After registering their names, the clerk at the police station finally told them that martyr certificates were not issued by the police.
They had to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau.
They had come to the wrong place.
Cui Qingshu sighed inwardly. Riding from the police station to the Civil Affairs office would take at least another half hour. By the time they got there, the office would probably already be closed.
Disappointment inevitably showed on her face.
A nearby officer looked puzzled. “Who are you trying to apply for a martyr certificate for? Those aren’t easy to obtain.”
Cui Qingshu’s eyes brightened faintly before she lowered her head with a soft sigh, her voice tinged with grievance.
“It’s for my grandparents and my uncle. They all died fighting on the front lines one after another back then.
We heard that the families of martyrs could apply for certificates, but we didn’t know anything about the process. We made a fool of ourselves and even came to the wrong place.”
The moment those words were spoken, respect welled up naturally in the officer’s heart.
This was instinctive reverence for the families of heroes who had sacrificed themselves defending the country.
An entire family of three had died for the nation. For the surviving relatives, how unbearable must that grief have been?
No matter what, he wanted to help.
The officer hurriedly stood up. “Don’t leave yet. Wait here a moment. Our captain’s family applied for martyr certificates before—I’ll go ask him for you!”
Before Cui Qingshu could thank him, he had already dashed out the door.
Lin Weihua lowered her head, about to comfort her seemingly disappointed daughter, only to discover that Cui Qingshu had already lifted her head again. There was not a trace of sadness left on her face.
The words of comfort stuck in her throat.
This wasn’t the first time she had seen her daughter “change faces” so quickly these past days, but she still got fooled every time.
Once she realized it, warm amusement filled Lin Weihua’s eyes.
Her daughter really was clever and adorable.
As Cui Qingshu quietly chatted with her mother, a startled voice suddenly rang out from the doorway.
“Qingshu? Why are you here?”
Looking up, Cui Qingshu saw Ye Hongying.
Ye Hongying rushed in frantically and grabbed her hand. “Qingshu, why are you and Auntie at the police station? Is something wrong?”
“Did that bastard Shen Ziming target you again? My dad’s here at the station—I’ll get him to help you!”
Before Cui Qingshu could explain, Ye Hongying had already rushed back out like a gust of wind.
She couldn’t stop her in time.
Not long after, the same officer returned, leading a broad-shouldered middle-aged man with sharp, piercing eyes into the room.
Ye Hongying followed closely behind, constantly speaking up for Cui Qingshu, insisting that her friend had definitely been framed.
“It’s that soldier I almost got matched with before! He’s cut from the same cloth as Shen Ziming, that dog!”
Ye Jianguo’s head throbbed from his daughter’s noise. He frowned and scolded her, “Who told you your friend got arrested?”
Ye Hongying froze.
If not for getting into trouble, why else would someone come to the police station for no reason?
Her expression immediately turned anxious as she looked toward Cui Qingshu. “You… are you okay?”
Before she could finish, her father turned toward the mother and daughter and asked in a deep voice,
“You’re the ones applying for martyr certificates? What’s the situation?”
Just as Cui Qingshu was about to answer, Lin Weihua lightly pressed down on her shoulder, signaling her not to speak.
Then she calmly explained everything about how her parents and older brother had died years ago.
The more Ye Jianguo listened, the tighter his brows furrowed.
“Why didn’t you apply when they first died? Do you have any proof of their martyr status?”
“It’s already been thirty years. That’s far too long ago. Do you have any original documentation?”
“After the founding of the country, martyr certificates were reissued nationwide. Did you lose the certificate, or did you never apply for one at all?”
A series of questions struck down one after another, leaving Lin Weihua utterly bewildered.
She knew nothing about any of this.
When the Cui family adopted her, she had only been eight years old. Her memories of her parents and brother had long since faded.
After the founding of the country, under Old Master Cui’s arrangements, she married Cui Yuanwei. She had never once dealt with anything related to martyr certificates in her entire life.
After hearing the whole story, Ye Jianguo spoke firmly.
“You absolutely need original documents. Without the originals, trying to reissue martyr certificates for people who died before the founding of the nation is basically impossible.”
Especially considering that they also carried the identity of relatives of capitalists.
Broken records, dead witnesses, class background investigations…
For the family of a capitalist to apply for martyr certificates, it would be very easy for others to accuse them of “using the identity of martyrs to cleanse themselves politically.”
Forget successfully obtaining the certificates—even the process alone could drag on for years.
And clearly, they did not have years to spare.
