In 1989, Taiwanese veteran Chen Mingli took his wife from Taiwan back to his hometown in Gushi County, Henan Province to see his only original wife who stayed in her hometown.
He is actually very happy in Taiwan. His wife was a senior nurse before retiring, virtuous and wise; her children are all excellent, studied and settled in the United States and Australia, and are extremely outstanding figures in their respective industries.
Father-in-law left a lot of inheritance, which is enough for their family to have food and clothing.
The children have made all preparations and plan to arrange for Chen Mingli to live in Chinatown in the United States.
But Chen Mingli and his wife said, I want to go back to my hometown, I want Ye Luo to return to my roots, and when I think of my wife's eyes that have been waiting for me for 40 years, I can't think of it.
Mrs. Chen cried for a long time and finally agreed to him.
Chen Mingli was arrested as a thirty-one man at the age of 31. In 1949, his aunt who lives in Qingdao passed away. He and his brother went to attend the funeral, but they didn't expect to go back.
Chen Mingli had two daughters at that time, the older one was 4 years old and the younger one was only 11 months old. Chen Mingli's younger brother has just been married for a month.
They were still together when they boarded the ship. Later, the troops drove away and the two separated. They never saw each other again in the rest of their lives. Even though they knew they were in Taiwan, they could not contact each other, and they did not know the life and death of each other.
The boat Chen Mingli was riding first arrived in Guangdong, and then walked south for a while and was suddenly overturned by the waves. Many people were drowned in the sea, and Chen Mingli also escaped from death.
These ordinary people were forcibly arrested and died innocently in the sea. Chen Mingli experienced a hardship that he had no time to react. Finally, he lived on a deserted island with a few people. Later, he got a ship and came to Hainan Island .
They found the Kuomintang troops and stationed with the troops for more than half a year. Later, the troops were defeated, so they followed the remnants to Taiwan.
In Taiwan, Chen Mingli entered endless training and was ready to go to war at any time. Chen Mingli is in his 30s and cannot withstand the toss and troubles at all. The military discipline is quite strict. If he escapes, he may be shot directly. Chen Mingli really couldn't stand it and found an opportunity to risk his life to escape.
At that time, the whole of Taiwan was in a state of chaos. Chen Mingli hid in Hsinchu , and later lived as a commoner.
He saved some money, but when he thought about going home, he didn't dare to spend it, so he kept it and planned to do the travel expenses. He and many veterans have the same idea, thinking that the mainland and Taiwan will not be separated for too long, and they will be able to go home soon.
Chen Mingli found a odd job. Sometimes he had a job, sometimes he was hungry. He never dared to touch the travel expenses. He always thought that his wife and children were waiting for him in his hometown, and he must go back.
However, many years have passed, and Chen Mingli’s wish to go home has faded a little bit. Over the years, he has never regarded Taiwan as his home, and now he has to force himself to take root here.
He wandered in Taiwan, worked as a coolie, and could still farm when he was in his hometown. He could still count on his two daughters to support him when he was old, but now he felt that no one knew even if he died in Taiwan.
He originally worked in a leather shoe factory, but later he begged the boss of the leather shoe factory to learn some skills. He was already 37 years old that year. The owner of the leather shoe factory sympathized with him and arranged him to the workshop, so he learned to make leather shoes from scratch.
10 years later, Chen Mingli became a skilled technician and was also well-known in Hsinchu. He could support himself.
But unexpectedly, the leather shoe factory went bankrupt due to poor management. At the age of 49, Chen Mingli lost his job and then fell seriously ill. He met his later wife in the hospital.
Mrs. Chen is a nurse. Chen Mingli suffers from acute jaundice hepatitis , which is very contagious. He has no job and cannot return to his hometown. He is lonely and wants to jump out of the window of the ward on the 6th floor several times.
It was Mrs. Chen's turn on duty one day. She saw Chen Mingli's intention to commit suicide, and walked to the window silently and closed the window.
Because in the infectious disease ward, Mrs. Chen always protects her tightly. Chen Mingli can only see Mrs. Chen's contemptuous eyes, which made him feel as if he had done something wrong.
Mrs. Chen is not very good at speaking Mandarin, but she still tried her best to persuade Chen Mingli: "I saw your case card. You are already 49 years old. Do you have no wife and children? Have you ever thought that you can be worthy of them if you die like this?"
Mrs. Chen's words came to Chen Mingli's heart. Later, Mrs. Chen gave Chen Mingli a lot of care, but Chen Mingli was a little unwilling to face the nurse. She always felt that she had seen her most unreliable side, so Chen Mingli began to cooperate with the treatment and wanted to be discharged from the hospital early. She tried her best to avoid communicating with her.
