“All right, I’m going there to find a man. Why are you coming with me?” Li Wanqing reassured her.
“I’ll accompany you. Once everything over there is settled, I’ll come back with you.”
He Mei was worried. Cheng Baichuan was gone, and Wanqing had fallen out with the Cheng family.
What if something happened to Wanqing after she got there…
He Mei didn’t dare think about it. The more she thought about it, the more worried she became.
“No. I’ll go talk to the captain again. At worst, I won’t take leave to visit my family next time.”
She turned around to leave, but Li Wanqing stopped her.
“My dear girl! Stop making such a fuss.”
Li Wanqing glanced outside. After making sure no one was around, she lowered her voice and said, “I probably won’t be coming back after I leave this time.”
He Mei’s eyes widened.
“You’re planning to run away?”
Li Wanqing: ……
That was quite a bold idea, but she’d better forget it.
“No. Listen to me. Nuo Nuo’s father isn’t going to die. Once I get there, I’ll probably be joining him at his station.”
“When the college entrance examination is restored, you can test back into Sichuan Province, and then we’ll be together again.”
Li Wanqing had thought that after saying this, He Mei would finally relax.
Instead, when she looked up, she was met with an even more sympathetic gaze.
“Wanqing, I know you’re very sad, but people have to look forward.”
“I promise I won’t go with you, but you have to bring Nuo Nuo back.”
“Then we’ll take the college entrance examination together and raise Nuo Nuo together.”
Li Wanqing: ……
When had she somehow acquired the persona of a devoted, lovesick woman?
Forget it. Once she met Cheng Baichuan, she would just give He Mei the letter.
“Are you really willing to give up Lu Wei?”
Compared to her, He Mei was the one who truly seemed love-struck!
The last time they went to the city, He Mei had said she was disappointed in Lu Wei.
But when he actually chased her all the way to the brigade, the girl’s heart softened again.
He Mei frowned slightly before answering without hesitation, “How could he be more important than you and Nuo Nuo?”
“You said it yourself!”
Li Wanqing immediately seized the opportunity.
“If you get back together with him, I’ll take Nuo Nuo and cut ties with you.”
She hadn’t originally intended to interfere in He Mei’s relationship, but the girl was simply too sincere and naive.
She couldn’t bring herself to stand by and do nothing!
“You’re not serious, are you?” He Mei found it unbelievable.
Wasn’t it just a relationship?
How had things escalated to the point of threatening to end their friendship?
Li Wanqing kept a stern expression, looking completely serious.
He Mei: “……Fine! I promise I’ll break up with him.”
Li Wanqing still looked unconvinced.
“Then keep your word. I’ll have Comrade Zhou supervise you.”
Zhou Weifeng: ……
I’m just here as an extra. How did I suddenly get assigned a task?
He Mei glanced at Zhou Weifeng, suddenly feeling as though she were Sun Wukong, unable to escape the Buddha’s palm.
She was Sun Wukong, and Zhou Weifeng was that impossibly heavy Five Elements Mountain.
The moment she thought about Sun Wukong being trapped beneath the mountain for five hundred years, He Mei completely let go of Lu Wei.
Li Wanqing handed Nuo Nuo over to He Mei and went to the clinic.
She took some common travel medicines, including cold medicine, stomach medicine, motion sickness medicine, and other essentials.
Meng Renjie also knew about Cheng Baichuan’s situation.
He wasn’t good with words and didn’t offer any comforting remarks. Instead, he simply took out two letters.
“One of these people is the best pediatrician at the provincial hospital in Sichuan. The other is the director of the military district hospital.”
Meng Renjie didn’t explain further, but Li Wanqing understood what he meant.
Once she reached Sichuan, if Cheng Baichuan was gone, she should take the child to the provincial hospital and have Nuo Nuo thoroughly examined.
If he was still alive, then the military district hospital had someone who could help as well.
No matter what happened, she shouldn’t be afraid!
Li Wanqing was genuinely grateful.
She and Meng Renjie hadn’t interacted many times. Every time they met, he was quiet and reserved, so she had assumed that he disliked her.
She had never expected him to consider her situation so carefully.
“Doctor Meng, everything will pass, and very soon.”
Li Wanqing gave him a meaningful reminder.
