Meng Zuoyi paused and nodded slightly, “He has always been very capable.”
He turned and left.
In reality, even during the five years Meng Zuoyi was purged, Bo City did not stop developing.
The development plans and grand blueprints he had formulated were being executed by Huang Zengyue all along.
Actually, when people of later generations mention those ten years, the impression in their minds is always chaos, absurdity, and disorder, so they ignore the fact that even during that stage, the country’s GDP was constantly growing.
No matter how chaotic the political winds were at the top, the grassroots farmers and workers never stopped working and building; they were the most solid foundation of this country.
On October 21st of the following year, major newspapers across the country published the notice about the resumption of the college entrance examination.
5.7 million examinees, ranging from young teenagers to middle-aged parents, with a huge age span, picked up their pens and books again from various posts, wanting to fulfill their university dreams.
This winter, the college entrance examination, which had been stagnant for ten years, was restarted. This was also the only time the exam was held in winter.
The strange spectacle of father and son being classmates was a unique feature of this era.
Librarian Zheng Ai’s colleague, Little Wu, got into university, and Librarian Zheng Ai ran to the Residential Compound two streets away to share the good news with Qiao Wei.
Qiao Wei was extremely happy, “We’ll throw a farewell party for her when the time comes!”
She also planned to give Little Wu a big red envelope.
Who knew that before the farewell meal could be eaten, this day Librarian Zheng Ai suddenly rushed into the Residential Compound with Little Wu, whose hands were covered in blood, to seek Qiao Wei’s help.
“Her husband and mother-in-law wouldn’t let her go to university and locked her up. She broke the glass and jumped out the window to escape.” He stammered, “Director, wh-what should we do?”
When Qiao Wei first went to the Library, Little Wu was not yet twenty years old; she had only gotten married at the end of the year before last.
She escaped from her in-laws’ house and ran to the Library for help; Librarian Zheng Ai knew he didn’t have the ability to help her. But he was also very clear about who could. He dragged Little Wu and ran into the Residential Compound to find Qiao Wei.
Qiao Wei first looked at Little Wu’s hands; fortunately, it was just a cut on the skin, and the tendons weren’t damaged.
Qiao Wei took her to the infirmary for emergency bandaging.
Little Wu’s eyes were filled with tears, and she endured the pain without crying out, but asked, “Director, what should I do?”
In those years at the Library, how many things had Qiao Wei shielded them from. In the eyes of the staff, she was exceptionally formidable and tall.
In their hearts, there was nothing Qiao Wei couldn’t solve.
Qiao Wei asked her, “Let me ask you, if you can only choose one of two, university or marriage, and you must give up one, with no other path to take, how would you choose?”
Little Wu’s lips trembled.
In this era, there was no such thing as the idea of remaining single and childless for one’s own sake. Women were daughters, wives, mothers, and daughters-in-law. They were expected to sacrifice for the family, and their primary task was to first fulfill these duties that society had firmly imposed upon them.
It was very difficult for a person to break free from the shackles of mainstream social cognition on their own without the support of the larger environment.
Little Wu couldn’t give an answer immediately.
Qiao Wei didn’t force her. People lived in an environment, and going against the current was too difficult.
She gave some instructions to Librarian Zheng Ai and then took Little Wu back to her own home.
“You stay here today,” she said. “If you’ve thought it through, tell me your choice. I’ll see whether I should send you to university or send you home.”
At this time, the tuition fee for one semester of university was 3 yuan. However, the government provided subsidies to university students, which were enough to cover tuition and living expenses. Going to university would not cause an economic burden.
Because in this era, university students were truly valuable and had high prestige.
Little Wu’s mother-in-law came back from buying groceries and found the window broken and her daughter-in-law gone. She was furious, threw down her basket, and went to her son’s workplace to find him: “It’s bad! Your wife has run away!”
Where could she run to? The mother and son gathered a few relatives and neighbors and headed aggressively toward the Library.
But by this time, Librarian Zheng Ai had already handed Little Wu over to Qiao Wei, and Qiao Wei had already taken Little Wu back to her own home in a car to protect her.
Librarian Zheng Ai pushed up his thick glasses and, relying on Director Qiao’s authority, told them, “Director Qiao has taken her away to treat her injuries.”
“Director Qiao said, you should calm down today and don’t need to look for her. She will bring Little Wu over tomorrow.”
“Everyone, calm down, and we’ll talk tomorrow.”
