Everyone was mindful of Battalion Commander Li Hongyuan’s standing, and they also felt sorry for Wu Guihua and believed she’d been wronged. So they turned their words on Wang Yun instead.
Wang Yun could no longer keep up the act. She burst into tears.
“But things really were stolen from our home! We’ve lost everything!”
Unfortunately, no one felt sorry for her.
“Even if things really were stolen, you can’t just blame someone else without proof!”
“Exactly! Maybe someone just couldn’t stand your family!”
“Serves you right for doing bad things. This is payback!”
Wang Yun was furious and heartbroken, with a thousand grievances she couldn’t voice. She rolled her eyes and fainted.
Li Hongyuan hurriedly caught her, frantic with worry.
“Yun’er! Yun’er! Wake up! Wake up!”
Everyone craned their necks to watch. Someone muttered a mocking remark.
“Battalion Commander Li, shouldn’t you be calling her Sister-in-law?”
Pfft!
Everyone burst out laughing, unable to hold it in any longer.
Political Commissar Huang’s expression shifted through every color. He didn’t know what to say.
That was it. From now on, no one in the Military District would use the word “Sister-in-law” again.
No one would dare call her that, and no one would dare answer to it!
Without looking back, Wu Guihua took her daughter by the hand and strode out of the Military District.
In both her past and present lives, this was the first time she had come here—and it would be the last.
It wasn’t that she was letting Wang Yun and Li Hongyuan off. This was nowhere near enough. She wanted Li Hongyuan on his knees, begging her to divorce him!
And that day would surely come soon…
The noisy crowd was celebrating as if it were New Year, and no one noticed the half-old jeep parked beneath a large tree not far away.
Huo Chengye took off his leather gloves, loosened his collar, and leaned against the car door with a roguish smile.
The organization was forming a special forces unit, and he was already fed up with the tangled factions in the Beijing Military Region. His father also refused to let him go to the border, so he had no choice but to accept this assignment.
To him, it was a challenge—and a rare chance to get out of the Beijing social circle and catch his breath.
He had deliberately chosen the farthest destination, Heilongjiang Province. He planned to ask the local Military District for help finding suitable mountain terrain to use as a training ground.
He hadn’t expected to arrive at the Military District gates just in time to witness such a show.
That rural woman looked aggrieved and furious, but beneath it all, she seemed more pleased with how well her plan had worked.
It was a pity that no one else had noticed.
Still, he had no intention of exposing her. As a soldier, he hated betrayal above all else, whether on the battlefield or within a family.
“Regimental Commander Huo!” Regimental Commander Liu Hongjun hurried over and gave him an apologetic salute.
“I had no idea you were coming. I’m so sorry to have kept you waiting.”
Huo Chengye returned the salute lazily, his long legs still propped beside the car door.
“It’s all right. I just came to have a look around. There’s no need to make a fuss. Besides, I arrived at just the right time. I haven’t been bored while waiting.”
“But our Military District still needs to tighten up its discipline and conduct!”
Liu Hongjun followed his gaze toward the crowd. His face flushed red; he wished he could vanish on the spot.
The entire Military District had worked hard for years to build a good reputation as a disciplined force that fought bravely and stood by its principles. And now that fool Li Hongyuan had ruined it all.
Until now, the embarrassment had been confined to their own territory. But now? It probably wouldn’t be long before people in Beijing heard about it, too.
Last night, he had argued that Li Hongyuan should be kicked out of the Military District and transferred to civilian work as soon as possible. But Political Commissar Huang insisted on giving him another chance and keeping him under observation for a while longer.
What was there to observe?
He was a selfish fool who’d been causing harm for years. Could he really turn over a new leaf overnight?
Huo Chengye reached back into the driver’s seat and pulled out a green canteen. After taking a drink, he patted Liu Hongjun on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry, Regimental Commander Liu Hongjun. I’m no gossip. I won’t go around spreading stories. Come on, let’s go in and talk.”