She knew Meng Renjie had also been forced to come to the countryside back then, and his wife and children had even cut ties with him.
If he hadn’t been working at the clinic in Renxing Brigade, it would probably have been difficult for him to overcome the psychological trauma.
Meng Renjie raised an eyebrow slightly.
“You should worry about yourself first. Safe travels.”
Li Wanqing: ……
She couldn’t even get sentimental for a second.
After leaving the clinic, Li Wanqing went to the brigade headquarters to get her letter of introduction before returning directly to the educated youth compound.
At this point, there was no way she could make it to the county town in time to catch the bus to the provincial capital, so Li Wanqing decided to leave first thing the next morning.
Everyone at the educated youth compound knew Li Wanqing was leaving. Regardless of how much they had, they all contributed something for her.
Some gave money, while others gave food.
She was going far from home, and this was such a major event. If she could bring a little extra with her, she should.
However, Li Wanqing refused the money. Everyone was struggling, and she actually wasn’t short of money at the moment.
Li Wanqing handed her copy of *Self-Study Series in Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry* to Zhou Weifeng and once again emphasized the importance of education.
She probably wouldn’t be coming back after this trip. She hoped that all these young educated youths would one day have the chance to achieve their dreams.
Li Wanqing also packed up the other things she had at home and gave them to He Mei.
Once she had settled down over there, she would have He Mei mail them to her.
Some people from the brigade also brought food for her. They were mostly uncles and aunties who had watched Cheng Baichuan grow up, or young men who had followed him around when they were children.
Li Wanqing refused all of it.
Not only could she not carry that much, but she was also traveling with a child.
The more things she carried, the more distracted she would be, and that could become dangerous.
Since she refused both the food and the money, everyone pooled together some ration coupons instead and had the brigade captain give them to Li Wanqing.
“These are everyone’s good wishes. It’s always better to have plenty for a journey, even if you’re poor at home. Take them for now. You can return them to everyone after you come back.”
Since Zhang Jianguo had put it that way, Li Wanqing no longer refused their kindness.
Even outsiders were willing to go this far for her, while her own blood relatives in the Cheng family hadn’t shown the slightest concern.
But perhaps this was for the best.
A clean break meant she wouldn’t have to deal with any entanglements in the future.
The next morning, before dawn had even broken, Li Wanqing got up with her daughter.
Although Zhang Jianguo didn’t approve of He Mei and Zhou Weifeng accompanying her all the way to the military district, he agreed to let them see the mother and daughter to the provincial capital.
The three of them, carrying one child, traveled through the morning dew to the county town and caught the earliest bus to the provincial capital.
Once they arrived, Li Wanqing headed straight for the railway station and bought two tickets to Sichuan.
Each ticket cost fourteen yuan and sixty cents, making twenty-nine yuan and twenty cents for the two tickets.
*(Nuo Nuo technically didn’t need a ticket, but traveling alone with a child wasn’t easy. Li Wanqing decided to buy an extra ticket so they wouldn’t have to be squeezed in with other passengers, which would be both uncomfortable and unsafe.)*
He Mei held Nuo Nuo in her arms, unwilling to let go, while Li Wanqing could only look helplessly at her.
“All right. The train is about to leave. We need to get on.”
He Mei’s lips drooped as she reluctantly began giving her more instructions.
“No matter what happens, you have to stay strong.”
“You still have Nuo Nuo, and you have us. The educated youth compound will always be your home.”
Li Wanqing’s eyes reddened slightly, and she nodded.
“I know. If I don’t get on now, I’ll miss the train.”
Only then did He Mei reluctantly let go.
Li Wanqing carried her daughter onto the train. After putting away their luggage and sitting down, she finally let out a long sigh of relief.
Outside a ward at a certain military district hospital, Regiment Commander Yu stood there looking utterly bewildered.
That brat Cheng Baichuan!
He had thought Cheng Baichuan’s sudden movement was merely a final burst of consciousness before death, but it turned out he had actually woken up.
“Commander, should we notify Captain Cheng’s family again?” Xiao Wu, the orderly, asked.
Commander Yu thought for a moment before saying, “Forget it. They’ve probably already boarded the train by now. We’ll tell them when they arrive.”
Either way, this was a huge piece of good news…
Wasn’t it?