Chapter 3: The Beginning of Grace Early fifties. In this era when it was still difficult to get enough to eat and one had to rely on labor to make a living, my father Yang Laoqi was born. The name was given according to his position. My father was the seventh child in the family, so as the name suggests, he was called Yang Laoqi. It is said that my grandmother died of postpartum cold (a particularly terrible postpartum disease in rural areas at that time) less than a month after my father was born. According to Uncle Zhiyuan from the village, when he passed by my house, he saw my father still lying on my grandmother's body, sucking milk. Whenever he talked about this, Uncle Zhiyuan would burst into tears. My grandfather had a blank expression on his face and stared into the distance with lifeless eyes. But my father Yang Laoqi said with a smile: "Let's not talk about the past. Revolution is difficult, and it is inevitable that some comrades will go first on the revolutionary road. As he spoke, he began to hum, "The sky in the liberated area is sunny, and the people in the liberated area like it very much..."
When my grandfather heard my father talking about his dead mother so easily, he became furious and picked up a stick of beef and hit my father with it. Dad ran out as fast as he could, shouting to Uncle Zhiyuan from time to time as he ran. "Grandpa Zhiyuan, my mother has been dead for so long, and you come to my house to cry for no reason. What are you crying for? Why don't you go to your own house and cry? If you want to be buried with my mother, then go ahead." Old man Zhiyuan's face turned red with embarrassment and he hurried home in shame. My grandfather was so angry that he kept cursing: "You are a bad guy, very disobedient." "The emperor loves his eldest son, and the people love his youngest son." This is true no matter how you say it. No matter how bad or naughty the child is, he is still our own child, and my grandfather’s love for my father is even heavier. After my grandmother passed away, my grandfather focused even more on my father, Yang Laoqi. He spent the rest of his time studying the ancient book that Yang Keshui gave him, and named it "Feng Shui Suan". Grandpa became more and more in-depth and obsessed with the I Ching and the Eight Diagrams, and gradually became a famous fortune teller in the village. Because of the accuracy of his fortune telling skills, he was highly respected, and many wealthy families often drove to him to tell fortunes. Speaking of my father, Yang Laoqi, although he looks pale and thin, has a rebellious nature and a thin physique, he is as smart as a monkey. He can climb trees to kill birds and go to the river to catch fish. A group of children of different ages around him are all his soldiers. He takes a group of boys to rid the surrounding villages all day long, leaving no grass behind. It is said that "one cannot judge a book by its cover, and one cannot measure the depth of the sea by a bucket." Basically, what the ancients said was true. Although my father, Yang Laoqi, was short, pale and thin, he was gifted, had an excellent academic performance, was able to compose poetry and had beautiful handwriting. Whenever there were major or minor events in the surrounding villages, they would ask my father to write inscriptions and couplets. Compared with Dad's first-class ability to be naughty and playful, this is something that makes Grandpa Yang Dabing very proud. My grandfather originally wanted to pass on the skill of Feng Shui to my father, but my father grew up in the liberation period and had a heroic complex. He was determined not to associate with evildoers and was extremely disgusted with my grandfather's feudal ideas. My grandfather Yang Dabing knew very well that a good hero could not resist the bad world, and that the skill of Feng Shui was not a bright job. It was okay for him to have this hobby, but he really couldn't harm his son by doing this. But every time I think about the fact that the book that Yang Keshui passed on to me can no longer be passed on, I feel extremely distressed and guilty. Although my father is smart, no one in the village has a favorable impression of him because of his mischievous nature. "As the saying goes, life is diverse and destinies are different," and my father seems to be the protagonist with a good fortune. In 1965, in the seventh month of the lunar calendar, people from the town came to Shijiawan to inform that "Yang Laoqi was admitted to Northwest University." "The top scholar emerged from the mountains"...
This news was undoubtedly a bombshell in the village, and it caused a lot of rumors in and outside the village. Some people said that my grandmother's grave was in the right place, and some people said that it was because the direction of the great ancestor's grave was good... Faced with the sudden news, my grandfather was stunned for a long time, his eyes full of tears with excitement. They arrived at the crossroads of Shijia Bay overnight, kowtowed and burned paper to the four road gods. Most importantly, they thanked Yang Keshui for his original instructions, which allowed future generations to receive blessings and fulfill his promise. However, when I thought about the fact that I still didn’t know where Yang Keshui was or whether he was alive or dead, I felt like something was missing in my heart and I couldn’t calm down. The next day, my grandfather went to the town to buy half a pound of meat and brought it home to congratulate my father for getting admitted to university. In the evening, the seven brothers and sisters chatted until late at night. Before going to bed, the grandfather said that Yang Laoqi had good grades and would be able to get into university next year. Could he give the spot to the sixth child this year? The sixth child was taciturn and seemed a little dull. After hearing this, my father shook his feet indifferently, thinking that they were all his brothers anyway, it would be the same no matter who went, so he stretched and agreed. In this way, my father, a genuine graduate from a prestigious university, began to continue farming at home, while my sixth uncle went to university without any success. In May 66, the college entrance examination system was quickly abolished, and batches of aspiring young people were rejected from entering universities. My father, a genuine college student, would be forever isolated outside the university gates... This news made the grandfather extremely painful. He was very concerned, but he had deprived the seventh child of the opportunity to go to college, which made the grandfather feel guilty. Seeing that he could not go to university and was inexplicably locked outside the university gate forever, my father Yang Laoqi had reached a crossroads in his life. It’s bullshit to say that I’m not sad, but when I think about the fact that this benefit belongs to my brother anyway, I feel better. He couldn't sit still, so he found his brother Bingwa who was playing at home, and the two of them ran around all day looking for goals and directions. Yang Laoqi is such a person who always fights against fate to the end, and never bows his head in the face of any difficulties and reality. Seeing that my father, a top student, was unemployed at home, the party members in the village discussed letting him be a village official. At first, my father politely refused, saying that he was used to freedom and he was too lazy to manage himself, so how could he have the time to manage others? But when people from the village came to persuade him one after another, like a matchmaker, my father turned his face away, closed the door and slept at home, ignoring anyone who came to call him. This matter made my grandfather so angry that he stamped his feet. He was worried that my father had no job. Although he graduated from high school, he had no job and would not be able to find a wife. As the old saying goes, "Cats have their own ways, shrimps have their own ways." If you are talented, you can do anything well. It goes without saying that my father is very smart, and his eloquence is top-notch. He traveled around the villages, towns and county towns in Bazhong all day long, making friends and making friends. In less than two months, he acquired a piece of land in Bazhong county and became a contractor. Making money together is the most loyal thing for my father. He then went back to the village and invited nearly a dozen farmers to come and work to earn money. After a while, all the families in the village who wanted to make money came to my father's small construction site. My father's small business was becoming more and more prosperous, but he always seemed to be very poor. Seeing that my father could achieve something without going to college, my grandfather Yang Dadan was very happy. He firmly believed that like dragons, like phoenixes, and that people with ambition can rise no matter where they are. But the most important contributor was Yang Keshui’s guidance, which allowed future generations to enjoy his benefits. My grandfather missed Yang Keshui even more, who was neither a father, nor a brother, nor a teacher. My dears, please give me the recommendation votes for the female channel. If you have the recommendation votes, I will try my best to update twice a week.
(End of this chapter)
