Chapter 478 Zhou Rong: That’s Enough

"Mingzhe, is White Fang Mountain really as good as you say?"

Why did Zhou Bingyi feel that Su Mingzhe's praise of his life as an educated youth was a bit like Wang Po bragging about herself when she heard him praising her melons?

"Without investigation, you have no right to speak. I welcome you to come to White Fang Mountain for an inspection."

Su Mingzhe suddenly became serious and changed the subject:
"Bingyi, Dongmei, I think we were thinking about the problem from the wrong angle before."

"What's the wrong angle to consider the problem?"

As the soul of the small team, Zhou Bingyi was basically "superior" in terms of ideology and philosophical and logical thinking.

Now, Su Mingzhe had only been an educated youth for three months, and when he came back he said he was wrong. He had to have a good argument with Su Mingzhe.

Of course, this was also the habitual way of communication among several people in the past.

"If I just talk about the reason, it may not be clear."

Su Mingzhe smiled slightly:
"Why don't I tell you two short stories, and you can listen and think about them for yourself."

Hearing that there was a story to listen to, Zhou Rong and Zhou Bingkun nearby also came over and looked at Su Mingzhe with blinking eyes.

Zhou Bingyi and Hao Dongmei also pretended to listen attentively.

"The first story is called 'The Switchman's Choice'."

"This story comes from Germany. It says that there was a speeding train on the railway, and it was about to pass through the section maintained by 'Gref'. At this time, there were five playful children playing on the track where the train had to pass. Gref shouted loudly to the five children, asking them to leave the track quickly, but the sound of the train covered up 'Gref's voice, and the five playful children did not notice the danger at all. Seeing this, Gref wanted to move the track to the abandoned track on the other side. At this time, he found that there was also a child on the abandoned track... Excuse me, if you were Gref, would you watch the train hit the five playful children, or let the train hit the innocent child?"

There are five children on one side and one child on the other.

This question seems to be asking whether the value of five children is greater than that of one child.

However, there is a moral issue here. That is, why should an innocent child bear the suffering that should have been borne by five playful children?

Isn't this very unfair to that innocent child?
Zhou Bingyi, Hao Dongmei and Zhou Rong were all in deep thought.

Only Zhou Bingkun had a simple mind and quickly answered:

"We should save those five children. If I were that child, I would be willing to sacrifice myself to save the other five."

Su Mingzhe glanced at him and then smiled:

"I'm not asking, 'If you were that kid, what would be your choice?' I'm asking you, 'If you were the switchman, what would be your choice?'"

When Zhou Bingkun was asked this by Su Mingzhe, his mind was like a paste and he looked at his brother and sister in a daze.

Zhou Bingyi raised his head, stared at Su Mingzhe, and spoke slowly:
"Tell me the second story."

Su Mingzhe smiled faintly again and began to tell the second story.

"The second story is called Four Soldiers and a Little Child."

"I can't remember where the story came from, but it happened on the Yellow River or the Grand Canal. One year, the temperature dropped sharply and the river froze. A playful child was skating on the river and accidentally fell into an ice hole. A squad of eight soldiers jumped into the river to save him, but because of the turbulent undercurrent and the rapid flow of the river, four of the soldiers were swept away by the river and died. The question of this story is, if it happened again, and you were the squad leader of this squad, would you still order your comrades to save people?"

This second story is also about exchanging life for life.

It's just that there has been a change in identity.

In the first story, both parties are children.

The second story is about soldiers and children.

"If I were the squad leader, would I still give the order to rescue people?"

Zhou Bingyi's mind was a little confused, and the two stories made him feel a little overwhelmed.

He is very smart, but that doesn't mean he has a mature way of thinking.

After all, before this, he was just a high school graduate and had not yet experienced the world of society.

Zhou Bingkun looked at his elder brother with a frown on his face, opened his mouth, and remembered that he had just opened his mouth but was left speechless by Su Mingzhe's words. Now he didn't dare to speak anymore.

Zhou Rong was not convinced and asked Su Mingzhe:
"So, what would you choose?"

Su Mingzhe glanced at Zhou Rong, and after his eyes intertwined with hers for a moment, he turned his gaze to Hao Dongmei:
"Dongmei, you actually know the answer to this question, right?"

"Yes, I know the answer."

When Hao Dongmei was called upon to answer questions, her expression suddenly became serious:
"That squad leader will definitely go and rescue that child with the entire squad without hesitation."

After hearing the answer, Zhou Rong and Zhou Bingyi slowly breathed a sigh of relief, as if they had let go of a knot in their hearts.

Only Zhou Bingkun was still worried:
"Those are four soldiers. Are we going to let them die in vain just for a naughty child?"

"Because this is a soldier's duty!"

Hao Dongmei looked solemn. At this moment, she suddenly understood her parents.

She never understood why her parents would do so many great things at self-sacrifice.

Now, she understood.

All because of being a soldier's duty.

Su Mingzhe saw everyone's expressions change, and then he smiled and said, "Bingyi, Dongmei, this is why I said that the 'angle of thinking' is wrong. In fact, from the moment we get our diplomas, we are no longer students, but independent members of society. Therefore, we must also have our responsibilities as members of society."

"A rational and mature member of society must be worthy of society, the country and the family."

“That’s what I learned at White Fang Mountain.”

At this time, Zhou Bingyi felt like he had been enlightened and was awakened by Su Mingzhe's call.

Hao Dongmei sighed inwardly and looked at her boyfriend with a gentle yet firm look:

"Bingyi, Mingzhe is right. We have long been independent members of society. We should not dwell on the past and deceive ourselves. I have decided to go to the street office next Monday to prepare to join the Youth Going to the Countryside Program."

"I don't want to escape anymore."

