A widower's entertainment

Chapter 310 [Fatherly Love and Filial Piety] (Please Subscribe)
Xinghua Middle School, Beijing.

In the classroom of the second year of junior high school, the last Chinese class was being held. A student was reading aloud Zhu Ziqing's essay "The Back View" from the textbook. His voice was strong and full of emotion.

"...He looked out of the car and said, 'I'm going to buy some oranges. You stay here and don't move. I see there are some vendors waiting for customers outside the platform railing over there. To get to that platform, you have to cross the tracks, jump down and climb back up. My father is a fat man, so it will naturally be more difficult for him to get across...'"

Lin Zhaoqing was reading the essay "The Back View," looking at the opening paragraph, "I haven't seen my father for more than two years, and what I can't forget most is his back view. That winter, my grandmother died, and my father also lost his job; it was a time of double misfortune..." But he couldn't help but think of the summer in Decheng after his mother's death. At that time, his father's back view seemed to be carrying his younger brother Lin Zhaole on his back while sweeping the streets.

Lin Zhaoqing was lost in thought, which naturally caught the attention of the teacher on the podium, who thought he was daydreaming.

"Lin Zhaoqing, get up and continue reading the next paragraph."

Lin Zhaoqing was startled upon hearing this and quickly stood up. Fortunately, he knew what the next paragraph was and continued reading aloud—

“In recent years, my father and I have been constantly on the move, and our family's situation has deteriorated day by day. He went out to make a living when he was young, supported himself on his own, and accomplished many great things…”

As he read, Lin Zhaoqing seemed to be moved as well, his voice becoming even lower. Holding the textbook, he continued reading: "I am in good health, but my arm is in great pain, making it difficult to lift chopsticks or a pen. My time is probably not far off..."

As a teacher, Lin Zhaoqing could naturally tell that his voice was somewhat low, as if he had been touched. He nodded and said, "Very good, sit down and listen carefully."

Lin Zhaoqing sat down obediently, but his gaze unconsciously fell on the sentence in the textbook, "It is inconvenient to pick up chopsticks and pen..." He seemed to think of his father, who also had to pick up a pen to write manuscripts all year round and sit at his desk for long periods of time.

"The poem 'The Back View' is less than fifty lines long and only fifteen hundred words, yet it has been passed down through the ages and possesses a deeply moving power. This kind of article, which appears simple and plain on the surface but can actually evoke great emotion, is most representative of Mr. Zhu's works. The last paragraph continues the theme of the father's back view, expressing the author's longing for his father. After describing his father's back view, the author, in deep remembrance, recalls his father's life. Due to the family's decline, the burden on his father became even heavier..."

Inside the classroom, the Chinese teacher continued to discuss the profound and delicate fatherly love in the article "The Back View," and Lin Zhaoqing, as the son, truly felt that mountain-like fatherly love.

When the bell rings for the end of the last class, it means school is over.

Lin Zhaoqing packed up his books, told his classmates, and prepared to wait for his younger siblings at the school gate before going home together.

When his older sister Lin Zhaoxi was still at Xinghua Middle School, Lin Zhaoxi was always the one waiting for her at the school gate. Now, naturally, it's him, the older brother, who is now waiting for her at the school gate.

"Second brother!"

Lin Zhaohuan saw Lin Zhaoqing from afar at the school gate, a smile on his face, and quickly ran over.

Many students at the school knew about Lin Zhaoqing and his siblings. After all, it was quite rare for five siblings to attend the same school, not to mention that their father was a very famous writer.

Perhaps it was precisely because many students at the school knew that Lin Zhaoqing and his siblings had many brothers and sisters in the school, including Lin Zhaoxi who had previously been admitted to Yenching University Affiliated High School, that no student would bully one of them. They all knew very well that bullying one would only provoke the others, and it was not that simple.

Of course, Lin Zhaoqing and the others all had good relationships with their classmates, and nothing too serious happened.

"Zhaoqing, do you want to come to my house to play marbles after school?"

"No!"

"Zhaoqing, are you still waiting for your younger brother and sister?!"

"Yes."

"Zhaoqing, we're leaving now. See you tomorrow."

While greeting his classmates, Lin Zhaoqing waited for his younger siblings. Lin Zhaomei and Lin Zhaoman arrived at the school gate one after another with their schoolbags on their backs.

The siblings weren't in a hurry; they waited at the school gate for Lin Zhaole to arrive, chatting as they waited.

