The Police Station Chief had heard of Zhao Beichen’s name and had also looked over Yang Liu’s marriage certificate. After thinking over what Yang Liu had said, he agreed to help her.
The Police Station Chief sent someone to drive the station’s secondhand canvas-covered vehicle and take the mother and daughter to the train.
Three days later, Capital.
Yang Liu tied Niannian to her back with strips of cloth and followed the flow of people out of Capital Railway Station.
Following the address in the household registration booklet, she asked around until she found the compound where the Zhao Family lived. This was the address from five years ago, and Yang Liu was not sure whether the Zhao Family still lived there now. A sentry stood at the imposing main gate. From the way the mother and daughter were dressed, anyone could tell at a glance that they were country bumpkins from the countryside.
Yang Liu looked at the gate from a distance, then took Niannian to stay at a guesthouse near the compound. She took the child to get a haircut and a bath, and after they ate, they slept for an entire day and night at the guesthouse before they could truly be considered revived.
Yang Liu’s plan was to give Niannian to the Zhao Family. They should acknowledge the child, right? Then she would divorce Zhao Beichen. After all, she had not given birth to this child. If Niannian stayed with her, neither of them would be able to live well, so it would be better to send her back to the Zhao Family.
There was not the slightest bit of information in the Original Owner’s memories about where Zhao Beichen was stationed as a soldier, so she could only look for the Zhao Family.
The streets and alleys of Capital were already brimming with vitality. In early autumn, the weather was neither cold nor hot. Women were already wearing beautiful dresses, perming their hair, and wearing high heels. Bicycles filled the streets, and there were also quite a few cars.
When had Niannian ever seen things like these before! The moment they went outside, she pointed at the big buses and cars and asked Yang Liu: “What’s that? What’s this?”
Yang Liu knew very well that people respected fine clothes before they respected the person wearing them. She took Niannian to buy a dress for each of them, then tidied herself up before going to the compound gate to try her luck.
Yang Liu wore a white blouse with a long black-and-white polka-dot skirt cinched with a black leather belt, a denim jacket, and black high heels. Her hair was tied into a low ponytail. She bought Niannian a sailor-style suspender dress that was fashionable in Capital, along with a pair of little leather shoes.
The sentry at the main gate looked the two of them over. His attitude was quite good, but the moment he heard that she was asking about Commander Zhao’s family, he immediately became vigilant.
The soldier said: “Comrade, please wait a moment. I’ll make a phone call and ask for instructions.”
How could just anyone casually inquire about the family circumstances of a Senior Military Leader?
After the soldier finished making the call, two middle-aged men soon arrived. With stern expressions, they looked at Yang Liu. “May I ask this comrade’s name? Where are you from? What is your relationship with Company Commander Zhao?”
Company Commander Zhao?
Zhao Beichen was only a Company Commander?
Thinking about it, that made sense! He had only been in the army for four years. Becoming a Company Commander was already far too fast, wasn’t it? He must have relied on his father’s connections to become a Company Commander.
“Comrade, the leaders are asking you a question.” the young soldier reminded Yang Liu.
Yang Liu shook her head. How was she supposed to put it? Should she directly say that she was Zhao Beichen’s wife?
Under the stern gazes of the two leaders, Yang Liu took out the documents issued by the Local Police Station, the household registration booklet, and the marriage certificate. “My name is Yang Liu. I’m the Wife Zhao Beichen married in the countryside before. This is his daughter, Zhao Yinian.”
The two men immediately looked as though they had stumbled upon some juicy gossip. After whispering to each other for a while, they made a phone call to the Zhao Family from inside the sentry booth.
Li Huifang answered the phone. When she heard that a young woman with a little girl was at the main gate, claiming to be Zhao Beichen’s Wife from the countryside, Li Huifang frowned and calmly said: “I’ve never heard Beichen mention it. Your Security Section shouldn’t spread the word yet. Quietly arrange accommodations for them first.”
The Security Section Chief said that the other party had documents and a marriage certificate.
Li Huifang said: “I know. Arrange accommodations for them first. We’ll get back to you immediately. Whatever you do, don’t spread the word. Now that the economy has opened up, all sorts of people are looking for loopholes to exploit. What if this is one of them?”
