Afternoon.
It was quitting time. In the empty corridor, the loud wailing of a woman echoed again and again.
Just after getting off work, Wu Ting had come looking for her father so they could go home together.
From a distance, she saw several people walking out of the office with smiles on their faces. Combined with the sound of crying, she immediately sensed that something was wrong.
When she reached the doorway, she saw several leaders inside the office.
The woman sitting on the floor complained tearfully, “She just threw my bundle out like that! She looks down on us country people and thinks we’re dirty! My child only broke a bowl! I even said I would pay for it… Sob, sob…”
Yang Guifen secretly pinched her sons several times, and the two children began crying along with her.
For a moment, the entire office was filled with unpleasant sobbing.
Wu Ting only understood the situation roughly. She knew this woman was one of Shen Huai’s relatives.
But Shen Huai had been abandoned by his relatives.
Later, he had made his way to Yuncheng, and because of his exceptional physical abilities and talent, the army had taken care of his household registration.
Could this relative who had suddenly appeared be the cold-hearted woman who had abandoned him at the railway station?
Thinking of this, Wu Ting said unhappily, “Shen Huai is an orphan. Where did you suddenly come from as his relative?”
Yang Guifen turned around and noticed that a woman had appeared at the door at some point.
Staff Officer Wu waved his hand. “You should go home first.”
“No, Dad. You don’t understand people like this, but don’t you understand Brother Shen Huai? The reason he suffered so much as a child was because of his relatives!”
Wu Ting’s words made Yang Guifen’s back break out in a cold sweat. In her panic, she blurted out without thinking, “I I don’t have much time left. This is Shen Huai’s biological younger cousin. I just want him to look after the two children for the sake of his uncle. As long as they have food to eat, that’s enough!”
“But I never expected that woman to throw us out. Leaders, didn’t you approve their marriage? How could you let a woman like that marry Shen Huai?”
Wu Ting interrupted her.
“Dad, since that’s the case, let’s wait until Brother Shen Huai comes back and let him decide for himself. But for this week, we still have to give them somewhere to stay. Comrade Lin Shu’s family already has a problematic class background. If she makes a scene like this in front of all the neighbors, it could affect Brother Shen Huai. You should find someone to take this auntie and her two children back home, so they don’t cause trouble for Brother Shen Huai.”
What Wu Ting said sounded reasonable.
Shen Huai and Lin Shu had already faced a great deal of pressure simply by registering their marriage, and they had both sacrificed a lot because of it.
“Shaoqin, take some people with you. And make sure you talk to Lin Shu properly and do some ideological work with her.”
“All right. Lin Shu really is being unreasonable. She seems to have already forgotten what we told her last time.”
Shao Qin stood up and, in front of several colleagues, led the three of them away.
Wu Ting followed behind them, wanting to watch the show and add fuel to the fire when the opportunity arose.
That auntie clearly looked like someone who would be difficult to deal with. No matter what, Lin Shu would probably have to suffer at her hands for a while this time.
Lin Shu knew Yang Guifen was troublesome and certainly would not let the matter go easily. What she had not expected was that Yang Guifen would actually go all the way to Shen Huai’s military leaders to complain.
Shao Qin was responsible for handling matters concerning military families, and with just a few words, she put the pressure on the Lin family.
“You two are married now, so Shen Huai’s relatives are your relatives too. Even if this older sister has done some things wrong, you should be more tolerant. Children are mischievous when they’re young. You can’t make such a huge fuss and throw someone out just because they broke something. Isn’t your family’s class background already difficult enough?”
Lin Hui had taken leave and hurried home because he was worried about the situation.
At this moment, facing the military leaders, he was extremely respectful.
Lin Hui was just about to take off his shoes when Lin Shu stepped forward and blocked their way.
“Director Shao, we’ve taken your words to heart. Since they are Shen Huai’s relatives, naturally, we will treat them according to the proper etiquette between relatives.”
Then her tone changed.
“However, Shen Huai is a soldier. He has clearly stated that he is an orphan. So how did you several leaders make decisions on his behalf without even contacting him?”
“Regarding this auntie’s identity, is it really consistent with the military’s strict way of handling matters to rely solely on an old photograph and her one-sided account?”
“Has the organization truly verified everything? What if there is some hidden problem? If we rashly take them in, wouldn’t that create an even bigger problem for Shen Huai and the organization?”
