In 1999, 69-year-old Zhang Caixia came to a farmer's home in Qingdao for unknown number of times. She always took a camera and secretly took pictures of a man in his 40s who was working in the fields, and the man looked at her. It is to turn a blind eye.
Zhang Caixia hesitated for a long time and stepped forward and called out: "Son". When the man saw her coming over and carrying the hoe, she stared at the man's leaving back, her wrinkled eyes filled with tears.
When Zhang Caixia returned to the farmer's house, an old lady saw her sad look and said, "I have already persuaded him, but his child is stubborn. He only recognizes two adoptive mothers and does not want to recognize you as his biological mother." "
Zhang Caixia held the old lady's hand and said, "It's okay. He doesn't want to recognize me. I don't blame him. I owe him. Take these few hundred yuan and renovate the house." She stuffed the money into it. In the hands of the old lady, she took one last look at the man in the distance who was unwilling to enter the house because of her, and left here with tears in her eyes.
Why is this man unwilling to recognize Zhang Caixia as his biological mother? Why were Zhang Caixia and her 40-year-old son separated for so long?
Two places apart
This story begins in the late period of the Liberation War. In May 1949, the Kuomintang had to retreat to the natural dangers of the Yangtze River after the failure of its three major battles. At that time, the Kuomintang's defeat was irreversible. Chiang Kai-shek ordered to surrender. All the middle and high-level officials within the Kuomintang evacuated to Taiwan with their families.
Shi Gongcun was the chief mate of a Kuomintang warship. He also received an order to retreat to Taiwan. His first child was just three months old, and he was taking his family to Taiwan by boat. He was afraid that his newborn child would not be able to bear the pain of being displaced.
The first thing Shi Gongcun did when he got home was to see the child in his wife Zhang Caixia's arms. The child had recently suffered from eczema. Because he was too busy, only his wife and nanny Liu Cuilan took care of the child. He felt very guilty about the child. , gently holding the child in his arms and looking at it lovingly.
's wife Zhang Caixia had already had a premonition. She looked at her husband holding the child and said, "Gong Cun, are our superiors urging us to leave quickly? If we want to leave, we still have to wait until the child's illness is cured before we can leave. Otherwise, I won't be able to let go of the child." You will suffer along with us." Shi Gongcun looked at Zhang Caixia with a worried face and said, "I have no choice. The commander issued an emergency order to pack up our things tonight and take a boat to Taiwan early tomorrow morning. Don't think too much about it, kid. I will take good care of you along the way. Go and pack things with Mother Liu."
Zhang Caixia did not expect that this day would come so quickly. After she and the nanny Liu Cuilan packed up the things at home, she and her husband sat in front of the bed all night. No sleep. Early the next morning, her husband had put all the luggage on the boat, but Zhang Caixia was unwilling to get on the boat with her child in her arms.
Zhang Caixia looked at the ship and said, "How long will it take for us to come back?" Shi Gongcun comforted his wife and said, "It won't be long. We can come back in a year and a half at most." Nanny Liu Cuilan saw Zhang Caixia's doubts and Then he said: "Why don't you leave the child to me to take care of? Such a young child who is still sick will definitely not be able to withstand the bumps of the ship. I will definitely take good care of the child. I will always be here waiting for you to come back to pick up the child."
The steam whistle of the ship was urging the two of them. Shi Gongcun took out all the money he had and gave it to Liu Cuilan and said, "Then please leave it to Mother Liu. Caixia and I must leave now. The child doesn't have a name yet. Just Shi Jincheng, take care of the child, and tell him that he will definitely come back to pick him up in the future." After saying this, Shi Gongcun took his wife onto the ship. On the ship, Shi Gongcun always went to a meeting, and Zhang Caixia stood alone. Looking at the mainland on the deck, I missed my three-month-old child.
Hard Life
After the ship arrived in Taiwan, Shi Gongcun was assigned to garrison at Keelung Port and served as a teacher at the naval school.When the two came to Taiwan, their life was pretty good. There were only two people in the family, and there was still a lot of money left over from their monthly salary. The two often sat on the beach at the port at night. Over there was the mainland, the mainland they cherished, and them. The son I care about so much.
At first, Zhang Caixia was looking forward to when she could return to the mainland to pick up her son. His son is now over a year old, but he has not seen his parents yet. Thinking of this, Zhang Caixia burst into tears more than once. Fortunately, her husband Shi Gongcun was always by her side to comfort her.
Although they missed their son from Mainland China, the young couple still had to live together. A few years later, Shi Gongcun and his wife gave birth to three more daughters. At this time, relying only on Shi Gongcun's salary to support the family was already a drop in the bucket, so Zhang Caixia and the other wives went to the wasteland around the harbor to cultivate vegetables and subsidize the family.
