19 "They are each other's weak spot and reverse scale"

In the days that followed, Tao Wanjia either stayed at home organizing information or traveled back and forth to Qi County to continue gathering information.

She explored every aspect of Deng Zixiong's business in Rongcheng, from hotels and restaurants to real estate developments. She ignored Zhao Kuo's warnings to be cautious, convinced that Deng Zixiong might be involved in something far more complicated. She even considered contacting He Yu to get more information.

But after hesitation, she gave up the idea.

New Year’s Eve is here in a flash.

Early that morning, Huang Zheng called and invited her to have New Year's Eve dinner together in the evening.

Tao Wanjia was in the shantytown when she answered the phone. She had bought some New Year's goods for Old Lady Sun, and before she left, she was given a large amount of fried meatballs and rice cakes. She had originally planned to get a good night's sleep, but she realized she couldn't finish all the food by herself, so she agreed.

Besides, I haven't seen Huang Shengsheng for a while and I miss her a lot.

The feelings between people are very strange. She and Huang Zheng have no blood relationship but have an emotional bond. Her children call her aunt, and Tao Wanjia herself also puts herself in this role in her heart.

The New Year in the shantytowns is particularly lively. The community canteen is not only open all day, but also has programs.

There were red lanterns hanging at the gate, adding a bright and festive touch to the misty snow.

Tao Wanjia was attracted by the sound of music and stopped at the door. When he looked away and was about to leave, he saw He Yu walking out.

He had the plaster removed a week ago and is now back to normal. Coming here every year has become a regular part of his routine. He looks forward to the day when the health care center is completed and all the homeless elderly people in the shantytowns can go there. He has been working hard towards this goal.

Although many of his actions were not understood and he was even accused of "atonement", He Yu never regretted the days and nights he spent in Rongcheng.

Just like at this moment, when he saw Tao Wanjia standing at the door, he became more convinced that all this was worth it.

Tao Wanjia didn't rush to leave. "Is your foot okay?"

"alright."

He Yu stood in front of her with a curved lip, raising his hand to brush away the snowflakes that had fallen on the brim of her hat.

It was a completely subconscious action, but when he withdrew his hand, they both looked into each other's eyes at the same time.

His breathing paused for a moment, and he handed over the thing in his hand, "This is for you."

A bag of old-fashioned long stick popcorn, which he saw on the way here. The old man had already closed his stall, so He Yu asked the driver to chase him halfway before he could buy it.

Tao Wanjia glanced at him, pulled out a cigarette and tasted it, "It seems to taste different."

It was sweet and sticky, but she remembered it as a child with only a faint corn flavor. She didn't know if it had been too long since she'd eaten it, or if it was simply a product of the past.

He Yu also broke off a piece after hearing this, and after tasting it, he took his hand back and said, "It does taste a bit, then don't eat it."

"It's okay. I'll give it to Huang Zheng and let her help us make the decision."

Tao Wanji took it from him with a smile, looked up and saw him staring at her without blinking, then slowly looked away.

"Are you going to Huang Zheng's place?"

She nodded. "What about you? Why are you here on New Year's Day?"

"I'm just here to take a look and then leave," He Yu raised his hand to check the time and spoke slowly, "I'll take the afternoon flight back to South City."

Tao Wanjia raised her eyebrows slightly, wondering if it was her imagination. She felt a subtle hint of something in He Yu's words about Nancheng, but when she looked at him again, she found his expression normal, his eyes as clear as ever. He had never lied since childhood, so she wondered if this was a test and didn't say anything else.

I said goodbye and Happy New Year to him briefly and turned to leave.

He Yu, who was watching the taxi slowly drive off the road, stood there for a long time.

He went to South City for no other reason than to go home for the New Year. Instead, he wanted to use Zhao Kuo's information to find out what happened to Tao Wanjia over the past few years. She repeatedly avoided talking about it, so he had to take the initiative to find her.

He Yu wanted to know everything about what she had been doing during the years she had disappeared and the blank period in their past.

In the afternoon, Huang Zheng called when Tao Wanjia went out.

The woman on the other end of the phone was crying and her voice was trembling. She hurried her over and said in a panic, "Shengsheng... Shengsheng is nowhere to be found."

Tao Wanjia dropped his things and ran out. He didn't hang up the phone along the way. He comforted Huang Zheng and asked her the reason. After he met up with her at the place, he hugged her first.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Let's look for it together."

Wen Dongyang was also there. He was on duty at work today and hurried over after receiving the message from Huang Zheng.

Huang Zheng has been busy since morning till now. When she went to the vegetable market, she brought her child with her. The mother and daughter were holding hands tightly, but when she finished buying the minced meat and looked down, she was no longer there in the crowded and muddy passage.

At that moment, Huang Zheng's mind went blank. The hairs on her body stood up, and her heart was beating uncontrollably in her throat. She couldn't care less, and she kept running back and forth in the market, trembling.

I searched for almost half an hour, but still couldn't find it.

The market was a mixed bag, with a few pieces of colored steel tiles and plastic sheeting cobbled together to cover the roof. Not to mention surveillance cameras, there weren't even a few lights in the entire place. Wen Dongyang borrowed a loudspeaker and walked around shouting. Tao Wanjia put his arm around Huang Zheng's shoulders, comforting her as they went searching.

She was calmer than Huang Zheng. Amid the hustle and bustle, she thought of her ex-husband who came to her house to snatch her child on the day of their reunion.

Huang Zheng's eyelids were swollen from crying. After listening to her analysis, she shook her head and said, "He's not in Rongcheng right now. It shouldn't be him."

She had just called, and Wang Hao had yelled at her over the phone, threatening to sue her if she didn't find the child. Huang Zheng didn't have the energy to deal with it, so she hung up and immediately contacted Wen Dongyang.

