“Bowen… but your grandfather will be even angrier if he finds out about this.” Li Ci looked at him hesitantly.

If she's faking illness, it's easy for someone to see through it.

"Mom, you can really get sick," Qi Bowen continued to coax her. "If you take a cold bath, you'll just get a fever."

He didn't believe his grandfather wouldn't feel sorry for him if he really got sick.

"Bowen, how can you be so heartless? What if it leaves you with a chronic illness?" Who wants to get sick when they're perfectly healthy? Li Ci hesitated.

"Mom, I'm also thinking about our future. What if that person comes back and is a little sweet-talking, and can completely win over Grandpa?"

“I don’t care, but he’s not close to you. What will you do then? I can’t bear to see you suffer, and I’m even angrier that your grandparents treated you like that.”

Qi Bowen kept saying he was thinking of Li Ci's best interests, and she just fell for it. She liked it when people only thought about her.

"Let me think about it. We'll stay with your great-aunt for the next few days, figure out a solution, and then go back a few days later."

Li Ci didn't want to face the rumors and gossip in Beijing so soon.

She could still vividly recall the way those people looked at her; she needed to think of a foolproof plan.

Qi Bowen knew she was already hesitating, so he didn't press her any further. He had been exhausted lately and needed to rest and recharge before thinking about the future.

While the two of them were preoccupied with their own thoughts, Qi Feng in Beijing was already on his way back to Jiang Province.

"Minister Qi, shall we stay in the county town for one night and go to Yangliu Brigade tomorrow?" Xiao Liu, who had accompanied the old marshal last time, also came along this time.

"I'm not staying here, I'll drive. I can still get there by midnight." Qi Feng didn't want to wait any longer; he was full of energy.

Xiao Liu didn't stop them and gave up the driver's seat. The two of them then drove all night to the commune.

"Let's go back to Leishan Brigade first, and then go to Yangliu Brigade at dawn tomorrow." Qi Feng thought that going there so late at night would scare people again.

He should go back to the old house first; it's been so many years since he's been back, and it all feels unfamiliar.

This place brought him mostly bad memories, but there were also people who were good to him. When Qi Feng arrived at a familiar place from his memories, a hint of nostalgia appeared in his eyes.

Looking at the man who had been quiet ever since he arrived, Xiao Liu, who was not good at comforting people, could only remain silent with him.

Qi Feng drove home, relying on his memory.

"Minister Qi, how about we make do in the car for the night?" Xiao Liu looked at the collapsed house; it was definitely uninhabitable.

"Come with me." Qi Feng thought for a moment. They had already traveled a long way. If they didn't sleep tonight, they wouldn't look haggard when they saw the two children tomorrow.

Qi Feng took Xiao Liu to the brigade leader's house. When the brigade leader of Leishan Brigade saw Qi Feng, he thought he was dreaming.

"Come in quickly, why are you back so late?" The captain welcomed him into the house.

"Uncle, thank you for your help. My house collapsed, and I have nowhere to live." The brigade leader was only a few years older than Qi Feng, but he was of a higher generation.

"It's no big deal, why are you being so polite with your uncle? Just stay at my house. Qi Feng, did you come because of the matter in the letter?"

The captain initially thought he had made a mistake, since no one had come to inquire about the letter he had written so long ago.

"What letter?" Qi Feng was taken aback. Had they written him a letter?

"There's a kid in Yangliu Brigade who looks a lot like you. I felt something was off, so I wrote you a letter. Didn't you receive it?"

The captain noticed that Qi Feng clearly didn't know anything about it. Could it be that he sent the letter to the wrong place?

Qi Feng didn't speak. His first thought was of Qi Bowen; the letters from home should have gone through him first.

It was probably this letter that prompted Qi Bowen to take action.

Qi Feng thought back to his past doubts and regretted not investigating further, otherwise he wouldn't have missed so many years with that child.

"Uncle, I came here for this very reason. I'll go to Yangliu Brigade tomorrow. The two brigades have been at odds over these issues for years, but it's time to let it go."

Qi Feng didn't ask how the woman was doing now; he just felt that she wasn't worth it.

"Qi Feng, to be honest, the biggest problem was the former captain of Yangliu Brigade. Many times we didn't want to argue with him, but he would provoke us from time to time."

“I didn’t think much of it before, but now it seems it was all for my own selfish reasons. He was actually that woman’s wicked child, and he was deliberately taking revenge.”

"Did you come back this time because there are real doubts about that child's identity? If so, then that guy from Yangliu Brigade really deserves to die."

From the moment the captain saw the man, he knew that something he didn't know must have happened.

"Uncle, to be honest, you're right. I'll explain in detail when I meet the person tomorrow."

Qi Feng felt quite uncertain when the child was mentioned; even his father, who came in person, couldn't bring the child back.

He must hate them in his heart for making him suffer so much here all by himself, and now his own mother is acting that way.

He himself felt it was unfair to him, and he needed to think carefully about how to persuade people to go back with him.

"Alright, alright, look at me. You've been traveling all this way. Go and rest first. We'll talk about everything when it's light."

The captain settled the people into the house before going back inside to whisper with his wife.

Qi Feng told Xiao Liu to go to sleep first, while he himself tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep.

They drifted off to sleep in this daze until dawn, and only woke up when the brigade leader came to call them.

"Qi Feng, get up and have breakfast. Uncle will go to Yangliu Brigade with you in a bit. We have to hurry. Those two kids are really promising now. They're going to draw propaganda posters in various brigades. If we're late, they might be gone."

The captain was even more excited than Qi Feng. If that child really was Qi Feng's child, then whose child was the one in Beijing now?

He had a lot of questions, but he knew now wasn't the time to ask them.

Qi Feng nodded, casually weighed his stomach, and then went to Yangliu Brigade.

The members of Yangliu Brigade had just gotten up, and some of the quick-moving ones were already on their way to the brigade headquarters.

"Hey, Leishan Brigade, what brings you here?" When the team members saw the brigade leader of Leishan Brigade arrive with two strangers, their first reaction was that they were here to cause trouble again.

Since that incident, the two teams have tacitly agreed not to bother each other anymore. They don't say they've reconciled, they just haven't had any contact.

"I'm here to find someone. Where is your captain?" The captain of Leishan Brigade ignored their impetuous words; he wasn't here to argue with them.

Upon hearing that they were looking for the captain, the group turned around and went to inform him.

When the captain of Yangliu Brigade arrived, the first person he saw was Qi Feng, and he was stunned by his appearance.

"You..." The captain looked at the person, and only then did the other team members notice Qi Feng following behind.