Chapter 68

The TV was broadcasting a variety show that had a considerable reputation in Tianhai and even nationwide. It was probably a rerun, and the screen showed the host asking a very delicate girl a question.

"Daughters loving their fathers is normal, but don't you love your mother as well?"

The girl's next response immediately caught the attention of Wang Yong and his group.

"I don't have a mother." The girl said this with a smile, which was puzzling.

The host then immediately asked the question on everyone's mind.

"You don't have a mother? Does that mean your parents divorced, and you stayed with your father, so..."

"No." This time, although the girl was still smiling, her smile seemed forced.

"Our family is now a standard three-person household, very warm. There's Dad, Uncle, and me." When the girl said this, her face was filled with a happy smile that instantly touched everyone.

"When did your mother leave you?" The host quickly followed up with this question.

The girl smiled, but then a look of sadness, disappointment, and an indescribable longing appeared on her face. She softly said a few words that shocked everyone, making them put down their work and stare at the TV screen.

"They abandoned me."

"Your mother abandoned you? Are you an orphan?"

"They abandoned me, not she abandoned me!" Tears were already welling up in the girl's eyes.

"Has your father never been married?"

"No, I've asked my father before. Someone jokingly suggested to my father, 'Why don't I introduce you to a wife?' At that time, I imagined what it would be like to have a mother. Then I asked my father." By this point, tears were already streaming down the girl's face.

"Father said, 'Have you seen the stepmothers on TV? They're not good to the children from the previous marriage. I can take care of you myself.'" By this point, the girl was already sobbing. The two women, Aunt and Liu Ying, were already moved to tears.

The host, with red eyes, comforted the girl: "I think you are very unfortunate, abandoned by your parents on a cold, snowy night."

"I think I am very lucky!" The girl interrupted the host. She then said something that made everyone shed tears: "If I had stayed with them, I wouldn't be this happy. Although our family's conditions are not good now, the three of us can still live a happy life together. I feel very happy, and I am very grateful that they abandoned me. I feel very happy now!"

When the girl said this, she pursed her lips, her face showing a determined expression. The audience gave her a warm round of applause, expressing deep respect for this unfortunate yet very lucky, strong, and optimistic girl.

Next, the girl's father, uncle, and teacher were invited to the scene. After a brief introduction, the host said to the girl's father, "You are a very, very great father." He used two "very" to express his admiration for the girl's father.

The father modestly replied with a shy smile, "I don't deserve such praise."

The father said he worked in construction in the countryside. Wang Yong immediately understood. His uncle used to do this job, which involved building houses in the surrounding villages. From the father's appearance, it was clear he was a laborer, not a technician.

The father said he had bronchitis and asthma from a young age, but the condition worsened around the age of thirty, making it impossible for him to continue working in construction. He had to stay home and farm, while also taking care of his brother, who could not take care of himself.

"Since your daughter came into your life, have you ever thought about finding her a mother?" The host's question received an immediate and firm "No" from the father. In the father's mind, stepmothers treated children from previous marriages differently, often mistreating them or giving them less care. He didn't want his daughter to suffer.

The host commented, "A kind man." Amid the applause from the audience, who had tears in their eyes, the host continued, "It's hard to imagine a typical Chinese farmer, who has never had a family and only works odd jobs during the off-season, could raise such an excellent daughter."

The host asked the father about the day he found the girl. The father calmly recounted the scene.

That day, he went to the market. In a secluded area of the market, in a thatched hut, he found a girl who had been born at four o'clock the previous afternoon. He found her at around eight or nine o'clock in the evening. She was wrapped in a single piece of clothing, with a note inside indicating her birth date. There was nothing else.

The host turned to the girl and asked, "You've been with your father for twenty-two years."

"Twenty-three years," the girl corrected the host.

"What do you think a father is?"

The girl, with a choked voice, said, "A father is my sky, my support."

Amid the applause from the audience, the girl, with tears in her eyes, continued, "Although my father hasn't given me much materially, he is my spiritual pillar. Last December, my father worked too hard to earn money for my tuition and ended up in the hospital." At this point, the girl couldn't continue, and after a moment, she said, "When I received the call, I felt like my sky had collapsed!" The close-up on the TV showed the girl's white cheeks streaked with tears.

"As long as my father is by my side, I feel happy."

"But I know your happiness is very bitter," the host, with red eyes, said, and then couldn't continue. The girl, with tears streaming down her face, answered the host's question:

"I still don't know how serious my father's condition is." After saying this, the girl was too sad to speak.

The host, seeing this, turned to the father and asked, "You've lived in this world for sixty years, all for others. Can you tell me what the most painful and the happiest thing in these sixty years is?"