But later he gradually discovered that the young nurse had a positive and optimistic side. She never discriminated against infectious disease patients. She was very strict in her work, but she would play cards with them in private and joke.
Once Chen Mingli chatted with her, she realized that her father was a very famous farmer in Hsinchu. There were several plantations in her family. She was only 29 years old. Unfortunately, her husband died in a car accident. At that time, she had been married for less than two years.
After listening to her sad story, Chen Mingli also told her own experience and told her the bitterness of the past 20 years to a stranger for the first time.
Mrs. Chen seemed very sad after hearing this. She asked Chen Mingli if she knew the current situation of his wife and daughter. Chen Mingli shook her head: "There has been no news. I am afraid they don't know whether I am dead or alive. Since the day I was taken away, my family has actually died in name only."
Chen Mingli stayed in the hospital for three months. He fell in love with Mrs. Chen completely. After repeated consideration, he decided to try to propose to Mrs. Chen.
He usually saves money, has a little savings on hand, and he has a skill to make a living. Chen Mingli's conditions are not bad, but now he is almost 49 years old, and the girl in front of him is 20 years younger than him.
In addition to the age gap, Taiwanese people were prejudiced against veterans from mainland China at that time. Local girls in Taiwan basically would not look for veterans from mainland China. Their parents would also reject such marriages. Their daughter's marriage to veterans from mainland China may be opposed or ridiculed by the entire family.
Chen Mingli did not have much hope. Unexpectedly, the young Mrs. Chen said to him gently: "When you are cured of illness and discharged from the hospital, go to our house to see my father."
Mrs. Chen's father was very optimistic about Chen Mingli, so he decided at that time. Chen Mingli took out 5,000 NT$ as a betrothal gift and held the wedding in accordance with the customs of Mrs. Chen's hometown.
has been wandering in Taiwan for nearly 20 years, and Chen Mingli finally has a home.
Shortly after marriage, Chen Mingli and Mrs. Chen had an eldest son.
Chen Mingli no longer works as a shoemaker. His father-in-law needs a capable assistant to help manage the plantation, so Chen Mingli starts learning from the plantation workers.
Chen Mingli can endure hardships and is also steady and honest. His father-in-law admires him very much, and gradually handed over all his finances to his son-in-law for management.
Mrs. Chen quit her job and worked as a housewife at home. She gave birth to two sons and one daughter for Chen Mingli. The family has always been very harmonious.
After having a wife and children, Chen Mingli no longer thought about his family day and night like before. Sometimes he felt that "home" in mainland China seemed to be a matter of his previous life. It was not that he didn't miss it. Every time he thought of it, he only had helplessness and sadness, so he began to escape from his psychological point of view.
Chen Mingli's life is very simple, because he has been living in the countryside of Hsinchu, and almost all the people he is dating are his own family. He has never known that his comrades have begun to contact their relatives in the mainland one after another, and some have even returned to their hometowns.
1987, his former comrades contacted Chen Mingli and asked if he had contacted his relatives in the mainland. Chen Mingli finally realized it.
At that moment, he blamed himself very much. He had been immersed in a happy life for too long and had almost forgotten all the clues of finding his wife and children in mainland China. How could he become such an irresponsible man? He did not try every means to contact his family.
From then on, Chen Mingli had another concern. He naturally wanted to go back to his hometown. Now Taiwan has relaxed its policies. He can clearly realize this wish, but how could he speak to Mrs. Chen?
Moreover, the father-in-law, who was very kind to him, now has intestinal cancer. His father-in-law has no son but only three daughters. Among the three sons-in-law, he likes Chen Mingli the most and treats him as his biological son. Chen Mingli does not want to choose to leave when his father-in-law is seriously ill.
Chen Mingli wrote a letter to his hometown without telling his wife, asking his old comrades to take the letter back to his hometown. Mrs. Chen is now full of her father's illness, and Chen Mingli doesn't want this to make her even more sad.
3 months later, the father-in-law died. His will was to leave the two largest plantations to Chen Mingli and his wife, while the other two daughters got the farm. Because of this incident, the three sisters had a very unhappy relationship. They felt that their father was partial to Chen Mingli, a poor veteran.
It was at this time that my hometown asked someone to bring him a letter. Chen Mingli excitedly opened the letter. Only then did he realize that his wife, who was in her 60s, had been waiting for him and had never remarried. Only one of the two daughters has survived. Now that the daughter is adult and married to the county town, Chen Mingli's parents have passed away. The only wife is waiting silently in her hometown. She doesn't want to move away, just want to wait for Chen Mingli to go home.
In May 1988, after Chen Mingli handled the funeral for his father-in-law, he finally spoke to Mrs. Chen and talked about his wife's situation in his hometown.
