That evening, an open-house banquet was laid out at the door of Gulizha's old house.
A third of the whole town came.
Just how many tables were set out, no one knew; in short, at a glance you could not see the end of them.
That evening,
Gulizha's father never once put his hand down, for people kept coming to toast him:
some he knew, some he did not,
some he had not seen in decades, who came up of their own accord to claim ties.
And among them, some were rather special.
"Look who's here." Gulizha signaled the people crowded around to make way, and pointed his wife toward a bus that had just arrived.
His wife looked over and, seeing the people getting off, looked as if she could not believe it.
It was her own family.
When she married Gulizha, her parents had in fact not agreed to it.
For at the time her family had been much better off than Gulizha's, and the match her family had arranged for her was much better than Gulizha too.
But it was just Gulizha's character that she loved.
So she had gone, resolute and all alone, to Gulizha's side, and married into his family in spite of her family's opposition.
Because of this, when they married, no one from her family had come.
Only her younger sister, who had been close to her since they were little, had sent a letter,
telling her to live well and not to worry about home.
For the twenty-odd years since, she had never seen her family again.
"You invited them?" His wife looked at Gulizha in disbelief.
Gulizha nodded with a smile, leaned close to his wife's ear and said, "I told the mayor; he's well acquainted with the mayor of your family's town next door. I asked your town's mayor to go to their door and invite them."
Their own town's mayor going to their door in person to invite them:
that was no small show.
His wife saw her parents; her father still wore that look, as if everyone owed him money.
Her mother's face had many more wrinkles.
Her eldest brother had grown older too; his back, once straight, was bent.
Her second sister's hair had grown much drier and yellower.
Her third sister's hair, which she had always worn down, was now put up as well.
And her youngest sister, who had only just been born when she married, had grown into a young woman.
"It's Big Sister and Brother-in-law!" The third sister pointed toward Gulizha and her big sister.
Gulizha, leading his wife by the hand, came before his father- and mother-in-law: "Dad, Mom, you've come. Because there's so much going on here, I couldn't go invite you myself, so I could only ask someone to invite you. I hope you'll forgive me. I'll drink three cups as a forfeit!"
Gulizha picked up his cup and drank three cups in one go.
These three cups gave his father-in-law a way to climb down.
His father-in-law glanced at Gulizha and said, his tone still somewhat stern, "That's enough. A man your age: take care, don't drink too much."
"Yes. I've kept a table specially for you; this way." Gulizha pointed toward the seat of honor.
"You must be the mayor of the neighboring town. To have you bring them over specially is too much trouble. It's just plain fare; please don't mind. In a while I'll have a couple of drinks with you," Gulizha said politely, looking at the mayor of his wife's family's town.
"Deputy Commander Gulizha, you're too kind. Your father-in-law and mother-in-law are my father-in-law and mother-in-law. I didn't know about this before. If I had, I'd certainly have looked after them in everything. Rest assured from now on: anything at home, this old brother of yours will be sure to look after it for you," the mayor of the neighboring town said with a hearty laugh.
Then he did not forget to look at Gulizha's father-in-law and say, "Your family is truly blessed. Your daughter found such a son-in-law; you've really risen to the skies!"
Gulizha's father-in-law looked at his own town's mayor.
Before, the man would never have given them a second look.
But today he had come to their door specially, bringing a great many gifts too.
He had called him "Uncle" with every other word, and when they got into the vehicle, he had even opened the door for him.
His neighbors, seeing it, had all looked on in envy.
It could be said to have given him, a man who cared so much for face, great face indeed.
"You're too kind. The boy just had good luck."
"No, no, no; this achievement isn't good luck. As far as I know, in the whole Fierce Dragon army there are fewer than ten deputy commanders of the Fierce Dragon Mecha Corps now. In the future, if new mecha corps are formed, the corps commanders are sure to be chosen from these ten. By then, even our kingdom's king, on meeting this son-in-law of yours, would come to greet him in person!" the town's mayor said admiringly.
"I always knew my brother-in-law would make something of himself." Her eldest brother stepped up and clapped Gulizha on the shoulder.
His wife glanced at her eldest brother.
When she had chosen this husband of hers, this eldest brother of hers had not talked like this.
