NOVPUBHan Qingsong nodded, “That is for the best,” He smoothly transitioned, “You seem to have made a number of friends on the farm as well— that is good.”
Han Qinghua started talking about the people he got to know on the farm.
“My best friend is the uncle that I told you about before, the one who once taught Liu Haozhe. Fan Yikun, who is also known as Teacher Fan, is very educated since he even went to college back then. He was the vice principal of our Binbei Middle School and also served as a Chinese studies teacher. When the county government asked him to serve as the Minister of Education, he refused to go, saying that he wanted to teach and educate the people here. Sigh, in the end, someone as nice as him couldn’t escape the reins of violence either. Plus, I think it was bad— at least bad enough that one of his legs ended up being impaired.”
Han Qingsong listened quietly and said nothing.
After talking for a while, Han Qinghua’s eyes turned red when he talked about an emotional part. He held Han Qingsong’s arm and said, “Third Brother, you don’t know, in the beginning…I-I was so hateful. I thought you didn’t care about me since all you did was throw me into the labour camp. In fact, I thought that you didn’t want to care about me anymore.”
His throat was a little choked up and he couldn’t speak anymore, so he put his head on Han Qingsong’s shoulder, “Third Brother, thank you for not giving up on me and always visiting me.”
Those who were passing by in order to catch some cicada larvaes saw the two brothers on the side of the road, their gazes lingering for a moment longer than usual. 𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖕𝔲𝔟.𝔠𝖔𝖒
Han Qingsong didn’t take the onlookers seriously and raised his hand to pat his younger brother’s shoulder, “As long as you know your mistakes and can correct them, everything was worth it. Don’t make the same mistakes in the future.”
Han Qinghua promised, “Third Brother, rest assured, I promise I will never do it again.”
Han Qingsong then pushed him away. Like Eldest Brother Han, Han Qingsong didn’t like to show emotions, especially physical contact with others.
Han Qinghua let go of his arm, wiped her tears quickly and smiled, “They say men don’t shed tears lightly because we haven’t reached that point of sadness, haha.”
Han Qingsong glanced at him and said, “You are still young, no one will laugh at you even if you cry.”
Han Qinghua continued, “Third Brother, Principal Fan really helped me out a lot. He is very knowledgeable and sees things clearly as to what they are. Even though he was beaten up so badly, he remained generous and bore no resentment at all. He told me that the reason why people feel resentment is because they are not mature enough. If people were strong enough, they would have been able to transcend the secular world and recognize right from wrong. If they knew how to differentiate the two, then there’s no need to hold resentment; if they were the ones in the wrong, then they didn’t have the right to resent others. Living in torment of holding a grudge even after such injustice would just bring worse effects into our lives, wouldn’t it? Instead, we should choose to live a better life and use the passing of time to prove that we were right all along.”
Han Qingsong stopped and turned to look at him seriously.
