Exciting 1979!

Chapter 497 A baby is a baby, and a child is a child

After saying those somewhat unfilial words, Wei Ping'an felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

Old Ghost laughed and said, "As expected of a scholar, even his cursing is so civilized."

Wei Ping'an retorted, "I was also a soldier."

Old Ghost: "Then you can curse even more fiercely. Just cursing someone as inhuman won't vent your anger."

"I won't curse you, because cursing you will kill eight hundred enemies but also lose a thousand of your own." Wei Ping'an wasn't stupid.

Old Ghost: "Then let's go upstairs, don't keep everyone waiting."

Wei Ping'an frowned slightly: "Is that all? Don't you have anything to explain to me?"

And shouldn't you show some remorse? You're already forty years old, middle-aged, yet you still believe you're a posthumous child without a father!

Old Ghost: "Oh, that's a long story. I bet this fried chicken is getting cold. You have to eat it while it's hot, it doesn't taste good when it's cold. Let's finish eating and find a rooftop to chat."

He went ahead first, and Wei Ping'an had no choice but to follow.

During the elevator ride, Wei Ping'an stared intently at Lao Gui, hoping to see a look of guilt on his face, but unfortunately, he didn't. Lao Gui's eyes were full of fatherly love, which made Wei Ping'an physically uncomfortable and gave him goosebumps. He decided to look at the advertisements on the elevator, but they were still breast enhancement ads, which made him even more embarrassed.

After going upstairs and entering the house, Lin Ni said, "We've been waiting for you. How should we cook this fish?"

Old Ghost rolled up his sleeves: "I'll do it, let's steam it. Where's Amin?"

She said she had already eaten.

Vivian Chow was already in bed, and as for Rina, it had no effect on her mood at all; on the contrary, she was quite happy.

Judging from what Lizhi said, she and Amin are still innocent.

They still don't have any real relationship, which shows how tempting Lizhi is. So my Ah Ming is actually quite chaste.

Soon his new album and music video will be officially released, and the world will know how much Amin loves himself.

~
Upstairs, after the meal began, Lao Gui first placed a piece of steamed grouper that he had made on Wei Ping'an's plate: "Try it, you probably rarely get to eat this kind of fish on the mainland."

Wei Ping'an's heart stirred. He thought of his childhood, when he and his mother often ate at his uncle's house. If there was something delicious, the man would usually put the first bite on his plate for him.

At the time, I only thought it was a matter of hospitality, or perhaps because I was the youngest. Now that I think about it, the meaning of that first bite seems to be more complex than it appears.

Is it for compensation?

Every time he went out with Jiefang, he would always remind Jiefang to take good care of his younger brother, but most of the time Jiefang failed to do so, so the number of times Jiefang was beaten since childhood is countless.

However, at that time, Wei Ping'an envied Wei Jiefang, who was whipped on the buttocks with various tools, because he believed that it was his father's love, something he could only dream of but never attain.

As he ate, Wei Ping'an thought of his beautiful and delicate mother again. He could let go of his own grievances, but what about his mother? What was her true identity in his heart?

Did he ever have genuine feelings for her?
Wei Ping'an finished eating first, and then sat and waited to go up to the rooftop with Lao Gui.

"Hey, I'm full, Ping An, come on, let's go for a walk." Old Gui stood up; he had already prepared himself.

"I want to go too!" Xizi said, raising her hand while munching on a chicken wing.

Wei Ping'an shoved another one into his hand: "Eat yours."

“Then I’ll go with you…” Wei Jiefang also wanted to go.

Old Ghost chuckled, "Let's chat about the national situation while we're at it; you're not high enough rank."

Wei Hong said to her father and aunt, "It still has to be Director Wei."

The rooftop—Old Ghost hasn't been here in a long time.

Wei Ping'an said, "Now that we have plenty of time, let's start from the beginning."

"Let's start with Wei Wu."

Wei Wu, Wei Ping'an's nominal father, and Wei Senhao's cousin.

"Actually, he has no relation to you or your mother. He went to Shanghai with me, but unfortunately he didn't come back alive. Your mother wanted to live in Gouzitun, so she used his name."

Hearing the truth, Wei Ping'an felt a weight lifted from his heart. He certainly didn't want his mother to be married while she was with Lao Gui; love triangles and such were so annoying.

"Then you and my mother..."

“Actually, we were each other’s first love,” Wei Senhao said sincerely.

"First love? Then why is Brother Jiefang older than me?"

“But your aunt and I are childhood sweethearts,” the old ghost said shamelessly, a response that was similar to: a baby is a baby, and a child is a child.

