“Dad, I want to go with you!”
When Xu Qingru woke up, she heard a familiar yet resolute voice through her daze.
She jolted awake. The pain in her chest seemed to linger, as though the knife wound from her previous life had not completely faded.
Looking ahead, she saw Xu Yingying standing beside her father, Xu Hui, staring at him pleadingly.
Xu Yingying tightly clutched Xu Hui’s fingers, as though his refusal would be tantamount to taking her life.
Xu Qingru looked at her parents’ still-young faces, and she knew with absolute certainty
She was back!
In her previous life, this was exactly what had happened.
Ma Xiulan had been falsely accused of having an improper relationship with someone. Xu Hui had discussed it with her, and the two had decided to temporarily divorce.
To stay out of trouble, Xu Hui chose to go to the countryside to avoid the situation. However, the number of people allowed to go was fixed, and even with connections, he could only take one daughter with him.
After discussing it as a family, they decided that Xu Hui would take Xu Qingru to the countryside, while Ma Xiulan would take Xu Yingying. There was a possibility that Ma Xiulan might eventually be sent to a labor camp.
“Yingying…” Ma Xiulan hesitated.
She had experienced hardship before, and selfishly, she naturally hoped that Xu Yingying would go with her.
After all, Xu Yingying was only her adopted daughter. How could she possibly compare with her biological daughter?
Ma Xiulan naturally made that distinction in her heart.
If her daughter stayed with Xu Hui, at least life would be a little easier.
Seeing Ma Xiulan’s expression, hatred filled Xu Yingying’s eyes. There was not the slightest trace of gratitude toward the woman who had raised her.
In her previous life, she had gone into exile with Ma Xiulan and suffered terribly in the countryside, barely having enough food or warm clothing.
Eventually, after making a grave mistake, she had developed the intention of taking Ma Xiulan and Xu Qingru to their deaths.
And she had actually done it.
But now, Heaven had given her another chance.
This time, she would rewrite her life.
She should be the one going to the countryside.
She should be the one marrying Chen Jiashu.
She was not Ma Xiulan’s biological daughter, so why should she bear the consequences of Ma Xiulan’s supposed misconduct?
If Ma Xiulan had been accused of having an improper relationship, then Ma Xiulan should go into exile together with Xu Qingru!
“Mom, I’ll go with you.”
Xu Qingru’s voice rang out firmly.
Xu Hui and Ma Xiulan were both stunned. Xu Hui, however, had an extra hint of relief in his eyes.
“Qingru, there’s a very good chance Mom will be sent away. If you go with me, you’ll have to suffer!”
Ma Xiulan’s eyes filled with tears.
Xu Qingru was completely certain of her decision.
In her previous life, she had followed her father to the countryside, thinking she would probably never return.
Later, her father became seriously ill. To pay for his medical expenses, he had no choice but to marry her off to Chen Jiashu, another educated youth who had also been sent to the countryside.
Before the educated youths were allowed to return to the cities, Chen Jiashu displayed extraordinary talent in scientific research and eventually became a nationally renowned scientist.
As Chen Jiashu’s wife, Xu Qingru naturally benefited from his success and status.
It was also while attending an event with Chen Jiashu that Xu Yingying, driven mad, suddenly plunged a dagger into Xu Qingru’s chest.
Before that happened, Xu Qingru had not seen Ma Xiulan or Xu Yingying for a very long time.
She had only heard that Ma Xiulan had encountered her first love from her youth.
As for Xu Yingying, she had naturally married into the Dong family together with Ma Xiulan.
At the time, Xu Qingru had even envied Xu Yingying. She had asked around and learned that Ma Xiulan was living a good life.
Xu Qingru was relieved.
Not wanting to interfere with Ma Xiulan’s life, she had never taken the initiative to appear before her.
But…
Judging from Xu Yingying’s expression in the moments before her death, it seemed that Xu Yingying’s life had not turned out as well as she had imagined.
Xu Qingru, however, did not care.
Having been given another chance at life, she wanted to stay by her mother’s side.
As for herself, there was no need for her mother to be sent away. Whether she stayed in the city or went to the countryside, she would find a way to survive.
That was enough.
But before that, there was one more thing she needed to do.
Xu Qingru’s gaze swept over Xu Hui.
She had to make sure that her mother divorced Xu Hui.
Because Xu Hui was not a good man!
Xu Yingying was not an orphan either.
She was Xu Hui’s biological daughter!
