Starting from 1964, when I left home for my university study, to the miserable year of 2000, while my mother passed away, It’s more than 36 years. During this period, I experienced lots of political tumults, traveled to dozens of cities at home and aboard. However, only 4 Spring Festivals I had spent outside my hometown. For other 32, no matter how hard the journeys were, I together with my family would rush to my hometown for company my old mother and celebrating the festivals.
(1)
I have an elder brother who is 15 years older than I. He left home for college study and then for medical work. He set up a small family in remote Yun Gui plateau. Since my father died too early, he had to support us at the very beginning of his career life. Of course, such heavy financial burden afflicted him a lot and always made him have no budget to travel. More over, for the busy nature of medical workers, they all were extremely fussy in the wintertime around the festival. Therefore, he always got no chance to go back hometown.
Beside my elder brother, I also have 3 sisters. They all got married and living nearby my mother’s residence.
Whatever festivals coming, they were begging mother to go to their home to stay several days. “I have sons why should I stay in son-in-law’s home?” said my mother firmly, “Who will offer sacrifice to our ancestors after my leaving?”. She was too dedicated to shake her decision. My sisters had no way, but gave up.
My mother suffered from bronchitis at age of 50. Since then, coughing, panting all night long made her never get a sound sleep. In winter time, she was really struggling against ghost every day.
In this case, my sisters had to go to my mother’s house and to accompany her on duty. However, they got some trouble in Spring Festival. It is our local custom, that married daughter should not stay in parents’ home. Besides, they all played key roles in their own families. There is saying in our hometown, “Dozens chores need to be done, Festival Eve is busy time.” Therefore, the custom and reality were always against their good wills.
In this way, it became an unshakable faith for me to go back home for Spring Festival.
At the ends of Chinese lunar years, more and more often my mother’s hoarse coughing was sounding in my ears and her longing to family reunion deeply cutting in my mine, I was so itching to go home that I wished I had a couple of wings to fly over the numerous hills, rivers and would immediately get to my hometown.
(2)
I still remember it was earlier 1970s’, when we, the most miserable students were exiled to a virgin forest in the north of Fu Jian province to deforest. It was a high time when a campaign,” to fulfill annual target of xxxx cubes of logs”, was in full swing. All lumbermen were working hard day and night. Up to the early morning of that Festival Eve, the target was just met. In such a hurry, I knocked on a farmer’s door, bought some dried mush-rooms and bamboo shoots in that isolated maintain area and scurried to the railway station about 20 miles away. It was late afternoon, while I arrived at the platform, where there was still a huge crowd. The trains northward passed one by one, I still had no way to get on. With my tears in my eyes, I ran around here and there just like an ant in bewilderment.
Finding my such sorry looking and gentle behavior, a switchman was so pitiful to me that he lifted me up and tucked into the window, while a train just coming. Thank to his kindness, I was finally on my way. Inside the train, there was also a huge crowd, all passengers piled up as canned sardines. No one ever got a way to access toilet. I was so suffering in the arduous journey and almost fell into a faint due to a long time water-holding.
I arrived at mother’s home at mid night. The sounds of firecrackers came to be sparse nearby. I gently pushed the gate door and found my mother, with craving eyesight, was still waiting in hall. Under glinting candle light, the sacrifices were distinctly displayed on the table.
“My son, it is so nice to have got home!” said mum, with tears streaming on her face.” Hurry up! Fire crackers and worship ancestors!” mum cheerfully shouted out with harsh panting and coughing.
(3)
It was early 1987, when I studied in England and finished my paper defense, my supervisor constantly said OK to me with his thumbs-up. After my excitement, a sudden impulse came to my mind, “It is closed to Spring Festival in our motherland.” I thought silently. Yes, just 5 days left for our parents to spend the most ceremonious fete. I immediately made up my mind going home and chasing the festival. Some friends kindly advised me should not go back in such hurry. However, It was so regrettable to left my mother alone in last Spring Festival, due to my going abroad. I didn’t want to do it again, no matter how hard it might be.
Sure enough, I settled down all leaving procedures in my university that day and went to London for departure registration in culture section of Chinese Embassy next day. Everything went extremely well. On December 28 in Chinese lunar calendar, I was on CAAC’s board. In the early morning of the Festival Eve, I was landing on my motherland, arrived at Beijing Airport and met my wife there.
Our excitement didn’t last too long and was completely disturbed by a horrible fact, when we came to the ticket desk, we was informed no ticket to my hometown available! I sadly repeated my nostalgia to them with tears, unfortunately no pity was aroused. With my dismay, I together with my wife had to go to the reception house in Beijing Foreign Language Institute, where I departed from 2 years ago. Our fortune went wrong even further, the reception girl firmly rejected our check-in requirement for no hot water, no heating, neither drink nor food supply during such a long festival vacation. We were petrified and complained “The situation wherever in Beijing is the same, are you going to drive us away and let us lie on the icy ground? Is it the greeting gift you sent to your fellowmen who just came back from thousands miles away? ”
The girl called her boss and got a special favor to us: checking in and keeping all relevant entry keys on my hand. At that moment, when we moved in, it ‘s getting dark. The fire crackers were bursting everywhere, which meant it’s diner time for family reunion! We patrolled a long time on the street and found no restaurant in service. We had no way but knocked on the door of a grocery shop and bought some biscuits there.
Under the thunderstorm of fire-crackers and mumbling my mother’s loneliness, we were chewing the tasteless “diner” to celebrate the third Festival Eve outside my hometown in all my life.
(4)
2 more festivals spent outside were in 1965 and 1990 respectively. The first one was due to my poor financial situation, when I was recruited by the University of South-China Technology. Exhausted all of my parents’ money and made them be in debt, I couldn’t afford to travel back in that spring festival. Beside, my father was pleasingly alive and 2 younger sisters weren’t married yet, therefore, without my presentation, my mother was not too alone, even though they all missed me very much at that moment.
The third festival I’d spent on a negotiation table in1990.
At that time, after the cracking down to “64” turmoil, most of west countries jointly imposed a sanction to China, which had frozen the booming situation of sino-foreign economy cooperation. Just at that very moment, a wise Belgian business man was bravely against current tide and came to Beijing seeking for a jet-fighter cooperation. It was considered as an “ice broking trip” by Chinese top authority. The young man was gloriously hosted by president Jiang Ze Ming. His project was also granted to a priority by the Defense Committee of Science and Industry. CNAMC, the company where I served, was appointed as his cooperation partner. The young fellow was in such an anxiety, that he immediately flew to his newly appointed spouse and took no care to our holy spring festival. I was nominated as one of the key negotiators by our general manager. Therefore, when the new years’ bell sounded, I was in a tough bargaining. Of course, my mother’s coughing was never silent in my mind.
(5)
Beside above cases, I’d managed to travel back and spent all other spring festivals in my hometown without a single exclusion. During those incredible journeys, we could hardly recount how much hardship we had suffered from. Today, the “working fellows’” miserable trips were reported everywhere by multimedia, however, our experience in several decades ago even much harsher than theirs, due to much worse traffic and road condition at that time. Dozen hours’ bumping made my wife and kids so sick that they were vomiting all the way. At last they almost came to be exhausted. After we arrived at our destination, they all had no strength to stand up and squatted beside the road with tears and sputa dropping.
Even though, we were still yearning to go back and joyful for every year-end return. Because, we knew well what we chased not a simply periodical festival, but a holy treasurable mother love, which’s as transient as flying flint and lightning!