After a long while, Lin Zhaole finally arrived, running and saying, "I'm sorry I'm late."

Seeing that Lin Zhaole was covered in sweat from running, Lin Zhaomei took out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat and said, "No need to rush, it's not far, don't run anymore. It won't be long to get home."

"I was afraid you'd get impatient waiting."

Lin Zhaole chuckled, then looked at Lin Zhaomei wiping his sweat and said, "Third Sister, you're the best."

After all the siblings were together, they naturally all went back to the courtyard house in Xinghua Hutong.

"Third sister is the best, what about me?"

Lin Zhaohuan leaned closer to Lin Zhaole, looking at his younger brother with a hint of jealousy, and said, "What about the second brother? What about the fourth brother?"

Lin Zhaole held Lin Zhaohuan's hand, his little head bobbing up and down, and quickly said, "You are all the best."

At this moment, even the youngest, Lin Zhaole, had to quickly treat everyone equally.

Clearly, as the youngest brother, Lin Zhaole receives extra care from his older siblings, even though he is two years older than Lin Zhaohuan. Despite this care and affection, Lin Zhaole remains a very sensible and well-behaved younger brother.

Looking at Lin Zhaohuan and Lin Zhaole, Lin Zhaoqing couldn't help but think back to that time when his father took them to a state-run restaurant. His father carried Lin Zhaole on his back and held Lin Zhaohuan in front of him, which was very tiring. Now that he thought about it, he, as the older brother, didn't do much. It was his older sister who helped their father take care of them. Thinking about this, Lin Zhaoqing felt that in the future, he, as the older brother, should do more for his father, take care of his younger siblings, and share some of his father's responsibilities.

"Second brother, what are you thinking about?"

Lin Zhaomei noticed that Lin Zhaoqing was looking at Lin Zhaohuan and Lin Zhaole, as if he was thinking about something, so she couldn't help but ask him a question.

Lin Zhaoqing said with a smile, "When Zhaole was still in the cradle, Zhaohuan also helped to rock the cradle, his little head swaying from side to side."

"Hahahaha!"

Clearly, Lin Zhaoqing's words made Lin Zhaomei and Lin Zhaoman laugh. Although they were very young, they had watched Lin Zhaohuan and Lin Zhaole grow up little by little, and could even be said to have raised them. Naturally, they could imagine or remember that scene: little Lin Zhaohuan holding onto the cradle, inside which lay the even smaller Lin Zhaole.

When Lin Zhaole heard Lin Zhaoqing's words and saw that his older brother and sister were laughing, he laughed along with them. He seemed very curious about his childhood and asked, "When I was in the cradle, was my fifth sister also in the cradle?"

“I’m older than you, how could I be in the same cradle as you?”

Lin Zhaohuan, naturally not feeling like she was the same age as Lin Zhaole, said with an air of wanting to be the older sister, "I'm old enough to change your diapers."

These words made Lin Zhaomei and Lin Zhaoman laugh again.

These words made Lin Zhaole feel embarrassed. Her eyes were filled with shyness, as if she felt it was very embarrassing to ask her sister to wash her diapers. However, her little face showed disbelief. She tilted her head and said, "Fifth sister, you're talking nonsense. You wouldn't do that."

"Haha, Zhao Huan won't."

As Lin Zhaoqing listened to Lin Zhaohuan's words, he thought to himself that back then, it was his father who helped Lin Zhaole wash diapers, and his father seemed to look disgusted when he washed diapers in the yard.

Okay, he must have misremembered.

Why would the father look so disgusted?

Lin Zhaoqing felt that he must have remembered wrong. His father was already very hardworking. He not only had to change Lin Zhaole's diapers, but also had to keep an eye on Lin Zhaohuan from time to time, afraid that Lin Zhaohuan would bump or hurt himself. After all, Lin Zhaohuan had only been walking for a short time at that time.

Looking back now, it must have been incredibly difficult for his father to take care of all six of them, especially since he also had to look after the newborn Lin Zhaole. He would often have to soothe the crying Lin Zhaole in the middle of the night, and he seemed to have said something like, "Little darling, please stop crying, go to sleep, and let me go."

Okay, he probably misheard it in the middle of the night.

Maybe Lin Zhaoman was talking in his sleep and he remembered it wrong.

Clearly, Lin Zhaoqing didn't know why he still remembered those words. It was all vague. But back then, Lin Zhaole would always wake up crying in the middle of the night, but his father wouldn't let them take care of Lin Zhaole. He had to endure it all by himself and go sweep the streets early the next morning.