Xu Qingru had learned this truth in the final moments before her death, when Xu Yingying had crawled beside her ear like a madwoman and told her everything.
Later, Xu Qingru also discovered that Xu Hui’s decision to go to the countryside had not been entirely for Ma Xiulan’s sake.
He himself had a whole mess of secrets to hide.
Even the destination he was going to had been chosen by him long ago!
And the accusation that Ma Xiulan had improper conduct?
Xu Hui had been the one who reported her.
This man was truly vicious!
“Mom, I’m not afraid. As long as I can be with you, I’m not afraid of how much hardship I’ll have to endure!”
Xu Qingru spoke seriously.
Hearing this, Ma Xiulan finally could not hold back her tears.
They streamed down her face as she suddenly threw herself into Xu Qingru’s arms and burst into tears like a child.
Seeing the two of them like this, Xu Hui breathed a sigh of relief.
He gave Xu Yingying a somewhat displeased look.
She had suddenly insisted on going with him without considering whether she would put him in a difficult position.
Fortunately, Xu Qingru was willing to go with Ma Xiulan.
Ma Xiulan finally stopped crying, but she was still worried about Xu Qingru.
In the end, she gritted her teeth and said, “Qingru, I have a friend who works in the military. I’ll see if I can pull some strings and arrange a position for you in the military’s cultural troupe. That way, you probably won’t be affected by what happens to me.”
A friend who worked in the military.
Someone who could even arrange for her to join the military cultural troupe.
A figure suddenly appeared in Xu Qingru’s mind—
Dong Jun.
He was the man who had married Ma Xiulan in her previous life.
For some reason, her sixth sense told her that this “friend” was Dong Jun!
Xu Qingru also wanted Ma Xiulan and Dong Jun to meet, so she did not refuse.
“All right, Mom.”
She did not want Ma Xiulan to worry about her anymore.
Little did she know that at that moment, jealousy had completely engulfed Xu Yingying’s eyes.
In her previous life, when she and Ma Xiulan had been sent away together, Ma Xiulan had never once tried to make arrangements for her.
She had suffered so much in the countryside because of it.
“All right!” Xu Hui interrupted their conversation. “Since we’ve already decided, Yingying will go with me, and Qingru will go with your mother. Don’t worry. If you ever need my help with anything, just write to me!”
Xu Hui deliberately put on the air of a dependable man.
But Xu Qingru knew very well that Xu Hui’s life would not be easy after going to the countryside.
It wasn’t that he would be unwilling to help her.
Even if he wanted to, he would be powerless to do so.
“All right!” Ma Xiulan said. “We’ll publish the divorce announcement in the newspaper tomorrow. Better to do it quickly and avoid any further complications, so you won’t be implicated.”
Now that Ma Xiulan had made arrangements for Xu Qingru, she no longer insisted that Xu Qingru go to the countryside with Xu Hui.
As for this old friend of hers, she actually did not want to have anything to do with him.
After all, there were too many misunderstandings between them…
“All right!”
Xu Hui agreed without giving it much thought.
Ma Xiulan took Xu Qingru back to their room.
For Xu Hui and Xu Yingying’s sake, they would be moving out.
As they packed their belongings, Ma Xiulan sighed repeatedly.
“Qingru, if my connections don’t work out, we’ll think of another way. You can go to the countryside with your father. At least you won’t starve with him!”
Ma Xiulan did not want her daughter to suffer, and even now, she continued trying to reassure her.
But Xu Qingru said, “I’m willing to go into exile with you, Mom. Even if I have to suffer, I’m willing.”
Tears instantly filled Ma Xiulan’s eyes.
“You silly child. Mom doesn’t want you to suffer.”
“Things have already come to this point. Dad can only take one person to the countryside. We can’t just abandon Xu Yingying, can we?”
Xu Qingru deliberately said this, knowing that her mother had a soft heart.
After all, Xu Yingying was also a child Ma Xiulan had raised with her own hands.
Ma Xiulan sighed.
She had never been particularly close to Xu Yingying.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be close to her. Rather, she had always felt as though there were an invisible barrier between them.
When it came to the child’s future, she naturally leaned more toward her own biological daughter.
“Mom, you don’t want me anymore?”
Seeing Ma Xiulan looking so troubled, Xu Qingru suddenly acted as though she had been wronged. Tears glimmered in her eyes as she reached out and took Ma Xiulan’s hand.