Shen Qiang was instantly embarrassed because this was just the style of Shen Qiang's dad. He never spoke like other dads, always mm-hmm and uh-uh, this won't do, that isn't good. He wouldn't say anything, even though in the village, he was known as Honest Shen, who believed that suffering losses was a blessing. Although he didn't reach the point of turning the other cheek, he never argued with anyone and would play dumb when he could, creating conditions to play dumb when he couldn't.

But he was never fake in front of Shen Qiang. From the time Shen Qiang could remember, his dad told him, "You will meet countless hypocritical people in your lifetime, so I will be your genuine dad."

Since then, outside he played dumb, grinning and telling Shen Qiang's mom that suffering losses was a blessing, but occasionally he would speak his heart out in front of Shen Qiang.

Things that couldn't be discussed with anyone else.

The most memorable time was when Shen Qiang was in middle school.

One day, Honest Shen came back very late, his face dark as the clouds hanging over the roof.

He said, "Today I felt furious enough to want to destroy everything, but you're still young, so I can only hold back. I can only force a smile and put on a fool's facade. Remember, in the future, you must either stand out strong enough that no one dares to bully you, or you just tuck your head in and endure everything."

That day was the sixth day of the Lunar New Year.

It was snowing, and Shen Qiang saw the blood on Honest Shen's pants.

The next day, Shen Qiang heard that Ma Xiaosheng, the fiercest thug in Yingbei, and his two brothers, three in total, got beaten up by one person on the sixth night. They said it was too dark to see who did it, and his gangsters wandered around the village for three days with knives, being noisy everywhere.

But they never wandered in front of Shen Qiang's house.

When the spring planting came, that Ma Xiaosheng brought two cows, two plows, and more than ten people to help Shen Qiang's family plant the fields, insisting that they were distant relatives of the Shen Family and called Honest Shen second brother.

When Shen Qiang started high school.

Shen Qiang's dad, always cheerful, would say, "When I was your age, I dreamed about getting a girlfriend all day long, even dreaming of marrying many wives. You want that too, right?"

"Hold on for me!"

"First, get through college. When you're there, if you have the ability, go for it and bring back eight. That'll make me happy, but definitely not during high school."

At that time, Shen Qiang didn't quite understand.

Until the day before leaving for college.

That night Honest Shen said, "Once a man has attachments, he will have two paths. One is to become very strong, to fight, to make efforts, and to venture for the sake of those attachments, fearless! The other is to become weak, to stay together, never part, as long as the person is there, the family is there, no matter how vast the world is, I drink alone, no matter how prosperous it is, I remain carefree."

Then he strangely took out two bottles of seventy-two-proof Baodaozi each costing three yuan fifty.

He poured a big bowl for Shen Qiang.

One bowl was one bottle.

It was Honest Shen's first time drinking with Shen Qiang.

The drink was the strongest Baodaozi, and the bowl was the big porcelain bowl at home.

The side dishes were a scrambled egg and a plate of peanuts.

Honest Shen looked very serious at the time.

He said, "Shen Qiang, if you have the guts, finish this bowl of liquor. Tomorrow, walk out like a man and don't look back!"

"Outside, you might not be able to fight the heavens and the earth; maybe in June, snow will fly into your heart."

"Rumors are sharper than swords and arrows, and beneath the feet of money, there are too many slaves. The human heart is unpredictable, unfathomable; reality is like wheels while we are just ants."

"If you are afraid, just stay home!"

At that time, Shen Qiang, without thinking, picked up the bowl and drank the Baodaozi in the large porcelain bowl in one gulp.

The strong liquor felt like a knife to the throat.

The blazing Shen Qiang was exuberant and ambitious, but in the end, he drank so much that he vomited all over the place.

But those words, Shen Qiang seemed to understand only halfway.

It wasn't until three years later, when Shen Qiang started his internship, when his former girlfriend came to the Shen family, started talking about buying houses, dowry, so-called chasing dreams, saying that love isn't rice porridge, no matter how hard Shen Qiang tried, he couldn't trade a genuine smile from her in return.

When classmates gossiped, neighbors sneered, coldly asking why he couldn't find a partner, and relatives pounded the table asking why he was so picky that he might end up single. That's when Shen Qiang suddenly understood.

It turned out that he never chose the path of becoming as strong as Honest Shen had hoped.

He too chose to drink a ladle of water from a vast ocean.

He thought that true understanding and companionship would bring back the carefree life he desired.

But rumors are sharper than swords!

Reality is like wheels, while Shen Qiang is just an ant!

Unable to fight heaven and earth!

The June snow had already flown into his heart!

So after the Spring Festival, the night before leaving home, Shen Qiang bought two bottles of Baodaozi.

It was the same brand.

Just as simple!

When Shen Qiang filled the liquor for himself and his father.

Honest Shen said, "I thought you would cry."

Shen Qiang laughed and said, "I don't cry because I have no dignity left to give up."

"And just like you said before, I couldn't compete with the heavens and the earth, and the June snow had already flown into my heart, but I do not believe there is an insurmountable Berlin Wall in this world!"

Honest Shen laughed and said, "Then finish this drink, tonight I'll get drunk with you until there's no end!"

The strong liquor entered the throat, the heart felt as if cut by a knife.

Even though Shen Qiang had said he had no dignity left to give up, he eventually couldn't control himself.

Not only did he vomit all over the place, but he also cried his heart out.

But that night.

Honest Shen finally heard the roar, which he had waited over twenty years to hear from Shen Qiang's mouth!

"I want money! I will earn lots and lots of money!"

"I will become strong and fearless!"

"Even if I have nothing, I will never look back!"

"In my world, I don't allow snow to fly in June! In my world, I do not allow rumors to be like swords and arrows, I am not an ant, and reality in front of me will not become wheels!"

"If I don't achieve fame and success, I will never set foot in the house again in this lifetime!"

Honest Shen, hearing Shen Qiang's roar, again took out two bottles of Baodaozi that night, pouring a full bowl for the drunken Shen Qiang, and then he said, "Come, finish this drink, don't let alluring beauty be your fatal weakness!"

"If you cannot achieve fame and success, I will never see you!"

The past is vivid, a whole year has passed.

Dad kept his word, didn't go to buy the house in Jinyu Huacheng, didn't go to the Medical University Affiliated Hospital for a job, didn't attend graduate school, didn't move into the Heshenghe Mountain Villa, and didn't go either.

And Shen Qiang also kept his word!

If he couldn't achieve fame and success, he would never set foot in the house again!

But this matter is a secret, and he didn't want all the women to know those embarrassing past events, so he chuckled and said, "Say that again and Mom will hear; now she's a billionaire, be careful she'll leave you."

Upon hearing this, Shen Qiang's father raised an eyebrow mischievously, "You little rascal, didn't you give me a million?"

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