When his father finally set off for the south, he still did not reconcile with his grandfather.

Even his great uncle, who liked him very much, did not come to see him off, only his kind aunt followed him out of town in a carriage. My father's aunt wiped tears from her tears all the way, and she had never been so sad when her own son went to Parabun a few years ago. Because Parabun is her husband's hometown, her son can live in his own relative's house and never be bullied. Arcadio Jr., on the other hand, went alone to a strange and unsettling south, and people still have very real memories of the war more than 20 years ago, and people repeatedly transmit the legends of the front, the legend that the Rhodoks nailed the Swadians to the city walls like nails, and it is said that those iron nails are still stuck around the city of Rhodok.

"What can I do, what should I do if someone bullies you", my father listened to my aunt repeat, "what if something happens to my poor sister." ”

Ignoring his grandfather's persuasion and the teachings of his uncle, a tax collector, his father was bent on going to a place far from home. When Jill left, his father's willfulness was aroused. He had revealed Jill's identity to his face, much to his remorse. When Jill finally ran away because of his grandfather's relationship, his father's remorse turned into a reproach against his grandfather. Through questioning again and again, the father unloaded the burdens from his body and put them on his grandfather.

The tax collector's wife approached her father, "Dear little Arcadio, you have been so cruel to your father like this. I could tell he was nurturing the young man. Believe me, the young man's departure hurt your father more than you", said the tax collector: "You know what? Your father's eyes trembled when he looked at the servant's father, like a child who had accidentally pinched a chick to death, and it was pitiful. ”

"But because of the 100,000 dinars, he ignored Gil," said his father. In fact, he is also looking forward to a reason not to resist his father, but the boy's rebellion has always been like a fire, no matter what the parents do, it will fuel the fire, and only time can slowly cool the teenager's anger and calm them down.

"Son, I don't know if a hundred thousand dinars will make that servant happy at the end, but you know what? You were kidnapped simply because you were carrying less than 2,000 dinars. ”

“···”

"Don't be willful, the servant's father said that his son's own heart is too big to cause such a big disaster." "Only in fairy tales does a servant marry the king's daughter, my little Arcadio." Ask your father, and you will know what a tribulation he went through when he was promoted to lord by the king. I have heard my mother, your poor grandmother, speak of your father. He has a piece of land in the southern mountains, and I don't know if he is a lord over there. Anyway, he went to the tent of the first king, and then he fought with the first king for a few years, and then he almost started from scratch to support the valley of the white dove. I know that the valley was very difficult at that time, and your mother only had one pair of shoes, and she ran outside barefoot every time. I know what a wise and capable man your father was, and when he had done so much, you know, the whole Valley of the White Dove had been renovated by him, and he was officially recognized, and he took the daughter of a down-and-out lord's family. The servant didn't put himself in the right place, and he didn't pay enough. ”

When my father heard this, a feeling of pity for my grandfather suddenly swelled up.

In the end, my father could not reach an understanding with my grandfather, they were silent and shy people, and they were not good at expressing their feelings. Unsociability is a constant tradition in our family, and this did not change until the end of my life. My grandfather once said to me in the darkest of days, "If we can't make a sound, let us be silent; They deprive us of color, but they can't deprive us of whiteness. It's like wheat, unpretentious, but on the autumn plains you can smell its aroma everywhere". Many years later, as I learned more and more about my own family from other people's mouths, I suddenly realized that my grandfather and father had not really left, and that their helplessness and silence had been inherited by me without reservation. I could feel their boiling blood in the sound of my own heartbeat. "Our hearts are hot, but few people know it, only those who are really close to us can feel it," my grandfather, who never talked much, once told me. At that time, my grandfather told me that my father had been sick for many years and could not return to the valley to see us. Many years later, when I understood my grandfather's words, a strange feeling filled my whole body, as if the songs of my childhood had come back from the twilight plains, as if all those I had loved were still alive.