If he hadn't been the one involved, Wei Ping'an would have given him a thumbs up.

Old Ghost continued, "That all started when I was fifteen. I experienced the July 7th Incident in Beijing and joined the underground organization of our party. Because my brother was a graduate of the Whampoa Military Academy and worked for the Kuomintang, and my sister was a socialite in Shanghai with a powerful husband's family, I was sent to Shanghai to carry out a mission, codenamed Yan Shuangying..." Old Ghost spoke with great enthusiasm, and Wei Ping'an listened attentively.

At that time, Lao Gui was ostensibly the younger brother of the young mistress of the Shi family. With this identity, he made friends with many people from all walks of life. Among them was Cheng Ziyan, a girl from Nanjing who could sing Suzhou Pingtan.

Later, their relationship progressed further after he rescued her: "At the time, I was on a mission, so I didn't think about romance and was afraid of involving your mother. But she was deeply in love with me and pursued me relentlessly. I couldn't help it. I was indeed young, rich, and handsome, and very attractive. A female writer surnamed Zhang pursued me but was rejected, so she ran away to Hong Kong in a fit of anger."

Wei Ping'an couldn't stand his boasting: "Stop going off on a tangent."

"Later, your mother entered the film industry. Because she was strong-willed and would rather break than bend, she started as an extra and only got some small roles after a while. Once, in order to pass on a piece of information, I encouraged my sister to invest in a movie. As the investor's representative, I went out of town with the crew to film, hoping to pass on secret information through location shooting. It just so happened that your mother was in that film crew."

"That mission failed because of a traitor's leak. Our comrades sacrificed themselves to cover me, and I was also injured. Your mother and I ended up in the Shaoxing area to recuperate. By then, she had already guessed my true identity, but she remained true to her original intention, and that's how we got together."

At this point, Old Ghost seemed lost in memories, and hesitated to say anything more.

Wei Pingan couldn't help but ask, "So how did you two break up later?"

His tone was no longer as aggressive as it had been at the beginning.

Old Ghost sighed, "Because of the failure of that mission, the organization was worried that I was no longer safe in Shanghai, so they sent me back to work in North China. I was worried about leaving your mother in Shanghai, so I asked my cousin, Wei Wu, to send her back to her hometown in Nanjing and gave her enough money. At the time, I had a feeling that Shanghai was about to fall, but I never expected Nanjing to fall two months later..."

"Ah!" Upon hearing this, Wei Ping'an, who was familiar with history, could not possibly not know what had happened.

Old Ghost said, "The news of the massacre shocked the whole country, and your mother and I lost all contact. I thought we were separated by death. Later, I reunited with my childhood sweetheart, Fan Erxiu. She had joined the Eighth Route Army medical team and became my comrade. Three years later, we got married with Commander Yang as our witness, and your aunt became pregnant with your brother, Jiefang."

At this moment, Wei Ping'an no longer felt hatred. In chaotic times, human life is like duckweed, and no one is to blame but the damned Japanese!
Old Ghost continued recounting the events of that year: "Although I wanted to see my son born, military orders were hard to follow. At that time, it happened to be after the Southern Anhui Incident, and relations between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party began to become tense. Because I was familiar with the work in Shanghai, and your uncle already held a high position in the Kuomintang, I was sent to Shanghai in 41 to be in charge of underground work. That's when I met your mother."

"She didn't go back to Nanjing?"

"No, not only did she not go back, but she also moved into your aunt's house. However, I lost contact with your aunt during those years in the enemy-occupied area and was unaware of it. Although your mother did not return to her hometown, Wei Wu made a trip for her and sent money back to her hometown in Nanjing. As a result, neither he nor your maternal grandfather's family survived until the end of 37. He never knew my underground party identity until his death."

Wei Ping'an clenched his fists. Just now he was thinking that it was a waste to kowtow to a stranger for so many years, but now he felt that he should still pay respects to that uncle every year.

"So you and my mother got back together after you reunited?" Wei Ping'an asked, his tone now more gossipy.

“I admit that my behavior back then was unfair to your mother and your aunt, but this may be a family tradition. Your grandfather had three wives. His first wife was infertile, his second wife died in childbirth, and all three of us siblings were actually born to his third wife.”

"Don't give me that. I only have one wife, and my brother has only ever loved my sister-in-law," Wei Ping'an said confidently, though this confidence mainly came from Wei Jiefang.

Old Gui shrugged. He didn't know who Xizi resembled. She had previously helped a little girl named Feifei deliver things to her family in Hong Kong, but then she became inseparable from Fu Qi's little girl. She was invited to their home as soon as they met, and kept calling her Mingxian "sister".

