Sorry, My Beloved Is The Motherland - Chapter 17.4 - To Dedicate One's Life To The Country

Xiao Wu and his group were surrounded in the center of the crowd. Relying on their height and size, they even had the time to keep signaling Ning Fu with their eyes as she arrived, making it look like they were having facial spasms.

He persistently signaled Ning Fu to hurry to the village entrance.

Their car is parked there. If Ning Fu quietly slips over now, they can quickly leave once they figure out how to get away.

Xiao Wu came up with a brilliant excuse: “Fellow villagers, please understand, Comrade Ning Fu is being transferred for official reasons!”

Perfect.

More and more young intellectuals came running to watch the commotion, and were astonished when they heard this.

Whether Ning Fu is returning to the city through connections or really being ‘transferred for official reasons,’ it doesn’t actually concern the people of Tulaga Banner, so there’s no need for them to ‘explain.’

But the young intellectuals are different!

Who doesn’t want to return to the city?! Who doesn’t want to leave here, go home, live a better life, and achieve their ideals and personal value as a student?!

When they had no one to turn to, Ning Fu was smoothly ‘transferred’ for work?!

Even the most broad-minded person in the world can’t help but ask “Why?”

The young intellectuals also started to quarrel.

Secretary Tugu Li had a splitting headache. He even turned to Ning Fu for help, saying, “Comrade Ning, what do you think… what should we do?”

T/N: I can’t decide between Tu Guli or Tugu Li, the name in Chinese is 图古力(Túgǔlì). I’m not sure if surname is Tu or Tugu, so I’ll go with Tugu Li as it is closer to original pronunciation.

Ning Fu squeezed into the crowd.

Towards Xiao Wu: “Please don’t speak for now.”

Her tone was still relatively polite, but her expression was not pleasant, so Xiao Wu instinctively fell silent.

Before Ning Fu left home, she had the temperament of a pampered young lady, with a sense of superiority and a bit of aggressiveness. Xiao Wu was actually somewhat afraid of her. However, this time when he saw Ning Fu again, he felt that she had changed a lot, becoming much more gentle and mature. Perhaps this was the result of the experiences gained during the ‘up the mountains and down the countryside’ movement.

T/N: “上山下乡” (shàng shān xià xiāng) – a major policy during the Cultural Revolution in China (1966-1976). During this period, urban youth, particularly those from Beijing and other major cities, were encouraged or compelled to move to rural areas for promoting rural development, reinforce Communist ideologies by immersing the youth in the lifestyle of the rural proletariat and away from the perceived corruption of urban life, and to alleviate urban unemployment and social unrest by dispersing the population.

But Ning Fu’s expression just now successfully made Comrade Xiao Wu recall the frightening memories of how he had been tormented by this young lady.

He instinctively chose to avoid provoking Ning Fu’s temper.

— The young lady’s residual influence still lingers.

Ning Fu found a slightly higher mound of dirt, stood on it, and said loudly: “I am not a special case. I assure everyone!”

These words were addressed to the young intellectuals.

At such a time, no amount of indirect or tactful statements can be effective.

She casually instructed Xiao Wu, “They will leave tomorrow. By then, everyone can watch at the village entrance and see if I am on their vehicle.”

Xiao Wu was so anxious that he sweated heavily in the middle of winter. He tried several times to speak, but upon seeing Ning Fu’s serious face, he instinctively swallowed his words.

“What if you leave quietly in the future?!” someone shouted from the crowd. “What if you get into college?!”

Actually, the young intellectuals all know that Ning Fu definitely didn’t get accepted this time, but that is not the point right now.

The main point is fairness!

Ning Fu said: “When doing things, one should do them under the light.”

She smiled slightly and said, “People have their own selfish desires, and so do I. But I can also promise everyone that if I were to leave, it would only be for the person I love most.”

A burst of whispering and murmuring erupted from the crowd.

Ning Fu’s few words also rekindled the memories of the young intellectuals and the villagers about her past, particularly her deeds of not engaging in productive work and her dramatic efforts in ‘pursuing men’.

——Actually, when you think about it, why does it seem that this episode of romantic escapades feels like such a long time ago in everyone’s memories, no matter how frequently it comes up?

Gao Han in the crowd was very surprised.

However, as for who is Ning Fu’s greatest love, the answer is clearly singular.

Even if she spoke such heartless words, completely cutting off any possibility between them, it cannot be denied that he is indeed the person she loves the most!

Perhaps… perhaps he still isn’t completely without a chance…

Gao Han’s pupils dilated slightly with excitement, and he even unconsciously puffed out his chest.

He also simultaneously attracted many gazes from those around him.

Then, everyone heard the girl’s clear and crisp voice say, “That person can only be motherland.”

Oh, here it uses personification, a touch of brilliance*.

T/N: /* 神来之笔 (shén lái zhī bǐ) – literally “the brush of divine arrival” or “a touch of divine brush”- Chinese idiom used to describe a masterful or brilliant piece of writing or art.

Personification is a literary device in which human characteristics or qualities are attributed to animals, inanimate objects, or abstract concepts. It creates vivid imagery and makes these non-human elements more relatable and expressive. Here, it refers to expressing the motherland/country/homeland as a person/lover. */

For a moment, no one spoke.

Snowflakes once again descended from within the sky in a flurry.

Xu Cuicui cried, and she cried so much that her nose started to run bubbles.

Among everyone, only she understands the most.

Once, she asked Ning Fu, “Is getting into school really that great?”

Ning Fu only told her one principle: the deeper the knowledge, the greater the ability; the more you know, the greater the responsibility.

At least, she has never shirked this responsibility.

Now, she has only learned the Chinese and math of a fifth-grade level; the things she understands are probably as different in scale from what Ning Fu understands as the height of the Himalayas.

But she understands.

People can love themselves, can love their family, and can also love the countless masses.

The vain person focuses on their own name, while the honorable person focuses on the cause of the nation.

“Ahem.”

At such a moment, when a startling and shocking statement had just been made, an out of place sound suddenly emerged, breaking the contemplative atmosphere.

The source of the sound had been hiding in the corner all along, but now it finally started to slowly move out.

—It was the mail carrier whom the snow removal team, along with Xiao Wu and the others, had brought back.

T/N:

“People have their own selfish desires, and so do I. But I can also promise everyone that if I were to leave, it would only be for the person I love most.”

“That person can only be the motherland.”

“The vain person focuses on their own name, while the honorable person focuses on the cause of the nation.”

T/N: Ah, brings back memories, why I wanted to so badly translate this novel. It was just wonderful. The words, the feelings, the restless vibrant energy it portrays, just beautiful.

From now on, whenever I find these super lines, I’ll just add them at the end again, I wanted to do that for all the novels I read so that I can get back them whenever I wanted to and now I get a chance, haha.

Also, I encourage you all to comment more, though I say this, I have yet to create a Disqus account, sorry, I’m so behind the ages, will do it soon and also reply to all your previous messages too. Thank you for all of your support and love for this novel. Next update soon, will not put the suspense on for too long.