The Military District gate was guarded year-round, and people rarely lingered as they came and went.
But today, even after the liberation truck dropped off the people who had gone into town to shop and drove away, the gate remained packed so tightly that not even water could pass through.
Li Lan and Li Xiaojun had already been roused by the concerned old women pinching their philtrums. Each had a cornmeal bun, which they were wolfing down.
Just as Li Xiaojun choked and stretched out his neck, about to roll his eyes again, Li Hongyuan finally arrived.
He had been away from home for years. Auntie Liu had brought her younger son to visit once, last year; as for his wife and daughter, he truly hadn’t seen them in more than ten years.
Li Hongyuan stared at them blankly, unable to recognize them at first.
Wu Guihua looked at him too, without saying a word.
This was the man who had come home twice after their wedding, left her with two children, and then never returned. They could hardly be called familiar.
And yet this same man, under the guise of selflessness and loyalty to his word, had exploited her for decades and ruined her whole life!
Perhaps he had done good things for society and the country.
But to her, he was the most vicious, cruel murderer of all!
Li Hongyuan stepped forward and instinctively began to reproach her.
“Guihua? What are you doing here? You should’ve told me beforehand. Does Mother know? Xiaojun’s in poor health—why put him through a trip like this…?”
Everyone around them had been listening intently. They took in those few words and quickly pieced together a whole string of details.
Most importantly, there was no question about Wu Guihua and the children’s identities!
Then Li Hongyuan and Wang Yun…
Had Uncle, the younger brother-in-law, really climbed into his widowed sister-in-law’s bed?!
At that moment, everyone’s silence was deafening!
Of course, “everyone” didn’t include Wu Guihua. She let go of the children and struggled “weakly” to her feet.
Li Hongyuan bent down, hesitating over whether to help her.
But in the next instant, a rough fist slammed into his left eye socket!
Before he could react, his right eye got the same treatment.
Li Hongyuan instinctively tried to dodge, but then a heavy kick landed in his stomach, doubling him over in pain like a shrimp!
“Li Hongyuan, you’re worse than a beast! Even the blind bears in the mountains know to find food for their cubs. But you? You might as well be dead! Home’s only a hundred li away, and you haven’t been back once in over ten years. You haven’t sent us a single cent!
“When I tried to find you, your mother stopped me. She said it wasn’t easy for you to defend the country, then forced me to sell my blood to buy her malted milk powder to build up her health and pay for your son’s treatment!
“So you and your mother were in on it together, making me the only one to suffer. Your mother treated me like a servant in the old society, beating, scolding, and squeezing me dry, while you were busy cuddling up with your widowed sister-in-law and climbing into bed with her, busy raising your nephew and niece like princes and princesses!
“You heartless pair! Why doesn’t the sky crack open and strike you both dead this very instant?”
With every curse, Wu Guihua kicked him. She showed him no mercy.
Li Hongyuan was already guilty, and the moment he heard “widowed sister-in-law,” he panicked even more.
He tried to get up and explain, but Wu Guihua was strong, and her big feet came down like raindrops. He couldn’t dodge them.
But the bystanders didn’t know that. All they could think was that a proper battalion commander, a man who had earned plenty of merit, was being beaten down by a skinny village woman. It just didn’t make sense.
Could Li Hongyuan’s earlier commendations have been faked…?
It wasn’t impossible, after all. Even his loving marriage of all those years had been fake!
The Political Commissar, surnamed Huang, was getting on in years and ran more slowly. By the time he finally caught up, Li Hongyuan had already been reduced to a rolling lump on the ground.
He hurriedly called for people to help pull Wu Guihua away. But Li Hongyuan was covered in shoe prints, with two swollen, bruised eyes. He looked absolutely wretched!
“What on earth is going on? Can’t you talk this out? Why are you fighting?”
Under everyone’s suspicious gaze, Li Hongyuan was furious too. But he couldn’t deny that Wu Guihua and the children were his family!
Just then, Wang Yun was brought over by some “good Samaritan.”
She wore a brown wool coat over a dacron blouse, with black fitted trousers that showed off her slim figure. Her hair was neatly pinned up, revealing a smooth forehead. Her fair, clean skin and glasses gave her an elegant, gentle air.
“What happened?”
The moment Wang Yun spotted Li Hongyuan, looking so battered, she rushed straight over, wrapped her arms around him, and cried out,
“Hongyuan, how did you get hurt? Were you on a mission today? Why didn’t I know?”
