Following Qi Yuqing’s gaze, Xiao Mandong saw a man helping her sweep the snow. She took a closer look and recognized him as the man who had kicked Zhang Chenghui that day. He was wearing a military greatcoat and moving with brisk efficiency.
Xiao Mandong’s curiosity was instantly piqued. She stepped closer and nudged Qi Yuqing with her elbow.
“Yuqing, what are you looking at?”
Qi Yuqing jumped in surprise, and her face immediately flushed. She gave Xiao Mandong a light smack.
“Are you trying to scare me to death?”
She pulled Xiao Mandong aside and whispered in her ear, “Let me tell you something.”
Xiao Mandong leaned closer.
“Do you remember that man?” Qi Yuqing asked, pointing toward the figure ahead.
Xiao Mandong nodded.
“His aunt sent someone to ask my father whether I’m considering taking another step forward.”
Qi Yuqing did not beat around the bush. She directly told Xiao Mandong that someone had come to propose marriage.
The man’s name was Cheng Qiming. He was thirty-seven, one year younger than Qi Yuqing, and served in the Beijing Military District. His parents had died when he was young, leaving him with only one older sister.
He was divorced. The reason for the divorce was that he spent most of his time in the army, and his wife could not bear the loneliness. She had started seeing someone else. He had a thirteen-year-old son who lived with the boy’s mother.
Cheng Qiming had grown up in his aunt’s household after losing his parents at a young age. This time, he had come back because his son had called the military district to say that he missed him, so he had taken leave to visit the boy.
He was currently staying at his aunt’s home, and Aunt Cheng had begun to worry about her nephew’s marriage. He had been divorced for so many years; he couldn’t possibly remain single for the rest of his life.
When she heard that Qi Yuqing was divorced, Aunt Cheng had begun to consider the possibility. They had lived in the same compound for many years, so she knew Qi Yuqing fairly well. She wanted to find out whether Qi Yuqing would be willing to take another step forward.
Aunt Cheng understood that Qi Yuqing had only just gone through a failed marriage, so bringing up such a matter might seem inappropriate. But once her nephew returned to the army, no one knew when he would be back again. Besides, he already had a child and did not care whether Qi Yuqing could have any more children. That was why she had come to ask. If Qi Yuqing was agreeable, the two of them could spend the next few days getting to know each other.
Most importantly, Aunt Cheng had introduced several women to him before, but Cheng Qiming had rejected them all. This time, however, he had been the one to bring up the subject. The moment Aunt Cheng realized that her nephew had finally come around, she was determined to play matchmaker for him.
“To be honest, I really am considering taking that step,” Qi Yuqing said. “I’m pregnant. I don’t want my child to grow up with a father like Zhang Chenghui. If I get married now, outsiders won’t know the child’s true parentage. Of course, I won’t deceive the man. I just don’t want the child or outsiders to know. Having a father like that would be a disgrace to the child.”
Qi Yuqing gritted her teeth as she spoke. Even if Cheng Qiming’s family had not come to propose, her father had already been looking for a suitable man for her. He only hoped that the child would not have to live under Zhang Chenghui’s shadow.
Xiao Mandong pressed her lips together without saying a word. She had originally wanted to advise Qi Yuqing not to make a reckless choice when remarrying, and that she should observe the man carefully for a while first.
Especially when it came to marrying a divorced man—after all, it took two to cause a marriage to fail, and it was hard to say whose fault it had really been. On top of that, he had a child, which would make the relationship even more complicated to handle.
But after hearing Qi Yuqing’s reasoning, Xiao Mandong no longer knew what to say. It did seem to make sense.
Before the two women could finish talking, the two men walked over side by side, chatting and laughing. The others’ area had only been half cleared, yet the two of them had already finished sweeping the snow.
“You two know each other?” Xiao Mandong could immediately tell that they were quite familiar.
“He’s my comrade,” Gu Jianghan said simply.
Xiao Mandong turned back instinctively and met Qi Yuqing’s eyes. She understood at once.
She smiled at Qi Yuqing, nodded, and winked.
After returning the tools to Gu Jianghan’s home and tidying up briefly, they left.
When they arrived at the guesthouse, they saw several people gathered outside. Some were leaning against the wall, some had their arms folded, and others were squatting on the ground. Whenever anyone passed by, they would all look up.
“You should really move somewhere else. These people block the entrance every day, and it’s making things extremely difficult for us. Or you could find a way to get them to leave. Please, I’m begging you…”
They had just reached the stairs when they heard a female employee speaking.
Xiaoli held tightly to her brother’s hand, pressing her lips together without saying anything. Bowen stood there with his head lowered, twisting the corner of his shirt between his fingers.
Xiaoli kept telling herself that no matter what they said, she would not move. Her older brother and sister had promised to help her, so they would. She would simply wait here. Besides, those people wouldn’t be able to get inside.
“How many days have those people been here?” Gu Jianghan asked.
He had not expected them to move so quickly. He had thought it would take them at least a couple of days to find Xiaoli’s whereabouts.
When the employee saw Gu Jianghan, it was as if she had seen a savior.
“Three days. They’ve been squatting outside every day. They all look like thugs—it’s really frightening. Now our families have to come and pick us up when we finish work. We used to lock up at ten at night, but these past two days we’ve had to close after eight. Sometimes we’re genuinely afraid they’ll force their way inside.”
The employee was only a young woman, and her voice broke as she spoke. She was truly terrified. Just moments earlier, a scar-faced man had stood outside and whistled into the building. She had hidden behind the counter, too frightened to make a sound.
“You two talk for a while. I’m going to make a call,” Gu Jianghan said with a frown before turning and heading downstairs.
That brigade leader being sentenced to so many years in prison had been abnormal to begin with. And how had they found Xiaoli’s lodging so quickly? The only explanation was that the village chief must have connections in high places.
Xiao Mandong led Xiaoli back to the room and first checked Bowen’s pulse. His internal injuries had improved considerably since before. She then took several pills out of her space and handed them to Xiaoli.
“Your brother’s health has improved a lot. Give him one of these pills every day, and make sure he takes it on time.”
Xiaoli wiped away her tears. “Thank you, Sister. We’ll definitely have better lives from now on.”
She had noticed that after Bowen began taking the medicine, he seemed much more obedient than before. The previous day, he had even smiled at her.
Sometimes she wondered whether the medicine might actually cure her brother’s mind as well.
“Xiaoli, we found your mother.”
Xiao Mandong’s words made Xiaoli’s breathing hitch. She wanted to know what had happened to her mother, but she was also afraid to find out. She was terrified that her mother might refuse to acknowledge them. If that happened, what would she and her brother do?
“Your mother works in the cafeteria at a hospital, and she has already remarried…”
Xiao Mandong calmly told her everything about Cui Lijuan’s life over the years, holding nothing back. Only by knowing the truth could they minimize the harm.
As for what they would do next—whether they wanted to acknowledge her or not—that decision had to be Xiaoli’s. Xiao Mandong was an outsider. Within the limits of what she could do, she was merely helping them, hoping it might count as a good deed.
Xiaoli clenched her fists as she listened to everything that had happened to her mother over the years. In the end, the thing she had feared most had still come to pass: her mother had truly remarried.
Xiaoli wiped away her tears. “I want to see her. Even if she doesn’t want to acknowledge us, she still has to get my brother’s and my household registrations transferred out. We can’t stay in that village. If we want to survive, we have to leave.”
Xiao Mandong greatly admired Xiaoli’s rationality and her clarity about what she wanted. If her past self had possessed even half of Xiaoli’s wisdom and clear-headedness, she wouldn’t have been devoured by others until not even her bones were left.
