Chapter 39: Father and Son Meet Again

  It's been a year and a half since I last saw him, my originally elegant and calm father had become exceptionally haggard, wearing a suit of inferior camouflage clothing, with a backpack on his back and a small hoe in his hand, completely dressed as a countryman.

  Since joining the workforce, Duan Bingyi, as a government official, has never suffered much hardship. Especially after entering the county office, he became even more pampered. In Duan Lei's memory, his father had not done any farm work for many years, and many tasks in their family orchard were done by hired laborers. However, over the past six months, his father has been living in such a remote place with extremely poor living conditions, and he even has to do manual labor, the contrast is enormous, it can be imagined!

  Duan Bingyi's face is now dark and thin, except for those eyes that are still unyielding, even his body has become a bit hunched, which makes Duan Lei feel heartbroken.

  Seeing his father dressed like this, how could Duan Yue not guess the difficulties of his father's life during this period?

  Due to investment failures, the Duan family owed over tens of millions in funds. This amount was a huge gap for Duan Bingyi, who had already been squeezed out of the Tianzhou County power circle. To fill this gap, Duan Bingyi had no choice but to sell his house in the county town and borrow from all the relatives and friends he could, yet there was still a shortfall of 600,000.

  Even Duan Lian's grandfather took out all the private money he had saved, but it was just a drop in the bucket. The Duan family still had a long way to go to get rid of their predicament. A debt of several hundred thousand yuan was indeed a heavy burden for an ordinary family.

  In this case, Duan Bingyi naturally cannot afford to resign in a huff, even if he is squeezed out of the leadership circle, but his basic salary will not be reduced. With this salary, at least the Duan family still has an economic source to maintain their living, and they will not fall into difficulties in a short period of time. Duan Bingyi, who has been mixed up in the system for most of his life, cannot think of changing his identity and engaging in other industries for the time being.

  Some people say that when you've been in office for a long time, you're no longer good at doing other things. There's actually some truth to this.

  Of course, Duan Bingyan still has some extravagant hopes, expecting to make a comeback and rise again!

  After being sent to Shuangqiaoling, Duan Bingyi followed the workers to pick wild mushrooms, dig bamboo shoots, catch some game, dry them in the wind and sell them outside the mountain to make money for his family.

  In order not to affect Duan Lei's studies, Duan Bingyi kept all this hidden from him. Moreover, since Duan Lei had been at school for a year and a half, he didn't know much about the situation at home and had no idea how much his father had suffered over the past year or so. However, his son's performance in school was getting better and better, making Duan Bingyi feel that all the hardships were worth it!

  "Xiao Kai, how did you get here?" As soon as he saw his son riding a motorcycle appearing at the forest farm, Duan Bingyi suddenly felt a kind of awkwardness that his lie had been exposed, and it took him half a moment to speak up.

  "Dad!" Walking up to his father's side, Duan Lei couldn't say much either, and simply wrapped his arms around his father in a tight hug.

  Duan Bingyi, who had never been treated like this by his son before, suddenly felt a little at a loss, holding the small hoe in his hand and not knowing how to put it down, but also feeling a bit moved. In the past, Duan Bingyi was busy with work all day and didn't have much time to accompany Duan Lei, so their relationship could only be described as ordinary. However, over the past few years, since Duan Lei went to college and gradually matured, they had become more affectionate, but this kind of deep hug was still a first.

  "Dad, let's go home!" Duan Yue said after a long while.

  "Wait, let me get things in order here!" Duan Bingyi hesitated for a moment before nodding.

  Logically speaking, today is Wednesday and there's no special reason for Duan Bingyi to leave the forest farm easily. However, his son has been away for over a year and has just returned, so naturally Duan Bingyi wants to go home and accompany his son - nothing in this world is more important than one's child!

  "Hmm!" Duan Yue did not forcibly intervene in his father's actions, because he knew that this was his father's code of conduct, starting well and ending well, and would not give up halfway.

  Father went to work, Duan Yue stood on the playground, looking around at the scene with nothing to do, measuring this former economic pillar of Tianzhou County - Shuang Kaling Stadium.

  A row of bungalows, uniform and neat, with a strong revolutionary atmosphere of the 1960s. On the yellowish walls, slogans such as "Serve the People", "Learn from Dazhai in Agriculture", "Learn from Daqing in Industry", "Carry the Proletarian Revolution to the End" can be faintly seen. Unfortunately, the once prosperous and thriving Double Card Lin Field is now showing signs of decline, with weeds growing everywhere in front of and behind the houses, and many houses have fallen into disrepair, with doors and windows collapsing.

  Many workers have opened up a lot of vegetable fields on the empty land in the forest farm to improve their lives, and some abandoned houses have been converted into feeding rooms. At first glance, this forest farm has become an unclassifiable small-scale farm.

