Insufficient balance

  After all, it's been a year since he left home, and Bao Yulin still misses his family very much. All the way, he was nervous and worried, although Bao Yulin clearly knew that what he had done could be considered blameless, but he really feared returning to Xiangshui Village where he had lived for 18 years. When his father sent him out to join the army, he repeatedly instructed him that after arriving at the troops, he should work hard and try to make achievements and receive awards, or even better, join the party and get promoted. If not, at least don't bring shame to the family. But now, not only had he failed to achieve anything, but he also retired from the army after just one year of service. How could he explain this to his father? If his father knew about his being captured, would he think that he had become a traitor? Bao Yulin didn't know how to explain things to his father.

  The dust on the mountain road was still thick, and the distant mountains were still bare, but the land under his feet gave Bao Yulin a sense of solidity. Winter had already set in, and the first snow had not yet fallen. Breathing in the dry air, he felt a sweet feeling that he couldn't explain. How great it would be to go home! Thinking of the brothers who had sacrificed on the battlefield, Bao Yulin suddenly felt that he was fortunate, at least he could still live to return home.

  Bao Yulin raised his hand, and for a long time he didn't go to knock on the door of his home. He seemed to still see the day when his enlistment notice was delivered to his home, his father loudly shouting at his mother to buy meat at the market while handing out cigarettes to his uncles in the courtyard. At this moment, Bao Yulin's eyes were all red.

  "Bang!" With a loud noise, Bao Yulin, who was just about to knock on the door, was startled. His years of habit allowed him to quickly react. This is trouble! Someone must have knocked over their water bucket! You see, in Rongshui Village, knocking over a water bucket is a very distressing thing, which means that this family will have to run 20 li again to fetch water.

  Bao Yulin immediately turned around, habitually wanting to lend a hand, to see if he could lift the bucket up. At this time, whatever can be salvaged is salvaged, as long as it's fast, there will always be some water left.

  The father who had just turned out of the house was standing stupidly on the road, staring at Bao Yulin. The two water buckets were overturned on the ground, and all the water spilled out: "Yulin? Are you back?"

  Looking at his father whose mouth corners were trembling, Bao Yulin nodded vigorously: "Dad! I'm back!" At this moment, he could no longer hold back his tears and they flowed down.

  Bao Guohua didn't care about anything else, and quickly grabbed two buckets of water, rushed up a few steps, and grasped Bao Yulin's shoulders with both hands, shaking him twice to confirm: "Really back? Good! Good!" As he spoke, the corners of Bao Guohua's eyes also turned red: "It's been so long, just at the beginning two months ago you sent two letters, but after that, why didn't you send any more letters home? You don't know, we heard your unit went to the front lines, and you haven't sent any news for such a long time. It almost drove me and your mom crazy! Your mom keeps muttering, afraid something bad happened to you!"

  Listening to Bao Guohua's words, Bao Yulin's tears were about to fall again. He blinked hard and controlled himself: "I'm back safely, aren't I? I also wanted to send a letter home, but there are rules against it." After returning home, Bao Yulin asked to inform his family of his safety, but at that time he was still in the midst of political scrutiny and was not allowed to communicate with the outside world. By the time the scrutiny ended, he had already received his discharge order, and writing a letter would not have been faster than his return, so he didn't write one.

  At this time, the courtyard door opened and Sister Bao Yu Feng stretched her head out. She heard someone talking at the door, so she stuck her head out to take a look. As a result, she saw the father and son standing at the door with one glance. Bao Yu Feng was stunned for a moment, then slammed the gate shut and shouted loudly towards the house: "Mom! Mom! Brother is back!"

  The father and son outside the gate were both startled by Bao Yufeng's action of closing the door. Looking at his son's puzzled expression, Bao Guohua explained: "This is all your fault, why did you have to kill Bao Yuchen's dog when we left? Later this kid found out and came to make trouble many times." As he spoke, Bao Guohua loudly pounded on the door: "Open the door!"

  After all, Bao Yulin is a veteran of the battlefield, and his eyes are much sharper now. He can't let his family get hurt: "Just that dog in their house has bitten so many people in the village! If he comes to make trouble, I'll beat him up!"

  The courtyard door opened again, and Bao Yufeng stood at the door, laughing foolishly. She also realized how ridiculous what had just happened was.

  Bao Guohua dragged Bao Yulin into the courtyard, scolding Bao Yu Feng: "Look at you, doing things so carelessly. Is this how you behave when your brother comes back? You're so happy that you've become like this?"

