Chapter One
"Brother." Lin Dangdang hugged Wang Dongshan's neck and coquettishly asked: "Tell me, why are you so exceptional?"
Wang Dongshan pushed Lin Dingdang: "Dingdang, you've asked me this question many times before. I'll tell you today."
Lin Dindong pulled open the quilt and put it on Wang Dongshan, then got back into bed himself: "Go ahead, brother, I'm all ears."
"It's a long story!" Wang Dongshan sighed and said, "I was able to climb up to the position of deputy chairman of the Municipal Literary Federation, but it wasn't really my own credit. This is thanks to one person, a great man, and that person is my adoptive father, Tang Weizhong."
"Is it Tang Weizhong?" Lin Dindong asked in surprise: "Who is Tang Weizhong?"
"You must know Tang Xueqiang?"
"Didn't he just get promoted to deputy secretary of the municipal party committee?"
"It's him. This person doesn't recognize his own relatives and won't do favors for others. There are two ways he can get promoted, one is through hard work, the other is through luck. His luck with official positions is especially good."
I heard this person never laughs.
"That's right... This Tang Wei Zhong is actually Tang Xue Qiang's stepfather."
"Didn't Tang Xueqiang not have a father?"
"There is. My stepfather, also my adoptive father Tang Weizhong is still alive."
"Is he still alive?"
"Yes. They had lost contact with each other for many years."
The newspaper said that Tang Xueqiang's father was beaten to death by the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution when he was "swept away by a 12th-level typhoon"!
"That's also correct."
"What's going on?" Lin Dangdang sat up and also put on her quilt.
"You promise me one thing and I'll tell you."
"I agree."
"This matter must be kept confidential."
"I'm sure."
"Tang Weizhong, who was beaten to death during the Cultural Revolution, was rescued and sent to Lianhuashan overnight. He is now the abbot of Yuqing Temple."
"Is the abbot of Yuqing Temple, Tang Dashi, actually Tang Xueqiang's stepfather?"
"Yes. He is also my foster father." Wang Dongshan's eyes became moist.
"Brother, what's wrong with you?"
……
Chapter 3: Bitter Years
The sheep are quietly eating grass; the squirrels are running back and forth among the branches; the birds are chirping and singing; white clouds are slowly moving across the blue sky; dew drops and red fruits on the white teeth grass are shining together, playing a beautiful and moving melody on the strings of the spring water. Only my sister is gone.
"Brother," said the sister, pulling her brother over to the mound of earth she had baked: "I've cooked the sweet potatoes."
Sangye dug out the mountain medicine, knocked off the ash on the ground, and wiped the yellowish-brown mountain medicine clean with his sleeve. He handed it to his brother's hand: "Brother, eat quickly, I'll dig some more."
Tang Xueqiang's adoptive father Tang Weizhong was born in a village called Tangjiabao in Lanhe City.
Tangjiabao Village is located in the mountains. Although it's not a place with high mountains and deep valleys, the mountain roads are difficult to navigate, and there isn't a single decent road that can accommodate small cars; although it's not extremely impoverished, education is backward, and up until now, there still isn't a proper school.
More than 90% of the people in Tangjiabao are surnamed Tang, but these Tangs are not from the same family. The Tangs north of Pogou are local households who have lived here for generations. All the Tangs south of Pogou are outsiders. These outsiders came to escape the war and chaos from other places and eventually became people of Tangjiabao. At that time, the household of Tangjiabao was managed by Tang Laoer, the father of Tang Weizhong, a scholar. Tang Laoer told the dozens of families who came to escape: one condition, once you arrive in Tangjiabao, change your surname to Tang. If you agree, go settle down south of Pogou; if not, go somewhere else.
……
Although both the south and north of Pogou are surnamed Tang, they were not from the same family. After many years, through intermarriage between local families and immigrant families, they all became relatives.
In 1956, the government had built a primary school here, named Primary School. In fact, it was led by the village chief and villagers who worked together to build a large earth house. The government sent a teacher with the surname Meng, and Village Chief Tang Wuzi assisted Teacher Meng's work. Tangjiabao Primary School started at the beginning of the month but collapsed by the end of the month. Teacher Meng sighed deeply, left with a sense of helplessness, and continued to teach in the county town. Tang Wuzi saw off Teacher Meng with tears, putting away the national flag that had not been raised yet into a box.
Xiucai Tang Wuzi said: "Tangjia Fortress is beyond salvation, Tangjia Fortress has no hope!"
Fellow villagers asked the scholar: "Thanks to Chairman Mao of the Communist Party, we have food to eat and clothes to wear, and the landlords have been overthrown. You, a scholar who can read and write, how could you say such depressing words?"
Tang Xiucai muttered to himself: "The school has been set up, but not a single person has sent their children to study. Foolish! Foolish!"
One day, ten years later, Tang Weizhong, also known as Tang Xiucan, who had become the "Fifth Son Master", took out the national flag that had been stored at the bottom of a trunk for half his life and brought it to the school founded by his son. Fifth Son Master was not old, his nickname was Fifth Son. Because he was a scholar, he was first called "Master" by outsiders in Pogou Nan, and later, Fifth Son Master became known as the "Master" of Tangjiabao. The primary school in Tangjiabao had not been approved by any government department, and when Tang Ziwu asked about it, the county and township authorities replied that they could not send teachers to their area and did not have the funds to build a school.
Old Master Wu stroked his sparse goatee and said, "Girl, you're the first middle school student from our Tang Family Village, and by rights, a scholar too. The higher-ups don't care, we'll take care of it ourselves! I just don't believe that not one of the young masters of Tang Family Village has any guts!"
It's indeed a different time now. Nowadays, the people of Tangjiabao all know the importance of education. When they saw that the son of Xiucai Wuzi, young Xiucai Tang Ziwu, wanted to start a school, everyone was extremely enthusiastic. One person donated a large beam, another ten rafters; Zhang San donated two purlins, Li Si a cartload of bricks... During the construction, all the men and women, old and young, in the village worked together, contributing their labor and ideas. Tangjiabao Primary School was quickly built on the slope. There is one large classroom and three small houses.
In the morning, the weather was exceptionally clear and refreshing, with a sense of happiness lingering in the air on campus. Wu Ziyu and the villagers, as well as 32 newly enrolled students, stood in front of the classroom to raise the national flag. The flagpole was made from a tall, straight poplar tree, thick at the bottom and thin at the top, with a delicate rope made from a bundle of grass tied around it. However, when burying the flagpole, people overlooked one detail - they forgot to thread the rope for raising the flag through the pulley at the top of the pole.
Mr. Tang and the villagers discussed how to tie the rope up. Some said to climb up and tie it, while others suggested digging out the flagpole and tying the rope before replanting it. Someone said that climbing up to tie was too risky, in case they fell off, it wouldn't be a joke. At this moment, a child nicknamed "Clever Ghost" from Nanpo Slope rushed to the flagpole.
Tang Ziwu grabbed Tang Xueqiang's arm: "Tang Xueqiang, what are you doing?"
"Quick-witted ghost" Tang Xueqiang grasped the grass rope and asked straightforwardly, "What makes Tang Ziqiang qualified to raise the national flag?"
"Let Tang Xueqiang raise the national flag!"
"Let the clever ghost raise the national flag!"
……
