After dinner, Yu Tu accompanied his parents out for a walk. Along the way, they were constantly asked by acquaintances "Your son is back?" Small cities are like this, the neighbors know each other well and there isn't really any sense of distance with them.
They strolled two rounds through the small park nearby. Mr Yu was stopped by a mahjong buddy. He glanced at his wife and son and was about to decline, but Mrs Yu said, "Go la."
Mr Yu happily went away. Being with the son for a few hours was enough. Playing mahjong still, was more attractive.
Mrs Yu smilingly shook her head. The two walked for another while. Then suddenly Mrs Yu asked, "Do you have something weighing on your mind?"
Yu Tu was not surprised that she would ask like this, because he obviously had not been himself in the afternoon and his mother had always been acute. He was silent for a moment, then said, "Before I came home last time, I mentioned to my work unit I wanted to quit."
A look of surprise appeared in Mrs Yu's eyes. After a long time, she sighed and said, "I've always felt that you are most like your uncle. When you were a child, you especially admired him and often bragged to other children that your uncle launches rockets."
"Among the siblings of my family, your uncle is the smartest, but in comparison he also struggled the most. He is in northwest China all year round and can't even take care of the family. Once, your grandfather was sick and almost passed away, but we couldn't even contact him. At that time, communication technology was nowhere as developed as now. With great difficulty, your grandfather was saved and we also managed to contact him. We told him to come back, but he hesitated for a long time and finally said no, that since your grandpa had recovered, in that case, he would wait until the end of the mission and then come back. The current mission was too important, and he really could not get away."
"It was another month before he came back to see your grandfather. All the siblings were mad and treated him coldly. At that time, an aunt who came to visit your grandfather scolded him for being unfilial. Your uncle got scolded, but he also did not dare say anything. At that time, you were still young, but you suddenly asked her, 'Grandaunt, has cousin-uncle gone to work in the United States?'
"Your grandaunt loved to talk about this, and immediately she said that if you also studied well, you could go abroad to study and work in the future. But you said, 'But, cousin-uncle has gone to work in the United States for several years and hasn't come back. Why don't you say that he is not filial?'"
After speaking to this point, Mrs Yu couldn't help but smile.
Yu Tu also smiled, as he still remembered this incident. He also remembered the awkward atmosphere that had come about after he asked this question. However, after that, everyone's attitude toward uncle had returned to normal.
Sometimes, it is not that those close to us do not understand; it is simply because they are close that they inevitably will be harsher and criticize.
Mrs Yu said, "At that time, I had thought, that's true. They were similar in that they both were unable to be by their parents' side, yet the one who went abroad receives the envy and praise of others while people like your uncle, who remains in the Northwest throughout the year, dedicating himself to his work, is called unfilial and is told his work is not worth it… What kind of reasoning is that? We, as a group of adults, had a less clear understanding of the heart of the matter than you, a 10-year-old child."
Yu Tu jokingly said, "I have always been smart, since I was a child."
Mrs Yu patted him once.
"A lot of principles, we do understand, but when it happened to ourselves, we still become muddled. The thing that I most regret is forcing you to apply to get into finance during the college entrance examination. At that time, I was thinking, my son has such high grades; of course he must apply for the most popular major that requires the highest grades or else won't those high grades be wasted? It was not until later, when I found out that you secretly studied two majors, that I regretted it. How much energy you must have wasted."
"In the last few years, I've aged and I can see more clearly. How do they say it in TV dramas? 'It is most important to be happy.' If you like money, go and earn money. If you think money is not so important, go and do something that interests you. I know that you'll surely be reluctant to leave this profession. You wanted to quit your work; is it because of that time I fell ill?"
She interrupted Yu Tu's reply. "Oh you, you must have overthought things. I don't know how you managed to figure things out and go back to that job, but mom wants to tell you, you don't need to think about providing this and that for us. It is enough that you take good care of yourself. We are not old yet. If you still feel that what you do is not good enough, just think of your father's colleague's son."
Yu Tu hesitated for a while. "…Are you talking about that one who lost hundreds of thousands?"
Mrs Yu actually nodded: "Yes."
Yu Tu:
"Mom…"
When Mrs Yu looked at his wry expression, she smiled again. "That was wrong of me. This is an extreme example. But you understand my meaning, you are already good enough. Others are already very envious of your father and me, so don't keep thinking that you must do things to the absolute best."
It seemed that not long ago, someone had also said similar things to him.
Only after a long time did Yu Tu make a "hmm" sound.
They also exchanged conventional greetings for a while with two acquaintances passing by. After they left, Mrs Yu suddenly said, "You should also be considering marriage, which is an important event in your life. I'm always asked by people why my son is still not married yet."
Yu Tu was somewhat taken aback, because his parents seldom rushed him to settle down.
"Don't set your requirements too high. You don't need to look for someone too beautiful. It is best if she can take care of people." Mrs Yu's typical mother-in-law criteria.
Yu Tu walked silently. Mrs Yu thought that he most likely still had never considered this issue before, so she did not continue with the topic. Who would have thought? Yu Tu suddenly called her at the doorway of the house. "Mom."
Mrs Yu looked at him.
Yu Tu said, "I probably like it the other way round."
Yu Tu somewhat wished to escape. He did not expect that his mother, who had always seemed calm and unhurried on the question of his marriage, because of his words, would be so enthusiastic, with all kinds of incessant inquiries.
But now, what could he say?
After spending the night at home, Yu Tu flew directly to Dunhuang from the nearest airport. After meeting up with some members of the experiment team, they drove to the experiment site in the middle of the desert.
In the desert far away from human habitation, the rhythm of everything slowed down. Yu Tu focused on his work every day, both engrossed in it, yet at the same time, his mind dissociated from it, too.
A few days before the end of the mission, Yu Tu received a call from Guan Zai, who was thousands of miles away.
"Is everything running smoothly over there?"
"Yes, we finished a few days ahead of time. After a few months, we'll do the second one."
Guan Zai said "Oh, No wonder Chief Sun had time to find me to complain."
The Chief Sun he mentioned was the chief person in charge of this experiment. Yu Tu frowned slightly. "Is there any problem?"
Guan Zai heaved a sigh and said, "You don't know that our Chief Sun is a serious and active person. He wants to have a hand in all big and small work matters, and he is also very concerned with important life events, such as marriage prospects, of the young people working under him. As a matter of fact, he originally had wanted to introduce a girl over in the Tianjin institute to a young man in his institute. It's really good that Beijing and Tianjin are very close to one another, right? But supposedly, you've been acting especially melancholy and deeply intellectual and reserved every day, frequently gazing at the stars alone not joining in on any after-work group recreation activities. As a result, you've captivated a group of naive girls' hearts and directly shattered the hope of all other young men."