  Bao Yufeng made a face at Bao Guohua: "You're so biased! Aren't you happy? Your brother is back and you haven't let go of your temper!" Just then, she caught sight of the carrying pole leaning against the doorframe: "Dad, where's the water you fetched?"

  Bao Guohua slapped his forehead: "Oh no, I just spilled everything!"

  "You said you, and also said your daughter, aren't you happy to have lost everything? Don't eat dinner tonight!" Baoyu Lin's mother leaned against the door frame, seemingly weak in the legs, with tears streaming down her face as she scolded Bao Guohua.

  "Mother!" Bao Yulin suddenly knelt on the ground. In those days in Vietnam, he had dreamed of this scene many times, and there were so many things that tied him to this home.

  Bao Guohua pulled up Bao Yulin: "Hurry up and stop kneeling, it's not New Year's yet. Quickly go inside, tonight your mom will cook you some braised pork! I'll go fetch water."

  Bao Yulin hastily handed the bag in his hand to his sister and said to Bao Guohua, "No, I'll go instead. You rest." He then tried to head out.

  Bao Guohua blocked Bao Yulin with one hand: "You stay here, you're not needed! Your father is still young!"

  "Let your dad go! Get two more buckets of water, and I'll boil some for you to take a bath later. You've been sitting in the car all day, rest for a while."

  。。。。。。

  That evening, the whole family sat around the table in a lively atmosphere. Taking advantage of the opportunity to fetch water, Bao Guohua also brought back a bottle of wine. Just as it was about to be placed in front of Bao Yulin's bowl, Bao Yulin stretched out his hand and stopped him: "Dad, I won't drink anymore." Seeing the wine, Bao Yulin thought of Wu Hongying, who he hated deeply, and wondered what she was doing now.

  "Not drinking? Is the army not allowing it?" Bao Guohua was stunned for a moment, but quickly understood: "Not drinking is good, to avoid trouble." As he spoke, he poured himself half a bowl.

  "Troops?" Bao Yulin muttered bitterly in his heart, it seemed that he would have nothing to do with the troops from now on. However, he didn't want to discuss this topic during a family dinner, so he quickly changed the subject: "What's going on with Bao Yuanchen? He dares to bully our family?"

  "Hey, don't listen to your dad's nonsense." Mom carefully placed a thick slice of bacon in Bao Yulin's bowl: "Those are all things of the past. Now their family is doing well. Bao Guoqing has been transferred to the commune as director and now they've all moved into town. Besides, they're all surnamed Bao, related by blood and bone. If you didn't hit their dog, they wouldn't have come looking for trouble." Some mothers are like this, no matter what time it is, always thinking first whether their child was wrong or not.

  "Yu Lin, what's with the wound on your head? Didn't you really go to the front line?" The wound on Bao Yu Lin's head was caused by a Vietnamese guard hitting him with a rifle butt when he was being escorted to the POW camp in Hanoi. Although it had been treated, it was still very noticeable. Bao Guohua asked this question very carefully, afraid of saying something that would violate military discipline.

  Bao Yulin smiled wryly and as soon as he entered the door, he saw that several family members would occasionally glance at the scar on his head. What was bound to come finally came: "Yes, I got a little injured on the front line, it's nothing serious, I'm fine now."

  "Is it really okay? Is anything else hurt?" The mother is more concerned about her child's body.

  "It's nothing, I just fainted at the time. After waking up and getting a few stitches, it was fine, no big deal." Bao Yulin didn't dare tell his family about his abdominal injury, or else he would have worried his mother to death? Of course, he even more dared not mention being captured, although he had a clear conscience, but after all, it wasn't something to be proud of.

  "It's all right, being a soldier means you can't avoid some bumps and bruises, not to mention fighting. As long as you come back safely, that's all that matters! Don't say those useless things, hurry up and eat." Bao Guohua took a big gulp of wine, he knew his own child best. Although Bao Yulin said it was nothing, at the time it must have been very dangerous, Bao Yulin saying so was definitely worrying about the family not being at peace. However, now that he's back, the problem isn't big anymore.

  "That's it, come on, try some peanuts that Mom stir-fried for you. These are all freshly harvested this year. See if they taste good?" Still being the doting mother to her son, in no time, half of the dishes on the table had been moved into Bao Yulin's bowl.

  "Alright, alright, mom, stop adding more, the bowl is almost full." Seeing his mother still wanting to add more dishes to his bowl, Bao Yulin hurriedly covered his bowl with his hand and said so, feeling happy and content from head to toe.

