Chapter 61 She was so wronged

At dusk in Songtaogou, the afterglow of the setting sun casts a layer of dark gold on the earthen walls and thatched eaves of the family compound.

The crowd of onlookers had long since dispersed, and the courtyard door was pushed open with a creak. Zhou Weiguo's tall figure almost filled the door frame. He stepped aside to let Shen Lingning, who was holding Fubao, go in first.

The freshly turned soil in the corner of the yard exuded a moist earthy smell, and the coarse cloth diapers hanging on the clothesline swayed gently in the wind.

There was no light in the room and it was a little dark.

Zhou Weiguo closed the door, isolating himself from the outside world.

He put down his simple luggage roll, and the movement affected the wound on his left arm. His brows frowned slightly, and a stronger smell of rust mixed with medicine seeped out from under the bandage.

He sat down on the edge of the kang, the reed mat beneath him was cold and rough.

Chen Lingning turned his back to him, gently placed the sleeping Fubao on the inner side of the kang, and pulled a half-worn thin floral quilt over him.

Her movements were steady, but her fingertips trembled slightly when they touched the child's warm face.

The room was eerily quiet, with only the sound of Fubao's even, weak breathing and Zhou Weiguo's own slightly heavy panting.

The last spark in the stove crackled softly and quickly died out.

In the darkness, he could feel Shen Lingning standing there, like a silent stone statue.

"Ling Ning..."

He spoke, his voice hoarse like sandpaper grinding on wood, with the dryness and caution of a long journey.

Shen Lingning didn't respond or move.

After a long while, she slowly turned around and walked to the table.

There was a groping sound in the darkness, followed by a soft "click" sound, and a cluster of dim flames lit up, igniting the wick of the kerosene lamp.

The dancing halo of light barely illuminated half of her cheek, which was so pale that there was not a trace of blood. Her lips were tightly pursed, and there was a deep mark on her lower lip from being bitten.

Zhou Weiguo's heart felt like it was being gripped by an ice-cold hand, and his throat felt blocked.

In the light of the lamp, his eyes wandered across her face greedily and with heartache.

After not seeing her for a year, she had become much thinner, her originally round chin had become pointed, and there were dark circles under her eyes.

The eyes that were once filled with the moisture of the south of the Yangtze River are now as calm as water, with no bottom to be seen.

He noticed her hands hanging at her sides, her knuckles somewhat thick and deformed, and her palms covered with a thin layer of calluses.

There were also a few small bloody wounds that had just scabbed over - those were left by turning the soil.

A bitter taste mixed with rust and sweat filled his mouth.

"daughter……"

"Her name is Fubao..."

Shen Lingning stood with his back to her and responded calmly.

Zhou Weiguo muttered Fubao's name and turned his gaze to the little girl sleeping soundly on the kang: "She looks so good... She looks like you."

He wanted to get closer to see his daughter, but was afraid of disturbing the dead silence.

"Um."

Shen Lingning responded, his voice so light it sounded like a sigh.

She picked up the coarse porcelain bowl on the table and walked to the water tank in the corner. The sound of the wooden ladle scooping water was particularly clear in the silence.

I poured half a bowl of water and handed it to him.

Zhou Weiguo took the bowl, and the cold water slid down his thirsty throat, bringing a hint of soberness.

He put down the bowl, mustered up his courage, and reached out to touch Shen Lingning's hand on the edge of the table.

As soon as my fingertips touched the back of her cold hand, she shrank back suddenly as if she was scalded!

This slight resistance was like a needle piercing Zhou Weiguo's heart.

He pulled his hand back, his knuckles cracking and veins bulging on the back of his hand.

"Ling Ning, I'm sorry..."

These three words weighed more than a thousand pounds as they were squeezed out from between his teeth: "It's me... I failed to protect you."

Shen Lingning's body shook almost imperceptibly.

She didn't look at him, her gaze fixed on the dancing flame. Her voice was still soft, yet it carried a power that pierced the silence: "Do you know... where I was when I received that 'death notice'?"

Zhou Weiguo's heart sank suddenly!

A sense of foreboding seized him.

Shen Lingning's voice was steady without a ripple, yet it pierced the bone like an ice spike: "I had a difficult labor after receiving the notice of your death. I was in labor pain for a whole day and night, and I almost ran out of strength."

She paused, her calm voice still carrying the despair she felt at the time: "That piece of paper...was handed to me by Aunt Wang next door, crying.

She said...'Lingning,...a letter from the army...I collapsed right then...'"

Zhou Weiguo felt that all the blood in his body rushed to his head in an instant, and then froze into ice in the next second!

He suddenly looked up and stared at Shen Lingning, his breathing stagnant.

"At that time..."

Shen Lingning's fingertips unconsciously scratched the rough edge of the table, making a slight scraping sound: "I feel like the world is spinning, and the baby in my belly... seems to be... not moving."

Her voice finally trembled slightly, "Blood flowed all over the ground, staining the snow red..."

Zhou Weiguo's face was as pale as paper under the dim light.

His hands on his knees began to tremble violently, and the bandage on his left arm seemed to be getting tighter, causing excruciating pain in the wound, but he could not feel it.

He could only hear the roar of his own pounding heart and Shen Lingning's heartbreakingly calm voice.

"I don't know... how Fubao was born... I only remember seeing nothing but darkness... Granny Liu patting Fubao's crying... and Aunt Wang and the others crying in my ears... saying I was lucky and that the child was lucky..."

Shen Lingning slowly raised his eyes, his eyes like dry wells.

For the first time, she looked directly into Zhou Weiguo's eyes, which were filled with a broken light and bottomless exhaustion. "Weiguo, tell me... if I had taken Fubao with me that day... wouldn't that be a good thing?"

"No--!"

Zhou Weiguo, like a wounded beast, let out an extremely suppressed growl!

He stood up suddenly, knocking over the stool behind him with a loud "clang"!

Fubao, who was lying on the kang, was startled and groaned uneasily.

Shen Lingning immediately turned around to pat the child gently.

Zhou Weiguo froze in place, his tall figure casting a huge and painful shadow on the wall.

He looked at her frail back, watching her skillfully comfort her daughter, the guilt, heartache, and rage surging in his chest almost tore him apart!

He took a difficult step forward, his voice hoarse and broken, every word sounding like tears of blood: "Ling Ning... listen to me... that mission...

We were ambushed... I was seriously injured... I fell into the river...

I was unconscious for a long time... When I was rescued by my fellow villagers... more than a month had passed... In order to confuse the enemy... and to protect the lines that might be exposed... the superiors... decided to issue a death in action notice... I..."

He gasped for breath, the immense pain making it almost impossible for him to speak coherently: "I know... this explanation... is useless! It's me, Zhou Weiguo... I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Fubao! It's me... I didn't arrange it well!

Let you bear it alone during the most difficult time..."

Shen Lingning had been so busy with her depression after giving birth that she hadn't noticed it herself, but it broke out at this moment.

She was so scared and so wronged...