Siheyuan: Five mouths waiting for food at the beginning

"He made his own choice. I can't stop him. He can decide whether he wants to be happy or not. If I stop him and find him someone he doesn't like, do you think he will resent me?"

"Didn't I interfere with you guys? You all married the ones you liked. Didn't you want to die at the beginning? Now he just doesn't agree with us and follows his wife's wishes. He thinks it's worth it and is willing to endure the hardship. Don't you think so?"

Shanhai pondered for a while and said, "Brother, you confused me. What you mean is that although you don't like it, but An Huan likes it, it's OK as long as he is happy."

Zhao Shanhe nodded. "That's about right. I always say that you should follow your own path. I can only take care of him for a while, but can I take care of him for the rest of his life? He is an adult now."

"It's just that I don't like their approach. Even if it's not born, it's still a life. It's unfair to the unborn child. He disappears before he even sees the world."

"The eldest child has a second child, which violates national policy. Although it affects me, life is above all else. Even if it means more sacrifices, I support him in giving birth to the child. This is my point of view. The child is innocent, isn't he?"

"Brother, I also think you are right. Children are the best gift for parents. Choosing to be our child is a kind of fate. What An Huan and his wife did is indeed too selfish."

Zhao Shanhe sighed and said, "Alas, it's too late. I still couldn't stop it. In fact, I was depressed during that period. I felt guilty about the unborn child, but I wasn't too angry about whether An Huan came back or not."

"He is already an adult, with hands and feet. At least he is much stronger than I was back then. If he doesn't want to come back, then don't come back. He won't starve to death anyway, but it's a pity to waste an innocent life."

Zhao Shanhe started smoking again as he spoke. Zhao Shanhai also took one without hesitation and put Zhao Shanhe's cigarette into his own pocket.

"Third brother, you only need to take a few. Why did you put them all in your own pocket? I only brought this pack today. What would I smoke if you took all of them?"

"It's okay, take mine. I haven't opened this pack yet. It's enough to last me the whole morning." Zhao Shanhai said as he took out an unopened pack of Zhonghua cigarettes and put it on the table.

"I knew that I couldn't take out the cigarettes when I saw you, the second brother and my brother-in-law. Once I took them out, I couldn't get them back. Don't look at Gao Peng as an honest guy. He is no less capable of stealing things."

"I believe this. My brother-in-law only likes to smoke. I don't believe him for anything else, but he likes cigarettes," Zhao Shanhai said, giving a thumbs up. "I learned to smoke from my brother-in-law. It's because we can't buy the cigarettes you smoke."

During the three days of the college entrance examination, Zhao Shanhe was there every day. The third brother only accompanied him for one day before going out to deal with other things. His sister-in-law Huang Duoduo came over for the remaining two days.

After three days of college entrance examination, Zhao Shanhe called An Feng into the study.

An Feng also said, "Dad, it's finally my turn. Every time someone in my family takes the college entrance examination, you always call them into the study to chat alone after the exam. Now it's finally my turn."

"Dad, don't ask anymore. I'm familiar with the process. I'll report it to you slowly," An Feng said as he pulled over a chair next to him and sat down.

"The first thing you asked was about my scores, right? I chose my major based on my scores. I think I should have done well. You know I have always had good grades."

"I'm not bragging. Let me tell you this: as long as I want, I can choose any university in China. I'm serious. I can go to any of the universities, Tsinghua or Peking University."

Zhao Shanhe nodded in agreement. "I believe that as long as you don't perform poorly, I believe you can choose any university in China."

"Dad, I'm kidding. How could I possibly perform poorly? Don't worry."

"The second question is, have you ever thought about what you will do in the future?" An Feng asked

"That's right, but I think I need to talk to you. You are smarter than your brothers and sisters. Except for being a little timid when you were a child, you don't have any particularly obvious shortcomings. You are the most like me."

"Dad, are you praising me? Or yourself? It sounds to me like you are praising yourself."

Zhao Shanhe also chuckled. This youngest son was still very likable, well-behaved and sensible, and never caused trouble. "Isn't praising me the same as praising you? They say you look like me, what's the difference?"

"Dad, tell me what I think."

Zhao Shanhe interrupted and asked, "An Feng, don't be in a hurry to answer. Let me ask you first. Are you as anxious to get married as your elder and second brothers? Or do you plan to enroll in the same major as Yao Xin?"

"Dad, you think too much. Yao Xin and I are not what you think. We are just buddies. I gave her the TV when I was a child because I didn't know much at that time. I thought she helped me, so I gave her something to repay her. But we have always had a good relationship, but I have also thought about marrying her in the future if it really doesn't work out."

"But I am different from my second brother. I am not the love-brained man you said, Dad. What kind of man is the most attractive? It is definitely not the love-brained man like my second brother, but an accomplished man like Dad. So what I want to do is to make myself better, like Dad."

"As long as you are good enough, you can marry any girl. Girls will be eager to marry you. Dad, don't you think this is the truth?"

"You have no objection to who you like. It's your freedom. I don't do arranged marriages. Just don't rush into marriage. I'm also a state employee. Your eldest brother got married when he was 18, and your second brother was also eager to get married when he was 18. I'm really scared. We still have to abide by state laws."

"We can't ignore the law again and again. No matter how awesome your father is, the country has its limits. So I'll make it clear to you in advance. Don't talk to me about marriage if you're not of legal age."

An Feng patted his chest and assured, "Dad, don't worry, I won't get married unless I make some achievements."

"I'm telling you not to rush into marriage, not not to get married. Wait until you've made some achievements. How old do you have to be? Now it's not like our time, special cases are handled specially. The law is clear now, and it may not be easy for you to make some achievements at a young age."

"If you haven't achieved anything by the age of 30, you won't get married by the age of 30? If you can't achieve anything by the age of 40, you will never get married for the rest of your life?"

"Dad, I'm just saying that. I'm afraid you'll worry. I have a flexible moral bottom line. When I reach the age of marriage, I will definitely get married so that you and my mom don't have to worry. How about that?"

Zhao Shanhe was speechless. "So your moral bottom line is flexible. You just said something to make me happy before. I won't believe anything you say anymore."

"Dad, am I not just listening to you? I am not doing this to worry you and mom. You and mom have lost a lot of weight over the past six months because of my second brother's matter. I feel bad seeing this. It's not easy for you to take care of this family. I can't do anything now. All I can do is to make you two happy."