Cuan Family Village is located on the outskirts of Cuanzhou, surrounded by mountains on all sides. There is only one road leading out of Cuanzhou, winding through the ridges and backs of the mountains like a thin, gray-white ribbon wrapped around the waist of a giant.
Yao Jingjing drove her car off at the Luliang exit of the Spring–Cuan Expressway and walked onto this ribbon.
She rented the car from a car rental shop in Spring City. Mama Yao said she was going to take the train back, and Yao Jingjing was worried about her mother's health. She had just gotten off the plane and was about to catch the train again, and she also needed a car to go to her maternal grandparents' graves in the countryside.
Mama Yao suggested borrowing a car from a friend when they arrived in Cuanzhou, but Yao Jingjing refused. She didn't want to trouble others; borrowing a car is a hassle for car owners. If she doesn't lend it, people say she's stingy and not a good friend—it's just a car, it won't break; if she does lend it, she's afraid of accidents. If something serious happens, everyone suffers; if it's a minor incident, like running a red light or getting a scratch, why would she bother arguing with a friend about that?
Mama Yao didn't think so. She believed that relatives should visit each other often, give and take, and help each other out; only then would the relationship be solid. If you don't ask for help from others and they don't ask for help from you, over time, the kinship will fade and you'll lose your friends.
Yao Jingjing felt that this was an old-fashioned way of thinking. Although it made sense, it was no longer suitable for today's times. The pace of society is so fast these days, who has time to take care of anyone else? It's best not to bother others with your own affairs if possible.
She still insisted on renting a car. When Mama Yao saw her scan a few times with her phone and the car was successfully rented, she couldn't help but exclaim, "Renting a car is so fast now? I remember when I used to go out with your dad, he had to show his ID and pay a deposit to rent a car."
Papa Yao said, "That's all ancient history. Later on, all you needed to do was swipe your credit card for a pre-authorization. Now everyone uses their phones, it's even more convenient!"
"You think you're so great!" Mama Yao scoffed. "If you're so capable, why don't you buy a car? You still need Jingjing to take care of us!"
Papa Yao wasn't annoyed by her retort, he just chuckled and remained silent. Mama Yao, of course, didn't mean to provoke him; it was just a habit she'd developed over the years. Perhaps it was because most women in the Cuan Family were assertive, she always liked to argue with her husband. She knew perfectly well how difficult it had been for her husband to move from the countryside to the city, settle down, and build a life together. If it weren't for her illness, their life would have been quite comfortable. They didn't buy a car to save money for their daughter's dowry.
"All you do is grin like an idiot!" Mama Yao reached out and straightened her husband's coat collar. This coat was bought by their daughter, and the old man had been heartbroken for days after finding out the price.
After adjusting her coat collar, she suddenly noticed that her husband had many more gray hairs at his temples than before, and the wrinkles on his face were deeper. Mama Yao touched his face and said, "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have gotten this illness."
Papa Yao held her hand. "Everything's fine now, isn't it? You're cured, and your daughter is doing well. You should be happy!"
Mama Yao laughed and said, "Do you know what the most successful thing you've ever done in your life is?"
"What?" Papa Yao asked.
"It's all thanks to you that I have such a capable daughter!" said Mama Yao.
Papa Yao jumped up abruptly, hitting his head on the car roof. He cried out and sat back down, rubbing his head, saying, "What do you mean I gave birth to your daughter? That's ridiculous! It should be, you gave birth to my daughter! Jingjing's surname is Yao!"
Mama Yao said, "Go away, go away! I'm giving you face by letting Jingjing take your surname, and you're already pushing your luck! Jingjing has the blood of the Cuan Family flowing in her veins, otherwise she wouldn't be so successful!"
Papa Yao retorted, "Then she should also have the surname Yao!"
Looking at the two elders, Yao Jingjing wanted to laugh, so she said, "Dad, Mom, how old are you two? You're still so lovey-dovey!"
Mama Yao retorted playfully, "How are we being affectionate?"
