“You…” Tang Lanzhi was trembling with rage, her face deathly pale.
For six years, Su Qing had stayed quietly in Huaxizi Village. Tang Lanzhi had never expected her to show up now and demand that the Zhou family transfer her and the children she’d had with some unknown man to Beicheng’s household register.
She really was one of the Su family—just as shameless as the rest of them!
Ignoring Tang Lanzhi’s ashen face, Su Qing continued, “I know the Zhou family has the connections to make this happen. If my children aren’t enrolled in school a week from now, I’ll go hang myself in the Political Commissar’s office.”
With that, she turned and left.
Tang Lanzhi’s reaction didn’t surprise Su Qing.
Back then, when Su Qing had come to ask her for the documents so she and Zhou Huaijin could get their marriage certificate, Tang Lanzhi hadn’t said anything openly cruel. But the look in her eyes had been exactly the same: pure loathing.
Tang Lanzhi was so furious that she smashed a teacup.
When Zhou Yanbai came home from work, he saw the broken glass on the floor and Tang Lanzhi sitting on the sofa, her face cold.
“What happened?” he asked, puzzled.
“That country girl who married Huaijin came here. Behind Huaijin’s back, she had two children with some other man.”
“What?” Zhou Yanbai’s face darkened. “The Su family has gone too far!”
“Exactly!” Tang Lanzhi was still furious. “That shameless Su Qing came here and asked me to transfer her and her children’s household registrations to Beicheng. How can she be so shameless?”
Just then, Zhou Yanqing and Yang Fang came in through the door.
“Eldest Brother, I heard Huaijin’s wife has come to join the army?” Zhou Yanqing said as he walked in.
Zhou Yanbai glanced at his younger brother. “You’ve heard too?”
“The whole military district is talking about it.” Zhou Yanqing saw that his Eldest Brother and Eldest Sister-in-law looked upset, and realized they weren’t exactly welcoming this daughter-in-law.
Yang Fang sat beside Tang Lanzhi. “Eldest Sister-in-law, are you all right?”
The tears Tang Lanzhi had been holding back burst forth.
“Su Qing has gone too far! Behind Huaijin’s back, she had two children with another man. And that’s not all—she came here to threaten me, demanding I transfer her and those two bastards’ household registrations to Beicheng.”
“Su Qing is that bold?” Zhou Yanqing exclaimed.
If she’d already had children with another man, she should have kept it quiet. Why would she dare come here? Wasn’t she afraid the Zhou family would settle the score with her?
Tang Lanzhi nodded. “She said she’s going to divorce Huaijin.”
That explained it.
If she was planning to divorce him, then she had nothing to fear.
But this woman had no regard at all for the Zhou family’s dignity.
She’d brought two children to Beicheng so openly and expected Eldest Sister-in-law to transfer their registrations. It looked as though she meant to settle here for good.
Zhou Yanqing glanced at Zhou Yanbai, whose face was dark. “Eldest Brother, what do you think?”
“She can dream on!” Tang Lanzhi’s voice rose several notches with anger. Then she remembered Su Qing’s threat to hang herself in the Political Commissar’s office if the household registrations weren’t transferred for her and her two children, and her voice softened. “She may have no shame, but we can’t afford to lose ours.”
Yang Fang, who had been quiet until then, spoke softly. “Eldest Brother, Eldest Sister-in-law, no matter how bold Su Qing is, she wouldn’t dare bring another man’s children to Beicheng and ask the Zhou family to help transfer their registrations. Could there be some misunderstanding?”
“She says the children are Huaijin’s.” Tang Lanzhi rolled her eyes. “They only did it once. How could that be possible? And she had two children.”
Yang Fang and Zhou Yanqing exchanged a glance.
Their Eldest Sister-in-law was furious, and it was making her see things rather one-sidedly.
Unless Su Qing was a fool, she wouldn’t be so brazen.
Even if her threat forced the Zhou family to transfer the registrations now, what then? The Zhou family certainly wouldn’t let her get away with it.
By then, Zhou Yanbai had also calmed down.
The Su family might be shameless, but they weren’t that bold.
