Parents' Love: My Childhood Sweethearts with Jiang Weidong

When Zheng Jianhua and Yafei's son, Zheng Ying'ao, was four or five years old, Jiang Defu, with his gray hair, suddenly exclaimed, "I want to go to Beijing! I want to welcome the Olympics!"

Upon hearing his words, An Jie initially dismissed them, saying, "How old are you? You're practically buried up to your neck, what are you still struggling for?"

Jiang Defu was very indignant. "I'm an old soldier, and the Olympics are about to be held in Beijing. I haven't even been to Beijing yet. Is this reasonable?"

Ever since Beijing's successful bid for the Olympics was announced, Jiang Defu has been thinking about going to Beijing day and night. He said he would never be able to die in peace if he never saw Tiananmen Square!

When Yafei and Zheng Jianhua got married, to show how much their family valued Yafei, Zheng's parents personally traveled from Beijing to Qingdao to discuss the marriage.

Therefore, although his son-in-law was from Beijing, Jiang Defu had never actually set foot here in his life.

"What's so outrageous about it?" An Jie curled her lip. "There are plenty of soldiers who haven't been to Beijing. What? Are you the only one who's special?"

Unable to argue with her, Jiang Defu slammed the newspaper on the table and snorted loudly, "I don't care, I'm going to the capital!"

An Jie laughed, picked up her fan, and went out the door, casually tossing out a sentence: "Then go ahead, go to the capital by yourself! Anyway, I'm going to dance."

After watching her retreating figure and sulking for a while, Jiang Defu suddenly seemed to remember something, picked up the phone book, and sat down next to the telephone.

He muttered smugly, "Hmph, I'll go find my daughters, I'll have them take me!"

So after Anjie finished dancing, on her way home, she ran into Lin Wangshu and Yafei, who were jogging home.

"What brings you two here?" Anjie asked as soon as she saw them.

Yafei wiped the sweat from her forehead and said breathlessly, "It's all because of my dad. He said he had something urgent that he couldn't explain over the phone, so he insisted that we come here for a family meeting."

Lin Wangshu asked An Jie worriedly, "Mom, is Dad alright?"

Anjie snorted, "He's perfectly healthy, what could possibly happen to him? He's just being dramatic, you don't need to worry about him!"

Lin Wangshu and Yafei exchanged a glance, knowing that the old couple had quarreled again. They smiled and helped her into the house.

In the living room, Jiang Defu was sitting on the sofa. When he saw them arrive, he calmly announced while fanning himself, "I'm going to the capital!"

"Huh?" Yafei was exasperated by his impulsive nature. "Dad, when I asked you to go to Beijing to meet my in-laws, didn't you say you wouldn't go?"

Jiang Defu paused in his fanning, coughed lightly, and said, "Times have changed. Now I want to go again."

Jiang Defu felt he would lose face if he didn't go. How could he expect to personally offer himself up for his daughter's wedding?

Therefore, no matter how much Yafei tried to persuade him, Jiang Defu refused to budge.

Seeing that Yafei and Lin Wangshu looked bewildered by Jiang Defu's fickle behavior, An Jie added quietly from the side, "Your dad just wants to go and join in the fun after Beijing won the bid to host the Olympics!"

Jiang Defu was very unhappy to hear this, and his face hardened. "What do you mean by joining in the fun? There's no such thing. I want to go too!"

After saying that, he sighed deeply and said, "Lately, I often dream about the time I fought in Korea."

“I dreamt of my fallen comrades. In the dream, they asked me, ‘Old Jiang, what’s Beijing really like? Tell us about it!’”

At this point, Jiang Defu's eyes reddened. "But I've never been there! I just couldn't explain it. I was so anxious that I woke up with a kick."

"I've been thinking about it for days. I absolutely have to go to the capital and see for myself. I want to write it all down so that when I dream about it again, I can tell them all about it in detail."

"They sacrificed themselves to defend their country; surely they can't be so ignorant as to not even know what the capital of their country looks like?"

These words silenced all three of them. After a while, Lin Wangshu spoke first, "Dad, don't worry, I will definitely arrange for you to go to Beijing!"

"I'll take you to see the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and Tiananmen Square!"

After leaving the house, Yafei sighed, "I thought Dad was trying to make things difficult for us again, but I didn't expect him to be carrying such a heavy burden in his heart."

Lin Wangshu also sighed, "Yes, that's why we, as his children, have to find a way to fulfill his wish!"

Because Jiang Weiguo was far away and Ya Ning was on the island, they called Jiang Weimin over to discuss it together.

"You probably already know that Mom and Dad are going to Beijing. The main purpose of this meeting is to discuss how to take them with us."

"After all, they are all getting on in years. How they will go and who will accompany them are big problems!"

Looking at everyone present, Yafi spoke first.

With his older brother absent, Jiang Weidong spoke first: "Mom and Dad aren't in good health and can't fly. Let's buy them train tickets, soft sleeper berths. It'll take a bit longer, but they'll be more comfortable."

Everyone else nodded in agreement, and then Yafei added, "It just so happens that we're going to visit my grandparents during the summer vacation to welcome the Olympics. I'll take leave and go to Beijing with Jianhua and my parents."

Lin Wangshu, however, was still worried and said, "You have to take care of two elderly people and a child. Can the two of you manage?"

"Moreover," Lin Wangshu said with a smile, "after Little Star found out, she also insisted on going to the capital with Grandpa."

"That's perfect!" Yafei clapped her hands excitedly. "Why don't we all go? Let's have a family trip, what do you think?"

Jiang Weidong also thought it was feasible and nodded, saying, "Yes, and I'm going to Beijing for a meeting in a few days, so I can take some time to go shopping with my parents then."

Yafei's eyes lit up as she listened, then she turned to Jiang Weimin and said, "Say something, what do you think?"

Jiang Weimin looked at them and said, "I'm fine with anything, I'll listen to you!"

Seeing that he didn't have his own opinion, Yafi got angry and raised her eyebrows, about to say something.

Seeing this, Mingxu sighed inwardly and spoke up for him, "He's willing to go too. He's a teacher, so we can leave the responsibility of taking care of the three children to him!"

"Alright, it's settled then. Everyone go back and pack your things, let's get ready to go!"

After learning that so many people were going with him, Jiang Defu was overjoyed all day, rummaging through his things, thinking about what he should bring.

He was thinking of asking Lao Ding if he would like to go with him, but Lao Ding wasn't interested and didn't want the hassle, so he waved his hand and refused.

If Lao Ding wasn't going, then Dehua wouldn't go either. She was worried about Lao Ding, fearing that if she left, no one would take care of him.