"Sister? What's going on?" Tian Mi went straight to the point.
Tian Yu's voice immediately rang through the phone: "My fourth sister just called me and said that my grandparents' house caught fire last night and no one got out."
"Why did a fire break out in the blink of an eye? Was it an accident or human error?" Perhaps because he had encountered danger yesterday, Tian Mi frowned and subconsciously became suspicious.
"I don't know yet. Dad just received the news. He was hit hard. Fortunately, my fourth sister is holding her ground. She called us first. Dad, my fourth sister, and my younger brother should be rushing to Chaoyang Village now. I called you just to ask if you are going back."
This question stumped Tian Mi. To be honest, neither she nor her original self had any feelings for their grandparents.
But Chinese people attach great importance to filial piety, so it seems a bit unreasonable not to go back.
Especially now that she is in Beijing, she can take a train to Nanjing and then take a bus to reach her hometown in about two days.
Thinking of this, Tian Mi did not rush to answer, but frowned even more and asked: "Sister, are you going back? If you go back, I will go back."
Tian Yu sighed softly, "Logically speaking, we are married granddaughters, and we live too far away. Even if we rush back, grandpa and grandma have already been buried. You might be able to make it. No matter how fast I am, I can't even make it to the seventh day. And my brat is like a cannonball. It's really too much trouble to take him back and forth. But grandpa and grandma died suddenly. If we don't go back, not only will it be unacceptable, but we will also feel uncomfortable. Others will also gossip, so I am also struggling."
The point that my sister was struggling with was basically the same as Tian Mi's: "How about you discuss it with your brother-in-law? I'll also ask my family, and call me when you have made a decision?"
"Okay, I'll call you back later."
After the call was hung up, before Tian Mi had time to speak, Tian Xin, who had come over at some point, spoke first: "What's wrong with grandpa and grandma?"
She wasn't right next to the receiver just now, so she could only piece together a vague idea from her third sister's words. Were her grandparents sick
Tian Mi touched his sister's head and sighed, "My grandparents' room caught fire yesterday in the middle of the night. We found it too late and they didn't escape. They've already passed away."
"How could it be?!" Tian Xin was shocked and unbelieving.
Because she is an old Chinese doctor, she has the impression that the old man and the old lady are in very good health. Compared with people of the same age, they look very young. At least the girl has never thought about death for them, always feeling that it is a very distant thing.
Tian Mi didn't know what to say, and finally just sighed: "Things in the world are unpredictable."
"If you want to go back, I'll accompany you." Lou Luhui knew his wife's relationship with her family. Apart from his father-in-law, fourth sister-in-law and brother-in-law, her feelings towards other people were average. Apart from sending holiday gifts with her eldest sister, they had no contact.
But no matter what, when there is a funeral, one will feel uncomfortable.
Thinking of this, Lou Luhui pressed his wife's shoulders and neck to help her relax.
Tian Mi was indeed a little depressed. After a while, she wiped her face and said, "I don't know whether I should go back or not. Emotionally, I don't want to go back, but rationally, I feel that it's not good not to go back."
"What's wrong?" There were too many things for Tian Xin to take back. Zhong Yuxiu, who went upstairs to get the empty packages, just walked to the stairs when she heard such a nonsensical sentence.
Tian Mi did not hide it from her mother-in-law: "My eldest sister called just now and said that grandpa and grandma passed away unexpectedly."
"Ah? Why so sudden?" Zhong Yuxiu asked casually. She didn't expect to get such a reply. She was so surprised that the smile on her face disappeared completely.
"It happened quite suddenly. Life is unpredictable." Tian Mi recounted the story of the fire.
"Is this really an accident?" Zhong Yuxiu, like her daughter-in-law, had the same first reaction after hearing this: doubt.
"I'm not sure yet. My dad has already rushed back. He's been a policeman for 20 to 30 years. He should be able to find out if it was an accident. By the way, my eldest sister said that my brother-in-law also asked someone to help check it out."
Lou Luhui immediately said: "I'll tell the old squad leader too."
As soon as he finished speaking, the man had already spread out his long legs and strode upstairs to get the phone book.
"Mom, do you think I should go back?" Tian Mi was really a little unsure. The main reason was that the transportation at that time was far less developed than in later times. If I wanted to go back, not only was there no direct bus, but I had to transfer from a large bus to a minibus, which took about a day and a half.
