Chapter 53: Home

Translated by: kevin1782

Edited by: Isalee

Gao Yang registered his name and nationality because the Citizenry Evacuation needed an accurate citizen evacuation headcount. The government would do their best to prevent any stray Chinese people in Libya. He registered Tribo's name and pa.s.sport information not because he wanted to hide his ident.i.ty, but rather he didn’t want the emba.s.sy to think that there were still some Chinese left in Libya.

After the registration, Gao Yang slept soundly like a sleeping beauty. Even though the IL 76 was a turbofan airlifter which wasn’t as comfortable as a real pa.s.senger airliner, Gao Yang felt that it was the most peaceful and pleasant sleep he ever had.

The plane finally landed at Peking Airport. When the plane landed, the cabin was a tumult of crying and wailing. The people in the cabin they had been blown out of the water and were scared in Libya. Now they were totally safe.

Gao Yang received premium service as an injured personnel. He was the first to get off the plane, and he was helped off from it. The people in the cabin stood up and applauded for him while he was pa.s.sing through.

“Bro, get well soon, man!”

“Lad, we’re home. Nothing’s up anymore, go home and convalesce well.”

“Big bro, you must’ve endured a lot right? Now we can eat, drink, and be merry with all that fine food! It’ll be alright in a few days. We were quite lucky to meet you like this, so help everybody here say their well-wishes and greet your parents on our behalf!”

Gao Yang’s face was red all over, like a roasted pig. He was really excited but his face was beet red because of embarra.s.sment mainly. The more pa.s.sionate and warm these people were as mere strangers made him feel even more ashamed. He relied on cheating to get on an Army Strategic Airlifter that was usually meant for the old, the weak, the young, and the women.

Gao Yang could only put his hands together in salutation [1] and he thanked everyone loudly and profusely. He got off the plane accompanied by the crowd’s applause and blessings.

The plane had taken off at approximately eleven o’clock Libyan time. Because of the six hours of difference between Peking and Libya, after ten hours or more of flying it was wee hours in the morning. The sky was still totally dark at four in the morning. However, still, there were many people at the arrival terminal accompanied by a few who were carrying big cameras.

Gao Yang was honored and became the whole plane’s representative. A middle-aged man went up and offered him a flower right after Gao Yang alighted the plane. The man then said solemnly, “I represent the people of the entire nation to welcome all of you home, you guys have been through deep waters and strong undertow.”

Gao Yang accepted the fresh flower. He still wanted to say something but his unmanly tears flowed down once again. He didn’t feel ashamed, however, because he had faced too many trials and tribulations whilst returning home [2]. This was different from those compatriots and brethren who were recently evacuated. Gao Yang had waited for this day; he had already waited for three years and more.

Gao Yang was soulful and emotional inside. He bowed to the man in front and said solemnly, “Thank you, I thank the country for all the things she did for us. Thank you for your diligence and hard work you guys put in.”

The middle-aged man didn’t speak excessively. He only expressed his welcome and went to the side. A female reporter wanted to interview Gao Yang but his injury got him out of that hot soup. Gao Yang was able to exit the airport smoothly.

Gao Yang exited the airport. At first, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wanted Gao Yang to go to the hospital to get treated before leaving. They even wanted to give Gao Yang a new set of clothes because not only were his clothes torn, they were also soaked with blood. They also said that Gao Yang didn’t have the capital to go home and they could provide him with that. Yet Gao Yang didn’t have the face to ask for financial a.s.sistance as he had a few sets of ten thousand bucks on him.

Gao Yang exchanged two grand of RMB from the currency exchange center. He bought a set of clothes at the airport and changed into them. He boarded a taxi and rushed straight to the train station.

After reaching the Peking train station, Gao Yang smoothly got a train ticket. The rail line would be more convenient and he would be only two hours away from his house.

Although there had been too many obstacles and difficulties while trying to go home, Gao Yang’s journey on the train was miraculously smooth.

A wordless journey. At ten in the morning, he reached the city he grew up in.

Gao Yang strongly suppressed his excitement and ordered a taxi to go to the district he lived in. Seeing that familiar district, Gao Yang didn’t know why but his heart tightened in nervousness and anxiety. When the cab entered the district and then reached the void deck below his house, he couldn’t even breathe.

He gave the driver a hundred bucks and told the driver to keep the change. His body was overwhelmed as he was both s.h.i.+vering and trembling. When he stepped forward he almost tripped. He tottered into the elevator and pressed the b.u.t.tons to his unit’s story.

The district in which Gao Yang’s family lived in was considered a high-cla.s.s one. There were many floors and each apartment area was pretty big. There were a total of twenty-six floors. He lived at the top. It wasn’t a long wait from the first floor to the twenty-sixth in the elevator. Gao Yang felt that it was indefinitely long, however; his head was full of hallucinations and messy thoughts. He was afraid that the elevator would suddenly crash downwards or lock him in due to malfunction.

It was a long and uneasy wait to the twenty-sixth floor. He stepped out of the elevator doors and stood at the door. He panted and heaved a few huge puffs of air. He shakily pressed the doorbell.

Gao Yang’s head was a total blank. He just logily stood by the door. But when the door opened, what appeared before him was an unfamiliar face.

A forty plus year-old lady opened the door. When she saw Gao Yang, her face was full of impatience. She asked, “Who are you looking for?”

Gao Yang was dumbstruck. He stared at the stranger and thought that he had found the wrong place. He dazedly asked, “Is this Gao Wu’s house?”

The lady who had opened the door ajar gave the ‘I-expected-this’ look and replied impatiently, “This was his house originally but we’ve bought this house already. If you want to find him, go to his old house.”

Not waiting for Gao Yang to say anything else, that woman slammed the door shut. What remained was Gao Yang and his puzzlement inside his head.

He stared blankly and his eyes were aglaze for a moment. He dismissed the idea of asking for elucidation. He turned around immediately and left the block. He used the fastest speed he could muster to grab a cab to get to his old house.

The old house area was in a small district, just a stone’s throw away from the new one. Cabbing only took him ten minutes. During that period of time, Gao Yang’s mind was a chaotic mess. His brain was full of thoughts on why his parents would sell that new house.

Once he arrived at that old and small district, he got off and ran like h.e.l.l was coming. When he reached the block he used to live on, he flew up three stairs at a time and stood at the door. He panted heavily and wanted to knock the door. But he didn’t dare to and didn’t know why.

Gao Yang forced himself not to think too much; he knocked with a trembling hand. Very soon, he heard that voice he had heard countless times in his dreams.

“Who’s there?”

Hearing his mother’s voice, Gao Yang’s tightened heart finally went back to normal. He was sobbing when he replied. “Mom, it’s me, I’m back.”

Before he answered, his mother had already opened the door. As the door opened, his mother’s voice rang again. It’s just that, this time, his mom’s voice was very nervous. There wasn’t an apparent reason for that.

“How’s it? Any news?”

Gao Yang’s mother opened the door. Just a glance at Gao Yang got her riveted to the floor. She inspected him from top to bottom. Her eyes were glazed with tears.

Gao Yang’s mom shook her head hard and wiped the tears off. She then used a quivering voice to ask, “You are Yang Yang?”

Gao Yang once imagined countless times on what to say to his mom when they met again. But the script of words in his mind was all but thrown out. All of that had transformed into a single sentence.

“Mom, it’s me. I’m Home.[3]”

Translator’s note(s):