Chapter 1 — An Oan of Truong Dang Village

My family is very rich, but every time I go home to celebrate Tet, my father only drives an old Volkswagen car that has passed through eight hands, wearing an old coat bought at the market. I thought like every year, just light the incense stick and go. Unexpectedly, this year, as soon as I entered the village, I was forced to donate 5,000 yuan. Not only that, they also want to dig up my ancestors' graves to use land to build a new asphalt road. The village chief said eloquently: "I won't pay you, I'll compensate you 8,000 yuan." My dad and I burst out laughing. Of course my ancestors' graves will be moved, but your path, don't dream of doing it. 1. When my dad's old Volkswagen started, I knew I had to go home to celebrate Tet again. Every year he drives the same car, wearing an old coat bought at the market. “Son, change your clothes quickly, we have to go burn incense for grandpa.” I sighed, put on the NIKKE life jacket my mother had prepared, added a fake JA bag, and quickly got into the co-pilot's seat. The space in the car is actually very comfortable. Even though the outside looks old, the inside has been completely renovated by me. Seeing me sitting cramped in the passenger seat, my father thought for a while and asked: "You don't think I'm overdoing this, do you?" I shook my head very seriously: "No." Since my grandfather's lifetime, my family has left the village for the city. Grandfather was hard-working and resourceful. He quickly established himself in G city and even opened his own factory. Soon, this news spread to the countryside, and people in the village flocked to my grandfather's factory to apply for work. If they work hard, my grandfather is willing to lead everyone to get rich. But not only did they go to work drunk, they also disregarded the law and openly teased other female workers. In order for the factory to operate normally, my grandfather had to chase them all away. Unexpectedly, they not only came to destroy the factory, but also spread everywhere that my grandfather was not doing business properly. Reluctantly, my grandfather had to declare bankruptcy, essentially quietly moving back to city H. From then on, every year he took my father back to his hometown in a worn-out old car. From a broken three-wheeler, to a rotten Santana, then to an old Volkswagen now. That's why my mother only went back to her hometown once, and then never came back again. Before leaving, my mother filled the trunk of the car with rice, noodles, and cooking oil. These things are practical, but not too ostentatious. Drive on the highway for 5 hours, then get on the highway. The car jolted for another 4 hours on the village road, finally arriving at Truong Dang village located between two mountains. Different from every year. This year, the village gate has a huge red gate. Under the gate, there are two long rows of tables on both sides. Seeing my father's Volkswagen arrive, the village chief warmly ran out to welcome it. My father and I glanced at each other, both of us clearly saw surprise in each other's eyes: "What else are you going to do?" It can be seen that on the way the village chief walked, my father thought about many things. Perhaps my father even had in mind how to defend himself if his identity was revealed. But very quickly, we learned the village chief's purpose. He took out the red book in his hand and circled my father's name with a red pen. “Zhao Dajun, donate 5000 yuan.” My father's face immediately darkened. Not because of a lack of money, but because this action of Ly Phuc Phuong was too arrogant. How is it different from robbery in broad daylight? Perhaps seeing that my father's face was so unsightly, the village chief's face also fell down: "Trieu Dai Quan, this is to raise funds to build roads for our village, our village will be better, everyone can help. As a human being, we cannot forget our roots." My father looked carefully at the book and saw that everyone had a name to donate, the only difference was the amount from 500 to 5,000 yuan. At this point, he swallowed his anger and took out his phone to transfer the money to the village chief. Unexpectedly, the village chief immediately waved his hand and glared back: "What kind of person do you think I am? This is money paid to the public treasury, how can it go into my own pocket?" Hearing that, my father's face looked much better. But before he could ask anything more, the village chief continued: "Let's do this, you drive back 17 kilometers, there is a credit cooperative there, withdraw 5,000 in cash and then turn back." "Once you get the money, you can enter the village." The meaning was clear: if you don't pay money today, don't dream of going to the village to burn incense for your ancestors. 