It’s okay for adults, but the children are too young. They were already tired after taking the direct train before. She really can’t bear to leave.
"We have to go back!" Zhong Yuxiu did not hesitate like the young people. She patted her daughter-in-law's hand and gave her three words directly, which were concise and affirmative.
Tian Mi was a little surprised, but did not rush to ask why. She just stared at her mother-in-law, waiting for her next words. After all, when it comes to doting on her children, Ms. Zhong is the first.
Sure enough, Zhong Yuxiu didn't need her daughter-in-law to answer, and immediately gave the reason: "Since you have hesitations in your heart, it proves that you want to go back. Besides, this is filial piety. A married girl may only be involved with the old man and the old lady for the last time. This trip is not for anyone, just follow your conscience. In this world now, there are all kinds of monsters and demons. We can't fight them all, so we can only try our best to avoid being caught."
Older gingers are more spicy.
After being persuaded by her mother-in-law, Tian Mi immediately made a decision. However, she sighed and pinched her fat daughter who still knew nothing: "The children will suffer. The bus will be bumpy for a whole day, and even an adult like me can't stand it."
Speaking of this, Zhong Yuxiu waved her hand and said with a look of wealth and splendor: "If you don't want to take the train, ask Huihui's father to lend you a jeep."
"Ah? Isn't this bad?" After all, it is a military vehicle. It's okay to use it occasionally in the city, but if it is driven out of the province, won't it be criticized even more
Lou Luhui hung up the phone and said, "It's okay. We don't need to borrow the army's car. We can borrow it from my friend. We don't need to ask Dad for help. I can borrow it."
"That's great. Then we can take turns driving." The most embarrassing traffic problem was solved, and Tian Mi was no longer worried.
Let's go back!
Just like my mother said, I'll settle my conscience.
Moreover, she hasn't seen her younger brother and sister for three years.
My fourth sister, Tian Xue, is already in the first year of high school in September this year. I don’t know if she is willing to join the army with me, as she has a vacancy reserved for her.
"Sister, I'll go with you." Seeing her sister made the decision, Tian Xin, who was also hesitant, immediately expressed that she also wanted to go back to attend the funeral.
Of course, her hesitation was simply due to her fear of going back alone.
She still remembers the way her elder brother and sister-in-law looked at her like an animal before she joined the army. She was timid, but not stupid.
If her second sister had not helped her at the critical moment, Tian Xin couldn't imagine what her second half of life would be like.
Therefore, she always remembered the kindness shown by her elder and second sisters throughout her life.
Tian Mi didn't object to Sanmei coming along, after all, she and Huihui were there to accompany her: "You can go back if you want, but you have to ask for leave from the health station first, right?"
"That shouldn't be a problem. I'll call and ask later. After all, I haven't taken a single leave for home visits in the past three years. But what about the teacher? I'm definitely worried about him taking the train alone." At this point, Tian Xin seemed to remember something and turned to the man not far away with a shy smile: "I almost forgot, can you ask Deputy Head Wang to help take care of the teacher on the way back?"
Hearing this, Tian Mi and the others all looked towards Wang Linkun who was listening to a tape recorder not far away.
Wang Linkun, can you say that at this time, he would rather follow the little girl back to his hometown
The road to chasing his wife is endless, but his vacation is not unlimited.
At this critical moment, how can we give up halfway
The most important thing is to pursue it relentlessly.
However, if he wanted to follow everyone, he had to find a suitable reason.
A man has thousands of thoughts in his mind, and in reality, he only has to blink to come up with an idea.
Wang Linkun smiled and said, "Of course I can take care of Mr. Cheng, but..."
"Just what?" Tian Xin asked anxiously.
"I'm just a little worried. Can you handle driving for two days by yourself?"
It turned out to be this. Tian Xin breathed a sigh of relief: "This is no problem. My sister and I can drive. We have passed the driving test."
Hearing this, Wang Linkun kept smiling, and his first reaction was... As expected, his tricks never work so well on little girls.
Seeing him being humiliated, Tian Mi and her mother-in-law looked at each other, their eyes full of gloating.
But speaking of this matter, the two sisters were really in the spotlight at the time.
It is very troublesome to get a driver's license these days. First of all, you have to be affiliated with a unit. Tian Xin's problem is easy to solve, after all, she has a military status. Tian Mi has some troubles.
