Qiao Xingyue quickly pulled An’an and Ningning over to Shen Liping. She wanted the two children to greet her. An’an and Ningning were quick and sweet mouthed, calling out together, “Auntie Ping, hello.”
“Oh my, such sweet mouths.” Shen Liping smiled softly and gently. “You two little ones have grown so big already.”
Although the two girls were twins, they were easy to tell apart.
One was lively and clever, while the other had a pale, sickly look.
Shen Liping had long known that Ningning had congenital asthma. She touched Ningning’s head and said without hesitation, “This is Ningning.”
Then she touched An’an’s head and said with certainty, “And this is An’an.”
“See, Auntie Ping still remembers you.” Qiao Xingyue smiled more happily than she had in a long time.
The two women chatted for a while.
Seeing that they already knew each other, Huang Guilan was a little surprised. “Pingping, I didn’t expect you and Xingyue to be so fat. So you already knew each other. But I heard you say just now that Xingyue used to be a little chubby girl. What is that about?”
She turned to look at Qiao Xingyue with a puzzled expression. “Xingyue, were you very fat before?”
Huang Guilan muttered in her heart. Chubby Girl had been very fat too, over two hundred jin. Could Xingyue be the Chubby Girl they had been searching for all these years? If Xingyue really was Chubby Girl, Huang Guilan would wake up laughing even in her dreams.
At this moment, Shen Liping looked at the puzzled Huang Guilan and smiled gently. “Mom, Xingyue was not very fat. At that time, she was about two months postpartum after giving birth to An’an and Ningning. She should have been a little over one hundred forty jin.”
Qiao Xingyue nodded with a smile. “Yes, I had just given birth not long before. I was a little over one hundred forty jin.”
One hundred forty jin.
Huang Guilan felt disappointed at once.
Why only one hundred forty jin?
Why not over two hundred jin?
“Mingyuan, Zhiyuan, come quickly and bring the gifts you prepared for your little sisters.”
Shen Liping pushed her two sons in front of An’an and Ningning. The two boys quickly handed over the toys they were holding. An’an and Ningning did not dare accept them immediately and looked to Qiao Xingyue for permission.
Huang Guilan smiled. “An’an, Ningning, just take them. These are gifts from your brothers. This is your eldest brother Xie Zhiyuan and this is your second brother Xie Mingyuan.”
Zhiyuan was ten years old this year and looked like his father. He was nearly one point five meters tall.
Mingyuan was nine years old and looked to be around one point three meters tall.
The two brothers were much taller than An’an and Ningning and were clearly big children.
The two brothers had always wanted Shen Liping to give them a younger sister. Shen Liping had also wanted to have another daughter, but in this era, fewer births, later births, and better births were strongly promoted, and family planning was strictly enforced. Their wish to have a sister could not be fulfilled.
So when they heard their mother say that two little sisters had come to Grandma’s home, delicate and pretty like dolls, they quickly prepared meeting gifts.
The kaleidoscope, red butterfly hair clips, and colorful hair ties were stuffed into the little girls’ hands.
“Little sister, take it. This is a gift from your big brother.”
“Here, Ningning, you have one too.”
The one speaking was Huang Guilan’s eldest grandson Xie Zhiyuan. Then he added, “An’an and Ningning, if anyone dares to bully you in the compound in the future, tell your big brother and second brother. We will protect you.”
For some reason, Zhiyuan and Mingyuan felt an indescribable closeness when they saw An’an and Ningning.
It was as if the two girls were truly their little sisters, instantly stirring up their desire to protect them.
Qiao Xingyue did not know what kind of blessing she had to be so fated with the Xie family. Several people sat in the main hall chatting. Deng Yingying and Jiang Chunyan could not get a word in. They tactfully went upstairs and returned to their room.
After closing the door, Jiang Chunyan muttered, “Why is Qiao Xingyue so likable to the Xie family? I did not expect the eldest daughter in law to like her and her children so much either. Yingying, I feel that Xingyue is your nemesis. As long as she is around, you will never have a chance to marry Xie Zhongming. Why not give up on Xie Zhongming and directly marry Jiang Beiyang’s second brother Jiang Beisong? That way you would not have to work so hard.”
At this moment, Deng Yingying felt extremely aggrieved. Her eyes turned red as she cried. “Mom, I am already annoyed enough. Can you stop giving me terrible ideas? I have liked Brother Zhongming for so many years. Do I really have to give up just like that?”
She was unwilling.
“Jiang Beisong is not worse than Xie Zhongming.”
“But no matter how good Jiang Beisong is, he is not Brother Zhongming. Unless Brother Zhongming truly does not want me, I will not marry Jiang Beisong yet. Besides, Jiang Beisong is completely devoted to me. I am not afraid he will run away.”
