Lei Ming watched Zhou Qiqi's limping figure disappear into the distance, his expression somber, lost in thought.
Suddenly, someone grabbed my ear and pulled it hard.
He jolted awake in pain and turned around to meet Zhou Shuhua's stern gaze.
This aunt raised him from a young age and loved him even more than his own mother.
"Why are you hanging out with Zhou Qiqi again? Didn't I tell you to stay away from her?"
Zhou Shuhua frowned, glanced at the empty jeep, put her hands on her hips, and spoke with a questioning tone.
"Also, didn't you drive Hongfen to the movies? Where is Hongfen?"
Lei Ming then belatedly realized what was happening and slapped his forehead in frustration.
"Oh no! I forgot him on the main street!"
September has already brought autumn, and it's about six o'clock now, so it's getting a bit dark.
The security situation in the 1980s was not as good as it would be in later years.
It's a bit dangerous for a girl to be out alone at night.
Without saying a word, Lei Ming quickly got into the car, ready to go back to find someone, and Zhou Shuhua also quickly got into the car with him.
After searching for more than half an hour, the two finally found Li Hongfen at the military district office building in G city.
In the afternoon, Lei Ming suddenly ran off. She chased after him, but her heel came off, so she had to stay where she was and wait for Lei Ming to come back.
But to my surprise, after waiting for more than two hours, the person still hadn't returned.
Around 5 o'clock, she couldn't wait any longer and went to the restroom.
In less than ten minutes, when they returned, Lei Ming was gone, and the car was gone too.
Her bag was still in Lei Ming's car, and she had no money on her. With no other option, she limped to the military district office, shouting that she wanted to find Lei Ming.
Li Hongfen was extremely aggrieved and kept crying. Her crying attracted the attention of everyone in the office building, and the whole story became widely known.
The people here were so fed up with her antics that they tried calling Zhou Shuhua on her behalf, but couldn't get through. They even called Political Commissar Lei's office instead.
The scale of the operation was enormous.
After returning, Political Commissar Lei immediately wanted to question Lei Ming.
Seeing this, Zhou Shuhua quickly pushed Lei Ming upstairs.
"Don't keep asking him. Let him go and rest first. It's getting late, and he has to rush to work early tomorrow morning. I'll talk to you!"
Political Commissar Lei frowned, sighed, and said, "Alright then."
Back in her room, she immediately tried to exonerate Lei Ming.
"Mingming... he didn't do it on purpose. He ran out to help catch a thief, but he accidentally got injured and went to the hospital to get his wound bandaged. When he came out, he didn't see Hongfen and assumed she had gone home by herself, so he..."
In fact, Zhou Shuhua had already asked Lei Ming about the whole story while she was on her way to find him.
Zhou Shuhua didn't mention the part about meeting Zhou Qiqi.
Commissar Lei criticized it with some dissatisfaction.
"This child is so careless and reckless; how could he forget such a big, healthy person on the road..."
Zhou Shuhua quickly stepped in to defend him.
"Don't talk to him like that, he didn't do it on purpose!"
"You're just protecting him! In your eyes, he's never wrong! You spoil him even more than his parents!"
Political Commissar Lei, used to seeing her protect Lei Ming like this, shook his head helplessly.
Zhou Shuhua didn't speak, her lips were pursed as if she was thinking about something, and she looked like she was trying to compromise.
Political Commissar Lei sighed and said earnestly.
"Shuhua, I've told you many times, you can't just..."
"Some things, you should let go of; don't dwell on the past..."
Zhou Shuhua hesitated and didn't speak, but silently took out a faded old photo from the bedside table.
The background of the photo is a cowshed in the countryside, with a young boy smiling brightly on it, who looks somewhat similar to Zhou Shuhua.
She gently traced the photo with her fingertips and murmured.
"How could I let it go? If Jianbang hadn't gone to the countryside for me and hadn't been pushed into the river by those country folk, he would have married and had children in the city. The child would be about the same age as Mingming now. They look so alike. Maybe it's Jianbang reincarnated?"
Political Commissar Lei frowned, his face full of disapproval.
"You've been to university, how can you still believe in such feudal superstitions as reincarnation?"
As he spoke, he reached out and snatched the photo, locking it in his desk drawer with a resolute tone.
"No matter what, this is Lei Ming's fault. It's gotten so big. You have to teach him a lesson and make sure he doesn't do it again."
"I told you, the fault doesn't lie with him."
Zhou Shuhua persisted.
Political Commissar Lei said helplessly, "If it wasn't his fault, who else could it be? Did someone forcibly drag him away back then?"
Zhou Shuhua didn't say anything, but in her heart she was rolling her eyes to the heavens.
There are definitely people there!
That's Zhou Qiqi!
The thought of what she had witnessed that afternoon filled her with rage.
She knew Lei Ming well; he had always been very well-behaved and polite, and would never abandon his blind date on the street.
The root of all this lies with Zhou Qiqi, this wild girl from the countryside!
This Zhou Qiqi, first of all, somehow managed to seduce Shen Huaichuan.
Not long after Shen Huaichuan went on a mission, she started flirting with Lei Ming again, bewitching her good nephew.
Ever since she came to the military dependents' home, the rumors about her have never stopped.
She had never seen a military wife behave so improperly.
As the women's director of the Haiziwan military dependents' district, this ideological education class is a must!
However, the target wasn't Lei Ming, but someone else entirely!
Zhou Shuhua rushed to Zhou Qiqi's house in a rage and pounded on the door.
Zhou Qiqi was lying in bed drawing a design when she twisted her ankle. She hadn't cooked lunch, so she called Yingying over to help.
Yingying got the food from the cafeteria, poured the tea, and even took the nightgown she was wearing from the clothesline in the backyard.
Hearing the knock, she didn't think much of it, assuming it was Yingying coming back, and happily went to open the door in her nightgown.
But just as the bolt was loosened, the door was slammed open with a loud bang—
"you..."
Zhou Qiqi saw that the person at the door was not Yingying, but Zhou Shuhua, who looked furious and seemed to have ill intentions.
He raised an eyebrow slightly, and the meaning of his words immediately changed.
Are you alright?
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