Mrs. Chen cried as soon as she heard this. She always knew that Chen Mingli had a family, but she didn't expect to contact people from her hometown at this time. What would she do if her husband went back now? She knew nothing about doing business. Only Chen Mingli can manage her father's plantation now.
But Chen Mingli was very committed to going back to his hometown to see his wife. As long as he thought that his wife was still waiting for him in his hometown, he would not eat well or sleep well. After all, they were married.
After Chen Mingli mentioned this, Mrs. Chen was crying for several days, but she never mentioned it to her children. Many times she just sat alone in front of her father's spiritual seat.
Children all think that mothers are like this because they miss their grandfather too much. They don’t know the pain in their parents’ hearts.
Mrs. Chen just lost her father. Seeing that she was getting thinner, Chen Mingli could only tell her that he would not consider going back to his hometown to visit relatives for the time being, but he would have to reply to his family first.
The second year, Chen Mingli and his wife suggested that they didn’t want to do business on the grounds that they were old. Mrs. Chen agreed and the management of the plantation was given to her brother-in-law.
In this way, Chen Mingli and his wife lost tens of thousands of dollars a year. Chen Mingli did this to go against his father-in-law's last wish, but he no longer wanted to go against his true intentions.
After a period of time, Mrs. Chen slowly understood her husband and finally agreed to let him go back to her hometown.
1989, just when Chen Mingli was about to set off, he suddenly got sick. He had a serious diabetes mellitus and stayed in the hospital for more than a month.
The belief in going home has always supported him. Now fighting against the disease is his battlefield. If he wants to go home, he must get better immediately. Two months after being discharged from the hospital, Chen Mingli was finally able to "go home".
Originally, Chen Mingli wanted to go alone, but considering his health, Mrs. Chen went with her.
The mainland was completely different at this time. Chen Mingli didn’t know how to go back to his hometown. He just took a plane and transferred several times. They delayed on the road for 6 days before finally reaching Baiyun Airport.
There are more than 30 Taiwanese veterans who came back, the oldest is 91 years old. Every old man is gray-haired, and the road is constantly bumpy and suffering, but everyone is very excited and talks endlessly when talking about the past.
They went from Guangzhou to Beijing again. It was already 2 a.m. to arrive in Beijing, but they were not sleepy at all. Instead, they went directly to Tiananmen Square , where they watched the flag raising and took a photo to nostalgia.
At noon the next day, Chen Mingli and his wife took the train to Henan and finally arrived at the provincial capital. They called a taxi and returned to their hometown.
It was already past 1 a.m. The village was particularly quiet. Every household was already asleep. Only the dog guarding the door was barking at the stranger.
Chen Mingli could no longer find his home, so he had to find a family at the entrance of the village. After knocking on the door, he found that the one who opened the door was the uncle and grandfather who were in the distant house at home. The uncle recognized Chen Mingli at first sight, and said excitedly and choked, "Yonglan's father? Is it Yonglan's father? You... are you back alive!"
Chen Mingli was so crying that he couldn't speak, and kept calling "Grandpa". At this time, Chen Mingli's childhood friend and brother of his peers in the family also came. They let the cows go together when they were young, but now they are old people when they meet.
The young man held a torch and sent Chen Mingli home. Many families woke up along the way and asked what was going on. The young man explained happily and shouted: "Yonglan's father is back, it was Yonglan's father who came back from Taiwan."
Only a moment, almost every household in the small village turned on the lights, and everyone walked out to see who was back from Taiwan.
Chen Mingli's home has moved from the west side of the village to the middle. As soon as he walked into the yard, his childhood friend shouted: "Yonglan's mother, I'm asking you to come back this time. See who's back!"
My wife turned on the light. When she walked out, she was wearing the blue cloth clothes she had in the past. Her hair was gray and she looked very old. She asked her childhood friend anxiously: "Who is back?"
Chen Mingli quickly stepped forward and said: "My wife, do you still recognize me?"
In an instant, Chen Mingli's original wife trembled and choked. She seemed to not believe it was true, and she kept touching Chen Mingli's face to confirm.
At this time, Mrs. Chen walked out from behind and greeted her slightly awkwardly: "Sister, how are you? I came back with Mingli to see you. You have suffered over the years."
Mrs. Chen's words made her understand suddenly. At this time, the outside of the small yard was surrounded by villagers, and Chen Mingli and his two wives were both embarrassed.
Finally, the original wife brought Chen Mingli and Mrs. Chen into the house and advised the villagers to go home first.
