Chapter 8 Chapter 4 Father

When I think of my father, I think of my childhood.Dad is the warmest ray of sunshine and the coolest comfort in my childhood memory.For many years, my father's love has been the source of my strength, and the fact that he passed away and I didn't see him for the last time is also the most painful scar buried in my heart. When my dad died, I was playing junior games in Shenzhen.No one told me that my father was critically ill, and no one told me the news of his death—about his illness, my father asked everyone around me to keep it a secret, because he was afraid of "impacting Li Na's play."

In the early morning, when the train from Shenzhen to Wuhan arrived in Hankou, the sound of stopping was like a long sigh.My mother didn't come to pick me up, but my uncle (father's younger brother) came.My uncle asked me to have breakfast before going back to my grandparents' house with him.Everything is so normal, so natural. When I walked downstairs to my grandfather's house, I saw a wreath with my father's name written on it. I was 14 years old that year. I don't know how I got to the sixth floor. I just remember seeing my father as soon as I went upstairs. He was lying there with a big belly full of accumulated ascites and his face was pale.Dad was a very handsome person when he was alive.

Dad's portrait hangs in the most eye-catching place in the living room.He looked at me in the photo, his eyes full of love and kindness.That look is so familiar to me.The black veil next to it hangs heavily, reminding everyone shockingly: the person in the photo is no longer alive. When I saw my father's body, I didn't dare to reach out to touch it, because I was afraid that if I touched the cold body, I would have to admit my father's departure.In fact, for the next few years, I have been lying to myself that my father was just on a business trip and didn't come home instead of leaving.

Mom couldn't say anything and kept crying.In the past, all the big things in the family were decided by Dad. Now that he is gone, it feels like the sky is falling.I felt like I had been hit in the head.I just feel heavy, I don't feel pain, and I can't cry.I was numb for a long time, and I didn't cry until my dearest uncle came to comfort me since I was a child.And once the tears flowed, they couldn't stop. I used to think that people grow up and mature little by little, but that day I knew that people grow up in an instant. I think, in the future, I will be responsible for supporting the family.

My father was the first person to take me on the road of sports - when he was young, he was a badminton player for the Hubei provincial team.Many years later, he would occasionally talk about the days when he played in the provincial team, and every time he talked about it, he would be in high spirits, as if he had become the high-spirited young man back then. People of their era have gone through the ups and downs of the great era, and it is not easy to win the opportunity to play.But later, due to special reasons, my father's dream of being a national champion did not come true, so he pinned his hopes on me.

Our family can also be considered a sports family. My grandfather used to be a physical education teacher in Baoshan Street Primary School, and my father used to be a badminton player. Several generations have been associated with sports. My dad is the eldest in the family. He is not only handsome and straight, but also smart and transparent. He is recognized as a "pistachio". The whole family regards Dad as the pillar.As the eldest son, Dad is obliged to shoulder the burden.My family's conditions are only average even in the working class, but my father never refuses anyone's help. I remember him as a helpful person.

Dad works in sales at Changjiang Metal Products Factory, and he has to go on business trips all year round. There are not many days when Dad can stay with us, but as long as Dad is at home, the atmosphere at home is very cheerful and warm.Dad is eloquent and has a lot of jokes hidden. Whenever I ask him to tell a story, he will tell one in a blink of an eye, making my stomach hurt from laughing. Dad is not only eloquent, but also meticulous in his life.He has a very high level of cooking, delicate knife skills, and excellent color and fragrance.Every time before a business trip, my father would steam a piece of fish or stewed meat in advance, so that when my mother came home from get off work, she could cook some vegetarian dishes for dinner, enough for us mother and daughter to eat for two or three days.The electrical appliances at home, the clothes of my mother and me are all bought by my father from other places, and they are pretty and not expensive.Although the income is not much, the family lives comfortably.At that time, my home was full of laughter and warmth.

It is rare to have free time for myself, and my father always wants to play. When I was very young, I was a little baby fat. My father wanted me to grow up healthily, so he took me to run and exercise, and taught me how to play badminton. listen.He has an unusual concentration and love for badminton - a child from a commoner family in the city, he has worked hard to reach the threshold of the provincial team, and the dedication behind it can be imagined.It was the time when the slogan "Youth educated go to the mountains and go to the countryside" was loudly shouted.Dad knew that his family was not well off, and he had a younger brother to take care of, so he obeyed the organization's assignment and went to Hanyang—early devolution, early transfer home, early work, early earning money to support the family, that's what he thought about.

After being transferred back from Hanyang, my father first went to work in the Second Light Industry Bureau, and then was transferred to the Changjiang Metal Products Factory to do sales. I have been secretly wondering whether my father's devotion to me includes compensation for my unrewarding ambitions in my youth.In that era of scarcity of materials, my father seemed to invest in me regardless of the cost. When I was 4 years old, my father asked friends in Nanjing for help and bought a piano back home. The reason was that my relatives and friends praised my slender fingers for playing the piano.

I forget whose discovery it was, but Dad was very happy, and within a few days, there was an extra piano at home.When I am in a good mood, I go up and play a few times, and when I am in a bad mood, I leave it alone.Children are very playful, and they often slip out to kick shuttlecocks and rubber bands with the children in the yard before finishing playing a piece of music. My mother urged me to practice the piano from time to time.Dad had no problem with that, he never forced me to do anything. "Just like it," he said. Later, when I started playing badminton, I stopped practicing the piano, and my father sold the piano silently—he was the one who got the piano back without saying a word.He silently did many things for me. With my father, anything related to me is a big deal.

Dad's dream about badminton has never faded in his home life.