Lin Weihua’s face grew even paler.
All the worries her daughter had spoken about these past few days surged repeatedly through her mind.
Thinking about Cui Yuanwei’s identity, she bit down hard in secret.
She should never have married into the Cui family in the first place. She had dragged her daughter down so badly that even possessing a clean political background had become impossible.
Ye Hongying listened with growing distress, tugging on her father’s arm nonstop.
“Dad, think of something! Help Qingshu! You don’t know how awful her father is…”
Ye Jianguo rubbed his temples helplessly. “Alright, alright, stop shaking me. Let me think.”
He grabbed a pen and paper and scribbled for quite some time before handing the sheet to Lin Weihua.
“These are the materials required to apply for martyr certificates. Gather as much as you can and make several trips to the Civil Affairs office. There’s still a sliver of hope.”
The paper listed seven core documents, plus testimonies from two to three witnesses.
Official commune seals, proof of kinship, evidence of sacrifice, investigation reports…
Not a single item could be missing.
Looking at the list, Cui Qingshu’s heart slowly sank.
Administrative procedures were already long and exhausting enough.
The documents at least had some traceable paths—but where were they supposed to find witnesses?
Thirty years had passed. The people from back then were scattered to the winds.
In an era where even communication was difficult, finding three informed witnesses was like searching for needles in the sea.
They simply did not have the time.
This was practically an impossible task.
But martyr certificates were too important to them.
They were practically life-saving talismans.
“Why didn’t you apply back then? If you had done it at the time, things would be much easier now,” Ye Jianguo said regretfully.
Suddenly, inspiration flashed through Cui Qingshu’s mind.
That’s right—who said they definitely hadn’t applied before?
Old Master Cui had been such a shrewd man. Back in the early days after the founding of the country, he had deliberately arranged for Cui Yuanwei to marry the Lin family’s daughter. How could he possibly have overlooked something as important as martyr certificates?
She lifted her head, her voice steady and clear.
“If they had already applied before, and the certificates were simply lost… would reissuing them still be this troublesome?”
“No.” Ye Jianguo shook his head. “If there’s already a record in the archives and it’s only a replacement for a lost certificate, then it’s much easier.”
He looked at the mother and daughter suspiciously. “If they’d already applied before, wouldn’t the family know about it?”
Lin Weihua explained the circumstances she had lived under back then.
The look in Ye Jianguo’s eyes toward her gained a trace of sympathy.
Capitalist households really were full of trouble.
With this glimmer of hope, Cui Qingshu immediately perked up again.
She was certain that Old Master Cui had absolutely applied for those martyr certificates back then.
Meanwhile, Ye Hongying was still indignantly defending her friend, clinging stubbornly to her father’s arm.
Ye Jianguo glared at his daughter helplessly and sighed inwardly.
Fine. He’d help them this once.
“Since you’re Hongying’s friend, I’ll make a trip for you. What year did they die? I’ll check the archives at the Civil Affairs office and see whether there are any records.”
Cui Qingshu quickly thanked Ye Jianguo, then smiled warmly at Ye Hongying.
“Hongying, thank you. Next time I visit you at the state-run restaurant, I’ll bring over some pretty new hair ties I found for you to see.”
Though she phrased it as “showing” them to her, Ye Hongying knew perfectly well that Cui Qingshu intended to give them to her.
Without giving her any chance to refuse, Cui Qingshu grabbed her mother and quickly left.
After stepping out of the police station, Lin Weihua glanced back and said softly,
“This friend of yours is truly sincere. Qinnang, you should treat her well.”
Cui Qingshu nodded seriously, warmth flickering in her eyes.
“I will.”
In her previous life, she had been an orphan. In the orphanage, survival and a full stomach were all that mattered. She had never experienced warmth or affection.
After starting work, the people around her were merely colleagues she nodded to. Once work ended, everyone became strangers again. Human relationships had been painfully shallow.
Ye Hongying, someone she had only known for a few days, was already the closest friend she had ever had across both lifetimes.
On the way home, the bright sunny sky suddenly darkened.
Heavy black clouds rolled overhead.
Fortunately, they hurried fast enough that the rain had not started by the time they reached home.
But as they approached the door, Cui Qingshu noticed it was slightly ajar.
Her brows immediately furrowed.
She distinctly remembered locking the door before leaving.
Lightening her footsteps, she approached quietly, then suddenly shoved the door wide open.
Her gaze turned icy as she stared directly at the woman rummaging through the room.
“What are you doing?”