I heard that Chen Mingli and the others had not eaten yet, so the original wife was in a hurry to cook for them, but it seemed that she was no longer as excited as she first met. Chen Mingli and his wife were too hungry and exhausted. After eating, they lay down on the bed prepared by the original wife for them and fell asleep.
The original matchmaker is very polite to Chen Mingli and Mrs. Chen, as if two guests came to their home.
After Chen Mingli got up the next day, he found that the dowry of his original wife when she got married was still preserved at home, and she was both emotional and sad.
40 years have passed, and the original wife has been waiting for Chen Mingli to come back. Now she is full of grievances and disappointments, which has caused them to fall into a long silence.
Daughter Yonglan heard that her father was back and brought her whole family back. As soon as she met, she knelt in front of her father and kowtowed.
She called Mrs. Chen and wanted to try to mediate the relationship between the three people.
The original wife told Chen Mingli that her youngest daughter fell seriously ill and died shortly after he left. She raised her eldest daughter alone. During this period, many people advised her to remarry. Considering her only daughter, she finally wanted to wait for Chen Mingli to come back.
Chen Mingli talked about his painful life in Taiwan. He said sadly: "If Bao Lian (Ms. Chen) hadn't been here, I might have committed suicide long ago."
Chen Mingli promised his wife that when the sons could be self-reliant, Mrs. Chen would move to the United States with them to live. He would come back to accompany his wife in her hometown and never go anywhere.
Chen Mingli had not stayed in his hometown for a few days, and had to go back to Taiwan because of an old illness.
Before leaving, the original wife kept pulling the corner of his clothes and asking when he would come back. Chen Mingli comforted her and waited.
But unexpectedly, this wait took another 3 years.
Chen Mingli's health is getting worse and worse. His heart disease is so serious that the doctor advises him not to go out for a trip. His plan to go back to his hometown has been delayed.
Later, Chen Mingli's daughter graduated from university and married into Australia. Her son was admitted to a master's degree in pharmacy in Los Angeles. The children hope that Chen Mingli and Mrs. Chen could live in the United States and receive better medical treatment.
On the other hand, Yonglan also wrote to her father, hoping that her father could go back to his hometown to spend his old age with his mother, because her mother had been waiting for him for too long, and her life was too hard.
1996, Chen Mingli felt that she was in good health and wanted to apply for a second trip to the mainland to visit relatives. The son happened to be engaged in the United States and hoped that his parents could come to the United States. At this moment, Yonglan called and told Chen Mingli that his mother was almost out of reach.
It turned out that my wife had breast cancer and had surgery, but it didn't take long.
Chen Mingli can no longer care about whether he is in good health. His heart is filled with guilt and his face is pale. He can't care about his son's engagement, so he hurried to his hometown.
December 1996, this is the last cold winter of Chen Mingli’s original wife’s life.
The winter in Henan is so cold that Chen Mingli, who is used to the climate of Taiwan, is already very uncomfortable. When he saw his wife, her husband was already dying. Chen Mingli wanted to take her to the city to check her health, but her wife refused.
Chen Mingli promised her wife that she would stay with her when she came back this time. He wiped the blood from the corner of her wife's mouth and talked to her.
The second week after Chen Mingli returned to his hometown, his wife's consciousness had become blurred, and sometimes she could no longer recognize Chen Mingli.
It was early morning when she went there, and she kept holding Chen Mingli's hand tightly. She asked Chen Mingli to turn on the light and must look at him again.
She left Chen Mingli with the last words: "You are really back, don't leave anymore, my daughter will take care of you, I'm very relieved. But when you are back, I'm leaving again, we can only reunite underground in this life..."
The old man finally left with a smile. Yonglan told his father that She had lost everything for her mother's illness, but no matter how difficult it was, she was embarrassed to ask Chen Mingli for money.
This sentence made Chen Mingli even more guilty. What kind of husband is he? What kind of father is he? All I left to my wife is endless longing and pain, and even my daughter is embarrassed to speak up when she encounters difficulties.
After the funeral, Chen Mingli lived at his daughter's house, and his old illness broke out again. His daughter sent her to the hospital for treatment and was also contacting Mrs. Chen. Mrs. Chen came from the United States, and the family finally decided to let Chen Mingli go to the United States for treatment.
Chen Mingli went to his wife's grave before leaving, and swept his wife's grave for the last time.
He finally broke his promise, left his hometown, and left his first wife who had been waiting for him for half his life.
His heart is still attached to him, but too much helplessness in life affects his life. He is old and has no choice.
If that day, he did not happen to meet the Kuomintang troops who were catching the strong men, his life would have gone on a completely different trajectory. He would not come to the United States, would not be so successful, would not have such excellent children, but his heart would not be empty and at a loss, nor would he suffer from guilt all the time.
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