When Hou Jianchao graduated from high school, he was full of ideals and prepared to pass the college entrance examination and go to college. But in the two college entrance examinations, he almost failed by a few points. For a while, Hou Jianchao lost confidence in himself, so he could only return to his hometown, comply with his parents' wishes, and start to help with some rough work in the field.
At first, Hou Jianchao was tired of this kind of mechanical labor day after day. When his older brothers and sisters all started a family one after another, he was still working in the fields, confused and helpless about the future.
At this time, the primary school in the village needed to recruit a private teacher. The village party secretary and the principal came to Hou Jianchao's house and urged him to apply for the job. At the beginning, Hou Jianchao was not interested in teaching and educating people.
But with the encouragement of his parents, he decided to give it a try.
Unexpectedly, Hou Jianchao actually passed the interview and became a teacher in the village elementary school. The moment he stood on the podium, looking at the smiling faces of the children, Hou Jianchao's heart swelled with unprecedented joy and a sense of mission.
He found that teaching and educating people was the most suitable career for him.
Although he is just an ordinary private teacher with a meager income, Hou Jianchao is full of enthusiasm for education. He taught and nurtured people, and realized his unfulfilled ideals through his children.
This became the most memorable choice of his life.
After getting married, Hou Jianchao and his wife Xuefen began to work hard. At first, the two lived in a narrow mud hut and lived a simple life. During the day, Xuefen worked in the fields with a flat shoulder, and her clothes were soaked with sweat; At night, she boiled up the dim kerosene lamp to make farm tools for her family.
In order to earn more money to improve his life, Hou Jianchao also worked in the fields in addition to teaching. The rough handle of the pickaxe wore down his hand, but he didn't care. For the sake of the children's education, for the sake of family life, as long as the family is together, all the fatigue is worth it.
Later, the two had a daughter and a son. In order to let the children go to a better school, Hou Jianchao begged Xue Fen three times and twice to let him give up farm work and concentrate on teaching.
Although the family was poor, the two of them endured sacrifice and finally entered a well-off life in the hardships step by step.
Looking back now, the life chapters written by Hou Jianchao and Xue Fen with their hands are shining even if there are many twists and turns. It was the glorious years of their perseverance and mutual affection.
That year, Hou Jianchao was 56 years old, and he was about to retire, ready to embark on a long golden journey with his wife Xuefen. Unexpectedly, a bad news broke his beautiful assumption.
At first, Xuefen only had occasional headaches and didn't pay attention to it. Later, the situation worsened, and Hou Jianchao took her to the hospital for examination, but it turned out to be an advanced brain tumor. Even after surgery in a major hospital, his condition deteriorated and he eventually died of serious illness.
The sudden death of his wife was a huge blow. Hou Jianchao fell into unprecedented despair and pain. He lived like a year, and he couldn't sleep at night.
The house was deserted and there was no one across the dining table. As he approached his sixtieth year, he began to doubt the meaning of life.
Although the children came to see him frequently, they could not stay with him for a long time because of their own lives. Hou Jianchao has never experienced loneliness so deeply as he does now. He began to think about how to spend the rest of his life in order to get out of the trauma and haze in his heart.
At the age of 63, Hou Jianchao began to consider remarrying. A fellow saw that he lived alone and lonely, so he introduced Yujuan, who had been widowed for many years. The two are of similar age, and after meeting several times, Hou Jianchao found that Yujuan was gentle and considerate, bringing long-lost warmth to his life.
Remarriage is a new beginning for Hou Jianchao. With Yujuan, he rekindled his hope and passion for life. Yujuan's smile dispelled the gloom in his heart, allowing the withered soul to bloom again.
They are very affectionate, and Hou Jianchao also took the initiative to ask for a marriage registration to show his responsibility for this relationship.
Remarriage life is plain but sweet. Get up early every day, walk and exercise together; At noon, taste the delicious lunch made by Yujuan; In the evening, we chatted while watching TV.
Under the sunset, the old husband and wife joined hands in the yard to water the flowers and weed, and spent the twilight years.
Holding hands with Yujuan again, injecting vitality into the originally bleak life. Hou Jianchao sighed that there is no feast in the world, but a little warmth at the right time is enough to dissolve the chill of the long night.
At the beginning, Hou Jianchao and Yujuan's remarried life was very happy. Until Yujuan's two daughters often brought their grandchildren home to live, the original quiet life was frequently broken.
Early in the morning, a loud cry came from next door, waking up the sleeping Hou Jianchao. When he got up, it turned out that the eldest grandson had a cold and fever, and the younger grandson may have been woken up and cried.
The grumpy grandson cried and screamed at every turn, which made Hou Jianchao even more irritable.
At night, not long after falling asleep, Hou Jianchao was woken up again by the sound of his grandchildren's voices. They slept in the living room, still laughing and chatting in the middle of the night. Hou Jianchao felt that he was "disturbing the people", but he had no choice but to endure it, but he was very annoyed.
Hou Jianchao felt that this frequent "disturbance" life made him unbearable. He misses the quiet times when it was just him and Yujuan.
Seeing Hou Jianchao's discomfort with his daughters' frequent homecoming, Yujuan persuaded him to be more considerate of his daughters, who came back to accompany their parents more. But Hou Jianchao believes that such a cluster life is too noisy and affects the rhythm of his Xi life.
Once, Xia Dan brought two grandchildren back to live. In those days, Hou Jianchao felt too much pressure, so he found an excuse to go to his son's house to avoid it. Yujuan saw it in her eyes and felt that he was too unreasonable.
The two got into arguments several times over the issue. Yujuan thinks that Hou Jianchao should be more considerate of his daughter, and they come back because of family affection. But Hou Jianchao insisted on maintaining certain boundaries in life, otherwise it would become more and more unbearable in the future.
The two did not agree on their ideas, and gradually accumulated some estrangement in their remarried lives. Hou Jianchao thinks that Yujuan is too accommodating to her daughter, while Yujuan feels that Hou Jianchao is selfish and doesn't care about her daughter's feelings.
This question became a knot between the two of them.
Faced with the unsatisfactory life of remarriage, Hou Jianchao began to reflect on whether his ideas were too selfish.
Perhaps as a wife, he should not always emphasize his Xi, but should put himself in Yujuan's shoes and think more from her point of view. It is also normal for daughters to go home to visit their parents, and Yujuan, as a wife, will inevitably understand the feelings of her daughters.
However, Hou Jianchao also believes that the living space he needs should be respected. Yujuan's daughters often come back to make noise, which has seriously affected his carefully maintained rhythm of life.
As an independent individual, he has the right to choose the lifestyle that suits him.
Hou Jianchao believes that he still needs to control his life in his later years. We can't just accommodate others and ignore ourselves. Family harmony is very important, but the heart of the individual cannot be forced to compromise indefinitely.
Only when both parties can understand and make concessions to each other can remarriage life be harmonious.