Sorry, My Beloved Is The Motherland - Chapter 22.2 - To Dedicate One's Self To The Country

“Mom, I’m back.”

She stepped forward and said.

Wei Yuhua hugged her, tears still falling with a plopping sound, and her hands had already felt every bit of her flesh.

“Jiao Jiao, you’ve really suffered!” she choked, thinking about how reckless Jiao Jiao had been back then, insisting on leaving home to go to the countryside, nearly falling out with her father over a stranger; thinking about how Jiao Jiao, just a young girl still underage, had gone alone to the vast grasslands, with no one to care for her or show her affection, yet she had managed to get into university, enduring countless twists and hardships along the way….

As a mother, her heart feels like it’s being torn apart, and she can’t stop crying.

Ning Fu couldn’t bear to watch her mother cry like this.

Wei Yuhua, with tear-filled eyes, watched as her daughter suddenly put down her backpack, took out a large red flower and placed it on her head, then wrapped a string of dried mushrooms around her neck like a scarf, did a ballet pose on the spot, and then ran off into the distance, swinging the mushrooms that hung down as she twisted and danced the yangge*, shouting loudly——

T/N: Traditional Chinese folk dance

“Mom—Mom—look at me—”

She hopped joyfully, running towards Wei Yuhua.

In her mother’s hazy vision, there was only that large red flower, bouncing with each step, so vibrant and lively, full of life.

Wei Yuhua stopped crying and smiled.

“Just came back, what’s with all this weird stuff!”

Ning Fu hopped back and forth a few times, grinning and saying, “I’m just happy.”

Wei Yuhua gave her a glare and wiped away her tears.

“Hurry up, let’s go home and eat!”

Ning Fu: “Wait a minute, Mom, take the bag first, there’s still more stuff.”

Wei Yuhua froze for a moment—when Jiaojiao left home, she ran away quietly, with just a small backpack. Where did all this luggage come from now?

Then, Ning Fu was seen moving things one by one from the back seat, and the driver, Xiao Wu, also got out to help. While helping, he explained to Wei Yuhua: “You* don’t know, Xiao Ning is really famous in Tulaga banner, she’s truly loved by everyone!”

T/N: *polite form

Wei Yuhua was half-believing, half-doubting.

Does she not know what kind of personality and temper her own daughter has?

Xiao Wu laughed and said, “You didn’t see it, but when we left, the villagers sent us off for several miles! It was almost like how the villagers sent off the Red Army back in the day!”

Wei Yuhua saw them moving one bundle of mountain goods and one basket of skins, and finally believed it. She then instructed Xiao Wu: ‘When you go back, be sure to report to Lao Ning about how popular Jiaojiao is!

Her husband is even more stubborn than a donkey. If a family member said this, he definitely wouldn’t believe it. Xiao Wu would have to speak to him seriously, like he’s reporting work, for him to possibly believe it.

Xiao Wu readily agreed.

The three of them arrived at the doorstep just as two political screening officers from the Aviation University were coming out. Ning Boyuan was behind them, seeing them off with a beaming smile, showing none of the general’s former arrogance.

As soon as the two political screening officers saw Ning Fu, they both froze in surprise.

It was the older one, perhaps having seen big things before, who paused for a moment and then asked, “This… is this Ning Fu, the student?”

“Really… really one of a kind.” The other political screening officer dryly squeezed out a word of ‘praise.’

Ning Boyuan: ……

His gaze fell on Ning Fu’s big red flower on her head and the dried mushrooms around her neck.

“What are you doing?!”

Ning Fu hurriedly took the flower off her head, not knowing where to put it, so she had no choice but to hold it in her hand. “This, this is a gift from the villagers. I brought it back as a souvenir.”

Seeing Ning Boyuan’s face turn dark, Wei Yuhua quickly spoke up for her daughter, “She is just, saw me crying because I missed her so much. She’s trying to make me laugh. Still has the temperament of a child.”

The political screening officer quickly played along, “Colorful clothes to amuse parents, colorful clothes to amuse parents.”

If she gets into the school, she might become a key figure in the arts in the future.

Ning Boyuan also quickly forced a faint smile and said, “This child has always been very filial.”

Wei Yuhua and Ning Fu didn’t expect him to be so easy to talk to, both were stunned for a moment.

The two political screening officers quickly took their leave.

Only then did Ning Boyuan grunt, gave a cold snort, and arrogantly flicked his sleeve as he went into the house.

“— What are you looking at? You caused the trouble yourself, haven’t I cleaned up after you enough? The people came for the political screening, and all I can do is say good things about you!”

Ning Fu realised that he can’t come down from the stage*, and was stubbornly maintaining his fatherly dignity.

T/N: *Chinese expression meaning someone is stuck in a position where they can’t retreat without losing face.

She leaned over with a grin and said, “I brought you some tobacco leaves from Inner Mongolia. I heard they’re really strong!”

Ning Boyuan looked at her, noticing she had gotten darker and thinner, so small and delicate. It reminded him of when she was a child, shaking her arms and shouting that she wanted to ‘ride the horse.’ He let her ride on his neck, telling her where to go, and when he told her to go east instead of west, she still proudly kept shouting “Jia, jia*—.”

T/N: an exclamation urging to move

His heart softened.