He Xiaoman tucked the money into her pocket and looked at Liu Cuifen, raising her voice: "Today, for the sake of the neighbors, I'll let this matter rest for now! But I'm telling you right now—from now on, all the money Yanchuan sends must be handed over to me!"
Ignoring Liu Cuifen's livid expression, she greeted the neighbors who had gathered to watch, then turned and went back to her room, latching the door behind her. She carefully counted the money Liu Cuifen had given her.
Six hundred and sixty-six yuan in total—a lucky number, and a pleasing one at that. Adding the one hundred and twenty-six yuan Gu Shuyan owed her, she'd have nearly eight hundred yuan in hand, enough to cover the travel expenses for her and the two children to get to the military base.
At that thought, she dug out the bundle hidden at the bottom of her trunk, found Gu Shuyan's IOU, and was about to head out with it when the door was pushed open. The two children ran in, drenched in sweat.
"The auntie next door said Grandma and Grandpa bullied you." As soon as he entered, Jiang Xingheng asked her, breathless, a hint of worry in his eyes.
He Xiaoman couldn't help but laugh at that. This kid talked tough, but he actually cared about her quite a bit. "Do I look like someone who's been wronged right now?"
The two little ones studied her for a moment, and only when they saw she was fine did they breathe a sigh of relief.
Jiang Xingci immediately tugged at her clothes, his little baby voice tinged with curiosity: "They also said you swindled Grandma out of a lot of money, Mama?"
"How is that swindling?" He Xiaoman pinched his soft, chubby cheek. "This is money your father sent to us. I was just taking it back. It's over six hundred—can't let them have it for free."
Jiang Xingheng froze at those words and blurted out: "Are you taking so much money because you want to run away? Abandon us?"
He Xiaoman's thoughts paused at that. Although the two children were twins, their personalities were completely different. The older brother was clever and steady, while the younger one was simple and pure.
And sure enough, the older brother was suspicious again.
She crouched down to look at the two boys and said very seriously: "I do want to leave, but I'm not going to abandon you."
The two little ones looked at her, somewhat surprised.
He Xiaoman decided to just tell them outright: "I want to take you to the military base to find your father. From now on, we'll eat well and live well with him."
"You're trying to trick us again!" Jiang Xingheng yanked his younger brother behind him and took two steps back, his voice trembling but fierce as he looked at her. "That's exactly what you said the day before yesterday, and then you tried to sell us! I'll never believe you again!"
Jiang Xingci also remembered what had happened that day, and his eyes instantly turned red.
Seeing the expressions on the two boys' faces, He Xiaoman pressed her hand to her forehead. She'd forgotten that the original owner had used that exact excuse to take the children into town the day before yesterday.
She quickly raised her hand and swore: "I absolutely won't lie to you this time. If I'm lying, then let me step in dog poop when I go out, and choke on water when I drink!"
The two children were caught off guard by the strange oath and froze for a moment. Jiang Xingheng's expression softened slightly.
He Xiaoman added: "If you still don't believe me, we can go to the commune right now and call your father to let him know. But we have to keep it a secret from your grandmother, or she'll definitely make a fuss again."
"We can call Papa?" Jiang Xingci's eyes lit up instantly. He tugged at his brother's sleeve and gave it a gentle shake. "Brother, I want to hear Papa's voice."
He had never met his father, nor heard his voice.
Jiang Xingheng looked at his younger brother's expectant eyes, then thought about how He Xiaoman had changed over the past couple of days. After hesitating for a long moment, he finally nodded and said in a stiff tone: "Then… I'll trust you one more time."
Of course, the phone call didn't happen, because He Xiaoman searched the entire room and couldn't find Jiang Yanchuan's phone number anywhere—only an old envelope he'd sent before, with the military base address written on it.
She reached an agreement with the two little ones and decided to write a letter to Jiang Yanchuan telling him they would be coming to join him at the base.
When she finished writing the letter and showed it to the two boys, Jiang Xingheng's handsome little face was full of exasperation as he looked at her: "We're still little. We can't read."
