"The child must be raised by me, but I won't stop you from visiting her. When she's old enough to understand, I'll also tell her that you're her biological father."
Lin Zhilan advised, "If you're worried about the child, you can come see her anytime, or write to her."
"You can also see that Linlin is living well here."
At this point, Zhou Chen's resolve had begun to waver. Perhaps Linlin would be better off with them than with him.
After a long deliberation, he said slowly, "I'll think it over. Before that, I need to go back to my hometown first."
Lin Zhilan and Su Lang exchanged a glance and breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhou Chen was Linlin's biological father, and they didn't want to have a nasty fallout with him.
As Zhou Chen was leaving, Lin Zhilan called him back and handed him a small rattan box.
"The things in here are what I brought from Zhou Family Village. I don't need them anymore. Take them back with you."
These were the original owner's clothes. After Lin Zhilan came to the island, she hadn't worn them again.
She hadn't thrown them away either, just washed them and stored them in the rattan box.
"One more thing I forgot to tell you: your death benefits were all taken by your parents back then. Linlin and I didn't take a single cent."
Lin Zhilan hadn't bothered to fight for that money out of respect for Zhou Chen as a hero.
She didn't consider herself and her daughter as the dependents of a fallen hero. If they had truly been short of money, she wouldn't have been so softhearted.
At the time, Lin Zhilan only wanted to cut ties between her daughter and the Zhou family, not to get tangled up with them in the mud.
But now that Zhou Chen wasn't dead, Lin Zhilan wanted to make things clear and settle the accounts properly.
Zhou Chen looked ashamed. "I understand. I'll make sure they return the money to the organization."
Lin Zhilan curled her lip. "That's your family's business. You don't need to tell me."
Zhou Chen nodded.
Two days later, Zhou Chen boarded a train back to his hometown.
He first reported to the county police station, then returned to the village under cover of night.
Several years had passed, but the village was still the same, unchanged—except that the person he most wanted to see was no longer there.
It was already very late. The village hadn't been electrified yet, and everything was pitch black.
Zhou Chen first went back to the old house.
Pushing open the creaking door, he found the yard overgrown with weeds.
A few bundles of firewood were piled against the wall, but aside from that, as far as the eye could see, everything had been cleared out.
Zhou Chen took a rusty sickle from the woodpile, cut down all the weeds in the yard, and tidied up a bit before the place looked somewhat presentable.
He didn't linger and headed to the new house.
The new house's door was bolted from inside. Zhou Chen stepped back two paces, kicked off the ground to gain momentum, and nimbly vaulted over the wall.
As soon as he jumped down, he heard crying from inside the house.
Zhou Chen frowned and peered through the smashed glass window into the room.
Inside was a complete mess.
Tables and chairs were overturned, bowls and chopsticks scattered across the floor, leaving barely any space to step.
Zhou Chen raised his hand and knocked on the doorframe.
After knocking, he felt it was a bit unnecessary.
Country folks didn't have the habit of knocking. He smiled bitterly and stepped inside.
"Who's that? Knocking in the middle of the night!"
Wang Guifen cursed a string of profanities, her drooping triangular eyes narrowing as she walked out of the inner room.
There was no light in the house, and Zhou Chen stood there silently, like a ghost.
Wang Guifen stopped in her tracks, her mouth wide open, her face full of terror. She shrank back several steps. "You... don't come near me! Are you human or a ghost? I'm your mother; you can't harm me."
"Mother," Zhou Chen said, standing at the entrance of the main hall, his face expressionless. "It's me. I didn't die."
Wang Guifen stared at him, stared for a long time, until she noticed his shadow on the ground.
Then she rushed over, grabbed his arm, and while beating on him, she sobbed, "You heartless thing! You're finally back. Do you know your mother's been bullied to death..."
Zhou Chen didn't move. He looked down at his mother. "Mother, where are my wife and child?"
Wang Guifen's crying cut off mid-sob, and she didn't dare look her son in the eye. "You're still thinking about that wife of yours? She ran off with another man long ago!"
Zhou Chen suddenly laughed, a laugh full of bitterness.
This was his own mother.
She could twist lies even when there was no truth.
Slandering and fabricating stories about her daughter-in-law came naturally to her.
Wang Guifen didn't care, only thinking her son was angered.
She grabbed Zhou Chen's arm, ready to drag him out. "Come on, come with me to Cai Laifeng's house and settle the score! Her son got kicked out of the army, and the whole family came and smashed everything we own! Look around—not a single pot or bowl is left. They're just bullying us because we have no one!
"Now that you're back, you need to get our family's honor back and make them pay compensation!"
Zhou Chen understood: this was Cai Laifeng venting her anger by causing trouble at their home.
He pulled Wang Guifen's hand off his arm. "They came to smash things. Where are Dad and Zhou Jianmin?"
Wang Guifen was caught off guard. "Your dad's been unwell these past couple of days, lying in bed. Jianmin... Jianmin went to town to find work. He hasn't come back yet."
"What about Zhou Jianmin's wife?"
Wang Guifen pursed her lips, her eyes venomous. "Divorced! That barren hen—married into this family for years and couldn't even bear a single child. She'd hit your little brother at the drop of a hat. I couldn't stand her long before!"
"I'm tired today," Zhou Chen cut her off. "Which room was Zhilan's?"
Wang Guifen opened her mouth, unsure how to answer.
This red-brick house had been built, but Lin Zhilan had never lived in it even for a day, always sticking to the old house.
How could there be a room for her?
Wang Guifen led him to a small room on the right. "I thought you weren't coming back, so I didn't prepare a room for you. Just make do here for now."
Zhou Chen opened the door, and a wave of foot odor hit him.
The room was piled with empty liquor bottles, and a deck of cards and dice were left on the table.
Wang Guifen said, "Jianmin often brings his friends over to hang out. It just needs a bit of cleaning."
Zhou Chen stepped back out. "No need. I'll stay at the old house today. Give me a quilt."
Zhou Chen had always cherished his wife like the apple of his eye.
Wang Guifen had never liked seeing that.
She had expected that when Zhou Chen found out Lin Zhilan had remarried, he'd throw a big fit.
But he was so calm—it made Wang Guifen uneasy instead.
"Why don't you sleep in Jianmin's room for now, and after I tidy up tomorrow, you can move into this one?"
"No need."
Zhou Chen refused and walked off directly.
Wang Guifen chased after him, her heart a mess of emotions.
She stood at the door for a moment, then hurried inside to find Old Man Zhou. "Old man, Old man—Zhou Chen isn't dead! He's back."
"Hmm..." Old Man Zhou turned over in bed. "I heard."
Wang Guifen sat on the bed. "What do we do? I feel so nervous, like something's off. Zhou Chen seems so different from before."
Old Man Zhou squinted. "Nervous about what? I'm his father. Can he turn the world upside down?"
Hearing that, Wang Guifen finally breathed a little easier.
