Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 695 Keeping Up with Your Own Pace

After viewing the house, Xiaowei took Xiaoliwen to the police station and sat with Liu Huasheng for a while. He told Liu Huasheng about the family's move to Fengtian and said that he would need Liu Huasheng's help to look after Xiaoliwen in the future. After all, Xiaoliwen was still young, and he was a little worried about leaving a girl alone. It would be much better if Liu Huasheng took care of her.

After making a big round and arranging everything, Xiaowei finally returned to the compound.

To be honest, Xiaowei had a complex and inexplicable feeling towards Longcheng. His life had been completely and dramatically changed here. Although it was backward and didn't have many skyscrapers, it felt much closer to him than Fengtian. But there was nothing he could do; things had to develop, and people had to move forward. There were many times when we didn't have any other choice.

Master Zhai's whole family has left, and Xie Xiaolong's whole family will leave soon. The school will move to Fengtian next year, and this place will only accept students from Longcheng and the surrounding areas. Although the food factory is still there, its focus has shifted to Fengtian, and this place is just a branch factory. There will be no change in scale.

The restaurant relied entirely on government-funded entertainment expenses, so there were no real operational problems. Besides, most of the old folks had left, leaving only Sister Zhang. Xiao Liwen had gone independent, Li Bing and Liu Hongliang had gone to Fengtian, Sister Shang was at the food factory, and Li Gengsheng was here managing the finances. Now the place was completely unfamiliar.

It's a feeling of unfamiliarity, a psychological sensation that's hard to explain. Everything and everyone is subtly changing; everyone is striving within their own circle, yet influencing one another.

Master Zhai, Xie Xiaolong, Li Wen, Li Bing, Liu Hongliang, Sister Shang, Li Gengsheng, Huang Laowu, Lao Hou, An Laowu, An Lei and his son, Shan Hongmei and her four friends, and even Chen Hui, Chen Xiao, Xia Maosheng and Geng Hui, all have lives that are completely unrelated, yet they are all changed because of Xiao Wei.

Xiao Wei himself is also changing. This change is from the outside in. The external environment and opportunities have changed his life, his life has changed his behavior, his behavior has influenced his thinking, and his thinking has silently adjusted his behavior.

When Xiaowei is alone, he often finds himself spacing out for no reason, completely lost in thought and inactive. Sometimes he suddenly feels that everything is unreal, like a dream, and then he breaks out in a cold sweat.

He knew he was just a country boy with little formal education, and the changes in his life, the expectations of his parents and siblings, the excellence of his girlfriend, and the trust of his friends all required him to face them seriously. So he read a lot of books, observed carefully, and thought deeply for long periods of time. He knew he was actually just lucky, so he needed to put in even more effort.

The most important thing for a person is not to keep up with changes in society or the environment, but to keep up with changes in themselves.

So many people achieve fleeting success, so many make money and then quickly collapse – are they not hardworking enough? Not diligent enough? Not smart enough? No, they simply didn't keep up with their own pace. Their bodies may have moved far, but their hearts remained in the same place.

Humans are very forgetful animals.

Who still remembers the glory of Luoyang, once the largest city in China?

How many people know where the line "If only General Li Guang were here, the barbarian horses would never cross the Yin Mountains" refers to, and who it refers to?

How many people still remember their thoughts and aspirations when they started out in poverty?

Some people just drift along with the tide, indulging themselves recklessly. When they are working, they resent the unfairness of their bosses, but when they become bosses, they treat their employees like dirt. When they are poor, they curse the rich for their rich and powerful, but when they are rich, they put on a look of disdain and curse the poor for not knowing what's good for them.

Man's greatest enemy is never any opponent, but his own heart. Those who can keep pace with their own lives will go further and further, while those whose hearts fall behind will inevitably head towards the unknown. What is a nouveau riche? It is someone whose heart has been forgotten in the same place.

People will always grow and change, and the environment will always develop and change. Once you get lost, you can never go back. Too many people have handed themselves over to the unknown.

"Brother, are you stupid?" Xiaobing cautiously reached out and touched Xiaowei's face.

Xiao Wei touched his face: "What's wrong?"

The soldier said, "My dad has called you several times, but you're just standing there in a daze and ignoring him. What are you thinking about? You look like you've gone mad."

Xiao Wei turned to look at his father, who was standing to the side: "Dad, did you call me?"

Xiaowei's dad said, "Your mom asked if you were leaving after eating or right now. It's okay, your mom's going to get some. Have a bite before you go."

Xiao Wei said, "Make it fresh? I thought you guys could finish eating by now. Making it fresh is too slow, isn't it? How about we go to a restaurant?" Xiao Wei watched his dad walk into the kitchen.

Xiaowei's dad said, "We just heated up what we had and got everything set up. We finished cleaning up this morning. You know your mom's personality; she doesn't feel right unless she's busy for a while. She won't feel good about leaving now."

Xiao Wei asked, "So you didn't eat lunch?"

The young soldier said, "My dad and I fought with the students for a bite in the cafeteria, and I still wasn't full. I didn't dare say a word; who dared to mess with that old lady today? They'd probably beat me up!"

Xiao Wei's dad said, "She calmed down a bit after seeing you came, and then she remembered about dinner. Would Xiao Bing and I dare to flirt with her?"

Xiao Wei laughed and said, "You're making yourselves look so pitiful, like you're being abused all the time. Is my mom really that fierce?"

The soldier shook his head and said solemnly, "Sigh, you have no idea, it's all tears. I'm not going to learn from you."

Xiao Wei almost burst out laughing. He rubbed Xiao Bing's head vigorously a few times and strode into the kitchen.

"Mom, what have you been doing all day? Why haven't you eaten yet?"

Xiaowei's mother looked at the steamer on the stove without turning her head and said, "I forgot, Xiaobing and your dad aren't happy about it, are they? I don't know what's wrong with me, I feel empty inside, and my memory has suddenly gone blank. I feel like I haven't done a lot of things, but after looking around, I can't find anything I haven't done, yet I can't let it go. Getting old, huh?"

Xiaowei said, "This time it's settled, and we'll never move again. You're just being reluctant to leave, aren't you?"

Xiaowei's mother pursed her lips and said, "You make it sound so true. They've finished settling in on their side, why aren't they moving in?"

Xiao Wei said, half-laughing and half-crying, "How can that be considered? It's only a few hundred meters away. Besides, if you don't want to move, you can stay there. They don't need it anyway. It'll be more lively living together."

Xiaowei's mother took the steamer down and said, "Call your dad and Xiaobing for dinner."

Xiao Wei called out from the doorway, and his mother had already placed the steamed buns and mantou on the table, along with pickled vegetables, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, steamed egg custard, and meat sauce—it all looked very appetizing.

"Since you've already left, let's not bother making it. Just fill your stomachs and we'll cook more when we get there. Eat up." Xiaowei's mom said to Xiaowei's dad and Xiaobing as they came in, then hurriedly went out again.

Xiao Wei watched his mother's retreating figure and asked, "Mom, aren't you going to eat?"

Xiaowei's mother said, "You guys eat, I'll go around again and see if I've forgotten anything."

(End of this chapter)