Downstairs in the main hall, Zhiyuan and Mingyuan were teaching An’an and Ningning how to play with the kaleidoscope.
The four children gathered together, lively and cheerful.
This lively scene filled Xie Jiang’s eyes with kind smiles. He had five sons and four grandsons. If he really had a pair of twin granddaughters like An’an and Ningning, how wonderful that would be.
Seeing her eldest daughter in law chatting enthusiastically with Qiao Xingyue, Huang Guilan called Xie Zhongming into her room.
After closing the door, she lowered her voice and said, “Fourth son, your sister in law said Xingyue used to be a little chubby girl. Could Xingyue be the Chubby Girl who went missing?”
This guess caused Xie Zhongming’s heart to stir uncontrollably, complex emotions surging up.
A fifteen watt light bulb hung from the beam.
The dim yellow light was like a thin veil, stretching his shadow long and making the complicated emotions in his eyes rise and fall.
His straight back tensed tightly.
Even his breathing became cautious.
His hand resting against his trouser seam suddenly clenched hard, wrinkling the fabric deeply. Could Comrade Qiao be a Chubby Girl?
At this moment, Huang Guilan coughed a few times awkwardly.
Xie Zhongming went outside, took an enamel cup, poured water for Huang Guilan, and when he set down the red thermos, his gaze unconsciously fell on Qiao Xingyue chatting with his sister in law.
Her brows and eyes were clean and bright. Her almond eyes, delicate nose, glowing fair skin, and slender figure were strikingly eye-catching.
It felt as if his gaze had been scalded. Xie Zhongming quickly withdrew it.
He clenched the cup tightly and went back into the room.
Inside, Huang Guilan was still coughing. She must have caught a chill in the past few days. Xie Zhongming hurriedly handed over the warm water. “Mom, drink some water first.”
After Huang Guilan drank and handed the cup back, she asked again, “Fourth son, think carefully. What did Chubby Girl look like back then? Could Xingyue look like this after slimming down?”
Xie Zhongming could not recall Chubby Girl’s appearance at all.
He only remembered that she weighed over two hundred jin and that her flesh trembled when she cried.
He could not overlap Chubby Girl’s image with Qiao Xingyue.
He held the enamel cup tightly.
Ripples appeared in the hot water, just like his tangled thoughts.
His gaze fell on the fine dust floating under the light, and his voice became deeper than usual. “Mom, do not overthink it. You heard Comrade Qiao say it herself. Even when she was chubby, she was only around one hundred forty jin. Chubby Girl was over two hundred jin. They are not the same person.”
Huang Guilan thought for a moment and suppressed her doubts. “That is true.”
Seeing the suspicion in Huang Guilan’s eyes gradually fade, Xie Zhongming added after careful thought, “Besides, Comrade Qiao’s surname is Qiao. Her husband who sacrificed himself for the country was a soldier in the Kun City Military District. Chubby Girl was from Chadain Village. Everyone in Chadain Village has the surname Liu. The Chubby Girl was called Liu Pangya. How could they be the same person?”
“But…” Huang Guilan still felt something was off.
The air in the room suddenly became heavy and stifling.
Xie Zhongming’s voice carried a dullness even he did not notice. “Besides, Comrade Qiao knows English and understands medicine. Chubby Girl was illiterate since childhood and could not even write her own name. Chubby Girl could not be Comrade Qiao.”
The voice lacked its usual clarity and strength and carried a heavy, unrecognized sense of loss.
Huang Guilan remained silent for a long time.
The brows of mother and son carried the same sorrow and regret.
“Sigh.” Huang Guilan sighed deeply. “If only Xingyue really were our missing Chubby Girl.”
The next day.
The self-sufficient farmland in the compound had not finished harvesting peas and broad beans.
Xie Jiang led logistics soldiers there again to harvest.
At noon, the sun was blazing.
Qiao Xingyue packed rice into an aluminum lunch box for Commander Xie, added twice cooked pork and shredded potatoes, and packed another box of pig skin winter melon soup.
“Aunt Lan, I am going to deliver lunch to Uncle Xie.”
Like yesterday, she placed the lunch boxes into a net bag, hung it on the bicycle handlebar, nimbly mounted the bicycle, and rode out of the Xie family courtyard.
“Xingyue, ride slowly and be careful.”
“Got it.”
Standing at the doorway, An’an raised her head and asked, “Grandma, when will Brother Zhiyuan and Brother Mingyuan get out of school? An’an really wants to play with them.”
