Xiao Mandong was just about to step forward and say hello when she suddenly sensed someone approaching from behind. She quickly ducked into a corner with Diandian.
A crisp child’s voice rang out behind her.
“Uncle Shen… Uncle Shen…”
Seeing someone coming, the person who had been following them did not dare approach for the moment.
Two little girls, about seven or eight years old, came running hand in hand toward Shen Linzhou. Behind them followed a heavily pregnant woman, one hand supporting her belly and the other tugging at the collar of her padded coat as she picked her way carefully over the snow.
“Slow down. Don’t fall.” The woman’s voice was hoarse.
Shen Linzhou had already crouched down. The two little girls threw themselves at him from either side—one tugging on his sleeve, the other wrapping her arms around his neck. They clearly looked very close to him.
The woman reached them, panting heavily as she held her belly. The moment she saw Shen Linzhou, her eyes turned red.
“Sister-in-law.” Shen Linzhou stood up. Without saying much, he pulled a paper packet from his pocket and handed it to her. “Take this for now.”
The woman hurriedly refused. “Regimental Commander Shen, thank you, but I can’t take this money. You’ve already helped us so much. The army’s survivor’s benefits should be issued soon…”
“Benefits are benefits.” Shen Linzhou pressed the paper packet into her hands. “The house in the family compound should be vacated soon. You ought to be able to move in within the next couple of days. The paperwork for the children’s schooling is already being processed, so don’t worry. You’re carrying a baby right now—try to put your mind at ease. Commander Du was a martyr. The army won’t abandon your family. The most important thing now is for you to take good care of Dahua and Xiaohua and give birth to the baby safely. If you run into any difficulties, tell the army.”
The woman’s tears fell at once, and she clutched the paper packet tightly in her hands.
“I’ll be going now, Sister-in-law. Once the house is ready, I’ll drive over and bring you back to the family compound.”
Shen Linzhou turned and walked more than a dozen steps before stopping to look back.
Mrs. Du was holding one child’s hand in each of hers, her heavily pregnant figure receding into the darkness…
His chest felt as though it were blocked by a heavy stone, making it hard to breathe. Before they had set out, Du Changshun had proudly boasted that the child in his wife’s belly might be a son.
In all the years he had led teams, nothing like this had ever happened. There had been a “traitor” among them, and their route had been exposed. He was the person in charge. If only he had been more careful… If only…
He drew in a deep breath. The cold wind filled his lungs and made him feel a little better. Remembering the entrustment Du Changshun had made before his death, he closed his eyes, then turned and disappeared into the night.
After Shen Linzhou left, the mother and her two daughters returned to the military guesthouse.
Xiao Mandong brought Diandian out from behind the corner and hurried home.
The winter night was quiet. There was only the sound of her footsteps, Diandian’s breathing, and the mournful rustling of wind through the branches…
Diandian suddenly stopped and looked back. Xiao Mandong instinctively followed her gaze, but there was nothing there. Even so, she was certain that someone was following them.
There was still some distance between them and the family compound, and there were no houses nearby. She took a handful of medicinal powder from her space, called for Diandian, and ran toward the alley near the family compound.
Diandian ran behind her. They were almost at the alley when Xiao Mandong heard the footsteps behind them—hurried, heavy, and drawing closer with every step.
Her heart clenched. She shouted at Diandian, “Diandian, come here!”
The moment she turned the corner, she grabbed Diandian by the collar, pulled her into the alley, and vanished into the darkness with her.
She practically fell into the space, her back slamming into an apple tree. The pain made her suck in a sharp breath.
Xiao Mandong got up from the ground and listened to the sounds outside.
The footsteps stopped abruptly. Then she heard voices.
“Where did they go?” a man asked in a low, especially hoarse voice. Xiao Mandong was certain she had never met him before.
“I clearly saw her run into this alley… How did she just disappear?” This was a voice Xiao Mandong recognized.
It was Liu Mengyao.
The voice was right beside her—so close that Xiao Mandong felt the other person could reach out and touch her.
“Could she have gone into the family compound? That can’t be right. I saw it clearly.” The man began to doubt himself.
“Damn it!” The man slammed his fist against the wall.
Xiao Mandong heard him strike a match and light a cigarette.
In the darkness, Chi the Third stared at Liu Mengyao. “Did Director Huang tell you anything?”
“He didn’t know something was going to happen. What could he have told me? After the incident, I went to several houses he had taken me to before, but there was nothing there. If he’d left me even a little money, I wouldn’t have been forced to send the child back to his hometown.” Liu Mengyao gritted her teeth.
“It’s all because of that bitch.” Her voice seemed to squeeze out from between her teeth. “She was the one who sent Huang Yuanqing to prison.”
She drew in a deep breath. She hated Xiao Mandong to the bone. If it weren’t for her, how could Huang Yuanqing have been arrested? And if that hadn’t happened, Liu Mengyao would never have ended up in such a miserable state.
Lin Guoan had threatened her with the photographs and forced her to marry Jiang Shaohua. After Jiang Shaohua was forced to leave his job, he brought her daughter back as well.
For a time, they had no income and still had a child to support. In order to find work, Jiang Shaohua had actually sent his pregnant wife to another man’s bed. With no money to raise her son, she had been forced to send him back to Huang Yuanqing’s hometown.
Now Liu Bing had been arrested too, and even her family refused to let her through the door. Everything that had happened was because of that damn Xiao Mandong.
She had never expected a man named Chi the Third to find her and claim to be a friend of Huang Yuanqing’s. She had told him everything about Huang Yuanqing’s arrest. Today, she had come specifically to find out where Xiao Mandong lived. She had only just questioned two people when she happened to see Xiao Mandong leaving. She had followed her all the way here, but she had never imagined that the woman would be so alert that she would actually lose her.
Xiao Mandong had encountered spies far too many times to let her guard down. To prevent them from lying in wait outside, she decided to sleep in her space that night.
After washing up, she lay down on the large bed in the space, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.
She had to report what had happened today to Political Commissar Shi. She suspected that this man was an accomplice of Director Huang’s. What if he was a spy too? Wouldn’t that put her in grave danger?
And there was Liu Mengyao. The army should never have released her. After completing a mission for the army, shouldn’t they have done everything possible to ensure her safety?
Xiao Mandong had no idea what time she finally fell asleep. When she awoke, it was three in the morning. She carefully listened for a while inside the space. Hearing no sound outside, she cautiously stepped out.
She walked to the entrance of the family compound. When she saw no guard there, the tightness in her chest finally eased. Then she felt a slight pain in her stomach and went straight to the toilet.
The family compound had pit latrines. Since she had her space, she rarely used them. In winter, at least, there was hardly any smell. Once summer came, she would definitely build a flush toilet behind the courtyard.
After squatting for several minutes, her legs went numb. One really couldn’t get used to hardship after enjoying comfort.
“Baby, I’ve missed you so much.”
Xiao Mandong had just pulled up her trousers when a man’s voice came from outside. She jumped in fright. There were several pit latrines in the family compound, and this one was farther away from the residential buildings. To think someone would sneak around here for an affair in the dead of winter—it was truly something she had never seen before.
