The day I left for college, Father sent me to the train station. Carrying my luggage, we sat through a whole three hour bus ride before arriving in the provincial capital. The bus was half an hour later than what was scheduled. By the time I hastily rushed to the platform, there were only fifteen minutes left before the train left. Father was not fond of farewells, he especially didn’t like last minute farewells. After he put all of my luggage away, he got off the train with great speed.
“Don’t think too much about saving money, on the first of next month, I will send money to you.”
I contained my tears and nodded.
“Remember to open a bank account and deposit the money you have. Don’t lose it as soon as you get there.”
“Oh.”
“Study well.”
“Mmm.”
“Xiao Qiu, we are going from a poor place to a big city. We might be poor, but we don’t lack ambition. Remember Daddy’s words, a person must behave appropriately, and furthermore, must have integrity.”
Growing up, Father had probably repeated the integrity speech several hundred times. It was as if he was living in the Ming dynasty. In actuality, Father taught at the middle school in the small town we lived in. He himself was a university graduate from the city. The year they were being assigned jobs, he voluntarily went to the countryside, and then got married to my mother. Thus, he stayed in the countryside permanently. Now he looks old beyond his age. His beard had already greyed.