Isolated island

Guan Yuangui smiled reassuringly.He coaxed Haiping: "Eat the cigarettes first, you are in a good mood, don't worry about it."

"This kind of good smoke, I want to eat slowly in the future." Haiping carefully put the smoke into the skirt of his clothes.

Guan Yuangui saw that he was cautious, so he took out a few more branches and asked him to continue.

"No, sir──" Haiping of course refused.

"Be obedient, take it." Guan Yuangui said, "It's a thank you gift."

"Thank you?"

"I think, since I saw you that day, I'm not afraid anymore."

Haiping was taken aback, and asked, "What are you afraid of, sir."

"I'm afraid that if I change, my daughter won't recognize me when I return to the mainland."

Haiping was startled. "Sir, has a family?" He saw that Guan Yuangui's face was still young, and his stable temperament came from his experience, but in terms of age, he was at most five or six years older than him. Even if he got married, he probably didn't have children yet. is.

"I have a daughter." Not only does she have a daughter, but she has grown into a sensible age. "My daughter is nine years old."

"Really?" Haiping asked cautiously, "Then... you live in the Mainland with your mother?"

"No." Guan Yuangui lowered his eyes and said in a low voice, "The child has no mother and lives in a military compound."

Haiping stared, feeling that he had touched a boundary that shouldn't be touched.

"You don't need to be careful." Guan Yuangui was frank. "Her mother is just like ordinary people, unable to escape the fate of the times. Although she died in the war, she left me a child. I am grateful and have nothing else to ask for."

However, the person who uttered the phrase "I don't want anything else" has a gloomy silence in his eyes.

Haiping couldn't bear to watch it all, so he changed the subject: "How many years has the officer been transferred to Dayi Island?"

Guan Yuangui has the final say. "Probably fifteen or six years."

In other words, when his daughter was born, he had already served on the Great Yttrium Island?

So, how many times has he met his daughter?

Guan Yuangui looked at him and asked back with a smile, "You want to ask me, how many times have I visited her, right?"

Seeing Haiping's cheeks turn red, Guan Yuangui knew he had guessed right.He just likes his sincerity.

"Only twice." He replied softly, "Once, when she was just one year old, the artillery under my command sank a Muguo ship, and our artillery squad earned a long vacation back to the mainland. Then It was the first time I hugged her, she is so small, her body is soft and fragrant, after returning to the island, I thought about it for more than a year."

This is also the first time Haiping has seen the expression of a father - he is happy, but also slightly bitter because of the lingering longing.

"The last time, half a year after her mother left, I was granted a three-day vacation on the island, and I went back to the mainland to arrange for her to stay in a military compound. Heh, it took me a day to let her get close to me, but two days later I want to leave her again. When I stepped out of the military compound, listening to her cry, I even thought about it—take her away and run away. Of course, I didn’t do that.” He hummed unintentionally He let out a sound, as if laughing at his timidity of pretending to be rational at that time.He continued: "I just went back to the military compound and told her: 'Daddy will be back soon, and I will carry you to see the sea, so don't cry, don't cry...' The child is so good, he really stopped crying, and Tell me to be careful all the way and come back early... But in the blink of an eye, that was all five years ago."

After speaking, he flicked the cigarette ash, expressionless.

"I broke my promise." He smiled wryly at Haiping, "In the eyes of that kid, I'm probably the worst father in the world, right?"

Haiping recalled that in the first month of the lunar year, the opera on the stage was buzzing, and the chatter on the wine table was buzzing, but he was sitting alone in the corner quietly smoking a cigarette.Looking back now, Haiping kind of understands how he felt at that time. Maybe he was missing his daughter and worried about whether everything about her was okay, or maybe he was punishing himself with this homogeneous loneliness, so that he could feel that his daughter was alone. Living in a military family home, he was in a helpless situation like an abandoned child.

But no matter how guilty he is, Haiping knows that he is still a good father who loves his daughter deeply, otherwise he would not blame himself so much.

"Sir, if you say that," Haiping knew that he couldn't say any words of comfort, so he could only say, "Then I'm also a bad son."