However, there are always accidents in life. In 1962, Shi Gongcun was hit by shrapnel from a shell during a teaching exercise. Fortunately, under rescue, Shi Gongcun saved his life, but his right eye was permanently damaged. blind. Shi Gongcun could only retire early from the navy and received a lot of pension and disability payments.
Shi Gongcun returned to the small house of only 40 square meters. The birth of these three daughters prevented his wife Zhang Caixia from crying every day like before. The young couple could not bear to have their three daughters squeezed into such a small house. , the two used almost all their pension and disability funds to buy a larger house in Taiwan city.
After the family moved into a larger house, Zhang Caixia would often worry about her son who was far away in the mainland, whether the place where he lived was good and how his life was. She would also often tell her three daughters that they had a "brother" who was still alive. In the mainland, if they don't have the chance to go back in the future, they must go back to find their "brother".
In order to continue to maintain the family's livelihood and pay for the schooling of his three daughters, Shi Gongcun took advantage of his previous job as a communications officer on a ship and was often exposed to electronic sound equipment, so he began to teach himself how to repair radios and televisions. Although Shi Gongcun was disabled, he still raised his three daughters on his own. Later, with the support of their daughters, they opened a fishing gear grocery store. Finally, the two old people did not have to be so busy and could enjoy their old age in peace.
The three daughters are also very successful. The eldest daughter got a doctorate in the United States and lives in the United States. The second daughter went to Canada after graduating from college. The younger daughter stayed with her parents and got married and had children in Taiwan.
There is hope
After retiring, Shi Gongcun and Zhang Caixia paid attention to the news from the mainland all the time, thinking about their eldest son, and did not know whether their son was alive or dead. I am always looking forward to when there will be contact between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and I can return to my hometown to find my son. At this time, the old couple finally had the deepest wish in their lives.
In the 1980s, the eldest daughter living in the United States suddenly made a transoceanic phone call to Zhang Caixia: "Mom, I remember you said when you were a child, I have a brother in Qingdao, mainland China? What is his name?" "Zhang Caixia asked very puzzledly: "Yeah, why are you asking this?"
The eldest daughter continued: "I have a colleague who is from Qingdao. He is going back to China soon. I told him these things, and he I am willing to go back and ask for help." Zhang Caixia was very excited. The Taiwan authorities were strictly ordered to contact the mainland. This time she finally found a way to contact the mainland. She told her eldest daughter her address and name.
Zhang Caixia actually doesn't have much hope for this matter. After all, forty years have passed, and too many things have changed in forty years. If his son was still alive, he would already be in his forties. Even if the old couple returned to the mainland, they might not be able to recognize him.
But not long after, Zhang Caixia received another call from her eldest daughter. On the phone, her eldest daughter said very excitedly: "Mom, I found it. My classmate said that he got in touch with his uncle at home, and the uncle also wrote you a letter. , I will send it to you from my side."Zhang Caixia didn't expect to really find her family. She began to miss her son. She felt in her heart that her son was still alive. She had never wanted to return to the mainland so much to find her son at this moment.
in More than a month later, Zhang Caixia and her husband Shi Gongcun read a letter from the mainland together. In the letter, their family members expressed their concern and longing for Zhang Caixia and Shi Gongcun, and hoped that they could return to the mainland as soon as possible and visit their hometown. , and also sent a photo of the uncle's family.
The two old people couldn't help but sigh while looking at the letter and photos. Shi Gongcun kept saying: "The thing I can't let go of the most in my life is my son who stayed in mainland China." "Zhang Caixia listened to her wife's words and couldn't help but shed tears. The two old people just sat in the yard and hugged each other, missing their hometown.
Back to hometown
Mr. and Mrs. Shi Gongcun have always been concerned about cross-strait relations. In 1988 , cross-strait relations gradually eased, and trade and navigation became possible. Shi Gongcun and his wife began to prepare to return to the mainland to find their son. After running for three months, relying on countless connections and spending a lot of money, Shi Gongcun finally arrived in Taiwan. After completing the formalities, they booked a flight back to the mainland.
Just as the two were preparing to go to the mainland, Shi Gongcun suffered an accident. After Shi Gongcun became blind in his right eye, he could not drink a lot. . But in order to return to the mainland in his lifetime, he drank a lot with the officials at the wine bureau, which caused his old illness to relapse. Zhang Caixia looked at Shi Gongcun, whose eyes were full of bloodshot eyes, and wanted him to be hospitalized and rest first, so that his return to the mainland could be postponed. .
But Shi Gongcun was unwilling. He said: His health had been deteriorating year by year. His last wish was to return to the mainland to find his son, so that Zhang Caixia would be satisfied even if he died. He just told Shi Gongcun to take special medicine on time.
On the third day before departure, Shi Gongcun lay in bed and never woke up. After examining the body, the doctor said: "He died of a ruptured blood vessel in the brain, most likely due to rupture of blood vessels in the brain." Caused by heavy drinking. "The two daughters who were in the United States and Canada rushed back to attend to their father's funeral.