Zhou Bingyi looked embarrassed: "However, my father will be home for the New Year this year, so I want to wait until after the New Year to sign up."

"I'll wait until my dad comes back before I leave."

Zhou Bingkun didn't know why, but he suddenly felt affected by the atmosphere in the room and his blood was boiling.

Zhou Rong glared at her brother:
"Why are you leaving? How old are you? If anyone is going to leave, I'm the one leaving!"

After the decision was made, everyone discussed it very enthusiastically.

At noon, Zhou's mother prepared a table full of sumptuous dishes.

Had lunch.

Su Mingzhe was still trying to persuade a few people to follow him to Baiya Mountain when the Zhou family's door was knocked again.

Zhou Bingkun hurried to open the door and saw a tall and thin man, and hurriedly welcomed him in:

"Sister, Brother Xiaoguang is here."

Brother Xiaoguang, whose full name is Cai Xiaoguang, is also the son of a high-ranking official. He was a classmate of Zhou Rong and just graduated this year.

After Cai Xiaoguang graduated, he would come back to play with Zhou Rong after dinner in the afternoon.

As soon as he entered the door, everyone's eyes were fixed on the bag in his hand.

"Xiaoguang, are you wasting money on buying things again?"

"Auntie, I didn't buy anything, just a few strings of candied haws and ice cream."

Cai Xiaoguang chuckled and distributed the things in his hand to everyone.

Seeing this, Su Mingzhe hesitated for a moment, then said to his classmates:
"Bingyi, didn't you say before that Xiaorong has stomach problems? This ice cream is so cold, you'd better not let her eat it."

Before Zhou Bingyi could say anything, Zhou Rong angrily picked up the ice cream and took a big bite:
"I eat whatever I want, none of your business!"

Zhou Bingyi helplessly glanced at his classmates and whispered:

"My sister has a very stubborn temper. None of us in the family dares to say anything to her."

"Aren't you spoiling her?"

Su Mingzhe wanted Zhou Rong to be his woman in the future, so he wanted Zhou Rong to control her temper. He couldn't help but start to persuade her:
"Bingyi, when we were in school, we all learned the text "Chu Long Persuaded the Queen Mother of Zhao". You still remember the sentence in it, 'Parents who love their children will make far-reaching plans for them'. Your father is not at home, and the eldest brother is the father. As the eldest brother, you should take responsibility and discipline your younger siblings and cultivate good living habits in them. Now you only know how to go along with them and spoil them, but you have forgotten the truth that 'spoiling a child is like killing him' and 'dropping a child is like killing him'."

After being lectured by Su Mingzhe, Zhou Bingyi's face immediately turned ashamed. He glanced at his sister and opened his mouth, but didn't know how to start. After all, the habits he had developed over the years made him not have much authority as a brother in front of his sister Zhou Rong.

Hao Dongmei also knew the situation of the Zhou brothers and sisters, and felt sorry for her boyfriend, so she quickly spoke:
"Mingzhe, Zhou Rong is actually quite sensible. She only likes eating ice cream..."

Zhou Rong was furious when she saw that her elder brother was speechless after being told by Su Mingzhe, while her future sister-in-law Hao Dongmei was actually explaining to Su Mingzhe in a humble manner.

But before she could open her mouth to retort, Cai Xiaoguang next to her looked embarrassed and admitted his mistake:

"Brother Su, this is my fault. I knew Zhou Rong liked to eat ice cream, so I wanted to please her. Brother Bingyi didn't stop him because I bought the ice cream. This is all my fault. I will reflect on it..."

"You should reflect on it."

After listening to Cai Xiaoguang's words, Su Mingzhe took the opportunity to direct the topic to him:
"Zhou Rong's stubborn temper is caused by the pampering of her family and the fact that she has suitors like you who continue to flatter her, making her unable to see the reality of the world. She imagines everything in a rosy way, unable to see the abyss ahead and the traps in life..."

"You've had enough!"

Zhou Rong finally couldn't bear it anymore.

She also didn't expect that her eldest brother's classmate was not polite at all. He came to her house as a guest and criticized her eldest brother, which would be fine, but he even scolded his own friends and didn't give her any face at all.

Su Mingzhe saw that Zhou Rong was angry, but he didn't care. Instead, he smiled at Zhou Bingyi and Hao Dongmei and said:
"Let me tell you the third story. This story is called "The Winding Tunnels and the Moving Firewood"..."

　The chimney of one house was pointing straight towards the eaves, and there was a lot of firewood piled up in front of the stove.

　　Someone saw this and said to the owner, "This is too dangerous. If you are not careful, there will be a fire. The chimney should be curved and not facing the eaves, so that sparks will not fly up to the rafters. The firewood should be moved away from the stove, so that when the fire is burning, even if some charcoal falls, it will not be a big deal."

　　The owner of the house said, "My chimney has always been like this and has never had any problems. There is no need to change it. When I burn a fire, there is always someone at the stove, so even if some charcoal falls, it will be put out immediately. Besides, it is very troublesome to change the chimney, and it is very inconvenient if the firewood is not at the stove."

　　Not many days later, the family's house really caught fire, and the neighbors rushed to put out the fire. Fortunately, they discovered it early and everyone rescued in time, and finally put out the fire.

　　The family prepared a banquet to thank the neighbors for their efforts. The person with the most serious injuries sat at the head of the table, and the others were seated in order of merit, except for the person who suggested that he bend the chimney and move the firewood away from the stove. Someone reminded the host: "If you had listened to his advice and taken timely measures, there would have been no fire. If there had been no fire, no one would have been injured, your family would not have suffered losses, and you would not have spent money on the banquet. Speaking of merit, he contributed the most, why did you forget him?"

　　After hearing this, the host thought it made sense, so he quickly and respectfully invited him in, thanked him, and let him sit in the chief seat.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)