Fortunately, Brigade Leader Wang came forward to help and found a unit for her to work in.
In fact, it was Tian Mi who decided to take the driving test in the beginning. She knew how to drive in her later life, so she got the hang of it quickly.
At that time, Tian Xin watched it a few times, and Tian Mi pulled her to learn it together.
As for the eldest sister Tian Yu, her legs felt so weak after getting on the bus once that she refused to learn no matter what.
The timid Tian Xin was also afraid, but she couldn't resist the girl's stubbornness.
My second sister told me that learning to drive is like acquiring an additional skill, so she devoted all her attention to it.
In the end, she really passed the exam and got the certificate.
The two sisters took the exam together.
Even though more than a year has passed, Tian Mi still clearly remembers the astonished attitudes of the family members in the compound when they learned that the two had obtained driver's licenses.
After all, in their opinion, how could a woman drive a car? Even a female tractor driver was a rarity.
But this groundbreaking exam by Tian Mi and her sister has set a real example for the women in the family compound.
Everyone has a competitive spirit.
Why can she do it but I can't
With this competitive mentality, several more female drivers passed the test one after another, which brought honor to female comrades.
On this side, Wang Linkun learned that the weak little girl could actually drive. Besides being helpless that he had hit a wall again, he was more surprised.
It was probably exactly the same surprise as when she showed her steel teeth and kicked someone before.
Of course, his determination to keep up would not waver, so he continued: "Even if I can drive, what about the dangers on the road? In recent years, drivers who drive long distances always carry knives and even guns with them, just to avoid being robbed."
This is not said in order to achieve a goal or to scare people. In fact, such things are not uncommon and are no secret.
Some people are lucky if they lose their goods, but losing their lives is not uncommon.
Sure enough, as soon as these words were spoken, the women's expressions immediately became serious.
Zhong Yuxiu nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, Lin Kun is right, let him follow you, and I will ask someone from Old Cheng to send him back to the island."
Lou Luhui originally wanted to say that when he was preparing to drive back, he had already considered this problem. He just needed to find someone with good martial arts skills to accompany him back. It didn't have to be Wang Linkun.
However, when she met his gaze, she swallowed back the words that were about to come out of her mouth.
Forget it. After all, he is raised as a younger brother. Besides, it is okay to let Lin Kun follow us. He is quite skilled and is one of our own. My wife, children and third sister will not feel uncomfortable on the road.
Since everything had been discussed, Tian Xin went to the teacher's room to discuss it with him first, while Tian Mi and her husband prepared to go upstairs to pack their things.
Unexpectedly, the two of them had only taken two steps when the phone rang again.
It’s the eldest sister!
These three words appeared in the couple's minds at the same time.
This was indeed the case. When Tian Mi answered the phone, Tian Yu's familiar voice came from the phone: "Mi girl, I have discussed with your brother-in-law and decided to take the next train back. Lao Chen said that it is not good not to go back for such a thing, which will easily lead to gossip. Besides, we haven't been home for 11 years, so it's time to go back and take a look."
At the end, there was a hint of disappointment in Tian Yu's tone.
Hearing the depression in her sister's tone, Tian Mi didn't know what to say.
It may not be easy for the eldest sister to overcome the psychological shadow and return to that home again.
But for this kind of thing, one or two words over the phone really couldn't comfort her, so Tian Mi chose to change the subject: "What a coincidence, Xinxin and I have also discussed it. We will drive back directly from Beijing this afternoon. We will be home in two days and should be able to catch up with grandparents' burial."
"Xinxin is going back too?"
"Yes, she has been in the army for more than two years. She said she missed our dad, Si Ya and my younger brother."
"That's great. You can stay at home for a few more days and wait for us to come back. Maybe we can meet again."
"Of course! Do I need you to tell me that? I miss you." When it comes to sweet-talking people, Tian Mi has never given up.
Sure enough, after hearing this, Tian Yu on the other end of the phone no longer cared about the discomfort in his heart and immediately felt happy.
With such a smile, I couldn't help but say a few more words: "Hey? Sister wants to tell you something!"
"What's going on? You're being so mysterious. Tell me first, is it a good thing or a bad thing?"
"Hey! Of course it's a good thing, a good thing you can't imagine, Xiaoyun is back!"