She reached to lift his padded jacket and check him over, but in the next instant, Wu Guihua grabbed her by the hair and flung her away.
“You two-timing tramp! I’ve been waiting for you!” Wu Guihua’s eyes blazed red. She was ready to kill!
In her past life, Wang Yun had always played the innocent, pitiable victim, yet she’d ended up getting every advantage.
She’d even savored Wu Guihua’s flesh and blood with elegant grace, while complaining that it wasn’t delicious enough!
Wu Guihua would never forget what Wang Yun had said when her eldest daughter, Li Lan, froze to death under a bridge. Wu Guihua had gone to great lengths to call the Military District, and Wang Yun had tossed off a single, careless remark:
“If Lanzi was so disobedient, then let her die.”
She never mentioned that it was she who had egged Li Hongyuan and Auntie Liu on to take Li Lan’s school admission notice, driving Li Lan to leave home and die miserably far away.
From the time Wu Guihua was diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer until she died, more than a year passed, and she never once got to see Li Hongyuan come home.
It was her ungrateful son who casually let slip the reason: Wang Yun felt unwell, and Li Hongyuan said he’d get dizzy if he wasn’t by her side…
Wu Guihua sprang up and poured all her strength into a slap. It cracked like thunder!
Wang Yun saw stars. When she finally managed to make out Wu Guihua’s face, her legs went weak with fright.
“Gui… Guihua? What are you doing here?”
Wu Guihua was thoroughly enjoying herself. Through clenched teeth, she chatted with Wang Yun as if they were old friends.
“What do you mean, Sister-in-law?”
“Slap!”
“You’re a widowed sister-in-law, and you can follow Uncle, your younger brother-in-law, here. So why can’t I come, when I’m his legally wedded wife?”
“Slap, slap!”
“What’s the matter? Am I getting in the way of you climbing into Uncle’s bed?”
“Slap, slap, slap!”
“By day, you call him ‘brother-in-law’; at night, you’re calling him something else!”
“Slap, slap, slap, slap!”
“So this is how cultured people have fun! Why don’t you teach me? Then maybe people won’t look down on me for staying away from home for years, making me work like a beast and sell my blood to feed the whole family!”
Everyone had stayed to watch, expecting Wu Guihua to make a scene. But no one had imagined she’d go from zero to fighting in a single frame—she’d come out swinging!
In the blink of an eye, Wang Yun had gone from an elegant, intellectual teacher to a wild woman from the street!
But no one was willing to step in and stop her.
Silence once again roared like thunder!
Only Wang Yun, the sister-in-law, kept shouting!
“Stop! Guihua, it’s all a misunderstanding. Listen to me! Sob, please stop hitting me! Let me explain! Help! Hongyuan, save me!”
Li Hongyuan was stunned too. In his memory, Wu Guihua had been quiet and reserved, hardworking and honest. She’d blush even when she spoke to him. She absolutely wasn’t some fire-breathing she-dragon like this!
“Stop!”
He rushed over and desperately caught Wu Guihua’s hand before she could slap Wang Yun again!
Wu Guihua was tired too. She shook out her numb right hand, then blew a strand of hair off her left hand. She was so satisfied that her whole body trembled!
After all the hatred of two lifetimes, she’d finally collected a little interest!
Political Commissar Huang felt as if his head were about to explode. He could see it now: there was no way this matter could be settled peacefully today.
He swallowed his pride, introduced himself, and gently urged Wu Guihua to come inside the Military District first. Everything else could be discussed.
Wu Guihua didn’t want to take her anger out on anyone else, but there were some things she had to make clear first.
“Political Commissar Huang, this is my first time here, but even I know you can’t just walk in and out of the Military District as you please. I don’t want my children and me treated like unidentified spies and thrown out!
“Make Li Hongyuan say it. Loudly! Who exactly am I to him, and who are these two children?”
Political Commissar Huang glared at Li Hongyuan and Wang Yun, who were holding each other, and was furious too.
Everyone fell silent, their eyes fixed on Li Hongyuan as if they meant to roast him alive.
With a dark expression, Li Hongyuan slowly let go of Wang Yun. After a long pause, he said quietly, “Wu Guihua is my wife. The two children are my biological son and daughter.”
Wu Guihua lifted her chin high and straightened her back. Her voice rang out, clear and loud.
“Li Hongyuan and I have a marriage certificate. I brought a house as my dowry, bore and raised a son and a daughter for him, and served his mother for more than ten years. I am a lawful military wife. The Party and the army protect me!”
Wu Guihua took one child by each hand and strode through the Military District gate!