When Xiao Mandong saw who had arrived, she let out a deep breath. The heart that had been lodged in her throat finally eased a little.
“D—Deputy Commander Shen…”
Liu Bing never expected that the man who had come would be Deputy Commander Shen—the very officer who had interrogated him while he was under investigation.
“You’re Liu Bing, aren’t you?” Shen Linzhou’s gaze was icy.
“You’ve just been released, and you’re already throwing your weight around.”
Liu Bing’s legs instantly went weak. If he were branded as someone who abused his authority, he might even lose his job.
“Deputy Commander Shen, hello, hello. I merely suspect that this family may be connected to what happened just now, so I was preparing to take them back for questioning…”
“For questioning?” Shen Linzhou’s eyes darkened, his voice edged with sarcasm. “Have you been locked up so long that you’ve forgotten the limits of your job? The Revolutionary Committee is only assisting with the investigation this time. You have no right to interrogate anyone. You shoved and insulted people who’ve been sent down for reeducation. Is that the bad habit you picked up when Huang Yuanqing was in charge? You still haven’t changed?”
With a single sentence, Shen Linzhou directly tied Liu Bing to the disgraced Director Huang.
Cold sweat poured down Liu Bing’s back, and his face turned as pale as paper.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. You’re right. I overstepped my authority. I promise I’ll never dare do it again.”
The arrogance he had displayed moments earlier vanished without a trace.
“You don’t need to apologize to me. The state gave you authority so that you could do your duty, not so you could bully people.”
Liu Bing had earned Director Huang’s favor for a reason—he was a shrewd man. He immediately understood what Shen Linzhou meant.
He hurriedly turned around and approached the Xiao family with a broad smile, bowing and scraping.
“Comrades, I’m sorry. My attitude was too aggressive just now, and I failed to handle the matter properly. I hope you can forgive me. I promise there won’t be a next time. Please be magnanimous and don’t take it to heart.”
Before the Xiao family could respond, Shen Linzhou turned to Old Master Xiao, his tone softening at once.
“Please come with me to the brigade headquarters. I just need to ask everyone a few questions. No one will make things difficult for you.”
Xiao Jingping had already recognized him as the soldier who had come looking for his daughter earlier. He had also heard the way Shen Linzhou had defended them just now, so he gratefully nodded at him.
The Xiao family did not hesitate any longer and followed Shen Linzhou to the brigade headquarters. Old Chen silently followed behind them as well.
Only after everyone had disappeared into the distance did Xiao Mandong climb up from beside the wall and slip back through the window into the house.
She couldn’t leave. She had to wait until her family returned safely before she could feel at ease.
Suppressing the fury churning inside her, she slipped into her personal space while no one was around. Using the spiritual spring water, she cooked a large pot of rice. There was meat in the space too, so she made a dish of braised pork, stir-fried tomatoes with eggs, and a plate of cold cucumber salad.
She packed the dishes into lunch boxes—the very ones she had bought when they were building the house.
She glanced at the water jar in the house. It was full, so Xiao Mandong poured the water out and replaced it with spiritual spring water. Then she set the food beneath the outside window to cool.
After everything was arranged, nearly another hour passed. At last, Xiao Mandong heard footsteps. She climbed back out through the window.
The door opened, and the members of the Xiao family filed inside.
The moment he entered, Xiao Jingping rushed to the window. He had been worried sick that his daughter had traveled through the village alone in the dark and might be in danger. Only when he saw that she was still there did his anxious heart finally settle.
With a smile, Xiao Mandong handed the lunch boxes into the room one by one.
The Xiao family froze when they saw them. The rich aroma of rice and meat instantly filled the cramped room, making everyone’s stomachs rumble with hunger.
“Girl, where did this food come from?” Old Master Xiao asked, baffled.
Xiao Mandong had prepared her explanation long ago.
“I brought it with me. I was afraid it would spill, so I didn’t put it in my bundle. I left it under the roots of the tree outside the window. Before I had a chance to say anything, everything happened. We’ve all been busy the whole night and must be hungry. Let’s have a meal together as a family. Auntie, could you heat it up for us?”
“All right, all right. Let’s have a meal together as a family.”