For some reason, after knowing Zhiyuan and Mingyuan for just one day, An’an and Ningning had already become close to them, like real siblings.
Huang Guilan touched An’an’s head. “They get out of school when the sun is about to set. An’an and Ningning, from now on, just call me Grandma, not Grandma Huang, okay?”
She wanted to be closer to them.
“Okay, Grandma. I will listen to you.”
“Good girl. Grandma will play string figures with you.”
Huang Guilan took the two children back inside to play. An’an and Ningning were already of school age. The kindergarten in the Jincheng Military District residential compound only accepted children of cadres, accompanying family members, or military staff. Children like Xingyue’s, who were not registered military staff but only her hired workers’ children, would not be accepted.
She had to find a way to secure school places for the two children so they could learn earlier.
Outside the Xie family gate, Deng Yingying’s cousin Jiang Yongqiang shouted loudly, “Yingying, come open the door for your cousin.”
The rough voice made Huang Guilan and the children stop their game and listen attentively.
If Jiang Yongqiang dared to target Xingyue again, Huang Guilan would definitely chase him with a broom until he behaved.
Deng Yingying opened the door for Jiang Yongqiang. He was still carrying the bundle of brown sugar. “Yingying, help your cousin speak some good words to Aunt Lan again and introduce that pretty Comrade Qiao to me as a partner. If it works out, I will give you a big red envelope.”
“Are you stupid? If Aunt Lan does not agree, do you not know how to use another method?”
“What method?” Jiang Yongqiang revealed a mouthful of yellow teeth as he spoke, matching his red bulbous nose and making people nauseated.
Deng Yingying stepped out of the courtyard with a look of disgust. “Cousin Yongqiang, stop spraying saliva when you talk. Do not stand so close to me.”
“How can you dislike your cousin? Quickly tell me what method can help me marry Comrade Qiao.”
Deng Yingying looked around. Seeing no one passing by, she lowered her voice. “Cousin Yongqiang, Qiao Xingyue went to deliver lunch to Commander Xie. Commander Xie is harvesting peas and broad beans in the military farmland. You know that place, right? To get there, you have to pass through a long cornfield.”
She added, “That cornfield rarely has people passing by.”
She did not say the rest. She knew Jiang Yongqiang well. Back in their hometown, Jiang Yongqiang had assaulted an intellectually disabled woman. The woman was foolish and could not speak, so Jiang Yongqiang had never been caught.
As long as she gave him this information, Jiang Yongqiang would definitely hide in the cornfield and wait for Qiao Xingyue. Once he dragged her into the cornfield, Qiao Xingyue’s reputation would be ruined. Even if she refused to marry him, she would never be able to marry Xie Zhongming.
Even if Qiao Xingyue reported him afterward, Deng Yingying had not suggested anything. Jiang Yongqiang getting caught would have nothing to do with her.
“Yingying, take this brown sugar and dissolve it in water to drink.”
“Cousin Yongqiang, where are you going?”
“Nothing. You go back inside.”
Watching Jiang Yongqiang leave with a lewd smile and head toward the cornfield, Deng Yingying curled her lips. There would be a good show to watch now.
At the regiment office where Xie Zhongming worked.
Xie Zhongming was writing a report at his desk.
Jiang Beiyang rushed in without knocking. “Zhongming, there is news about Chubby Girl.”
Xie Zhongming’s hand gripping the pen tightened, and the characters on the paper suddenly became crooked.
He raised his head abruptly. “What news about Chubby Girl?”
“Chubby Girl’s matter can wait. I need to ask you first. Is that troublesome Aunt Jiang at your home trying to introduce Comrade Qiao to that so called honest looking cook from the logistics unit, the one who actually steals and does shady things, that Jiang, what is his name again?”
“Jiang Yongqiang.”
“Yes, Jiang Yongqiang. Is Aunt Jiang trying to set Comrade Qiao up with Jiang Yongqiang?”
Seeing Xie Zhongming nod, Jiang Beiyang looked worried. “That is bad. When my second brother returned from harvesting peas and broad beans, he saw Jiang Yongqiang tailing Comrade Qiao on her bicycle. Last time Jiang Yongqiang followed a woman in the compound, did you and my second brother not beat him up?”
Jiang Beiyang’s second brother was Jiang Beisong, the man who had liked Deng Yingying for many years and was devoted to her.
Hearing this, Xie Zhongming threw down his pen and stood up. He used too much force and knocked over the chair behind him without noticing. He strode toward the door but was grabbed by Jiang Beiyang.
“Zhongming, my second brother has already gone back into the cornfield. Do not worry about that. Do you want to hear Chubby Girl’s news first, or do you want to go check the cornfield first?”