  Without looking at it for a long time, just glancing at it briefly, Duan Lei could more or less feel what kind of life his father had lived here. There was only electricity here, but no phone, and no mobile phone signal either. If something really happened, it would be like shouting to the sky without a response, shouting to the ground without an echo!

  No matter what, Father can't continue working here anymore!

  …………

  "Xiao Hui, let's go!" Just as Duan Hui was still daydreaming, he heard his father's voice beside him.

  "Alright!" With his father settled in the back seat carrying a snakeskin bag, Duan Lei started the motorcycle and left the Erka Lin stadium.

  The shape protruding from the snakeskin bag was nothing but mushrooms and other mountain goods, and as soon as Duan Lei thought that his father, who used to be quite well-off, had been living a life no different from that of the mountain people during this period, he couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart.

  Since getting Didi, Duanyan's income has been soaring and he has already become a millionaire, but his concern for his family is really not enough.

  At first, Duan Lei had heard that his family's investment had failed, but he didn't know the exact amount of loss and the number of external debts. Sometimes he wanted to ask, but was always scolded by his father. So, until just now, he only learned from his mother about the true financial situation of their family, which turned out to be so bad.

  Another reason is that Duan Yue is still young and lacks experience, he can't imagine the cruel infighting in the officialdom, and as a student abroad, he doesn't know his father's situation is not good.

  Various reasons led to Duan Yue's rapid rise in Haicheng, but his family situation was getting worse and worse.

  Just thinking about this, Duan Yue's self-blame and guilt in his heart became even heavier.

  He gritted his teeth and held back the sourness in his nose, as well as the tears that were about to burst out of his eyes, carefully driving the YAMAHA along this winding mountain road.

  At that time, in order to transport the wood and other products from the forest farm, and more importantly, to ensure the livelihood of thousands of workers and over a thousand dependents on the farm, the county specially built this low-grade gravel road. Of course, by the 1960s and 1970s, this road had already become one of the few good roads in Tianzhou County.

  As the times changed, Shuangka Forest Farm, like many other forestry enterprises, inevitably entered a stage of decline, and this road was also forgotten by people. Although the current Shuangka Forest Farm still has a deputy department-level sign, it is already in name only. Most of the young and middle-aged employees of the forest farm have either been laid off or gone out to work, leaving behind only some retired employees who are unable to work and some old workers over 50 years old, as well as left-behind children.

  This kilometer-long road leading to the outside world has also become a rotten road due to years of disrepair, and if it rains and triggers a mudslide, it will be even more severe. This is also an important reason why Duan Bingyi can't go home for ten days or half a month.

  On the motorcycle, neither Duan Bingyi nor his son spoke much, both of them were quietly thinking about their own thoughts.

  Duan Lei was silent, worried that he couldn't hold back his tears and make his father uncomfortable. At the same time, while driving, Duan Lei had to think about how to bring up the topic of asking his father to quit his job and move to Haicheng when they got home. Based on Duan Lei's understanding of his father, it was really not an easy thing for him to leave the system.

  As for Duan Bingyi, he really didn't know what to say to his son.

  In order not to affect his son's life in college, Duan Bingyi has been hiding the true situation at home from his son. Even when he was sent to Shuangkalin Farm, he only told Duan Lei that he was going to the countryside for a temporary job, so that Duan Lei wouldn't worry. However, now that his son is back and has rushed straight to the farm, it's clear that he has already figured out many things.

  At this time, Duan Bingyi's first reaction was not to worry that these messy things would distract Duan Lei and prevent him from completing his university studies smoothly. After all, his own life was already like this, but his son still had a better future ahead of him.

  It has to be said that all parents in the world think for the sake of their children!

  In this way, the father and son finally returned home in Xiàozhōu Town before 6 pm in silence.

  The road, which was only 160 kilometers long, took Duan Yue six hours to complete by motorcycle, with an average speed of just over 20 kilometers per hour. It can be imagined how poor the road conditions were.

  When the car drove up to the last pass, seeing the old town of Guizhou basking in the sunset glow, seeing the smoke gathering in the air, Duan Lei suddenly felt a kind of unspeakable emotion surging up. No matter how glamorous or depressed it is outside, only when returning home can one feel this peaceful warmth!

  After the road surface changed from gravel to asphalt, Duan Lei accelerated and sped down from the pass, the whistling wind carried the sound of old cows returning home in the evening, as well as birds singing back to their nests. The green bamboo sea and golden rice fields flashed by, turning into abstract paintings, which made Duan Lei feel even more beauty.

  Duan Yue never thought that the familiar scenery he had seen would radiate a different charm when viewed from another angle.

  After rushing back home, Duan Yue saw a warm and harmonious scene, and his previously somewhat depressed mood suddenly improved a lot.