Zheng Long nodded in front of everyone, feeling he had no choice. "It’s all right now, Grandpa. Except for not being able to have marital relations, I’m still a normal person. But, Grandpa, I’ve decided not to marry in this lifeti. Since I have a connection with this child, then he is my son, Zheng Long. When I get my military service entitlent in the future, I’m afraid you all will have to take him in. It will be a hardship for you to stay in the countryside for these next few years."
Apart from the problem with his legs, the old man was pretty good in all other aspects. Therefore, he believed that with his current ability, he would definitely be able to make it through in the military.
After everything was cleared up, the Party Secretary felt even more sympathetic toward Zheng Long and assured that Zheng Kai’s household registration would be properly settled. They were all pitiable children who had probably been abandoned before, and thus, they felt sympathy for each other. Well, the affair of Zheng Long was, after all, his own private matter. That he could openly tell them about it already showed remarkable honesty. From then on, they would definitely keep their mouths shut and never ntion this matter again.
After the Party Secretary left, Zheng Long asked Zheng Kai to kneel with him in front of the old man to explain the whole story in detail.
"I’m sorry, Grandpa. I didn’t discuss it with you before bringing the child ho."
"Silly boy, why the formality amongst family? Don’t worry. As long as we have sothing to eat, the kid won’t suffer. Little Kai, isn’t it? The na is not bad."
"Yes, Uncle, no, Dad nad . Don’t worry, Great Grandpa. I can cook, chop firewood, and even feed pigs and ducks. I will take good care of you."
With tears in his eyes, the old man touched his head. "Good boy, you have also had a hard life. Since the three of us with tough fates have co together, let’s live well."
Both of the old man’s sons had sacrificed their lives on the battlefield, so the governnt gave him five yuan a month in pension, and the village also took extra care of him, as he was from a veteran family and thus had an honorable status. Consequently, the tasks assigned to the old man were always very light. He didn’t eat much at the production team either. After all, that’s just how life in the countryside goes on.
"The money you’ve been giving , I’ve been saving it all. You have a little money yourself, enough to pay the child’s tuition fees. Little Kai, have you never been to school before? Would you like to go to school?"
Zheng Kai could never have dread that not only had soone adopted him, but his future had been arranged as well. Go to school? That was sothing he didn’t even dare to think about!
He cried on the spot, kneeling on the ground and trembling. The intense contrast between the repression and his sudden prospects made him feel as if the past nine years of his life had been in vain.
Watching the boy, Zheng Long’s heart also ached. He rembered how back on the train, the boy’s fierce glance was not out of hatred for him, but out of a desperate craving for food. That look in his eyes was like a wild beast’s when guarding its al because of a longing for the sensation of being full, which made one unconsciously show such fierce longing.
He knew what that hunger felt like. Back then on the battlefield, hiding in a hole in the ground, enduring the biting of snakes, bugs, rats, and ants, along with the unbearable hunger, he had felt like he wanted to die. Now, the fact that this boy could kneel here and express his gratitude to them proved that he was not beyond hope.
During his days at ho, he first made sure Zheng Kai’s household registration was in order, then he helped him with school enrollnt. Now, tuition fees for a sester were three yuan, plus stationery and a pencil box cost less than four yuan in total.
He also found so old cloth at ho to piece together a school bag for him and altered so worn clothes to fit the boy. When he went to school with a backpack on his back and the identity of an elentary school student, he knew that from then on, his life was going to undergo a significant change.
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