Tian Mi was stunned for a moment: "Are you talking about Ge Yun?"
"Yes, besides her, there is someone else called Xiaoyun."
Ge Yun has never stopped communicating with his elder sister over the years, and the two often send things to each other.
Tian Mi gave birth to twins at that time. After she got the news, she sent the children some particularly exquisite little tiger clothes and tiger-head shoes. Chengcheng from her eldest sister's family also received some.
I heard that a master chef was specially hired to make it.
Later, Tian Mi sent a return gift to thank the other party. As a result, the two became more familiar with each other than when Ge Yun was on the island.
But. The elder sister said 'come back' instead of 'come to play', could it be that.
Thinking of a possibility, Tian Mi opened her eyes wide. Just as she was about to ask her guess, she heard the elder sister on the other end of the phone say, "You would never have thought that Ge Yun and Zhu Jingbing, Deputy Battalion Commander Zhu, no, now Battalion Commander Zhu, they actually got together. They got married a few days ago and are now on the island with the army. Do you think it's fate?"
Tian Mi was surprised but then she felt it was normal. She had heard from her brother-in-law before that Zhu Jingbing and Ge Yun's second brother were good friends, so... "It was her second brother who brought them together, right?"
Tian Yu was surprised: "You know?"
This time, before Tian Mi could reply, she heard her brother-in-law's smiling voice on the other end of the phone: "Comrade Xiaoyu, pay attention to the time."
"Oh! Right! I won't talk to you now. I'll tell you in detail how we met. Your brother-in-law and I will take the 5pm train to Shanghai. I'll call you when we get to Shanghai. Then ask your brother-in-law to pick us up in the city. All six of us will go back." Tian Yu came to her senses and felt a little embarrassed. She also missed her third sister. When she was happy, she forgot the time and started to talk out of habit.
"Isn't this just a matter of a word? Is it necessary for you to specifically take care of it?" Tian Mi agreed without hesitation.
Then the two sisters laughed together, exchanged a few brief words, and hung up the phone in a hurry.
This time I was visiting relatives.
I just plan to spend some time with my parents-in-law in Beijing.
But something unexpected happened and we had to leave early before half of the time had passed, so naturally I was not in a good mood when we parted.
However, life and death are serious matters, and Lou Zhan and Zhong Yuxiu could not do so no matter how reluctant they were.
I can only comfort myself in my heart that in a few years at most, the children will be able to be transferred back one after another.
The car that Lou Luhui borrowed was an eight-seater Beijing Jeep.
These days, there are only a handful of people who can afford a car.
This is not accurate. It should be said that only a handful of people dare to buy cars these days, and most of the cars on the market are allocated by units to senior leaders.
But if you want to get a second-hand military jeep, it is not very conspicuous.
However, there is a way to call second-hand things second-hand. Even an 8-layer new one is called second-hand.
For example, the car that Lou Lu drove back was obviously eight stories new, so at least he didn't have to worry about it breaking down on the road.
Of course, the reason for borrowing a large truck is so that if someone gets tired on the road, they can lie down in the back seat and rest.
Time was running out, so the whole family had breakfast and lunch and prepared to set off.
Before leaving, Zhong Yuxiu naturally burst into tears again.
Tian Mi kept patting people to comfort them and said that she would come back as soon as possible.
Lou Zhan told his son to be extra careful on the road, after all, not only was there a chance of being robbed, but there was also the possibility that the sinister person behind the scenes would attack him.
"Dad, the most important thing is that you and mom take care of yourselves. Your son has grown up." Finally, Lou Luhui suddenly hugged his father. After only a few seconds, before his father could react, he had already let go of his hand, smiled at him, and then strode into the driver's seat.
In this day and age, strict fathers and kind mothers are important. Although Lou Zhan is not a strict father, he has rarely been so close to his child since he became sensible. He is relieved and sad.
The children have grown up, and he and his wife have grown old.
Lou Zhan narrowed his eyes and watched the jeep go farther and farther away. When he could no longer see the jeep, he put his arm around his wife's shoulders and said to her in a gentle voice, "Don't cry. The children will be back soon."
Zhong Yuxiu choked up and said, "How can it be fast? Besides, when they come back, they won't even have time to sit down before they have to rush back to the island."
"That will be soon. Believe me, the children will be back soon!"
"Are you serious?"
"real!"
(End of this chapter)