"Have you been hiding anything from my mother about you and my aunt?" Wei Ping'an asked proactively.

"No, she already knew when we first met, but she didn't mind. She said she works in the film industry and has a more open mind. In reality, she's never played a leading role; her most screen time is only a few minutes." Old Gui said this with a doting expression.

He continued the story: "You were born in Jueyuan, Shijiazhuang. You should have been back there by now, but you probably don't remember it. You lived there for most of your life until you were two years old, and you had no worries about food or clothing. You have your aunt to thank for that."

Wei Ping'an nodded. No wonder he was so kind to the old lady. She had been very good to him, not only giving him a third of the mansion, but also helping him with the work he was in charge of.

“I witnessed your birth with my own eyes. You were born prematurely, and you were so small,” Old Ghost gestured, “less than five pounds. In the blink of an eye, you’ve grown to be a tall man of 1.8 meters, even taller than your brother who was born weighing eight pounds.”

Hearing that he still remembered what he looked like when he was born, Wei Ping'an couldn't help but feel a little teary-eyed, and also wanted to laugh: "I ate well at Peking University later, and I grew taller after I went to college."

Old Ghost: "It's a pity I couldn't stay with you for long either. In the last year of the War of Resistance Against Japan, I was sent to Chongqing. When the war ended, a new war began. I didn't return to Shanghai until 47. But by then, my sister and brother-in-law's family had already left Shanghai, leaving only an empty house. There was no news of you and your mother. In order to find you, I even risked contacting your uncle. At that time, he already knew my identity, but we hadn't revealed our identities yet. I was afraid that he would arrest you to threaten me into betraying him."

“Actually, we went back to your hometown in Hebei,” Wei Pingan continued.

Old Ghost nodded: "Actually, after the war ended, your mother went back to her hometown in Nanjing first. Unfortunately, her parents and relatives were all gone, and even their bodies could not be found. Her aunt in Shanghai had also gone abroad. So she thought of my hometown. Although she knew that there was a mother and son there and that her identity would be very awkward, she still decided to go there to wait for me. At the end of 45, you arrived in Hebei and settled in Gouzi Village."

Wei Ping'an's earliest memory is of Gouzi Village, and it was only after living there with his mother, his aunt, and Gou Dan Ge for a period of time that he met "Uncle Wei Senhao".

Old Gui returned to his hometown at the end of 48, during the Pingjin Campaign. Wei Jiefang was six years old and Wei Ping'an was five. It was the first time Old Gui had met Wei Jiefang, but unfortunately, only he could call him "Dad." Wei Ping'an could only call him "Uncle" through his mother's introduction.

"Although your mother is very clever and claims to be Wei Wu's wife, your aunt is not stupid either. She guessed the relationship between you and me from your appearance. You looked very much like me when you were a child. After I returned to my hometown, I confessed to her. She is an amazing woman with an extraordinary heart. When I was about to go to Yanjing to fight, your aunt said that if I could come back alive, I would have two wives."

Wei Ping'an quickly answered, "As a result, Yanjing was peacefully liberated."

Old Ghost: "I came back unharmed. I felt I owed you four a lot, and I also violated organizational discipline. So after the war, I retired directly from the army and farmed at home. But your mother and you still have to live in Gouzi Village through Wei Wu's connections."

This is the story of Wei Senhao, his two wives, and his two sons: "I'm done telling my story. I'm sorry to you two, especially since I promised you I would come back alive before I went to North Korea, but I failed this time. So the time I actually spent with you was far too short."

After recounting this experience, Wei Senhao burst into tears. This was a regret he could never make up for. Besides feeling guilty towards Wei Ping'an and his mother, he also felt guilty towards Wei Jiefang and his mother. He had only been a father to them for a tenth of their lives, which made him feel extremely unworthy.

Wei Ping'an was affected by his emotions, and he wiped away his tears: "I understand your predicament, but why didn't you tell me the truth when we first met? I have no father since I was a child. Even if I had known that I had a father a year or a month earlier, it would have been very, very important to me!"

“I want to too, but my identity is awkward. I’m afraid this relationship will hold you back. I’m afraid that because of this stain on your record, the organization won’t trust you. I…” Old Ghost was also a little flustered, his lips trembling as he pleaded, “Can I hear you call me ‘father’?”

For someone who hasn't used this title in forty years, the word is somewhat difficult to utter.

There was a long silence on the rooftop until Wei Jiefang let out a fart.

"Who?" Wei Pingan looked behind him.

(I'm experiencing some writer's block in this chapter, so I'm posting it now and I'll polish and revise it later.)

(End of this chapter)