As Zhao Beichen’s mother, Li Huifang naturally knew that her son had taken a wife in the countryside, but this news had come far too suddenly.
Just then, a military vehicle drove toward the compound. The soldier saluted, and when the car window rolled down, someone inside asked: “What happened?”
The soldier glanced at Yang Liu, then said to the person inside the vehicle: “Reporting, Commander. This female comrade says she’s Company Commander Zhao’s wife, and this little girl is Company Commander Zhao’s daughter.”
The people from the Security Section also hurried over.
The car door opened, and a gray-haired man in military uniform stepped out. The man radiated uprightness, and his naturally imposing presence made Yang Liu silently swallow. Niannian also shrank closer to her and grabbed the hem of Yang Liu’s clothes.
The Chief of the Security Section hurried forward and saluted, then murmured a couple of sentences into Commander Zhao’s ear.
Commander Zhao looked at Yang Liu. “You’re Beichen’s Wife?”
Yang Liu nodded and said: “I’m here to deliver the child to the Zhao Family, and while I’m at it, handle the divorce procedures with Zhao Beichen.”
After Zhao Dongshan examined the documents and marriage certificate, he stared at Niannian for a while before saying to someone behind him: “Xiao Zhang, take them to the Military Region Guesthouse first and arrange accommodations for them.”
Yang Liu took Niannian and followed Xiao Zhang to stay at the Military Region Guesthouse. The environment was better than the small guesthouse they had stayed at before, and they could even take baths there.
Zhao Beichen rushed back to Capital from his station the next day. The moment he entered the house, his Commander father summoned him into the study.
Zhao Dongshan tapped the table as he questioned him: “Have you had any correspondence with Yang Family Village over the past few years?”
Zhao Beichen had already heard some of the situation from his mother, Li Huifang, over the phone. He had been so furious that he practically drove the car as though he were flying a plane the entire way back. He thought that when he saw Yang Liu, he would definitely strangle her to death. That damned woman was truly the bane of his existence, Zhao Beichen’s very own nemesis.
Zhao Beichen said: “What’s there to contact her about? I don’t know what’s going on either, but don’t worry. Something fake can’t become real, and something real can’t become fake. Where is she now? Once I see her, I’ll have my own way of making her shut her mouth. She’s actually come all the way to Capital to swindle me.”
Zhao Dongshan looked at his son and said: “Brat, that little girl looks exactly like you and Xingchen did when you were little. Word is already spreading throughout the compound that the Zhao Family’s Old Fourth has a wife and a daughter in the countryside.
You damn well tell me what we’re supposed to do about this?”
Zhao Beichen said: “Let me see them first.”
Zhao Dongshan said: “There’s no rush. I’m just asking you this: if the child belongs to our family, what are we going to do?”
Zhao Beichen said: “That child can’t possibly be mine. That woman is wicked as hell. There’s nothing she wouldn’t dare do. She must have brought some bastard child here to swindle me. Don’t worry. This is Capital. Why should I be afraid of some country woman from the sticks?”
After a brief, deathly silence, Zhao Beichen looked at his mother, Li Huifang, and said: “Mom, hasn’t a new paternity-testing technology been introduced from abroad recently? Let’s do a paternity test. If she’s my child, I’ll acknowledge her. If she isn’t, we’ll have that woman sent to prison for fraud.”
Zhao Beichen did not believe that Yang Liu could have become pregnant with his child. It had only happened once, and even then it had been under circumstances where Yang Liu had drugged him. How could she possibly have gotten pregnant?
That woman’s character was utterly terrible. Who knew whose bastard child she had given birth to, only to insist on pinning the child on him, Zhao Beichen?
Military Region Guesthouse.
When Yang Liu heard a knock on the door, she went to open it. Both of them froze!
The man was dressed in a military uniform, with long legs, broad shoulders, and a crew cut. The difference in their heights was considerable, and Yang Liu had to tilt her head back just to see his face. A pair of sword-like eyebrows framed cool, aloof eyes that looked exceptionally proud. His wheat-colored skin was somewhat rough, and he looked nothing like the image of a young master from a prestigious Capital compound described in novels.
Yang Liu blinked. “Excuse me, you are?”