Before long, Zhou Dongmei finished the sketch and looked up at Yun Zhenguo and his sister.
Raising her voice, she said:
“Comrades, take a look. Is the person in this portrait your mother—or someone else?”
Hearing this, Yun Zhenguo and Yun Youran leaned in to see, and their pupils instantly dilated in shock.
The person in the portrait was indeed their mother. Doubt immediately struck Yun Zhenguo’s mind—could it be that she hadn’t actually fainted at home, but had come here to register him and his sister for rural work?
After all, he and his sister had only returned home at noon. If it turned out that their mother had really come to register them, could the Youth Registration Office just let them off?
Yun Youran, standing beside her brother, thought the same thing. She looked up at Song Hongmei, her voice slowing slightly:
“Comrade, the person in this portrait… when exactly did she come here to register my brother and me?”
Seeing this, Song Hongmei immediately understood—the person in the portrait was their mother, Zhou Miaomiao.
Recalling the siblings’ shocked expressions, and their earlier shouting at her and Zhou Dongmei, she rolled her eyes but explained:
“It was yesterday morning. Moreover, several other colleagues at the Youth Registration Office saw your mother, Zhou Miaomiao, come here to register you for rural work.”
Meanwhile, Zhou Dongmei didn’t stop. She started sketching “Gu Hehua,” thinking it might be useful later, as yesterday’s events had been suspicious.
“Buzz…”
Yun Zhenguo and Yun Youran felt their heads spinning at Song Hongmei’s words.
So it really was their mother who registered them. She had fainted in the kitchen, perhaps because she returned home and found the house had been robbed.
Thinking this through, the siblings instinctively took a few steps back.
They couldn’t understand why their mother would do this—did she know their father’s secrets were about to be exposed? How could this be possible?
Yun Zhenguo refused to believe it:
“No—my mother wouldn’t do this to us. It’s impossible! I don’t believe it!”
Yun Youran, equally shocked, said:
“No… I don’t believe it either. How could this happen?”
Seeing this, Song Hongmei realized this matter was no longer her responsibility, and her expression became serious.
“Yun Zhenguo, Yun Youran, your rural work is scheduled in nine days. You already know your work location. Do you have any other questions? If so, please raise them.”
Yun Youran, still unwilling to relent, looked coldly at Song Hongmei and raised her voice:
“Although we weren’t at home yesterday morning, there are many neighbors around. If they can testify that my mother didn’t leave the house yesterday morning, then someone impersonated her. Furthermore, this morning, our family went to the police station to reissue the household registration book. This can all be verified. We will not let this go—we must uncover the truth.”
Hearing this, Song Hongmei also felt uneasy. Yun Youran was right: if the neighbors could prove Zhou Miaomiao hadn’t left home, then the person who registered the Yun siblings must have been someone else.
At that moment, Liang Yuanjun, Liang Yuanchao, and Liang Jingya also arrived.
Seeing his fiancée still there, Liang Yuanchao was surprised. They had arrived earlier than his three siblings—so why were they still at the office?
He hurried to his fiancée:
“Youran, why are you still here? Didn’t you have other things to handle?”
Yun Youran, seeing her fiancé Liang Yuanchao approach, furrowed her brows:
“Chao-ge, someone impersonated my mother and registered my brother and me early. The work location is still in the Great Northwest. The strangest part is that the person who registered us at the Youth Office looks exactly like my mother. But my mother fainted at home yesterday morning. How could she have come to register us for rural work? And to the harshest region, the Great Northwest?”
“Buzz…”
The three Liang siblings felt their heads spinning. Their situation was similar to the Yun family’s. Liang Yuanjun had a troubling thought:
“Could it be that my brother, sister, and I have also been pre-registered for rural work?”
He hurriedly looked at Song Hongmei and Zhou Dongmei and asked sternly:
“Please check if the names Liang Yuanjun, Liang Yuanchao, and Liang Jingya were registered by someone impersonating my mother. My parents went with us to our grandmother’s house yesterday, so it couldn’t have been them.”
Hearing this, Song Hongmei and Zhou Dongmei exchanged worried glances, realizing they might have indeed been mistaken.
Zhou Dongmei then held up the completed sketch and looked at the Liang siblings:
“Look—does this person look like your mother, Gu Hehua? She came yesterday morning to the Youth Office and registered all three of you for rural work. And I received them myself—I remember clearly. Take a look.”
The Liang siblings stepped forward to examine the sketch. They realized they had also been set up.
The portrait looked exactly like their mother—or at least someone who resembled her closely.
“Comrades, this can be verified. My parents went to our grandmother’s house yesterday, and many neighbors saw them. We only returned home last night, so the person in the portrait could only resemble our mother. But she definitely wasn’t our mother, because our mother spent the whole day with us.”
Liang Yuanchao added:
“That’s right. Neighbors around our home and our grandmother’s home can all testify.”
Liang Jingya raised a question:
“Comrade, where did the imposter register us for rural work? Was it the Great Northwest?”
Zhou Dongmei, sitting behind the desk, felt her head buzzing from the siblings’ rapid-fire questions. She realized her job—and likely Song Hongmei’s as well—was in serious jeopardy.
After a long moment, Zhou Dongmei checked her records from yesterday and looked up at the three Liang siblings:
“Liang Yuanjun, Liang Yuanchao, Liang Jingya, your rural work location is not the Great Northwest, but Qiyang Commune in Beidahuang.”
“Buzz…”
The three siblings’ heads felt as if they were spinning.