“Lin Shu, you are now a member of a military family. I’m very pleased that you have such awareness, but you can’t abandon family affection just because of cold rules!”
“Besides, soldiers and civilians are one family. Even if they were ordinary civilians facing difficulties today, as members of a military family, we should help when we can!”
Lin Shu noticed Wu Ting standing smugly at the doorway with her arms folded, and she knew that this whole thing could not have happened without her involvement.
“In that case, Director Shao, why don’t you take them in yourself?”
Shao Qin’s expression immediately became awkward.
Looking at the disheveled mother and her two children, she thought to herself that there was absolutely no way she was going to take them home.
Lin Shu did not continue pressing her or arguing. Instead, she spoke frankly.
With a smile that concealed a sharp edge, she said to Yang Guifen, “Auntie, you can stay. But there are a few things we need to make clear beforehand.
“First, this is the Lin family home, not the military family compound. If anything here is damaged, you will have to compensate us according to its value.
“Second, our family isn’t well-off either. Our entire extended family depends on my brother to support us. We prepare a set amount of food every day, and there simply isn’t any extra.
“Third, and most importantly since the organization is the one insisting that they stay, then please have the organization take full responsibility for verifying their identities and managing their living arrangements as well.
“You all know that our family has a problematic class background. We cannot afford to bear any risks brought by outsiders. Wouldn’t you agree, Director Shao?”
Shao Qin was left speechless.
She could neither agree nor disagree. What was she supposed to do?
Before the three had even arrived, Lin Shu had already discussed the matter with her brother and sister-in-law and come up with a plan.
“Well… let’s leave it at that, then. Sister, you’d better wait patiently for Shen Huai to come back.”
The mother and daughter left in frustration.
After another hour or two of commotion, Jiang Jie arranged a room for them. Not long afterward, everyone returned to their rooms to rest, and the first floor finally became completely quiet.
Da Mao rubbed his flat stomach.
“Mom, I’m hungry.”
Yang Guifen had been running around all day and had only eaten one meal, which had not even filled her stomach.
She remembered taking a quick look at the kitchen earlier. There had been plenty of fruits and vegetables. Taking one or two probably wouldn’t be noticed.
“Wait here. Don’t say anything.”
Yang Guifen quietly got up. Feeling her way through the darkness, she nearly bumped into a chair.
She carefully made her way toward the kitchen, using the moonlight outside for illumination.
Once inside, she felt around and searched everywhere.
She found several leftover steamed buns and a plate of leftover dishes.
Then she took a few apples and cucumbers as well.
She carried everything back to the room.
There was a power outage that night, so there were no electric lights. The mother and her two children did not have a flashlight either. They could only crouch beside the window and, by the faint light coming from outside, wolf down the food.
There was a large bag of white flour in the kitchen, enough to steam a huge batch of white-flour steamed buns.
She decided they would eat white-flour steamed buns for breakfast the next morning.
Yang Guifen was lazy, greedy, and full of crooked ideas.
Whenever she had money in her hands, she had only one word for it: spend.
This time, she happened to be in such dire financial straits that she could barely keep her family fed, so she had thought of coming to Shen Huai to squeeze some benefits out of him.
At the very least, she wanted to get her two children registered as city residents.
That way, they could rely on Shen Huai in the future, live in the city, make good money, and eventually support her, their own mother.
The next day.
The Lin family got up early.
But Yang Guifen and her two children, who had claimed they would get up early, were still snoring away.
They slept until noon.
Lin Shu did not go out that day. She stayed home with her sister-in-law because she was worried Jiang Jie might not be able to handle Yang Guifen alone.
As luck would have it, Shen Huai would not be coming back for another week.
“Where’s breakfast?”
Seeing the empty dining table, Yang Guifen went into the kitchen and searched through it again, only to find that there was nothing left to eat.
“Oh, Auntie, my sister-in-law and I called you several times earlier, but you didn’t answer even once. What time did you go to bed last night? You weren’t up to anything sneaky, were you?”
That morning, when Jiang Jie entered the kitchen, she immediately noticed that something was wrong and secretly told her sister-in-law about it.
Lin Shu had indeed called out several times.
There had been no response.
Thinking that they had disappeared, she opened the unlocked door and found the three of them sprawled inside in all sorts of positions, with Yang Guifen still snoring loudly.
The children’s clothes and pants were scattered across the floor, mixed together with fruit peels, fruit cores, and crumbs from the steamed buns. Even the enamel plate had been thrown onto the floor.