He Xiaoman laughed to herself. "Fine, well, I've shown it to you anyway. Now let's go to the commune to mail it."
The mother and her three children headed to the commune. Half an hour later, they arrived at the post office, bought a stamp, and stuck it on the envelope. Jiang Xingheng personally dropped the letter into the mailbox.
He stared at the mailbox, his fingers clenched tightly, and prayed silently: This time it has to be real. If he was tricked again, he wouldn't want this mother anymore.
By the time the letter was mailed, it was nearly noon. He Xiaoman took the two children to the commune restaurant. She felt around in her pocket and found that the meat ration tickets were long gone, so she could only order three bowls of plain noodles.
After finishing the noodles, she took the two children straight to the educated youth point. In the courtyard, Gu Shuyan, his face bruised and swollen, was eating with a few other educated youths around a stone table.
Seeing He Xiaoman and the children, Gu Shuyan's heart skipped a beat. He quickly stood up and moved toward her, trying to pull her aside: "Xiaoman, can we talk in private?"
He Xiaoman sidestepped to avoid him and said coldly: "If you have something to say, say it right here."
The other educated youths all put down their chopsticks, watching them with the look of spectators enjoying a show.
Gu Shuyan's face flushed with embarrassment, and he lowered his voice with a placating smile: "Could you give me a few more days on the money? You know, over a hundred yuan isn't a small sum…"
"No." He Xiaoman cut him off directly, pulling out more than twenty IOUs and waving them at the educated youths. "I've brought all the IOUs with me—written in black and white, clear as day."
Gu Shuyan's face turned bright red in an instant, and he had to lower his voice even further: "Just three days, I promise I'll pay you back!"
"I want it now." He Xiaoman put the IOUs away, her tone leaving no room for argument. "Today, either you pay up, or I take these to the brigade leader and let the whole team see how you, an educated youth, swindled a soldier's family member."
Gu Shuyan had originally thought he could smooth things over with their past friendship, but he never expected her to show not a shred of mercy.
Now that he knew sentiment was useless, he stomped his foot hard, turned, and rushed into his room. A moment later, he came out holding a kraft paper envelope and shoved it directly at her: "Here, take it. Consider it me having been blind in the past, believing your nonsense!"
He Xiaoman opened the envelope and counted the money inside—exactly one hundred and twenty-six yuan, not a cent more or less.
She tucked the money away and handed the IOUs back to him: "Now we're even."
Gu Shuyan snatched the IOUs and tore them to shreds, glaring at her with bloodshot eyes: "He Xiaoman, when I get back to the city, even if you kneel down and beg me, I won't give you a second glance!"
He Xiaoman couldn't be bothered with him. She took the two children by the hand and turned to leave.
Having lost six hundred yuan that day, Liu Cuifen was like a soul that had been drained from her body. She collapsed on the bed wailing, cursing at the air with veiled insults, her words all implying that He Xiaoman would "die a horrible death."
He Xiaoman let it go in one ear and out the other, focusing only on packing the things they'd take with them to the army base with the two children in the room.
When dinnertime came, she pocketed the money again and took the children to the commune restaurant, splurging on three plates of pork dumplings at twice the usual price.
By the time they finished eating and returned home, it was completely dark.
Probably out of spite, Liu Cuifen hadn't left any dinner for the three of them this time.
They had expected He Xiaoman to make a big scene again, and Liu Cuifen would have used that as an excuse to give her a good dose of misery.
But who would have thought—after He Xiaoman came back, she said nothing at all. She bathed the children and went straight to her room, not coming out afterward, as quiet as a quail.
Liu Cuifen had a day's worth of pent-up anger with nowhere to vent, and it was driving her crazy. She tossed and turned in bed, sighing and groaning, only stopping when the night grew deep.
By then, the Jiang household was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, and the two children had long since fallen asleep.
When He Xiaoman said she would strip the Jiang family of everything valuable, she wasn't just talking.
Using the faint moonlight from outside the window, she got up and slipped into the Spatial Dimension, then flashed directly into Liu Cuifen's room.