Yu Jun and his older brother left their parents' house feeling depressed. They didn't know whether to sympathize with Yu Qing or be angry with her. She had ruined their peaceful lives.

"Brother, why doesn't my sister get a divorce? Even if she can't take the children with her, they're all grown up and sensible. Wouldn't it be better if she took better care of them? What's the point of living like this?" In Yu Jun's understanding, many things are better left undone than left unresolved.

“You’ve been in the military for so long that you’ve become out of touch with society. Life isn’t just black and white; there’s gray too. Your sister-in-law always says I’m out of touch with reality, but I think you’re the one who truly is out of touch with reality.”

Yu Qing has been married for over ten years, and all her social connections revolve around the Du family, forming an intricate and inseparable network. She's in her forties, and has lived a life of luxury all these years, barely holding down a job. She doesn't have to lift a finger around the house; a nanny takes care of everything.

The children are also cared for by their grandparents, and she's been out of touch with reality for over ten years. If she gets divorced, she'll have nothing; she can't live that kind of life.

Although Brother Yu isn't very good at interpersonal relationships, his wife is quite knowledgeable about them, and after hearing about them a lot, he knows a little bit about them too.

Yu Jun understood perfectly well that the military wasn't a clean place either. Over the years, besides his own hard work, Yu Yin's connections and his father-in-law's influence had played a significant role. At the very least, his achievements wouldn't be taken by others.

"Alright, Yu Qing is an adult now. She's kept some tricks up her sleeve all these years. Since she's chosen to live this way, we shouldn't say too much. When we get back, let's not talk about her affairs with anyone else," Brother Yu instructed, making sure nothing slipped out.

At home, Sister-in-law Yu and the others were talking to Yu Yin about these things. Sister-in-law Yu knew a lot of the things, but since the other party didn't want to make a fuss, she pretended not to know.

"Hey bro, how about we take a stroll around where I used to live this afternoon? I want to go back and take a look; a lot of things have become blurry." In the depths of Yu Yin's memory, there was always a small figure, curled up in a corner. She couldn't see him clearly, but he always appeared in her dreams.

"Why go back to where you were before? There's nothing worth remembering there." Yu Jun didn't want Yin Yin to go, afraid that she would be reminded of some bad things.

"Brother, I still have dreams. I dream of a tiny person curled up in a corner. I want to call out to her, I want to see her, but I can't get close to her. Every time, I wake up anxiously, and it's hard to fall back asleep."

I want to go see, even if it's a bad memory, I don't want to live like this in a daze. I don't want to wake up in the middle of the night and find a corner of my mind empty. I'm so old now, what difference does a bad memory make?" Yu Yin was really troubled. She had rarely dreamed before, but recently it started again, and she always felt like she had forgotten something.

She was actually very conflicted. She didn't have any feelings for her mother. After she arrived, the two didn't have much contact. Her mother didn't even help her with postpartum care. Apart from a few unpleasant arguments, they didn't have much interaction. But deep down, she always felt resistant.

"Alright, if that's the case, let's go over and take a look this afternoon. Perfect timing, I also need to go see Grandma, are you coming or not?" Yu Jun had come back, so he had to go see his grandma.

“Go ahead, didn’t you live together before? I remember back then Dad wasn’t eligible to have his family accompany him to the military, so he lived with Grandpa and Grandma.” In Yu Yin’s memory, her grandparents basically treated her like she didn’t exist.

After lunch, the group took a car to the Yu family's old house, which was a row of bungalows, each with a small courtyard. It was a residential area for the families of various factories, divided into sections.

Yu Jun and the others carried their things and walked ahead, while Yu Yin walked slowly behind. She hadn't been back for more than ten years, and this area hadn't changed much. The mottled courtyard walls, the uneven roads, and the chimneys in each yard were both familiar and strange.

As I walked outside the Yu family's courtyard, the familiar corner of the wall from my dream became clear.

Yu Yin seemed to see a three or four-year-old child, she couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl, wearing a drab gray cotton coat and pants, with short hair, a red face, and lifeless eyes, huddled in the gap between the two courtyards.

The child looked terrified, her eyes were vacant, and her body was trembling. Where was she just now? Ah, it seems Aunt Yu asked her to get something, but she didn't get it properly, and Aunt Yu muttered that she must be an idiot.

When Yu's mother heard this, she started arguing with her third aunt. Her third aunt said some harsh things, saying that she was three or four years old and couldn't even speak clearly, so what else could she be but a fool?

There were still many people around gossiping. Yu's mother was furious. She grabbed her and dragged her to the corner, telling her to think carefully about how to speak in the future. She told her not to come home if she couldn't explain herself properly, as she had completely lost face.

After finishing her sentence, Yu's mother turned and left with Yu Qing to buy hair ties at the supply and marketing cooperative. Yu Qing smiled at the child. Her red floral cotton-padded jacket looked so pretty and warm.

The little child tried to speak, but couldn't utter a word. She was scared, she was cold, and it was getting dark; she was too afraid to go home. In her dazed state, she heard an anxious voice calling, "Yinyin, Yinyin, where are you? Answer me, Yinyin..."

"Hey bro, I'm here!"

Yu Yin replied unconsciously, answering for the child. She wanted to call him "little brother," but she couldn't make a sound.

"Yinyin, what did you say?" Yu Jun, who was in front, turned around and looked at Yinyin.

"Brother, I remember now. I was squatting in the corner. It was dark, and I hadn't learned to speak yet. I was too scared to go home. It was cold and dark outside, and I was terrified."

Later, I vaguely heard you calling me, calling "Yinyin, where are you? Yinyin, answer me!" I heard you then, and I wanted to say, "Brother, I'm here." But I couldn't say it, and then I have no memory of anything else.

Tears welled up without my noticing, blurring my vision.

"Are you stupid? Why are you still holding onto such unpleasant things? Didn't I tell you to forget them? Didn't I say I'd never go out to play by myself again, and never leave you alone again? Why are you still thinking about those things? Are you stupid?" Yu Jun pulled Yu Yin into his arms, repeating these words over and over.

He was terrified that time, thinking they had abandoned Yin Yin while he was away, because she couldn't speak, was slow to react, and seemed like a fool. He kept making a fuss, searching inside and outside the yard, knowing that Yin Yin was timid and wouldn't go far.

Finally, when they found Yin Yin in the corner, she was delirious with fever and unconscious. That day, her father happened to come home, took her to the hospital, gave her an injection, and saved her.

Yinyin woke up, but didn't remember what had happened, and couldn't explain it clearly. Her mother said that this child was so old, yet so troublesome, running off to play and not knowing how to come home.

He didn't believe that Yinyin had run away on her own, so from then on, he never left her side again. He took her with him everywhere he went, preferring to stay with her rather than go out and play himself, until he graduated from high school and joined the army.