Thinking of his call, Shang Yinyin hurried over to the village committee.
She arrived quickly, and just as she got there, the phone rang. Excited as she was to answer it, sudden nervousness froze her in her tracks. Before her death in her past life, three whole years had passed without seeing him, and she hadn’t even had the chance to ask about the photo of him and that woman, Luo Jiangshui.
“Silly child, go ahead and answer it!” Secretary Chen prompted, seeing her hesitate.
Regaining her composure, Shang Yinyin picked up the receiver. She parted her lips, but no words came out. There were so many things she wanted to say to him, yet none of them would form.
“Yinyin? It’s me, Quanzhou. Is that you?” Hearing no sound on the line, Xie Quanzhou spoke first.
Hearing his voice, all the grievance and sorrow Shang Yinyin had bottled up broke loose. “Did you really want to abandon me? I’m about to be married off to someone else.”
“I didn’t! I told you I would come back for you. Don’t cry. I’ll apply for leave right now and come back to find you soon. Don’t cry,” Xie Quanzhou coaxed tenderly. “It only takes me three days to get back from here. Just wait for me for three days.”
Hearing his words, Shang Yinyin let out a choked sound of agreement. “Then… you have to come back early. I—” The words “missed you” caught in her throat.
“Yinyin, tell your aunt that I’m coming back soon. This time when I return, we’re getting our marriage certificate. You aren’t allowed to marry anyone else, you hear me?” Xie Quanzhou’s voice grew anxious. “I sent money home before, but they said no one came to claim it, so it was returned. I couldn’t get through to the village number either—it was my fault for not having the time to come find you sooner. I didn’t abandon you. I’m sorry.”
Shang Yinyin knew what happened. The village had suffered a major flood, followed by a mudslide, and government officials declared the area unsafe, forcing the entire village to relocate. After that, they lost contact with him—an explanation Xie Quanzhou had already given her in her past life. As a soldier, he had his own duties to fulfill, and Shang Yinyin only learned later just how dangerous his missions were and how often he got injured.
“Quanzhou, you need to come back quickly.” She longed to see him sooner.
“I’ll be back soon. Yinyin, you’re the only one in my heart.” In his urgency, Xie Quanzhou confessed his feelings over the phone right in front of several female communications soldiers.
It was the first time Shang Yinyin had ever heard him confess so bluntly. “I know.” Even living through two lifetimes, she still felt a flutter of shyness.
“I’m going to apply for leave right this second, and the moment it’s approved, I’m heading back.”
“Okay, I’ll wait for you to come back,” Shang Yinyin replied with a smile.
“Yinyin, I’m off to put in my leave request. Wait for me.”
“Okay. When will you arrive? I’ll go pick you up.”
“No need. Secretary Chen said he’ll have an uncle from the village drive the ox cart to meet me. Just stay home and wait for me obediently.”
“All right, I’ll wait for you,” Shang Yinyin said, shyly bidding farewell. “You… go take care of your work.”
“Take good care of yourself,” Xie Quanzhou urged, reluctant to hang up.
“I know, hurry up and get to work. I’m waiting for you to come back. I’m hanging up now.”
With that, Shang Yinyin disconnected the call and met Secretary Chen’s expectant gaze.
“Well, child, how did it go?” Secretary Chen asked anxiously.
“He said he’s coming back soon and is going to apply for leave right after hanging up. It takes three days to get back from the military unit.”
“Child, I told you he wouldn’t abandon you. Go back and talk things through properly with your aunt,” Secretary Chen said, happy for her. He added, “Actually, your aunt hasn’t had it easy either. Not long after she married your second uncle, he passed away. She used to be such a soft, gentle person; if it weren’t to protect the three of you, she wouldn’t have turned into the way she is today.”
Hearing this, Shang Yinyin nodded. “I’ll talk things over properly with her.” In her memory, her aunt had always been fierce and strict, constantly weighed down by the hardships of keeping the family afloat. When her younger sister was born, strange men would inexplicably wander into their house at night. After that, her once-gentle aunt grew sharp-tongued and unsmiling. Only as she grew older did Shang Yinyin understand that her aunt had hardened herself to protect them and the family. Those late-night visitors were men from the village eyeing her aunt. Fortunately, her aunt lived tightly packed in the same house with the three children behind bolted doors, always keeping a wooden club and a sickle ready by the bedside every night.
Shang Yinyin knew her aunt’s struggles, but the moment her aunt tried to force her to marry a fool, any lingering sense of grace or obligation had been wiped clean. Later, after Shang Yinyin died, her aunt marched straight to the Xie family in a fury. Upon learning that Luo Qingshui had lied and tricked Shang Yinyin into believing Xie Quanzhou had abandoned her, her aunt grabbed Luo Qingshui by the hair and gave her a sound beating.
Reborn, Shang Yinyin felt a complex, tangled mix of emotions toward her aunt. The woman had tried her best, but as a woman who never had the chance to go to school, her capabilities were limited.
Returning home, Chen Cuihua looked at her with tentative hesitation. “Well? How was it?”
“Quanzhou said he’s applying for leave and will be back soon.”
Hearing this, Chen Cuihua went into her room and came out carrying a bag of grain, some white flour, and two bolts of fabric. She took these items over to the village chief’s house to clear things up. Fortunately, they hadn’t accepted the chief’s betrothal gifts yet—the money was supposed to be handed over on the wedding day as a precaution just in case Chen Cuihua backed out. She returned ten catties of rice and six catties of white flour, though she kept the fabric, intending to offer it as compensation to the other side.
Shang Yinyin didn’t stop her, though an indescribable ache settled in her chest. Her aunt truly had sacrificed a great deal for this household.
Going into the kitchen to fix dinner, she found little food left—mostly leafy greens, as it was the season for them. There was some flour remaining, so she mixed it to make corn cakes and stir-fried a batch of greens. That evening’s meal consisted solely of corn cakes and greens.
Just as she finished cooking, her aunt returned from outside. Their eyes met, but neither spoke.
“Aunt, time to eat,” Shang Yinyin broke the silence first.
Chen Cuihua washed her hands, and they sat down to eat in complete silence.
Her younger brother, Shangzhi, was currently studying in Beijing, having placed first in the entire province on his exams. Later, he stayed at the university to teach. Though his salary started out small, he gradually took on more students and built a reputation, eventually becoming a professor with a high income. Her younger sister had passed the college entrance examination for the city and gone to work at a design institute with a decent salary. Eventually, her aunt’s hard life had paid off.
Yet, four years after Shang Yinyin’s death, her aunt had also passed away, worn out by a lifetime of chronic exhaustion and accumulated illnesses. A phrase her aunt had often repeated was: If it weren’t for your younger brother, I wouldn’t have raised you all this big; remember to repay my kindness when you grow up. Shang Yinyin knew her aunt could have remarried and taken her younger sister with her, but she had stayed behind for the sake of the three siblings.