Every word he said, openly or not, had looked down on her husband,
and he had fiercely opposed it.
"When I first saw my brother-in-law, I thought my brother-in-law was a dragon or phoenix among men. Much better than the husband I found. Not like the one at my house; he's never amounted to anything." Her second sister took her younger sister's hand, all affection.
Gulizha's wife looked at her second sister.
Her second sister had never once been so affectionate to her, from childhood on.
As a child, trading on being a little prettier, she had bullied her plenty.
When she grew up, she had found a husband thought pretty good at the time, with a job in the government then, though in fact he was only a petty clerk.
But in her second sister's mouth back then, he was an official.
And later, when she learned her sister had chosen Gulizha, every word she said, openly or not, was sarcasm.
She had even said: don't come looking for this brother-in-law of yours if you're ever in trouble.
Thinking of that face back then, and looking at this face now,
the way she was now was much easier on the eye.
By comparison, her fourth brother and her youngest sister were not so bad.
Her fourth brother was introverted and did not talk much, and would not meddle in her affairs.
Her youngest sister she could be said to have raised; they were the closest of all.
All these years they had kept in touch now and then.
"Big Sister, I hear you're going to move to the Fierce Dragon capital. That's so far from here. Will I never get to see you again?" her youngest sister said, hugging her big sister, somewhat reluctant to let her go.
She looked at her youngest sister, stroked her head and said, "However far it is, isn't it still on the same planet? If you miss me, come see me; then Big Sister will show you all around the Fierce Dragon capital. It's so beautiful there, much better than here."
"Really? But plane tickets are so expensive, and we'd have to get visas too," her youngest sister said, clutching the hem of her clothes.
"It's fine; your brother-in-law gets a few chances every year to buy cheap tickets for relatives and get them short-term visas. Then Big Sister will buy your ticket, and once you're there, Big Sister will pay for everything." When she had finished, she glanced at her husband without thinking.
Gulizha said with a laugh, "In my house, what your big sister says goes. Then you stay a few more days. If you could get into a university in the Fierce Dragon Kingdom someday, that would be best of all."
"A university in the Fierce Dragon Kingdom? I wouldn't dare dream of it." Her youngest sister waved it off again and again.
Hearing that she could go play in the Fierce Dragon Kingdom,
everyone cast envious looks.
Her eldest brother and second sister both looked sideways at them; at heart they naturally wanted to go see the world too.
But because of how they had treated their brother-in-law's family before, they could not very well say much now.
"Don't stand there chatting. Sit down and talk while we eat," Gulizha's father called, and went up of his own accord to chat with the other father-in-law.
Between the two families, the old friction soon cleared away too; a few cups of wine down, the two men sat together laughing and talking.
Add that the others, unable to get near Gulizha, could naturally only toast them,
and the old father-in-law's pride was well satisfied.
The more he looked at this son-in-law of his, the better he liked him.
When the meal was over,
everyone went their own way.
Because the old house was run-down,
Gulizha and the rest were staying at the guesthouse the mayor had arranged.
But Gulizha did not go there at once; he stayed first in the courtyard of the old house,
keeping back quite a few relatives and friends he was on good terms with,
and giving out, while he was at it, all the gifts still to be given.
"I've kept you all here because there are some things I want to say." Gulizha looked at the dozen-odd people in the courtyard, his eyes sweeping over them.
Before, they would not have listened so quietly to him speak.
But now he stood at the center of everyone's gaze; it all turned on him.
"In a few days our whole family will move to the capital of the Fierce Dragon Kingdom to live, and the children will go to school there. But I won't forget how you all looked after our family before. I'll leave you my private contact details, or my wife's. If anything comes up, so long as it doesn't break the law or army discipline, whatever I can help with, I naturally will. And there's one more thing from my heart. The Fierce Dragon Kingdom is the future. This town is bound to be left behind in the future."
"We know that, of course. We'd like to get out too, but…" his father's elder brother said, shaking his head helplessly.
"The young ones in every family who are willing to learn, I'm willing to help. I'll pay for their schooling and find a way to get them to the Fierce Dragon Kingdom. The elders in every family who have a skill, even if they can't go to the Fierce Dragon Kingdom, I can find a way to recommend you to the Fierce Dragon Kingdom's satellite cities; there you can have a better life too, and learn more."
