mountains and rivers

A few days ago, I received an invitation from Xinhua Publishing House, wanting me to write an article about my parents.

At first, I was going to say no.My father has been obsessed with scientific research all his life and has never participated in any exposure.There doesn't seem to be much to talk about in the mother either.They are still in the golden age of life, and it is not my turn to comment on their lives in the tone of the younger generation.

But I also understand why friends from the publishing house sent me this invitation.An accident last year brought the public's attention to my parents. Everyone looked at them with admiration, and they were curious because they wanted to know more about their stories.

In fact, from my point of view, although they are my parents, they also have a halo in my eyes. This halo is not dimmed because of getting along day and night. They are indeed legendary people, and they are also the most outstanding people I have ever seen in my life. people.

As a child, especially the child of such an excellent couple, I dare not and am not qualified to comment on their achievements, which is why I wanted to refuse at first.Later, my friends from the publishing house reminded me that everyone is not only curious about their lives, but more interested in their emotional stories.

At that time, I was a little stunned by the reminder, but soon, I became interested, and many inspirations emerged in my mind, which made me suspect that if I put these ideas into words, I would definitely not be able to resist writing a book. An article too long to embarrass the editor.I thought I had a lot to say about this, and after two days' hesitation I accepted the invitation, with a secret joy at last being shared.

After writing so much, I think I should introduce myself first, lest readers still be confused after reading for so long, and do not understand who this unknown person is.

My name is Qian Zhonglan, and I am 21 years old. I am the only son of Academician Qian Sanyi, a scientist, and Ms. Qi Yu, a well-known journalist. I am a graduate student at Harvard, majoring in international relations. I just graduated this year.

This article was written by me sitting behind a desk in the corner of the Harvard library. Of course, I stole some free time between writing the thesis. I should return to China after finishing this essay on the experience assigned by the tutor.

Haha, it sounds a little strange. Most of my family members are scholars, and my father is a pure scientific researcher. My choice surprised many people in our family.Here, I would like to thank my mother, without her, I would not have been so interested in the international situation since I was a child, so that it has become an important factor affecting my life in the future.

I'm an out-and-out nobody, and my parents aren't.They were men and women of considerable intellect, and of course achieved innumerable remarkable achievements in their lifetimes.I bet my parents would have been caught off guard, and even a little bit troubled, by the inexplicable publicity.

Both my parents were of the turn-of-the-century generation.The memory of the rise of the 21th century and the take-off of the [-]st century has been imprinted in their lives.The old people said that this generation of Chinese youth bears responsibilities. They grew up with the Internet, and all their ways of thinking are obviously different from those of the past.Nowhere is this more apparent than when millennials start to head the household.

I heard that before I was born, my father worked at the satellite launch base in Jiuquan.No wonder I didn't remember much of him in the eight years after I was born. I usually only see his thin figure during the New Year's festival.Occasionally, my mother would take me to visit him, but the frequency was rare because my mother was also very busy.

Before the eight-year-old governor, I didn't quite understand how special my father's job was, and my mother never told me what Jiuquan meant.We lived in a compound in Beijing. Most of the parents of the children around us, like my father, were away all the year round. Most of the people left in the compound were their wives and children.My mother said that their parents were my father's colleagues and partners.

To be honest, I don't really understand, I couldn't understand it when I was a child.I only know that my kindergarten classmates and elementary school classmates have parents at the same time, and their fathers even come to hold parent-teacher meetings in person!parent meeting!A parent-teacher conference that my dad never came to!

Whenever I watched them walk past me triumphantly holding my father's hand, I felt very uncomfortable.My father looked much younger than their fathers, with a tall and straight figure, like a bamboo that would never bend, with clear eyes and handsome eyes, and graceful gestures.My father is the best looking man I have ever met.

When I was a child, I was always wronged in my heart. Although my mother was by my side, she was also very busy and was a "trapeze".I have good living conditions, but in fact I am very depressed.Because of the lack of companionship and the doting of the elders, when I was young, I was once a demon king, fighting cocks, walking dogs, and bullying little girls. The first thing I did when I got home was to take me door to door to apologize to the kids I bullied.I said I'm sorry obediently on the face, but I was very disdainful in my heart, because most of them were older and taller than me, but I beat them all up, and they even complained to their parents, which is really unforgivable.