In Shi Gongcun's mourning hall, the eldest daughter looked at Zhang Caixia, who had been crying for three days, and said, "Mom, do you want to send the child to the mainland? The air tickets are postponed, should I refund my father's one? Zhang Caixia shook her head and said firmly: "No, your father's last wish in this life is to return to the mainland to find his son. I will definitely take your father back." "
On the plane back to the mainland, Zhang Caixia held Shi Gongcun's portrait. His ashes were placed on the seat next to him, as well as a pair of leather shoes that Shi Gongcun wore when he came to Taiwan from the mainland.
Zhang Caixia did not want to recognize her mother
After getting off the plane with the ashes, her uncle's family came to the airport to greet her and Shi Gongcun. After Zhang Caixia returned to her hometown, she saw her brother who could no longer take care of himself. He lay on the bed and held her hand and said, "It's good to come back." , just come back. There was no news about you at first, and everyone in your family thought you were missing. Your parents were still talking about you before they passed away. "
Zhang Caixia cried and bowed heavily to the memorial tablets of her parents. She sat in front of the portraits of her parents and burst into tears. Her uncle knew that she had come back to look for her son, so he came up to comfort her and said, "I have sent someone to look for the child. Go and ask, there will be news after a while. My condolences, just come back. "
Zhang Caixia bought a double tomb in Qingdao and buried Shi Gongcun's ashes in it, allowing her husband to return to his roots. She also planned to be buried here after her death.
But after several months, Zhang Caixia had no news about her son. . She always had hope in her heart, but sometimes she couldn't help but think about how the world at that time was so chaotic and her son was only three months old and still sick. How could a nanny feed the child every night. Zhang Caixia would secretly wipe her tears by herself. As this continued, Zhang Caixia's health became worse and worse. When Zhang Caixia was planning to return to Taiwan to recuperate, a piece of news came from
. People from Dabouto inquired about a small village 260 kilometers away from Qingdao City. A farmer in his forties may be the person Zhang Caixia is looking for.Zhang Caixia prepared many gifts with her last hope and set off for the small village.
When Zhang Caixia saw this farmer man, her tears couldn't stop flowing down. The forty-year-old man in front of her looked so much like her husband Shi Gongcun. Both his face and figure reminded Zhang Caixia of her own death. Her husband Shi Gongcun. She hugged the man and murmured: "Jin Cheng, it's me, it's mom. Mom didn't expect to find you after so many years. Mom is sorry for you..."
But this man pushed Zhang Caixia away At this time, an old lady also cried and said: "I didn't expect Jin Cheng to find his biological mother. I have raised him for more than 40 years and have long regarded him as my biological son..." And this man looked at it Without even looking at his own mother, he picked up the hoe and said to the old lady: "Mom, I went to work in the fields."
The old lady said apologetically: "This child has been stubborn since he was a child. At that time, Liu Cuilan and I We worked together as nannies for a large family. Liu Cuilan was very kind to this child. I thought it was her own child at first, but not long after, Liu Cuilan fell seriously ill and failed to survive. When she left, she entrusted the child to Me. My child died of smallpox at that time, so I always treated him as my own child. Later, after the founding of New China, I brought him back to farm. He had grown up and had his own wife and children. "Don't blame him."
After listening to the old lady's words, Zhang Caixia understood why her son was so indifferent to her. It was because she was so sorry for her son. She waited for her son to come back at home, but he didn't come back until dark. Knowing that Zhang Caixia was deliberately avoiding her, she left 500 yuan for the old lady and left.
The next day, Zhang Caixia came to the old lady's house again and wanted to see her son. The old lady took her hand and said: "I tried to persuade him last night, but he didn't want to recognize you. He said he had many mothers in his life. , has three mothers, but he only recognizes two wet nurses. In order to avoid you, he went out to build a house for others early in the morning."
Zhang Caixia helped the old lady onto the chair and said, "It's okay, I don't blame him. I owe him too much. The child will have his own opinions when he is so old. I will be satisfied as long as I can see him in this life." Later, Zhang Caixia visited her son one after another, even though her son could not bark. Although she calls herself "mother", she still spent money to renovate her son's house and bought three TV sets for the old lady's house, her son's house and her grandson's house.
Although Zhang Caixia's son still can't call him "Mom", his attitude towards her has gradually improved. Zhang Caixia has been living in Qingdao since then. Until her death, she never heard her biological son call her "Mom".
War brings a lot of pain to people, but family ties will never be separated. Maternal love has always been like this, constantly giving but not asking for anything in return. Although Zhang Caixia never heard her biological son call "Mom" until her death, Zhang Caixia had everything gone when she saw her son again forty years later. It doesn't matter anymore, this is maternal love.