2. Seeing my father so angry that he tightened his grip on the steering wheel, I quickly coughed lightly twice. "Dad, let's go and leave, so we won't miss burning incense for grandpa." Having said that, I nodded slightly to signal him. My father immediately understood. Every year when I go back to my hometown, I just burn incense for my ancestors, clean up some weeds and then leave. On weekdays, I don't have much interaction, because this little bit of money is not worth arguing about. But this statement in Ly Phuc Phuong's heart has a different meaning. He gave me a thumbs up and finally smiled: "It's true that Trieu Dai Bao has an education, but a higher education is different." I smiled indifferently, turned away and rolled my eyes. His daughter was the same age as me. Five years ago, she got into a second-ranked university in the province, making him extremely proud. That night, he also turned over the books in the village and invited relatives to hold a party to celebrate. That year, my father was busy organizing a party to celebrate my university entrance exam, so he couldn't attend. Ly Phuc Phuong called three times. There was no other way, my father had to say I didn't do well in the exam and was planning to let me go to college. That way I can make him accept it and not make things difficult anymore. In recent years, because the village has not developed any further, the concrete road previously made has also broken down quite a lot. A return trip like this takes more than an hour. Finally, when it was dusk, we returned to Truong Dang village. From afar, I saw the village gate with flashing lights and fireworks in the sky. Right when we arrived, Ly Tinh Tinh had just stepped out of a Mercedes-Benz. The surrounding villagers naturally pretended not to see me and my father. They happily rushed towards Ly Tinh Tinh. Ly Tinh Tinh looked cheerful, took out a stack of shopping cards from her pocket, and gave one to each household there. With each card given out, congratulations and constant laughter rang out all around. I'm a little curious, I don't know what this village chief's daughter does. She's only been out of school for a year and has already made such a fortune. It wasn't until I got closer that I discovered that those shopping cards had a face value of only 50 yuan, and could only be used at a certain supermarket chain. That made me frown. This is a shopping card issued during Tet, it is invalid after the 15th. And who in this village would take a bus for two hours just to go to the supermarket to spend 50 yuan? Perhaps my frown was caught by Ly Tinh Tinh. She lifted her chin and gave me one. “Now that you are also working as a laborer in a big city, this card is probably useful Use it for you.” I originally intended not to accept. Anyway, my company issues shopping cards, the lowest denomination is 1000 yuan, this 50 card is really too small. But thinking of the eyes of the people around me, I still accepted it and politely said thank you. Read the full story on Nguyet Hoa page. These words of thanks seemed to make Ly Tinh Tinh very pleased. She turned her nose, glanced at me from top to bottom, then smiled and said: "That person and that person, although there are some differences, don't be discouraged." "Who knows, when your monthly salary is 5,000 yuan, you can have a great Tet." That sentence almost made me fall backwards. In my heart, I constantly blamed myself. Whoever told me to be curious about something, now it's nonsense. When I took the card to go outside, I saw my father watching the Mercedes. Before I could say a joke, my father pulled me out: "That's our company's reception vehicle." "After lighting the incense, you must go back and investigate clearly." I turned around in surprise and just happened to see Ly Tinh Tinh getting back in that car. 3. My grandfather and grandmother's graves are buried next to each other, located on the hill behind the old house. This is also what my grandfather carefully advised before he passed away. My grandmother passed away early, before she had time to enjoy anything. So my grandfather thought, if there really was a date under the golden stream, he would go down there with his grandmother to live peaceful days. My father took the sickle to cut grass, and I cleaned up some bushes around the grave. Soon, the area around the two tombstones was clean and tidy. After that, my father burned incense and together with me respectfully bowed our heads in front of our grandparents' graves. "The son has graduated from Thanh Hoa and is now helping his father manage the company." "Mom and dad, don't worry, just take your time and be a peaceful fairy." Looking at the photo of my grandfather smiling on the tombstone, my eyes turned red and I bowed my head again. From the day I was born, my grandfather loved me very much. He always said: "No matter how hard we work, we only hope that Dai Bao will be happy in the future."