  。。。。。。

  This meal took a long time to eat, and Bao Guohua alone drank down a bottle of wine. In the end, he couldn't even find his mouth, but was still shouting that he wanted to drink more. Finally, he was carried back to his room by Bao Yulin.

  Bao Yulin had settled down Bao Guohua, and his sister and mother had already put away the bowls and chopsticks. The two were busy boiling water for Bao Yulin's bath in the kitchen.

  Bao Yulin moved a small stool and sat down beside his mother: "Mom, sister, I've been away for over a year, have you guys been able to handle the farm work?"

  "Hmph, what are you talking about? It's as if you were a big help when you were at home. The farm would still be the same without you. Just honestly go and be a soldier." Bao Yufeng added, picking up where she left off.

  "Go, chatterbox! It's as if you've done a lot of work." Mom raised her hand and gently patted Bao Yufeng's head, then turned to face Bao Yulin and said: "Don't worry about family matters, there wasn't much land to begin with, and since we're military dependents, the villagers are all helping out, so that little bit of work doesn't amount to anything. Just focus on serving in the army."

  Listening to his family's words, Bao Yulin's tears almost flowed out. He wasn't unaware of his parents' expectations for him, but now all this was in the past tense.

  "Mom, sister, this time I'm back and won't leave again. The army has arranged for me to be discharged." Bao Yulin said cautiously.

  "What's going on? You broke the rules in the army? Isn't it supposed to be three years for everyone? How did you get discharged after just one year?" Mom asked anxiously as soon as she heard Bao Yulin's words.

  "No! I didn't break any rules in the army, it's just that I was injured during battle and the army thought I wasn't suitable for service anymore, so they arranged for me to come back." Bao Yulin hastily explained, this was his most difficult place, he had been thinking about this problem all along the way, he couldn't let his family worry about him.

  "Nonsense!" Mother suddenly became anxious, and stood up with a swoosh: "Whose child hasn't had a bump on the head? If not, they're all doing well in the army, why did you come back?" They have always hoped that Bao Yulin would make a name for himself in the army, get a good job, and bring honor to their ancestors.

  Bao Yulin saw his mother's attitude and knew she was anxious, so he had to use his trump card. He suddenly opened his clothes and exposed the huge scar on his abdomen: "I didn't lie to you, look, I was injured by a bomb during the war, and the army said my current situation is not suitable for continuing to be a soldier." Bao Yulin had no choice but to let his family worry about his injury rather than letting them worry about him being captured.

  As expected, as soon as she saw the scars on her son's body, his mother softened: "Heavens, my child, how you've been wronged." While speaking, she gently stroked the wounds on Bao Yulian's body: "Does it still hurt?" Her eyes were already filled with tears.

  "It's all right now, don't worry." Bao Yulin put down his clothes: "Mom, don't tell Dad about this for now."

  "Hmm. I won't say!" said her mother with tears streaming down her face.

  。。。。。。

  The next morning, Bao Yulin had just shouldered the pole and was about to go out to fetch water when Bao Guohua suddenly rushed out of the house and grabbed the shoulder pole on Bao Yulin's shoulder. "You stay at home and rest honestly, I'll take care of these chores." Bao Guohua said this with great excitement, obviously he had already learned about Bao Yulin's abdominal injury. "Even if I can't carry it anymore, there's still your sister. From now on, don't worry about the household chores!" Bao Guohua's words were firm and decisive, not giving Bao Yulin a chance to argue back.

  "Dad!" Bao Yulin insisted on not letting go: "I'm fine, just let me go." Bao Yulin knew that his wound looked scary, but in fact, it was nothing serious.

  "Go back home and rest!" Bao Guohua said in a commanding tone: "Take care of your body, if all else fails, I'll support you for the rest of your life!"

  At this moment, Bao Yulin didn't know what to say either. He knew that once Bao Guohua got angry, whatever he said would be final.

  "I'll listen to you, don't worry, in a few days I'll go to the county armed forces department, they will arrange work for me." The resettlement of retired soldiers is stipulated by the state, and Bao Yulin is clear about this. Of course, this refers to normal circumstances, and Bao Yulin can't be sure about his current situation. However, even if he has nothing to do now, let alone having something to do, he cannot become a burden to others.

  Bao Guohua stopped in his tracks as soon as he heard his son's words: "Really? Can the country arrange it?" At that time, what a peasant hoped for most was to be able to eat the country's grain. Although his son had returned injured, as long as they could eat the country's grain, it was better than being a peasant in any case.

  "It should be fine." Bao Yulin was also worried in his heart, he didn't know how his problem would be handled.

  。。。。。。