Decades later, many sociologists studied why parents and children could never seem to "talk properly" to one another. After all that research, it came down to only a few things—parents' stubborn attachment to ingrained ways of thinking, and children's impatience with outdated ideas.
Withstanding everyone's pointing fingers and gossip, Han Dawang had raised his daughter into a university student others envied. Later, he had become a truck owner the entire village envied. Having achieved such success, he naturally had his own pride and stubbornness.
How could a back that had never bent for decades possibly be bent by a few sharp words from Han Xia?
And as a university student of the eighties, Han Xia would naturally scoff at some of her father's life experience. Wasn't that how misunderstandings arose between father and daughter?
But Han Dawang truly loved his daughter, and he hurriedly explained to Li Ye, "This really was my fault. Those few days I delayed were because I made a long-haul trip down south and ran into a Mitsubishi heavy truck with Guangdong plates.
"That Mitsubishi was carrying a heavy load, while my 141 was carrying a light one. Yet I chased after it all the way, eating its dust, and when we stopped for fuel, its truck even used less fuel than mine.
"Then, when I got back, I happened to see Southwest Heavy Truck Company's advertisement. They said they used advanced Japanese and West German technology, that their trucks were powerful and fuel-efficient. With that Mitsubishi example right in front of me, how could I not believe them?"
"Ah, Old Han just happened to run into it. Come to think of it, lots of people who get scammed just happen to run into it. If even one little thing had gone differently, they could have