The sudden silence that fell after Chen Lan's rambling words brought an end to the chatter. Xu Hao and Li Daqiang no longer dared to voice their objections, only repeating, "This won't do, that won't do either. What can we do? What can we do?"
At this point, some people began to whisper among themselves, "I said it! Look, our valley has mountains and water, it's truly a blessed place with excellent feng shui. And look at how many university students our valley produced this time with the resumption of the college entrance examination. This is something we never even dared to dream of before. It turns out our valley has always been protected by the heavens!"
Seeing that the matter was settled and that no one had any further objections, Chen Lan announced the end of the meeting.
Walking home, Jiaxing walked alongside his mother and quietly asked, "Mom, our family has to help pay the rent to leave the valley, and also rent barren land outside, and rebuild houses, factories, hospitals, and so on! All these things will cost a lot of money. Mom, will our family be able to afford it then? I think it would be simpler if each family was just given some money!"
Jiahe hurried to catch up and echoed, "Mom, I think second brother makes sense. All ten of us siblings are grown up now, you don't need to tire yourself out anymore, just enjoy your retirement at home. Besides, this whole undertaking is a bit too troublesome, not to mention the hard work, I'm afraid you'll end up expending a lot of effort with little reward! And ultimately be met with resentment."
Chen Lan listened to her two sons and asked with a smile as she walked, "Jiahe, Jiaxing, is this truly what you both think?"
Jiaxing replied as he walked, "Mom, I think giving them money is the most convenient and hassle-free way!"
Jiahe chimed in, "Second brother is right, I also think this method is quite good. Cash for goods is the best way. Although our family doesn't owe them anything! But doing it this way, our family can also have peace of mind! Then our family won't owe anyone anything, and we can have some quiet!"
Seeing his brothers speak like this, Chen Lan said, "What you say is right, spending money to solve it is a convenient and simple method, but do you know? No matter how much money we give them, it's still limited. Even if we give each family ten or twenty thousand, that should be more than enough, right? But it won't last for many years to come! You know that life is still long! So even if they have the money, they might not be able to live as good a life as they did in the valley. Furthermore, they have been protected by our family and lived good lives for decades. To put it bluntly, they have lost the ability to protect themselves, so they simply cannot adapt to life outside."
Seeing her brothers nod, Chen Lan continued to explain: "Do you two know how your Aunt Yingzi's family, and your Aunt Dani's families, and the others in the valley came here?"
Seeing her sons shake their heads, Chen Lan continued to explain, "It's because your Uncle Xu Hao and your Uncle Daqiang, Uncle Shengli, Uncle Sanpao, and these people were your father's comrades-in-arms on the battlefield. They were heroes who were severely wounded for the liberation of the country. They had to retire and return home due to their injuries. At that time, they didn't want to burden our country, so they returned to their hometown with their wounds. But at that time, Gangdan and Tiedan were still too young, and the family could be described as having elderly, weak, and disabled members. So even if your aunts were capable, they couldn't provide enough food and clothing for their families. Your father learned of their situation at the time and discussed with me whether we could help them."
At this point, Chen Lan looked up at her two sons and continued, "At that time, I thought, since your grandfather and maternal grandfather could donate their fortunes for the revolution, what's the big deal for us, a military family, to take care of your father's injured comrades-in-arms? Moreover, they are all great heroes. So my husband and I thought! Since our family has the ability, why shouldn't we take good care of their future lives? So your father asked your Uncle Xiangdong and others, and your Uncle Erhu and others, to make a special trip out of the valley to bring them all to live in the valley. And my husband and I also made a promise back then, that our family would take care of these injured uncles for a lifetime, so that they wouldn't have to worry about life and toil, and could also have a happy and fulfilling old age like ordinary people."
After speaking, Chen Lan stopped and looked at her sons, wanting to see their reactions.
To her surprise, the brothers fell into silence. Chen Lan did not rush them for an answer, but continued walking home, leaving them time to think for themselves.
Before Chen Lan had taken a few steps, the brothers hurried to catch up. This time, Jiahe was the first to speak! He said, "Mom, I understand! It's about keeping one's promises. Since we promised the uncles back then, we can't go back on our word, especially a promise to heroes, which must be kept. Mom, don't worry, your son will help you!"
Jiaxing also echoed, "Yes! Mom, do whatever you think is right with confidence! We brothers will also be soldiers in the future, so your sons support your and Dad's choice, and we brothers will help you!"
Seeing that her sons had truly understood, Chen Lan smiled and stopped talking, changing the subject instead. "Jiaxing, Jiahe, I need you two to do me a favor in a moment."
When the brothers heard Chen Lan say this, they immediately asked, "Mom, just say it, what do you want us brothers to do?"
Chen Lan smiled and said, "I need you to persuade your Grandma, Grandma Liu, Grandma Cui, and Aunt Sangmei and her old friends to come out of the valley with me to the Imperial Capital."
At this, Jiahe suddenly exclaimed loudly, "What? Back to the Imperial Capital? Mom, you're going back to the Imperial Capital? You don't want us and Dad anymore!"
Chen Lan was taken aback by Jiahe's words! She smiled and said, "Jiahe, what nonsense are you talking about? What do you mean I don't want you and your dad anymore! Mom is sending your tenth sister and your fourth sister to the Imperial Capital to go to university. Don't talk such rubbish, understand?"
Hearing Chen Lan's explanation, Jiahe dramatically patted his chest and replied, "You scared me to death! I thought Mom was abandoning us again!"
Jiaxing also nodded repeatedly in agreement, "Yes, Mom, please don't abandon us brothers."
Hearing Jiahe and his brother's words, Chen Lan couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. So many years had passed, yet they still remembered what happened when they were children. Although they were very young at the time, the trauma of being abandoned by their own mother had left a lifelong shadow on them both.