The old man's simple words deeply moved the audience and the viewers at home.

"The happiest thing is having my good daughter, and the most painful thing is that I am sick, and she is still young and not married, with no one to take care of her. So, this is my greatest worry and pain."

"Your pain and your happiness are both given to your daughter. Everyone can see that when the father talks about so many difficulties, his expression shows that he feels he should do this, as if he came into this world to do these things."

Next, through the host's conversation with the girl's teacher, Wang Yong understood that the girl came to this stage to fulfill a dream. Due to the family's poverty, she couldn't afford to take her father to a big hospital for a thorough examination, let alone the expensive treatment. Even though she was studying medicine, she didn't know the exact condition of her father's health. With the help of her teacher, she came to this show to seek help from the program, hoping that kind-hearted people would sponsor a medical examination for her father.

The girl's teacher then showed several photos of the girl's home taken during a home visit.

Wang Yong was stunned by the photos of the girl's so-called home. It was a shack so rudimentary that it couldn't even be called a house. It didn't even provide the basic shelter from the elements, and it was even worse than the storage rooms in the mountain village.

The bed was made of thin bamboo tied together, and a small room was built in the air for the girl, showing the father's care. As the girl grew older, she needed her own space, but the family had no means, so the father built the simplest, yet the most beautiful, mezzanine in the world, filled with a father's deep love for his daughter.

The most valuable thing in the entire house was the refrigerator and the induction cooker that the girl bought for her father with the money left over after saving for her tuition. She wanted her father to live better.

The girl had been admitted to a master's program, and her four years of undergraduate tuition were covered by scholarships and her part-time jobs. She had been working hard to avoid burdening her father.

The comments from the audience below the screen deeply moved Wang Yong. One comment read: "There is no trace of hardship on the girl's face, but her smile is even more radiant and strong."

Another comment read: "People often say blood is thicker than water, but in fact, many feelings surpass blood ties, like this adoptive father and daughter, who have relied on each other for over twenty years, becoming true family."

Even the host was moved to say, "The emotion you have given us today, I was not prepared for it at all. What can we do for you?"

The girl's teacher gave the answer. The girl was afraid that her father would leave her before she graduated. Her father's chronic bronchitis had developed into severe emphysema. The old man now had emphysema in both lungs, and a severe cold could be fatal.

When the girl learned that her father was hospitalized, she wanted to drop out of school to take care of him, as she feared losing him suddenly. She felt that her studies could wait, but her father's every breath could not. She felt that watching her father breathe, washing his face, washing his feet, and talking to him were the happiest moments of her life. She didn't want to miss this time, so she chose to drop out.

Fortunately, the school, upon learning her situation, did not approve her request to drop out and provided her with significant help. The school brought her father and uncle to the campus and arranged a job for her father in the security office. This way, the girl could see her father every day. However, her father's condition was too serious, and the school could not solve the problem, so they came to the show to seek help from society.

At the end of the show, the host read a letter the father wrote to the girl when he was critically ill.

"Daughter, hello. I have many things to tell you while I am sick. If I don't make it through this, I advise you to go back to your biological parents."

The host paused, puzzled, and asked, "Do you know where your biological parents are?"

The girl, with tears in her eyes, firmly said, "No."

The girl's teacher then explained the mystery. The girl's biological parents had visited her when she was in fifth grade. At that time, the father said, "If you want to go back, you can." But the girl refused without hesitation.

The host continued reading the letter: "Because there are your biological parents, brothers, and sisters there, you can get their warmth and care. You must also be strong and live a good life."

The host, moved to tears, could no longer read, and a guest continued: "Daughter, I am also very sorry to you. I brought you up, but I didn't give you a good life or nice clothes. I didn't let you have the same happiness as other children, and I feel guilty. I want to say to you—sorry!"

The audience and guests were already in tears. This strong and optimistic girl and her great father moved everyone, including Wang Yong and his group.

This father and daughter, though not related by blood, have shown gratitude and care for each other that surpasses everything, making this winter so warm. This was the closing statement of the show, expressing the feelings of everyone.

Aunt was already in tears, calling her company to offer to cover all the father's medical expenses and sponsor the girl's education. The group had no heart for eating dumplings anymore. The "local boss" Zhao made a call and soon found out that the father and daughter were currently at Tianhai Union Hospital. Everyone immediately got into two cars and headed straight for the hospital.

This was the episode of the dream show that Fangzi watched, and he, a big man, cried his eyes out. Interested friends can search for it online to see the touching scene. Fangzi's writing skills are limited, and he cannot describe such a moving scene.

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