"Aren't you tired of this? All you do is have babies for each other all the time. Why don't you give me a little brother instead!" Yao Jingjing laughed.
Papa Yao said, "Your mother suffered a lot when she gave birth to you, and she never wanted to have another child. Otherwise, she would have added a new member to the Yao family long ago."
Mama Yao said, "You wish! If you're going to have a child, it will be a daughter. Who's going to give you a son!"
Papa Yao said, "A daughter is fine too! You said it yourself. Why don't we go back and get one? Anyway, you're almost fully recovered. I've been holding back for almost two years."
Hearing him suddenly become unserious, Mama Yao spat and said, "What are you saying in front of the children!"
Yao Jingjing blushed. "Dad! Mom!..."
The winding mountain road goes round and round, sometimes high, sometimes low. Looking out the front window, it just seemed like the road had ended, but then it suddenly looked like noodles in a noodle maker's hand, slowly stretching out endlessly. Clouds and mist swirl around the mountainside outside the car, making driving really feel like floating in the clouds.
Yao Jingjing opened the car window a little to let fresh air into the car. Although it was a bit cold, it was refreshing.
Mama Yao was still scolding her husband for his careless words. Seeing his grinning face, she wanted to pinch him a few times to vent her anger, but she couldn't because of her daughter. Then, smelling the fresh mountain air, she took a deep, satisfying breath.
"Ah, I can smell the scent of my hometown again, it feels so comforting!"
"I can't smell it at all!" Papa Yao sniffed, "It's just the smell of earth!"
Mama Yao retorted angrily, "What earthy smell? This is called homesickness? You're so uncultured!" Then she recited a poem with a sigh, "Only seven days into spring, yet two years have passed since I left home. People return after the wild geese have flown south, and my thoughts arise before the flowers."
Yao Jingjing said, "Mom, you're amazing! You can even remember to recite poetry."
Mama Yao sighed and said, "Alas, I'm getting old, my memory is getting worse and worse, and I can only remember these things I memorized when I was a child."
Papa Yao said, "Your mother was a truly talented woman when she was young. In today's terms, she was both beautiful and intelligent. Otherwise, I wouldn't have fallen for her."
Mama Yao was secretly pleased, but said reproachfully, "Who cares if you've taken a liking to me! Sigh, when I was a child, the Cultural Revolution was raging, and I didn't have time to study. Otherwise, I could have at least gone to a junior college."
Yao Jingjing said, "Mom, you didn't go to school, so where did you learn all those poems that I was taught to recite when I was little?"
"That's all what my grandma taught me," said Mama Yao.
"Great-Grandma?" Yao Jingjing asked curiously, "Wasn't Great-Grandma a country girl? Or was she a lady from a prominent family before Liberation?"
Mama Yao said, "The Cuan Family was once very wealthy; your great-grandmother was a well-known figure in the area. She even attended military school when she was young!"
"Huh?" Yao Jingjing exclaimed in surprise, "Mom, you must be joking. Great-Grandma was back in the Republic of China era. There weren't any women in military academies back then!"
Mama Yao said, "I don't know that. I just remember seeing a picture of my grandma in her military uniform when I was little. She looked so cool! Later, I asked her where it was taken, and she said it was in Wuchang."
Papa Yao said, "I know that..."
Mama Yao said, "You know nothing! How could you possibly know things that I don't even know?"
Papa Yao said, "I actually know that the Whampoa Military Academy Wuchang Branch recruited a group of female students, more than two hundred people. They were the first and only group of female officers in China before liberation. They went to the battlefield and were all remarkable women. The academy was disbanded shortly after the April 12 Incident. Some went to the Soviet Union, some went to propaganda teams in various units, and some returned to their hometowns. There was a writer named Xie Bingying who was in that group of students. She wrote a book called ' A Woman Soldier's Own Story,' which tells this story."
"So my great-grandmother really did attend a military academy?" Yao Jingjing couldn't help but feel a sense of longing, and the image of the Double-Gun Old Woman from a TV series popped into her mind.