My mother was probably also surprised by my talent for getting into trouble, and my natural ability to fight.After reprimanding me several times to no avail, she sent me to the Children's Palace and enrolled me in a taekwondo class, saying that instead of letting me use my strength to fight, it is better to learn some skills seriously.

In fact, I really like taekwondo, because I soon became the king in that small class, and the coach said that I was the most talented student he had ever seen.And the most important thing is that since I learned Taekwondo, my mother can pick me up in person, because it is already [-] o'clock in the evening after school every day, which coincides with the time when she returns home after working overtime.

Of course, I feel a little ashamed every time she calls me.When I was just born, I don’t know which of my parents gave me the nickname “Qian Chuan Chuan”, which accompanied me from a baby wearing diapers to a domineering man in the compound Little Bawang, the popularity is so high that before I go to school, I will forget my own name if I don't pay attention.

Cough, it’s a bit off topic, there are too many naughty and interesting facts about me when I was a child, and I can’t stop talking about it every time... In the year when I got the black belt in Taekwondo, my father came back. It means that he came back from vacation, but he really came back, back to my mother and me.

I remember very clearly that I was nine years old and in the third grade of elementary school.One day my mother suddenly came back from get off work very early. She had been waiting for me outside the Taekwondo gym for two hours, and did not pick me up until I finished my class.Her behavior that day was really abnormal. I gave her a good night kiss before going to bed, and she asked me if my father was coming back, and Gao was happy.

Gao unhappy?I seem to have forgotten that I couldn’t fall asleep that night anyway. It wasn’t until the middle of the night when the moonlight crept into my room that I fell asleep in a daze. My dream was all about sitting in my father’s arms, and he taught me how to make a Memories of the smart little robot.

But if you want to say that my father owes me and my mother, then I don't agree.The reason why I didn't grow up to be a delinquent teenager who complains about others and resents my parents is probably because of the love and care my parents gave me, and my /loved/family.Every member of my family loves each other selflessly and sincerely. They are the only ones in each other's eyes. Even if they don't spend much time together, the love can still be revealed from their eyes.

My father is an upright man, but he is also a good man with a delicate mind who can read other people's minds.He always felt sorry for me, so when he came back, he did his best to accompany me and teach me, and gave me the ultimate care that even my mother had not given me in the past nine years.Except for the work in the Academy of Sciences, he refused to accept other invitations, and took me to play everywhere after work every day.My grandmother made fun of how he seemed to devote all his free time to me—he seemed bent on making up for the time we didn't have together.

With such a father, who can bear to blame him?The only bit of resentment in my heart disappeared long ago, and he became the person I admire most in my heart.

My dad is without a doubt the kind of person I would most like to grow up to be.The father in the hearts of others is flawed, but there is nothing wrong with him in my heart.The image of my father is so stalwart. From childhood to youth, he is the goal I pursue, like an unfailing lighthouse, illuminating my way forward.

After talking about my father, I also want to talk about my mother.Speaking of mother, I have endless things to say in my heart. If I write them all down, I can probably write a novel. Well, I think about it, why not call it "My Goddess"?Ha, just kidding.As the relative who has been with me for the longest time, my mother will always occupy the most important position in my heart, no one can shake it, not even my father - of course, he is also happy with the fact that I love my mother so much Qicheng didn't want to impact her status.

My mother, in the eyes of others, was a perfect woman.At different stages in a person's life, the appreciation vision will also change.But my mother is such a magical person. Whether it is the children who grew up with me in the courtyard or the old people of the great-grandfather generation, in their minds, there is always a template for the best appearance of a woman, and that is mine. Mother.

The mother looks beautiful, but she never gives people a sense of distance. She doesn't have the arrogance of those beauties.The great-grandmother said that her mother was a low-key child from childhood, obedient and sensible, and never felt superior to others with any of her own advantages.She was the kindest child her great-grandmother had ever seen. She came from a wealthy family but was neither arrogant nor impetuous.

When my mother was 41 years old, she won the Pulitzer Prize, which is the "Nobel Prize in journalism". Her mother also became famous overnight, and she was on Weibo's hot search, and the entry was posted there for two weeks. Genius down.It was also from then on that people paid attention to my family and my parents.In some respects, I am also grateful to the omnipotent netizens. If it weren’t for them, I would not have seen the interview 24 years ago. It turned out that my parents were the Jiangzhou Arts and Sciences champions in the same year. Being together is such a distant past.

