Ah-Tu’s parents and Ah-Mei invited Ashan to stay for dinner. The table was covered with dishes, even more than they used to have at New Year's dinners, though the famous pickled radish was nowhere to be seen. Everyone kept piling food into Ashan’s bowl, leaving him holding a bowl so full of food that he couldn’t figure out how to get to the rice underneath.
After dinner, Ah-Mei brought him a cup of herbal tea, probably the only thing left in Sanxia that still tasted like his childhood. Savoring each sip, Ashan felt like he’d been transported back to fourteen years ago. Someone once said that life is like a one-way street—you can only move forward, never back. The wonderful days of childhood were now far behind him.
After a brief farewell to Ah-Tu’s parents, Ah-Mei and Ah-Tu accompanied Ashan to the bus stop for his return trip to his home in Taipei. Out of the blue, Ah-Mei took hold of both his hands, her eyes glistening with tears. Unable to understand her feelings, Ashan clumsily tried to reassure her, saying, “Ah-Mei, I’ll come back to pick up Ah-Tu when he returns to the unit.” As he got on the bus, Ashan couldn’t shake the thought: *Was Ah-Mei simply expressing gratitude for my care for Ah-Tu, or was there something more, perhaps even a little affection? Nah, that can’t be it.*
When he finally arrived home, it was past midnight, and his parents were overjoyed to see him back. At his mother’s insistence, he drank a bowl of freshly made liver soup, while he regaled his father with stories of his time in the military, making sure not to let his father have all the glory.
His father, smiling broadly, turned to his mother and said, “See? I told you, Ashan has what it takes to be a soldier. You were the one who didn’t want him going to military school—looks like we missed out on having a future general in the family.”
His mother countered, “You only listened to his tales about training the troops. His greatest contribution in Kinmen was building fortifications, and he doesn’t need to be a soldier to serve his country. He could do the same as an engineer.”
阿土爸媽及阿美把阿三留下來吃晚飯，桌上擺的菜比小時候吃年夜飯還要多，有名的蘿蔔乾也不見蹤影。大家都搶著幫阿三挾菜，害得阿三手拿著堆滿了菜的碗，煩惱著如何才能吃到飯。
飯後阿美送上了一杯青草茶，這恐怕是在三峽唯一保留著童年一樣滋味的東西了。阿三珍惜著慢慢地吸啜著，彷彿又回到了十四年前的時光。有人說，人生就像是個單行道，只能向前行，不能再回頭了。過去美好的童年時光，已經遠遠地拋在身後了。
匆匆告別了阿土爸媽，阿美及阿土送阿三上車回台北的家。不知怎麼的，阿美突然捉住阿三的雙手，眼睛裏含著晶瑩的淚光。阿三無法知悉阿美的心，只好比手劃腳的說道：「阿美，我會回來接阿土回部隊去的。」跳上了車，阿三心中不停地琢磨著：「阿美是表達對我照顧阿土的謝意呢？還是她對我有點不捨的感情呢？不太可能吧？」
回到了家已是半夜，兩老很高興兒子回來了。在老媽的愛心堅持下，阿三喝了老媽熱好的豬肝湯，一邊向老爸吹嚧自己在軍中的種種，一點都沒讓老爸專美於前。
老爸聽了展開了少的笑容，面向阿三媽說道：「我說吧！阿三原本就是個軍人的料，妳還不贊成他唸軍校，看來我們家少了一個未來的將軍。」
阿三媽反駁道：「你只聽阿三帶兵操練的事。他其實在金門最大的頁獻是構築工事，不一定非要作軍人才能報國，作工程師一樣可以報國。」
