The child was sniffling and crying, too scared even to sob loudly.
He kept tugging at Li Erni’s arm. “Mom, let’s go. Li Zhao didn’t hit me. We don’t need to ask Auntie for money anymore.”
“You little brat, what nonsense are you talking!” Li Erni was so furious at her son for undermining her that she almost couldn’t catch her breath.
But the child grew even more frightened and couldn’t help wailing, “Mom, I’m hungry. Let’s go home.”
Li Qiuyue had no interest in watching their quarrel and interrupted sharply: “Li Erni, I’m giving you one day, for Qin Huai’s sake. Within a day, either you bring the medical fees and apologize to Zhaozhao on your knees, or I’ll call the police and have your son arrested. Let’s see what happens if you don’t believe me!”
She knew Li Erni was miserly and would never hand over money easily. Her plan was just to stall this issue for now and deal with it tomorrow.
Qin Huai kept chirping about legal procedures and not taking matters into his own hands, which really got in the way of her plan for exacting justice.
After all, this was about an incident that nearly cost her son half his life there was no way a few hits and kicks would make her let it slide!
Li Erni hadn’t expected to come to extort money only to be threatened herself. She wanted to protest, but when she met Qin Huai’s sharp gaze, she swallowed her words.
“You just keep being stubborn. I don’t believe your man would tolerate someone else’s child in his life. I’ll enjoy seeing that!” She said this to Li Qiuyue while glancing at Qin Huai.
If it weren’t for now, she wouldn’t believe that he could truly be unbothered by his woman having an affair and bearing another man’s child!
Thinking this, she shot a glare at her unhelpful son, grabbed his arm, and dragged him outside.
In the blink of an eye, the small courtyard was left with only Li Qiuyue and Qin Huai.
Qin Huai frowned, looking serious as he turned to Li Qiuyue. “Comrade Li Qiuyue, can we talk about the child?”
Li Qiuyue glanced at him, rolled her eyes, shrugged off his hand, and briskly walked back inside.
Sure enough, no man could accept his wife being unfaithful; even a commanding officer was no exception.
Inside the house:
The cement stove was burning bright. A one-meter-high stove was connected to the kitchen counter, and behind it was the heated kang (a traditional bed-stove).
Zhaozhao on the kang had already woken up.
Seeing Li Qiuyue enter, he threw himself into her arms and softly called, “Mommy.”
Clutching her neck, his clear black-and-white eyes peeked toward the handsome man across the room.
Qin Huai was watching Zhaozhao as well.
Although the household was poor, the child’s features were delicate and cute, his face fair, and his padded coat thick and clean he was obviously well cared for.
But at the moment, he was weak from illness and had little energy.
The red butterfly-shaped birthmark on the left side of his neck was striking.
Seeing the child, Qin Huai’s heart pounded like a drum.
He stepped forward instinctively, reaching for Zhaozhao, his expression unusually agitated. “Li Qiuyue, where did you get this child?”
He didn’t even say “comrade,” clearly very angry.
Li Qiuyue clicked her tongue and leaned slightly aside, dodging his hand.
“What does it have to do with you?” she sneered.
As Li Erni had said, she had been married to Qin Huai for five years, separated for five years, yet the child was only three and a half.
Five winters ago, she found a man in military uniform, covered in blood, by the roadside and brought him home.
Her parents, unwilling to waste food, didn’t even look at him and insisted she throw him out.
But she couldn’t bear the thought of a soldier freezing to death on the street. She bargained, saying she would marry him and promised to pay a fifty-yuan bride price later, and only then did her parents let him stay.
Her parents even collected gifts from distant relatives, neighbors, and friends, and treated everyone to a meal of cabbage and vermicelli.
The morning after the wedding, the man left a note saying, “I must return to the army. I will repay your kindness another day,” and disappeared.
Being abandoned as a woman in the countryside was already hard enough.
Her parents, unwilling to refund the small gifts, forced her to remain a de facto widow for five years, insisting she pay the fifty-yuan bride price and even kicked her out of the house.
The so-called reason: she was married and had to fend for herself.
To pay back the fifty yuan, she had no choice but to work as a laborer at a construction site in town.
Later, she also found Zhaozhao, who had been abandoned, at the site.
She had explained countless times that the child was found, but no one believed her. Gossipers would even go up to Zhaozhao to ask who the “real father” was.
So she boldly accepted the child as her own.
She realized that harsh rumors couldn’t be solved with reason or truth, but could be dealt with by force if necessary.
For her, Zhaozhao had long been her closest family.
Nosy villagers were nothing compared to her love; greedy relatives seeking money were nothing compared to her protection.
Even the husband who disappeared on their wedding night, leaving her a widow for five years, didn’t compare.
It was almost laughable when Qin Huai saved Zhaozhao that day, wearing a military uniform and the same watch he had five years ago, and asking everyone about “Li Qiuyue,” the villagers realized he was her husband who had abandoned the marriage five years ago.
When the gossipers deliberately mentioned the child to him, he had scowled and loudly denied being her husband, making her a laughingstock again.
But at that time, Li Qiuyue’s only concern was Zhaozhao, who had fallen into the icy river she had no time to worry about husbands.
Now, with things calmer, she had no desire to skirt around the issue with Qin Huai.
“Qin Huai, I know you’re unwilling. I only married you back then to save you. Now that you’ve saved Zhaozhao, that repays the favor. From now on, let’s pretend there’s no relationship between us.”
They had never registered a marriage, had no marital relationship, and she had only learned his name today from others.
Qin Huai’s eyes darkened. “You misunderstand. I’m not”
“The child is mine. Even if the biological father comes, I won’t let him take him away.”
They both spoke, but Li Qiuyue’s voice was firm, cutting off Qin Huai.
“If you mean to say you don’t reject me on purpose, only that you can’t accept the child, then spare me the explanation.” Li Qiuyue snorted coldly, her stance resolute.
Zhaozhao could no longer hold back, burying his little head in Li Qiuyue’s arms and quietly sobbing, “Daddy, can you not abandon Mommy and not send me away?”
He knew this man was his mother’s husband; without a husband, his mother would be called a “widow.”
He also knew this man wasn’t his real dad, and staying here might interfere with his parents’ lives.
But he truly couldn’t bear to be apart from his mother.