Xie Mingxian's hometown was very close to Yueyang, but it was within the borders of Hubei. The time spent on the journey was not long. Therefore, Xie Mingxian never had time on the road to figure out why his mother insisted on returning to her hometown. Even though Xie Mingxian exhausted his arguments, talking about the miserable life in the past and the bright future, Xie Mingxian's mother remained unmoved. The old lady had only one sentence: "I followed your father, and I will follow him to the end. You can't let me have no origin and no result."

Finally, after Xie Mingxian's bitter persuasion, his mother showed signs of relenting, but the old lady only raised one request: she wanted Xie Mingxian to bring his father's whole family to Wuhan for settlement.

Xie Mingxian naturally wouldn't agree. In that family, the only person he could accept was his half-brother. The little guy was very smart and motivated, and made considerable progress studying with Xie Mingxian. If the Manchu Qing hadn't abolished the imperial examination, Xie Mingxian believed that his younger brother would definitely pass the examination in the future. But as for the rest of the Xie family, Xie Mingxian would rather he had never known them.

The old lady was not good with words. Seeing that Xie Mingxian refused to reconcile with the Xie family no matter what, she only left a sentence "Your father treated both you and me quite well!" Then she packed her things and returned to her hometown with Xie Mingxian's uncle.

That was more than two years ago. Xie Mingxian was being notified at that time that he might be promoted to Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Committee. He was so busy with work that he had no energy to attend to family affairs. With great doubts, Xie Mingxian could only send his mother onto the passenger ship back to her hometown.

Disembarking at Yueyang, Xie Mingxian took his guard and just entered the boundary of Hubei when the team that came to welcome him startled him. It was a whole company of cavalry. Making such a big fuss in such a period, Xie Mingxian strongly suspected what Hubei Provincial Party Secretary Lu Huitian wanted to do. There was once a cadre from Fengtai County who put on a big show when returning to his hometown. After learning about it, Chen Ke stripped that person of his position without a word. Although it must be admitted that that person was too bold, actually letting a battalion accompany him. That was a four-four system infantry battalion; having a thousand people crowding around was indeed courting death.

Just a cavalry company with a hundred people, plus tall horses, was also a force that absolutely could not be ignored. Xie Mingxian couldn't help suspecting whether Lu Huitian had any bad intentions. However, the company commander of the cavalry company explained: "Secretary Xie, dispatching a hundred of us won't take many days. Just treat it as a field training. We won't find people to receive us in Hubei and try not to trouble the local government. If something happens to you in Hubei, how can we in Hubei explain it? If there is any inconvenience, you have to bear with it."

Xie Mingxian thought about it and accepted it. If Lu Huitian went to Hunan to visit relatives, Xie Mingxian wouldn't dare to be careless about the safety of Hubei Provincial Party Secretary Lu Huitian either. Moreover, Lu Huitian neither came to welcome him personally nor let local cadres welcome him; this was already a very cautious arrangement.

Hubei was an old liberated area, and just looking at the roads, they were much better than those in Hunan. It was the time for spring plowing. People were transplanting rice seedlings and sowing seeds everywhere in the fields, and occasionally tractors could be seen driving slowly. Seeing many changes unique to the liberated areas added to the familiar scenery of his hometown, Xie Mingxian also felt quite gratified. Thinking that his mother was seriously ill at home, he accelerated his horse.

When the large group of people and horses arrived at the village entrance, Xie Mingxian felt a dizziness. This was his hometown after all. Even if he didn't like walking around when he was at home, Xie Mingxian knew very well whether there were weddings or funerals in the village.

Sure enough, as soon as he saw his own gate, Xie Mingxian's heart beat even faster. No signs were needed anymore; a spirit shed was set up at the gate of his house. Even during the spring plowing time, people were still going in and out. Seeing the galloping horse team, these people in the village hurriedly made way. They stood by the roadside in the village, carefully observing these soldiers and Xie Mingxian mixed among them. Only one person was not wearing a military uniform.

Dismounting, Xie Mingxian strode into his own gate. Counting from the last time he stepped out of this door, Xie Mingxian hadn't entered his own door for fully thirteen years.

No one dared to stop Xie Mingxian. Everyone stared blankly as Xie Mingxian took a few soldiers and strode to the entrance of the mourning hall. The movement of this cavalry team of more than a hundred people was not small, and the people in the mourning hall naturally heard the noise outside. Xie Mingxian saw several people standing at the entrance of the mourning hall; it was Xie Mingxian's father, Xie Fuzheng. Xie Mingxian was stunned; he saw that his father was already old. His hair was almost completely white, and the wrinkles on his face were like deep carvings on wood. The only thing that could still overlap with Xie Mingxian's memory was probably Xie Fuzheng's straight waist.

Xie Fuzheng was wearing mourning clothes. Standing beside Xie Fuzheng was Xie Mingxian's younger brother, Xie Minggu. This thin child in Xie Mingxian's memory had grown taller. When Xie Mingxian left home, Xie Minggu was still a seven or eight-year-old child, and now he was a twenty-year-old young man. Only his brows and eyes still showed his appearance from childhood.