Regimental Commander Liu Hongjun forced a dry smile and agreed, but the weight on his mind remained. He didn’t dare trust that promise completely.
Huo Chengye had been born on the battlefield. He’d held a gun at three, joined his parents in underground intelligence work at five, and begun leading combat teams at eight. They said he’d earned so many merits in battle that they couldn’t all fit in a single notebook.
He was also exceptionally clever. After the founding of the People’s Republic, he studied in the Soviet Union, and upon his return took part in several classified research projects. His achievements were beyond what a regimental commander like Liu Hongjun could even know about!
That was why, despite being not yet forty, Huo Chengye had been promoted to commander over the usual rules. Everyone across the entire military system envied him, but not one person objected.
By rights, a man in Huo Chengye’s position should have been arrogant and conceited, or cold and distant. Instead, it was as if his rebellious phase had come late. In recent years, he had grown more and more unpredictable and defiant, often making General Huo’s roars shake the heavens.
Even here in the Heilongjiang Military District, so far from Beijing, people had heard about it.
So Regimental Commander Liu Hongjun truly couldn’t guarantee that this “young master” wouldn’t suddenly change his mind on a whim.
But there was nothing he could do. He could only pray in silence…
Wu Guihua, of course, had no idea how conflicted and helpless Regimental Commander Liu Hongjun felt. She paid two yuan, then took her daughter aboard the clattering old bus. They rode all the way back to Anbang County Seat.
No matter the time or place, the first thing a woman did after getting rich was always shop, shop, shop!
Wu Guihua was no exception. She didn’t pause for a moment, heading straight for the department store. On the third floor, she bought watches, cigarettes, and liquor; on the second, clothes, shoes, and socks; and on the first, candy and pastries. On her way out, she also picked up two jin of pork and three jin of dried noodles…
Li Lan followed beside her, carrying the purchases and watching in alarm.
“Mother, stop buying things! You’re spending way too much!”
Wu Guihua unwrapped a White Rabbit candy and popped it into her daughter’s mouth.
“Don’t be silly. If I buy you something, take it! Your father gave me so much money, there’s no way to keep it a secret. Your grandma will snatch it away when she finds out. We might as well turn it all into things we can use little by little.”
Sure enough, Li Lan bristled and darted straight to the stationery counter.
“Miss, give me ten notebooks and two fountain pens!”
Wu Guihua followed with a grin and paid, taking the receipts.
In fact, the three thousand yuan in her allowance hadn’t been touched at all. Wang Yun had paid for everything they bought that day.
It had to be said: Wang Yun and Li Hongyuan had built up quite a nest egg over the years. Even after Wu Guihua withdrew the three thousand in savings, the loose change Wang Yun had hidden in every corner of the house added up to more than five hundred yuan. There were all kinds of ration coupons, too—she had everything.
Wu Guihua smugly ran her fingers through her hair twice, chin tipped toward the sky.
All that talk about finding the money dirty was just to win people’s sympathy.
Who would turn their nose up at money and ration coupons?
And even if they did, once the money was exchanged for food, drink, and useful things, it would all seem delightful!
Although Anbang County was near Heilongjiang Province’s capital, it wasn’t wealthy. And with the New Year having passed only recently, the department store had hardly any customers.
When a customer suddenly came in on a shopping spree, the sales assistants couldn’t help gathering together to watch.
Wu Guihua didn’t want to draw too much attention, so once she’d bought enough, she left.
She made up an excuse and sent Li Lan to the state-run restaurant to buy a few pork buns from Baozi to stave off hunger. Then she put the purchases into her storage space and slipped into the small alley beside the hospital…
At the village headquarters south of Nandawa Village, Uncle Zhong and Wu Dayong were discussing the odd jobs for the start of spring with several team leaders.
Uncle Zhong couldn’t stop feeling a twitch in his eyelid. Even his dry tobacco didn’t taste as good as usual.
“I wonder if Guihua’s made it back yet. What if something happens on the road? She’s got the child with her, too…”