I have seen many people comment on the appearance of my parents, admiring that they are still young and handsome in their forties. In fact, their appearance is the least worth mentioning characteristic. If you know them well, you will not treat them with such superficial impressions. them.

They are the most indifferent people I have ever seen. My mother told me that if you want to live a happy life, you should not pay too much attention to it, because there are too few things that people can take care of. There are also far fewer catches than you might think.Both father and mother live in the moment, and if they can spend a day together without the distractions of work, they can spend hours quietly together without even saying a word, and the air is full of happiness.

When I was 14 years old, I left home alone with my luggage and went to Hefei to study in the junior class of the University of Science and Technology of China.I made this decision by myself. When I told my mother about it, my mother's face was in a daze, and then she looked at her father who was sitting on the balcony and was assembling a chip, and got a smiley look. .They looked at each other and smiled, and there was something in the smile that I didn't know.

Later, my mother told me the day before I left home that my father almost went to the junior class of HKUST, almost.Yes, he gave up that opportunity for his mother.That's why my parents were so surprised when they heard my words.Years go by, time goes by, their youth has passed away, and my decision is like an inheritance from generation to generation, secretly revealing the fetters and fate between bloodlines.

Someone asked me why I left home so early at the age of 14, since I longed for the love from my parents so much, and I only got full fatherly love at the age of nine. Don’t I miss the love of my parents? ?

In fact, it is not right to say that. I declare that my growth has always been very healthy, and there is no lack of psychology.Perhaps it was from the age of nine that my father and mother tried their best to make up for me, I was not dissatisfied, I knew that I was loved.

It was my parents who taught me that love requires quality. Although the process of getting love for me is shorter than others, few people can match the quality.My parents, they really love each other. I have never seen such a light but meaningful relationship. It is vast and vast, and it is the deep love in the bones that cannot be dispersed even across thousands of rivers and mountains.

I am the achievement of their love, the greatest testimony of their love in this life, the expectation left to each other in those years separated by mountains and rivers, and the child born with hope and blessing.They have never beaten or scolded me in their life, and the value they conveyed to me is so clear and strong.I feel my parents' expectations for me and their cherishment of me. This love is so pure and deep, and it often moves me to the point where I want to cry.

I do not lack love, I firmly believe that I am the most loved person in this world, so I do not love home, because I know that the sky is vast, I can fly freely, if I am tired, there is a stronger and thicker force behind it Will watch me fly all the way and escort me.My parents' love is my strongest backing in this world.

Some people may not feel it, and feel that I am exaggerating, but I am not, but I am not willing to argue hard on this topic.Some things, it is good for them to understand, time will prove it, we don't need to paint.

I joined the junior class at the age of 14, and then went straight to the undergraduate class of HKUST under the recommendation of my teacher. I was only 16 years old at that time.After finishing my studies at HKUST, I was admitted to Harvard as a graduate student. I changed from an engineering dog to a student studying international relations. People from other schools jokingly called us "spies". , but rather interesting.

My professor is a personable and humorous American. We hit it off very often, although he inevitably has some stereotypes about China, such as Chinese-style families and Chinese-style education.He admired my parents very much, and felt that they were one of the few enlightened parents. Only such a family educated me to be so outstanding, with leaping thinking and an "American-style" optimism.In fact, I don’t quite agree. Most of the children I grew up with are very good. They grow up to be the future pillars of the country just like their parents. The education methods of these families are different, but they all cultivate excellent and upright children.

I half-jokingly said to my professor: "Steve, you are actually a bit one-sided when you say this. There is an old saying in China that a filial son is born under a stick, and it is not that you want to conquer children by violence as you imagine. I know you value children. Personal rights, but this does not explain the increasing violence in the United States. Sometimes the authority of parents is still very important. After all, we are the country with the largest population in the world. We cannot indulge our children and give them too many privileges. "

My American professor frowned and muttered "Okay," but I knew he didn't think so, but he didn't want to disagree with me.I was his favorite Chinese student. In our School of International Relations, apart from a few sons and daughters of American politicians, I was the first foreign student he looked at differently.He has been persuading me to stay in the United States, and he can recommend me to work in the government in the future, because he believes that the United States is the largest country in terms of size, and their government is the most advanced.

In fact, there is a saying that I have always wanted to tell him, but after thinking about it, why bother? Prejudice cannot be changed overnight.I am a tactful person, and I have never had a clear relationship with others in my current life. Some truths cannot be understood by telling him face to face. You have to show the results and make others speechless.