However, at this moment, Xie Mingxian didn't want to say anything to his father and brother at all. He strode into the main room and saw a coffin placed inside. The coffin lid was not closed. Looking in through the gap, he saw Xie Mingxian's mother lying quietly inside, looking peaceful. There was no need to say anything more; a sourness rushed straight from his nasal cavity to his forehead. Xie Mingxian lay on the coffin and began to cry loudly.

Only when realizing that he would never see his relatives again did Xie Mingxian deeply know what he had lost. The expectations, longing, and plans for future life once held. Those were only truly useful when everyone had not passed away. Just like Xie Mingxian still thought about taking his mother out of her hometown again this summer if he wasn't too busy. Taking a boat ride and feeling the appearance of Changsha full of lights. Projects including street lamps were part of the urban construction within Xie Mingxian's plan for this year. Seeing her son able to preside over such a huge project, presumably Xie Mingxian's mother would also feel happy, right?

But all these imaginations became imaginations forever. Looking at the peaceful expression of his mother lying there, Xie Mingxian finally knew that he had completely lost his mother.

There seemed to be some movement outside, but Xie Mingxian didn't want to pay attention at all. The sorrow in his chest could only be released through crying, but no matter how many tears flowed from his eyes, it couldn't relax the painful feeling in his heart at all.

Not knowing how long he cried, Xie Mingxian felt his legs go soft, and his hands could almost not hold onto the coffin. He almost slipped from the side of the coffin. Fortunately, someone supported Xie Mingxian on both sides. "Brother, sit down for a while first." A voice with a familiar accent said. Turning his head slightly, Xie Minggu's figure was in his tear-blurred eyes.

"Secretary Xie, sit down first, sit down first." On the other side, Xie Mingxian's guard said somewhat chokingly.

Almost being helped by these two people to sit on a chair a few steps away from the coffin, Xie Mingxian suddenly wanted to rush up again to look at his mother. But suddenly he was extremely afraid to see his mother's face again. Seeing his mother's face would remind Xie Mingxian again that he had truly lost his mother.

Crying for a while longer, Xie Mingxian managed to stop his sorrowful voice with difficulty. He took a towel from his brother's hand and wiped his face. He leaned in the chair, breathing weakly and unable to move. It was also at this time that Xie Mingxian noticed that the hall was full of people inside and outside the door at some point. Young people looked at Xie Mingxian with curiosity. Middle-aged people mostly wore a thoughtful expression; seeing Xie Mingxian looking over slightly, their expressions became somewhat fawning. As for the elderly, they looked appreciative.

His mind was muddled; Xie Mingxian didn't even understand what these people gathered at the door wanted to do. He just wanted to sit beside his mother and vent his sorrow to his heart's content. Having such a group of people nearby was really too eyesore.

Seeing Xie Mingxian noticing him, a white-bearded old man at the head walked forward tremblingly. He opened his mouth missing several teeth and said: "Mingxian, remember me?"

Xie Mingxian shook his head slightly.

"I am your Granduncle." Although the old man spoke with a lisp, his voice was quite powerful. "You child really act like a noble person forgetting things. I am the Granduncle living at the head of the village."

Xie Mingxian continued to shake his head. As the son of a concubine, his social status was not high at that time. Xie Mingxian still remembered the strange and mocking eyes of the people around him when he followed his mother to watch plays when he was a child. When going out, he often heard various sarcastic remarks. Xie Mingxian didn't talk much, but that didn't mean he couldn't distinguish other people's moods. In Xie Mingxian's memory, his hometown was not a place that made people feel nostalgic at all.

Activities like ancestral worship and big plays in the village were lively events that children liked, but Xie Mingxian never qualified to be among them. This might be the real reason why Xie Mingxian hated almost all entertainment activities and focused his energy entirely on reading since childhood.

So whether it was the village entrance or the field edge, Xie Mingxian wouldn't go out if he could help it. He didn't want to know who lived there; who lived there made little difference to Xie Mingxian. Anyway, those living there were definitely people who looked down on Xie Mingxian.

The old man was obviously very disappointed with Xie Mingxian. No matter how he reminded him, Xie Mingxian didn't show any look of sudden realization on his face. He simply sighed and walked aside.

"Brother Mingxian, do you still remember me?" This time a sturdy man came up.

Since he called Xie Mingxian brother, presumably this person was also younger than Xie Mingxian. But Xie Mingxian had absolutely no desire to continue talking nonsense with these people. He just wanted to persuade this group of people to leave quickly, leaving him alone to sit quietly beside his mother.

But the person speaking happened not to have this plan. He continued enthusiastically: "Brother Mingxian, we studied together when we were young."

At the mention of studying, Xie Mingxian had even less goodwill towards this person. If the villagers could only look at Xie Mingxian with strange eyes, then fellow students were the only place where sarcastic words could be said directly to Xie Mingxian. No need to identify who that person was anymore; it must be a guy who had mocked Xie Mingxian to his face.