Feng Xiaoyan agreed at once, but then she suddenly thought of her own daughter. Before the Xiao family had been sent down, her daughter had hurriedly married the man she had been engaged to. She had no idea how the girl was doing now. As she thought about it, her eyes reddened uncontrollably.
Once the food was heated, its aroma grew even more intense. Old Master Xiao felt sorry for Old Chen and his granddaughter, who was so thin that she looked practically skin and bones. He put some rice and dishes into a bowl and asked Xiao Siyuan to take it to Old Chen.
Old Chen’s granddaughter, Xiaoya, was a well-behaved and sensible child. Both her appearance and her personality resembled her grandaunt in several ways. Every time Old Master Xiao saw her, he couldn’t help thinking of Chen Min.
In fact, Old Chen had smelled the food long ago. Watching his granddaughter swallow repeatedly, he felt both heartache and embarrassment.
But he truly hadn’t had the nerve to ask for any. On the way back, Old Brother Xiao had quietly told him that he had prepared quilts and padded clothing for him and would deliver them later.
If he asked for food on top of that, he would really be shameless. Fortunately, his granddaughter was sensible and kept saying that she wasn’t hungry.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the door. Old Chen hurriedly got out of bed to open it. Xiao Siyuan came in carrying a large plate piled high with food. Old Chen’s wrinkled face broke into a grin like a worn-out shoe sole.
“Old Chen, my grandpa asked me to bring this for Xiaoya. Don’t sneak any of it.”
Old Chen smacked Xiao Siyuan on the head, took the plate from him, and immediately stuffed a piece of meat into his own mouth.
“Your grandpa would never say something like that. Hmph. But you, boy, are not bad. When I turn things around someday, I’ll give you more than half of my treasures.”
Xiao Siyuan curled his lips. “Give me a break. I’ll be grateful if you don’t scheme against me.”
With that, he turned and ran off. He wanted to hurry home and eat meat.
His eyes red, Old Chen carried the plate over to his granddaughter.
“Come on, eat. I just had a piece of meat, and it got stuck between my teeth. It tasted awful.”
Xiaoya gazed at him with her round eyes. She took the plate from her grandfather, picked up a piece of meat, chewed it carefully, and spat it into her palm. Then she rose onto her tiptoes and held it to his mouth.
“Grandpa, Xiaoya will feed you. That way it won’t get stuck in your teeth.”
Old Chen was simultaneously touched to tears and amused by his considerate little granddaughter.
The moment Xiao Siyuan stepped into the house, before he even had time to close the door, a small figure suddenly squeezed inside.
Old Master Xiao’s expression darkened.
“Young man, how can you just walk into someone else’s house?”
“You give food to other people’s families, so why won’t you give me any?”
The little boy held his chin high, his eyes wide and round, acting as though he was completely in the right.
“I’m hungry. I want meat.”
“If you don’t give me any meat, I’ll tell my dad to report your whole family.”
He had heard his father and the old man next door say the same thing: If they didn’t give him eggs, his father would report them.
Xiao Siyuan suppressed his anger.
“You little brat, get out. Our family has no food to give you.”
Xiao Siyuan regretted being careless. He had thought the entire family had been taken away, never imagining that a child would still be left behind in the house.
“I’m not leaving.”
The little boy threw himself onto the floor and began kicking and screaming. His shrill voice was painfully grating.
“You’re playing favorites! You’re bad people! I want white rice and meat!”
Xiao Mandong was so furious that she actually laughed. The brat’s hateful expression reminded her of Lu Ming and Lu Na in their previous lives. Whenever they wanted something as children, they would threaten her just like this, knowing she would give them anything.
Xiao Mandong opened the door.
“Get out.”
The brat wasn’t frightened by Xiao Mandong’s angry shout. Instead, he became even more brazen.
He stood up and shoved Xiao Mandong directly. “You good-for-nothing girl! Grandma said all girls are nothing but a burden.”
Xiao Mandong was just about to haul the brat out when a shrill woman’s voice rang out.
The child’s grandmother came charging over as if she had gone mad. She reached out to grab Xiao Mandong’s arm, her eyes bloodshot as she shrieked, “What are you doing? Who are you? How did you get in here? Are you a child snatcher?”