“Let’s go see the children. If they’re Huaijin’s, they can’t possibly look nothing like him.”
“Eldest Brother, I agree,” Zhou Yanqing said at once.
Tang Lanzhi froze. Zhou Yanbai and his younger brother, along with her sister-in-law, were all looking at her.
…
When Su Qing returned to the guesthouse, Zhou Yunzhou was still doing his homework. Zhou Wantang had already grown restless and was crouched on the ground, playing with little stones.
As soon as she saw Su Qing, she ran straight to her.
Su Qing picked her daughter up and pressed her cheek against hers. “Getting restless?”
“Mm!” Zhou Wantang draped both arms limply over her mother’s shoulders and wheedled, “Mom, can you take me and Older Brother out to play for a while?”
Mom wouldn’t let her and Older Brother go wandering around by themselves. She was about to burst from being cooped up.
Zhou Yunzhou turned to look at her, pencil in hand, his eyes shining.
Back in Huaxizi Village, he and his little sister had often played around the village. They really couldn’t sit still any longer.
“All right. I’ll take you and your Older Brother out to play.” Su Qing gently tapped her daughter on the nose.
Taking one child by each hand, Su Qing left the guesthouse.
A few children were playing on the military family compound’s playground.
Zhou Wantang tugged at Su Qing’s hand and looked up at her. “Mom, can Older Brother and I play with those kids?”
“Sure.” Su Qing nodded and let go.
Zhou Yunzhou took his sister and ran toward the other children.
Children were children: they made friends easily and were soon playing together.
Su Qing told them to stay there and not wander off while she went to the supply cooperative to buy a few things.
This was Beicheng, after all, and the supply cooperative stocked a wider range of goods than the one in Huaxizi Village.
“Are you Su Qing?”
Su Qing was looking around when someone suddenly called her name. She paused, startled.
Turning, she saw a girl about her age smiling at her.
When Feng Yunce realized Su Qing hadn’t recognized her, she lifted the flap in the middle of the counter, came out, and took Su Qing’s hand, visibly excited. “Su Qing, it’s me, Yunce! Don’t you remember me?”
Su Qing tried to think, then remembered.
Feng Yunce had been the original owner’s good friend. Back then, when her father was sent down to the countryside, he’d taken her with him to Huaxizi Village. The year the original owner got into trouble, Feng Yunce’s father was politically rehabilitated, and she returned to the city with him. Su Qing hadn’t expected to run into her here.
“Feng Yunce.”
Seeing that Su Qing remembered her, Feng Yunce pulled her into a tight embrace, choking up. “When you got into trouble back then, I couldn’t do much to help you. How have you been all these years?”
“I’ve been fine. How about you?” Su Qing wasn’t used to being this close to people.
Feng Yunce’s warmth was a little overwhelming. Su Qing’s hand hovered in midair for a while before she lowered it and gently patted Feng Yunce’s back.
“I’m… getting by.” Feng Yunce didn’t want to talk about herself, so she changed the subject. “You’ve come to join the army?”
Feng Yunce had only learned later that the man who had slept with Su Qing in the cornfield was Zhou Huaijin.
She’d hoped Su Qing would come to join the army so the two of them could be together again, but at the same time she hadn’t wanted Su Qing to come, afraid she’d be hurt.
After all, everyone in the military district knew about Zhou Huaijin and Doctor Han.
“Mm. I just got here yesterday,” Su Qing said.
Feng Yunce was still at work and couldn’t chat with Su Qing for long. When she learned Su Qing had come to buy snacks, she took her straight to the food section.
Zhou Yunzhou and Zhou Wantang were still growing, and they were both active. They’d surely be hungry by evening.
Su Qing bought two jin of egg cakes, two jin of fried dough twists, and half a jin of fruit candies. After telling Feng Yunce that she was staying at the guesthouse, she picked up her purchases and left.
As soon as she reached the playground in the military family compound, she heard Zhou Wantang crying.
A girl of about four or five stood with one hand on her hip. With the index finger of her other hand nearly poking Zhou Wantang in the face, she said, “You little bitch, what makes you think you can play with us?”