At that time, it was my eldest sister who could help my father the most.

Lin Zhaoqing thought about some things that happened in Chunfeng Lane in Decheng before, and it all seemed like it happened just yesterday.

Of course, this doesn't mean Lin Zhaoqing doesn't remember his mother taking care of his younger siblings; it's just that he was even younger then, and the time was much longer ago. He simply remembers some things about his father more vividly.

Looking at Lin Zhaohuan and Lin Zhaole, Lin Zhaoqing said truthfully, "Dad washed them all. My older sister helped, but Dad didn't let her wash them. He washed them all by himself."

Lin Zhaomei nodded and said, "Yes, I also remember that it was Dad who washed the diapers. At that time, Dad seemed to have a very hard time."

Lin Zhaomei's memory seemed to show that her father had a really tough time, but she was also a little unsure. It seemed that her father's expression was full of pain, and she didn't know if he was disgusted by the diapers, thinking they were dirty and smelly. He washed the diapers with a reluctant and painful expression and then hung them out to dry.

Lin Zhaomei also doubted whether she had remembered it wrong, but she could feel the hardships her father had endured.

"Yes, Dad, it's really not easy."

As he spoke, Lin Zhaoqing thought of his father's hardships, and seemed to recall the article about his father, "The Back View," which he had studied in class that day.

The Chinese teacher said that Mr. Zhu Ziqing's essay "The Back View" expresses the father's love and care for his son, as well as the son's respect and reluctance to part with his father, through the extremely small and common events of a father and son seeing each other off at a train station. The short text is composed of several scenes and stories from life: a father and son returning home for a funeral; the father personally seeing his son off at the train station because he was worried about his son; the father hiring someone to help his son carry his luggage because his son had too much luggage; the father carefully choosing a seat for his son on the train; the father climbing over multiple platforms to buy oranges for his son, and so on. These small stories reveal extraordinary fatherly love in their ordinariness.

The father washing Lin Zhaole's diapers is probably what the Chinese teacher meant by "extraordinary fatherly love in the ordinary."

With that thought in mind, Lin Zhaoqing and the others continued walking home. They didn't walk for long before they arrived at the courtyard house in Xinghua Hutong.

Lin Zhaoqing saw that his eldest sister, Lin Zhaoxi, who had returned from Yenching University Affiliated High School, had already arrived at the entrance of the courtyard. It seemed that she had indeed been waiting for Lin Zhaole at the school gate for some time, since Lin Zhaoxi would arrive home first.

Lin Zhaoqing saw his father helping his older sister, Lin Zhaoxi, push her bicycle into the yard. Seeing his father's seemingly effortless back, Lin Zhaoqing seemed to have thought of something, quickly ran forward, and said, "Dad, let me help, let me help my sister."

Before Lin Youcheng could say anything more, Lin Zhaoqing quickly took the initiative to help Lin Zhaoxi push the bicycle into the yard. His quick action left both Lin Zhaoxi and Lin Youcheng somewhat bewildered.

Lin Zhaoxi, being the eldest sister, turned directly to Lin Zhaomei who was walking over and asked, "Did he cause trouble at school today?"

Although she thought it was unlikely, Lin Zhaoxi, as the older sister, couldn't help but ask the question.

Lin Zhaomei shook her head and said, "I don't know."

Lin Zhaoman and Lin Zhaohuan both shook their heads.

Although Lin Zhaoqing is usually very sensible, it's strange that he's never been so proactive as he is today.

Lin Zhaoqing even went so far as to ask Lin Youcheng about his writing, asking, "Dad, isn't it tiring for you to write articles all the time?"

Lin Youcheng was naturally a little surprised by Lin Zhaoqing's question. He wondered what was wrong with his son Lin Zhaoqing today, as he seemed unusually sensible. He said, "It's alright. Now that I'm older, I don't have to sit and rush to finish my manuscript all the time."

"Dad, you've worked so hard."

Although he had some doubts, there was no doubt that Lin Zhaoqing's words made him, as a father, feel a sense of filial piety, though he didn't know where it came from.

It was obvious that Lin Youcheng was unaware that his son, Lin Zhaoqing, had studied Zhu Ziqing's essay "The Back View," reciting the text aloud and memorizing it, and had even memorized that particular sentence—

The time for its great departure is probably not far off.

(End of this chapter)