As soon as he finished speaking, the phone rang again.

Huang Zheng looked at Wang Hao and wanted to hang up, but Tao Wanjia took the phone and slid it towards answering.

"Don't call the police. The child is with my mother. She misses her very much, so let her stay for a few days. You can also take a rest."

He hung up after he finished speaking. Huang Zheng's heart was relieved, but then she was filled with anger.

She called Wen Dongyang and drove to Wang Hao's old neighborhood.

I knocked on the door hard, and there was a sound from inside, but no one opened the door for a long time.

Wen Dongyang stepped forward and shouted for the police to investigate the case, and finally someone came out.

"Hey, didn't I tell you to let the child stay here for a few days?"

Wang Hao saw Huang Zheng pretending to close the door, but she pushed it open and rushed in with a cold look in her eyes, "Didn't you say you weren't in Rongcheng?"

Tao Wanjia followed closely behind, picked up the child from the sofa, and handed him to Wen Dongyang, asking him to go out and wait.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Who let you in?"

Huang Zheng ignored her former mother-in-law's rants and angrily asked, "Whose idea was this? You're kidnapping, don't you know? Who allowed you to take my daughter away without my permission?"

She had already figured everything out the moment she entered the room. Compared to the straightforward fight last time, this time she'd even changed her strategy. Huang Zheng was truly disgusted by her own past judgment. She now wished she could hold a knife to these two increasingly unscrupulous individuals.

"What are you yelling about?"

Wang Hao didn't say anything, but his mother suddenly threw a glass of water at him. "Look at your nemesis face. What good will it do for the child to be with you? You can even kill his own parents. The child should be with my son!"

Tao Wanjia stood in front of Huang Zheng, his eyes gradually turning cold: "Watch your mouth!"

"Who do you think you are? I'm telling the truth. After she married my son, he started losing money in business. The master said she's destined to be his nemesis. Whoever gets in her way will be doomed—"

Tao Wanjia could no longer tolerate this vicious person to continue talking. He snatched the glass from her hand and threw it to the ground. There was a loud bang, and everyone around him was startled.

She knew she should restrain herself, but she couldn't calm down when she saw Huang Zheng being bullied. They were each other's weak spots and reverse scales, both hurting and painful, yet they could never pretend nothing happened.

Huang Zheng did the same. Seeing Wang Hao reach out, she immediately blocked the attack. The two sisters exchanged glances, like when they were kids on their way home from school and ran into a senior classmate who was collecting "protection money." They raised their heads in solidarity to confront the mother and son who had already started fighting.

If reason doesn't make sense, then let's fight back together.

Wen Dongyang heard the clanging noises outside for a while. Ten minutes later, Huang Zheng and Tao Wanjia, their hair slightly disheveled, came out. Inside, mother and son sat on the floor in the living room, groaning in pain.

He hadn't seen such a scene in years, and because he was so shocked, he didn't hurry to catch up until the two of them walked out of the unit door and called him. He didn't know whether a drunken escape would work for him, but these two people definitely had a fight.

The car was dead silent on the way back.

Huang Shengsheng cried for a long time and fell asleep. Huang Zheng was silent for a long time, and then spoke softly after passing a busy square.

"Ga-ga."

Her voice was hoarse, tears hidden in the darkness. After more than ten seconds, she lowered her voice and said, "I'm sorry..."

The moment she couldn't find the child, Huang Zheng's mind flashed with an incident that happened a long time ago.

One Mid-Autumn Festival when she was a child, a town in the surrounding countryside held a temple fair. It was packed with people, and Huang Zheng insisted on joining in the fun, so she brought Tao Wanjia along. But halfway through the fun, Huang Zheng got tired and went home with a classmate she knew well. Only after arriving home did she realize she had left Tao Wanjia behind.

Huang Zhibiao beat her severely, and she argued that she really forgot. In fact, it was just because they had quarreled over a piece of clothing the day before, and she wanted to use this incident to make Tao Wanjia apologize to her.

"I shouldn't have let you go home alone."

Huang Zheng's shoulders trembled and she bit her lips to prevent her sobs from being too obvious.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."

Tao Wanjia was stunned. Memories came flooding in like the sea, pushing her to the shore and choking her.

The wet and salty water slid into her nasal cavity, and her heart seemed to be cut open. All those secret things in her past that had been forgotten by her and moved to some unknown corner over time were now coming out along with the dampness.

Huang Zheng took her hand and said in a restrained voice, "Have you ever blamed me?"

This sentence was not just about this one thing, but about the countless times of tension and confrontation over the past few years, as well as the resentment and hatred of her parents who passed away unexpectedly and put all the pain on her.

Fate entangled the two of them tightly, but the two ends of the entanglement could not really be resolved.

Tao Wanjia shook his head, "I never blamed you."

It’s true that I hate it, it’s true that I care about it, and it’s also true that I can’t bear to let it go.

She blamed herself more than him.

Just now at her ex-husband's house, Tao Wanjia was still thinking that if she had not left but stayed in Rongcheng, she might not have suffered so much. Although she might be the one who suffered more at that time, she could endure it as long as the pain passed with time.

Moreover, sometimes pain is another form of cleansing. Pulling off the scab will allow new flesh to grow.

Tao Wanji put his arm around her shoulders. In the darkness, he gently wiped away the hot tears from the corners of her eyes with his fingertips, and soothed her anxiety and guilt with a smile.

His tone relaxed, "This happened so long ago. If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten it long ago."

Fireworks exploded outside the car window, and clusters of colorful lights shot onto the huge dark curtain.

She looked out the window and sighed inwardly.

She was the one who felt sorry for Huang Zheng.