Because the Fierce Dragon Kingdom's territory was small, it was hard for it to reach all of Dragon Star.
So the Fierce Dragon Kingdom had enclaves on every continent, where it built its own satellite cities.
They were also called Little Fierce Dragon Cities.
For those who could not go to the Fierce Dragon Kingdom, these satellite cities were naturally a good place to go.
But the cost of living in these satellite cities was very high too; staying on took some connections as well.
For people like them, never mind going to a satellite city: even going to their own country's capital was hard.
But now, with Gulizha's arrangements, all of it had hope.
Still, quite a few of the older ones were left somewhat lost in the clouds by what they heard.
Seeing this, Gulizha went on, "Let me give you an example. Take Teacher Taylor's son, say; he's about to sit the college entrance exam. If he does well, I can find a way to get him into school in the Fierce Dragon Kingdom, and I can take care of his living arrangements there."
This Teacher Taylor had once been Gulizha's teacher; though he had left school early to become a soldier, a great many of the principles he lived by had been taught him by this teacher.
He had always been grateful to this teacher.
"This… truly, thank you so much." Teacher Taylor gripped Gulizha's hand in excitement.
"And my younger sister-in-law: if you have the idea in the future, I'll find a way to get you to the Fierce Dragon Kingdom too. Of course, the condition is that you have the ability. So long as you can go, I can solve all the other problems for you. But if you don't make the effort yourselves, then even if I send you, you'll be no use there."
"Brother-in-law, I'll work hard!" the fifth sister said earnestly.
"Elder brother-in-law. Your abilities may be ordinary, but you have many years of work experience. You can't go to the Fierce Dragon Kingdom. But I can recommend you for work in a satellite city; so long as you're willing to work hard, life there will be much better than here. If you're willing to study while you work, then in the future it's not without hope that you could get into the Fierce Dragon Kingdom."
Her eldest brother was greatly startled; he had never imagined that the brother-in-law he had shunned and looked down on before would still have him in mind.
He swallowed, picked up a bottle of wine beside him that had not been finished, and said, "Brother-in-law, your brother-in-law here had eyes but couldn't see before. I said a lot of rotten things. Today your brother-in-law here apologizes to you. From now on, if you say east, I'll never say west. Your house and mine too, whatever you say goes! This bottle of wine: let it be my apology to you for the rotten man I was!"
With that, he drank that bottle down in one go.
Gulizha did not stop him, and neither did his father-in-law.
If a bottle of wine could settle the old quarrels, that was naturally good.
"Elder sister-in-law. I remember your son is a skilled worker now. Though his grade isn't high, I know he's steady and willing to learn and to work. If he's willing, I can arrange a post for him in a satellite city too. Then he works by day and goes to night school at night to keep learning. So long as he's willing to work hard and to learn, it's entirely possible for him to get into the Fierce Dragon Kingdom too."
Hearing there were arrangements for her own family too,
her second sister at once said with an ingratiating smile, "Thank you, brother-in-law. I always knew my brother-in-law would make something of himself. You rascal, hurry up and toast your uncle."
Under everyone's gaze, Gulizha made arrangements for the future of nearly every one of them,
giving every family a future with prospects.
Finally, Gulizha looked around at them all: "In all these years knocking about out in the world, I haven't only been a soldier. I've learned a great deal too. I know that however strong one man is, he's still only one man, and I'm no genius. I know very well how far I can go. Everything I have now was bought with my life. And to be truly strong takes a whole group of people, a whole clan. So what I want to see is all of us blooming like a hundred flowers. Then whoever's family falls on hard times, whatever trouble they run into, everyone lends one another a hand. That way a clan can be built."
Hearing this, his wife looked at her husband in some surprise.
She had in fact heard what lay beneath it: her husband was arranging a fallback.
In this campaign her husband had won merit and rewards, but who knew whether he could survive the next war?
If he died,
his family, though they would get a large death benefit and want for nothing,
would have no one to lean on, and would be like duckweed.
But if a clan could be built up and supported, it would be entirely different.
"Rest assured. We all came out of one town; we'll huddle together for warmth!"