Eventually, my grandfather declined the tax collector's kindness, and he decided to let my father go south as he had previously arranged. "This child needs to see more of the world," the grandfather explained, "what he needs is not to be spoiled in his father's arms, but to know the world as it is, and that the care we take care of him today may harm him in the future." ”

The tax collector said that the grandfather was sloppy in his treatment of his children: "It would ruin him." I knew his fear, he was full of fear about the journey alone. This fear is shared by the vast majority of people, and I do not mean to detract from this feeling, many of the best fighters are actually the ones who fear war the most, but they turn their fear into their own caution and indifference, and build a wall to protect themselves. They all became great people in the end. But little Arcadio is not like this, he is overdrawing his kindness to cover his fears, and this precious effort, he often wastes on people who do not matter", concluded the tax officer: "I really worry about her. ”

Grandfather rubbed his tired eyes, and the night before he stayed up all night, thinking about his father's future. "I lost my parents when I was four years old and was adopted by a kind bachelor after a few years of wandering. I knew from the beginning that fate would not be easy, but my son was not. Compared to me, he lived a teenage life with fine clothes and fine food. The grandfather asked, "You know what?" How a person like me, who had a painful childhood, wants to give his children a good living environment. I've been doing this, but I've found that over the years the child hasn't grown up as much as I'd liked, he's like a pot of moonflower in the house. I'm afraid he'll be hurt, but I'll only make him vulnerable in the future. You know, we can't protect our children for the rest of our lives. ”

The conversation went on for a long time, but the tax officer finally found that he could not convince the uncle-in-law who had his own plans. The tax officer sighed: "I will arrange someone to accompany him to the south."

"No," said the grandfather with a smile, "that Wright, I have asked clearly, and he is also going to the south." This young man is very steady, and it is not impossible for them to go together. ”

"Well, that's fine. It's just that I think Wright's kid is deeper than Little Arcadio, so you have to let Little Arcadio pay attention. ”

At the end of the conversation, the grandfather found the old man Bianwen, whose hair had turned almost completely white in a few nights. Old Bi Anwen in turn comforted his grandfather that he had not educated his children well.

The grandfather interrupted the elder Pianwen: "I have been grasping this child's studies since I discovered his talent. If it is said that it is a dereliction of duty to educate people, then my responsibility is greater. Are you really not accusing me? ”

"Sir... No", the old Bi Anwen was a little sentimental, the corners of his eyes were red, he was helping his grandfather register the accounts, at this time he disguised himself and rubbed the moist corners of his eyes, "I have been reading the account books for an afternoon, and my eyes are quite dry." ”

"Jill is gone!" Grandfather said to old Pianwen: "Jill is really gone. The child's leg was broken. He's gone like this, I think you're going to blame me, please speak up, what I need now is not comfort, but what you really think. Otherwise, I would not have been able to find peace. ”

Old Pi Anwen took a breath and said softly: "Master, in fact, I really don't blame you", Old Bi Anwen shook his lips and asked: "Is it really like what the young master said, didn't you pull my little Jill a hand?" I don't blame you, after all, I was also shocked when I heard the number of 100,000 dinars, this kid is too out of line. But didn't you really even think about pulling him? The relationship between this child's mother and him has always been very weak, so you just have to tell Old Pianwen, is it really only Old Bianwen who loves poor Jill in the world? ”

Grandfather walked to a spice barrel and said, "Come," and he beckoned to old Pianwen, "Open this bucket." I called Jill to come to you overnight that day and ask him to open the bucket and decide what to do next. But he thought I was letting him do the work, and left that night. We couldn't find him until finally he was brought back with a broken leg. It's my fault, and I should have made it clear. ”

Old Bi Anwen was a little puzzled, he took an iron drill under the table, inserted it from the sealing mud of the barrel lid, and gently pried it, and the barrel lid clicked open. Old Pianwen opened the bucket.

Grandfather watched the old Pianwen fumbling around the contents of the bucket, watching the old Pianwen carefully look at the contents inside, and then the old man walked over, took off his hat tremblingly, and tears flowed down his wrinkled cheeks: "Master, little Jiji will know all this, I swear, he will one day know what you did for him." ”

The grandfather silently looked at the father who had lost his son opposite, and the grandfather sighed in his heart, in fact, he was just as pitiful.