Chapter 237 Finale Blue Sky
In the days before Zhang's father was released from prison, the sky was always overcast and the sun was not visible. The dark clouds in the north were slow to move. Mom often sat at the door and muttered, "It's time to rain. The tobacco seedlings in Yunxi Village are dying of drought."

On the day Zhang's father was released from prison, the rain finally fell.

The entire Zhang family went to pick up Zhang's father. There were so many people that in addition to Zhang Yunqi driving the Mercedes-Benz, they also borrowed a car from Yu Lin. At 8:30 in the morning in the drizzle, the family arrived at Guiping County Prison.

After Zhang Yunqi got out of the car, he took out a brazier and a bag of charcoal that his mother had prepared earlier from the trunk. He and his eldest brother Zhang Yunfeng burned the charcoal in the brazier until it was bright and red. Then he and his family waited outside the ten-meter black wall. On the ten-meter black wall, there were eight large white characters written: "Actively reform and become a new person."

The wait was not too long, but for the Zhang family, it was as long as a knife. At about nine o'clock, a middle-aged man, led by the prison police, appeared at the prison gate with a certificate of release.

The man was thin, his face was full of wrinkles, his back was slightly hunched, half of his hair was white and he was even a little bald.

Zhang Ma's tears suddenly fell.

Chunlan, Xiaoxiao, and Qiulan, who was holding her son Tiantian, immediately rushed over and shouted, "Dad!"

Dad Zhang touched the little head before taking his almost two-year-old grandson Tiantian from Qiulan's hands. There was a smile on his wrinkled face.

Watching the family reunion, brothers Zhang Yunqi and Zhang Yunfeng were the last to walk over. They smiled and put on a pair of brand new black cotton shoes made by their mother for Zhang's father. Wearing the new shoes, Zhang's father stepped over the brazier and got into the Mercedes-Benz with the help of his children.

Zhang Yunqi glanced at the gate of Guiping County Prison, threw his old shoes into the brazier and burned them, then got in the car and took Zhang's father home.

After returning home.

Zhang Yunfeng set off a 5,000-bang firecracker at the door.

According to the old custom in Jiangchuan area, one needs to cleanse himself after being released from prison. Last night, Zhang's mother prepared a large bucket of rice dumpling leaf water for Zhang's father to get rid of bad luck. But after a night, it had already cooled down. When the second child Zhang Qiulan started the fire to heat it, the fourth and fifth children Chunlan and Xiaoxiao took Zhang's father to see their home in Jiangchuan city, room by room. Zhang's father's rough hands touched here and there, always smiling and saying good things.

While Zhang's father was taking a bath, the Zhang family started to prepare the reunion dinner. The dishes were prepared early, including chicken, duck, meat and fish. The fish was a freshly killed big bluefish, the meat was braised pig's trotter, also known as pork elbow, and the chicken was a native hen that Zhang Haijun's family had raised for more than two years. Zhang Yunqi was the chef, and he cooked nine dishes in a row, each of which was thick, plump and perfect.

It took two hours for the Zhang family’s reunion dinner to be ready.

After taking a shower and changing into a brand new black Zhongshan suit, Zhang's father and mother sat at the top seats. Yunfeng, the eldest son of the family, started by toasting him with his five brothers and sisters. The atmosphere then became lively. Zhang's father held his grandson Tiantian in his arms and chatted with his children, asking about Yunfeng's relationship, and Yunqi, Chunlan and Xiaoxiao's study.

But he didn't eat much. After he finished, he put down his chopsticks and called Zhang Yunqi: "Let's go and add some soil for your grandfather."

Zhang Yunfeng put down his bowl and chopsticks and said, "Let me drive."

Zhang's father said, "Yunqi, just go and take care of the inventory in the store." Zhang Yunqi said nothing, took the key, went downstairs with the incense paper and candles that he had prepared earlier, started the Mercedes, and drove Zhang's father out of the community.

Passing through the bustling Jiangchuan City with a strong New Year atmosphere, Zhang Yunqi and Zhang's father ran forward for less than half an hour and left Fengyang City. All they saw were vast and boundless fields and towering mountains. The air was filled with the fishy smell of mud and water in the beginning of winter. The Spring River had widened, and the gray-green clouds in the sky kept hanging low, merging with the blue mist on the top of the mountains, slowly rising and surging towards the north.

The muddy road was very bumpy, but Zhang Yunqi drove the car slowly and steadily. Zhang's father, who was sitting in the back, remained silent. His dim eyes looked out the window. At this time of year, the birds and animals in the fields had disappeared. Everything was quiet. The land and the village were vaguely visible in the mist. From the chimneys of the villages in the distance, thick green smoke rose.

That is the fireworks of the world.

It was almost three o'clock in the afternoon when we arrived at Yunxi Village.

The blue clouds in the sky were still heavy. Occasionally, the crowing of a rooster and the barking of a few dogs could be heard from deep in the village. A few ragged and dirty children were playing with firecrackers at the entrance of the village. When they saw the big guy rushing towards them with great momentum, they were so scared that they immediately lay down behind the fence or the earth wall with their eyes wide open. The villagers who had just returned from hoeing the tobacco fields with hoes on their backs also stood in the distance, marveling at the scene with awe and envy.

For the seventy or eighty peasants living in this remote mountain village, a tractor that costs eight or nine thousand yuan is already a high-end gadget that they can only look on with envy, and a novel foreign car like this is really beyond their imagination.

After entering the village entrance, the foreign car showed no intention of stopping. It drove straight into a small alley in the village. The mud road in the alley was very narrow and bumpy. The car was moving very slowly, and more and more villagers and children were watching from behind.

When it stopped on the flat ground in front of the low and dilapidated old houses of Old Zhang's family, the small alley behind it was already crowded with villagers and children who came to watch the novelty and excitement. They vaguely realized who was in the car and watched from afar. When they saw Zhang Yunqi and Zhang's father coming down, there was a commotion.

They naturally recognized Zhang Yunqi and Zhang's father Zhang Liushun at a glance. Now the Zhang family, far away in Jiangchuan, has become the most eye-catching family in the village. Their family affairs are enough to be talked about in the village gossip center for a long time. Not to mention the great thing that the second son of the Zhang family plans to build a vegetable base in the village, just the fact that Zhang Liushun has been in prison for two years, everyone in the village thought that this family of old and young sick people was finished. Unexpectedly, the Zhang family's ancestral graves are full of smoke! In just less than two years, this shabby mess has suddenly developed into such a state. The five children are big bosses, and they are the top scholars. This family can produce two in a row.

It's really jaw-dropping.

While the villagers were whispering to each other, the looks they gave the father and son were so simple that there was not even any jealousy. Some villagers who were close to the Zhang family came forward to say hello, but Zhang Yunqi and Zhang Liushun, father and son, were obviously busy. After a few simple greetings and cigarettes, they stayed for a while at the old houses with cracked walls, and then went up to Jiangjunling along the mountain road.

Zhang Yunqi followed Zhang's father, holding incense, paper and candles, but the mountain road was impassable. He took one deep step and one shallow step, and mud splashed everywhere.

Father Zhang didn't care about Zhang Yunqi and just walked forward silently.

Zhang Yunqi walked slowly, and when he caught up with Zhang's father, he was already kneeling in front of the grave, adding soil to the grave with handfuls of his hands.

Zhang Yunqi knelt silently beside him and handed Zhang's father a pair of gloves, but he didn't take it. He added soil while crying silently. He cried for two hours until the blue sky turned black.

******
[Volume 4. Blue Sky. Final Chapter]

(End of this chapter)