But at the graduation ceremony, I boldly said this sentence in front of the teachers and students of Harvard University, my professors, and my classmates. I said, "China's economic volume is expected to surpass that of the United States next year and become the largest economy in the world." The world's largest economic power" was out of my mouth, and I saw that many people below immediately changed their faces.I was a member of the Phoenix Club at Harvard, and I had a good relationship with the top members of the club, but now the president is staring at me as if he was looking at a traitor.Not to mention the members of the Harvard Pyramid Club and Persilian (also known as the Roast Pig Club) who have always been dissatisfied with me. Most of them are my classmates and come from a family of American politicians. I also feel that they are high above us, we consciously do not interfere with each other, and do not interfere with each other, but now they are all frowning, looking up at me as if they were offended, and the hair that was meticulously brushed behind their heads is full of dissatisfaction of gloss.

ha!I don't want to care about how they feel. I have a hunch that I will not receive invitations from the alumni association after graduation, but whocares?It’s the middle of the 21st century, and China’s sovereignty issues have all been resolved long ago. Now my motherland is united as one, and my compatriots in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are also doing their best to promote the development of the country. I am proud of my motherland, and I have long wanted to face them Smug nostril punched.I dare say that my taekwondo practice has given me a lot of practical opportunities since I came to the United States. The gangsters who rob me on the street have opened my eyes. Fortunately, I am different from my father. I have a much stronger personality than him, and I am not afraid to provoke trouble.

I know what the darlings of my class call me behind their backs—"snowwhite" is their exact word for my all-too-fine looks.When the professor hooked me up to stay in the United States, they once showed me kindness and kept saying "my friend", but after I firmly rejected their olive branch before graduation, they completely parted ways with me.

Of course, I was also confused about this matter. I went back to Beijing on Christmas before graduation. When I discussed this matter with the elders in my family, they looked at each other in blank dismay.Our family is basically patriotic intellectuals who have contributed to the country all their lives and have never thought about their position.If you think about my parents, you probably know what a humble background I have.

They didn't give me any advice in the end. My great-grandfather opposed me staying in the United States to serve in the US government, except that they didn't interfere with my career choice.I spent a Christmas vacation thinking. On the last day before departure, I was bored and tuned to CCTV-7, the TV station I am most familiar with. Unexpectedly, I saw my mother in the news of the day.

She flew to Africa a few days ago, and what I didn't expect was to see her in the live broadcast.

After reading the news of the day, I packed up my things the next day and flew back to school by myself—my father had something to do in the Academy of Sciences, so he couldn’t see me off.

In the final analysis, it is actually my parents who have influenced my life and destiny.

Our generation, born in a more prosperous motherland, can be called the happiest generation in the past century.I dare not say how much credit my parents have, but their contribution is always there.I don’t know how my parents, two young people who had a smooth journey, had such awareness to dedicate their lives to the country. After all, they are different from me. My family has decided that my awareness is higher than ordinary people, but I Parents didn't have such edification at that time, they could have a more comfortable choice.

I have heard some of their stories, about Jiangzhou, about a private high school, about getting along day and night, about the silent love for each other, about foreign countries, about the separation of mountains and seas, about watching, and about faith.The time they spent together is full of aloes from the years when they are told.

Perhaps the best love is like this, take your choice as your choice, and your belief as your belief.My mother is a gentle and slender person who has measured the veins of countless mountains and rivers in her life. She has indomitable resilience in her eyes. She is not afraid to cross mountains and rivers, and her temperament is as strong as steel.

In the land of more than 960 million square kilometers in the motherland, she followed my father without hesitation.

The best love, perhaps, is to join hands with him and dedicate his life to this beautiful river and mountain.Because of love, whether it is Beijing city or the base in the northwest, she will go forward indomitably.

Side by side all the way, thousands of sails read all over, the mountains and rivers are on the same page.

The glory of my parents is forever.I haven't experienced this kind of love yet, but it doesn't prevent me from being a son, loving what my parents love, and guarding the distant homeland with them.

——From the first section of Qian Zhonglan's memoir "My Little Half Life", "My Parents".

Note: This book was edited and published by Xinhua Publishing House. It is a collection of personal publications by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic Qian Zhonglan (later included in the sixth volume of "The Diplomatic Situation of the Republic").The writing time of the manuscript in the book is uncertain, but it basically summarizes the first half of the life of this outstanding diplomatic figure.