Guan Yuangui was taken aback and looked at him.

"I don't even know if my mother is alive now," Haiping said dryly, "Do you think it's bad?"

"It's not your fault, Haiping." Guan Yuangui retorted eagerly for him: "You can't help yourself, don't say that about yourself."

"Isn't the chief involuntary?" Haiping seized the opportunity and refuted for him: "I think, because you miss her, you must suffer the same, just like I miss my mother. But I I know, my mother is understanding, and she will never bear me being tortured by myself like this, if she finds out, she will definitely feel sorry for me."

Guan Yuangui was startled.

"I know she's sad for me, and I'm sure I'll be sad too, so I will cherish myself more. Don't you think you should cherish yourself for your daughter and sister-in-law? What's more..." Haiping paused Don, and then said: "I think the chief is a good man who deserves to be cherished by many people."

Guan Yuangui looked at him with deeper eyes.

"Really? That's right..."

"Sir, there is no need to question it." Haiping's tone was firm. "It's not flattery."

He held the corner of his mouth and said hoarsely, "Thank you, Haiping."

Haiping was embarrassed. "After living like this today, why did the officer keep praising me and thanking me? I didn't do anything."

"I'm glad I didn't enter the village," the gratitude in his words is sincere: "On the contrary, I met you when I went to that remote promontory to eat cigarettes."

"So the officer really wants to have a cigarette and rest." Haiping said with a smile, "When we saw us, we put it away. I think the officer doesn't want us to feel cramped?"

Guan Yuangui smiled, neither affirming nor denying, but it made Haiping more sure of his wordless thoughtfulness.

"Tell me about yourself, Hypin," he said. "I want to know more about you, too."

"Huh? Me?"

"There is always a goal, right? Do you have a dream?"

Haiping smiled vainly. "How can there be any goals and dreams? I am very poor, and it is good to be alive."

"Then...let me ask this. What do you want to do while you're alive?"

"Uh?"

Guan Yuangui looked at the sea and used himself as an example. "I am alive, I just want to wait until the day I retire, go back to the mainland, and carry my daughter every day to see the sea at dawn and sunset. The sea at these two times is the most beautiful, right?"

"yes."

"What about you? Living, there is always something you want to do."

Haiping thought for a while and replied: "If I go back to the mainland and get off the boat, the first thing I will do is to go to my family immediately and tell them——I have lived a very good life these years."

Guan Yuangui's focused expression encouraged him to continue.

"The second thing is to buy a boat, whether it's a second-hand one, be your own owner, and go fishing. It's simple, and you can do it for a lifetime until you get old. Or you can think about extravagance. It's not like I haven't thought about it To save some money, marry a wife and go home as a companion... This is already the farthest way I can think of."

Guan Yuangui smiled softly.

"I want to go to the sea with my daughter on my back. You want to find your family, raise a boat, have a wife, fish and live a peaceful life..." He said, "Our hopes are very simple, but there is also It suits us well. We're... alike, Haiping."

Haiping blushed again.He originally wanted to say how could they be alike, but he also felt that this would push the distance between each other, which he absolutely didn't want──

It is undeniable that he cherishes this moment of heart-to-heart talk.It seems that as long as he understands him, he will have no regrets in this life.

Therefore, what Guan Yuangui said was also the truth.How can they understand each other if they are not like each other?

So Haiping just laughed, shyly and happily like a child.

Guan Yuangui held out his hand. "Let's make an agreement." He signaled Haiping to hold it.

Haiping stretched out his hand slowly, hesitating for a while, not knowing what Guan Yuangui was going to do.

Guan Yuangui held his hand—actively, firmly, firmly.

"Together, live well." He stared at him and said, "This agreement is a bit lonely if kept alone. If two people keep it together, it will not be easy to give up. Don't you think so?"

Haiping felt the hot temperature of his palm.The strong sea breeze hits, and the body doesn't seem to be so cold anymore.

Haiping's voice suddenly gained strength.He replied, "Yes, sir."

"Then," Guan Yuangui's eyes grabbed him like this, firmly, and never let go. "It's a deal, Haiping."