Lei Yuhua's words were like a thunderclap, splitting the tangled mess in Zhou Shuhua's mind.
Her bloodshot eyes widened suddenly, staring intently at Zhou Qiqi's face, as if this was the first time she had truly seen her clearly.
Those eyebrows and eyes... those beautiful big eyes...
At first, I just felt that the face looked vaguely familiar, but now it suddenly overlapped with my memory of my younger brother when he was a teenager and with the expressions in my parents' yellowed photos!
A tremendous surge of joy at having something lost and then regained, mixed with the pain of her brother's early death, overwhelmed her like a rising tide.
“Niece, my... dear niece, I am your aunt! You are my only remaining family!”
Zhou Shuhua murmured, breaking free from Lei Yuhua and Political Commissar Lei's support, and staggered as she tried to rush towards Zhou Qiqi.
Zhou Qiqi was shocked when she heard Zhou Shuhua say "my dear niece" with a sob in her voice.
Her shoulders tensed instantly, the initial shock of learning the truth about the jade pendant vanishing in an instant.
Aunt? Your only relative from your maternal family?
The word struck her without a trace of warmth or kinship; instead, it brought back many memories...
Zhou Shuhua's face, which used to be filled with disgust, her harsh words of denigration, and the high-sounding rhetoric she made in the disciplinary committee office when she reported on her.
She had already drawn a line in her mind: Zhou Shuhua, from now on, we'd be strangers.
But now, this relationship, which should have been severed long ago, has been forcibly reconnected by blood.
She felt a tightness in her chest, a sense of bewilderment, and a complete, visceral resistance.
She didn't look at Zhou Shuhua who was rushing towards her; her long eyelashes drooped, concealing all her surging emotions.
Then, she turned her head slightly and gently buried her face in the firm shoulder of Shen Huaichuan beside her.
Shen Huaichuan immediately noticed the stiffness in her body, so he pulled her closer to him.
He looked up and met Zhou Shuhua's staggering figure as she stumbled towards him. His deep eyes showed no sign of wavering, only a strong desire to protect her.
Looking at Zhou Shuhua, who was in tears and on the verge of collapse, he gently shook his head, his movements slow but firm.
Zhou Shuhua suddenly stopped in her tracks.
She was just one step away from becoming Zhou Qiqi.
Her niece...her own niece, the only bloodline left by her brother, was right in front of her, yet she wouldn't even glance at her.
At this moment, all she felt was regret.
She recalled how she had pointed her finger at the child and berated her for not being good enough for Shen Huaichuan, how she had used the most vicious language to speculate about her, humiliate her, and even reported her to the disciplinary committee...
"I...I..."
She wanted to speak, but it felt like something was tightly gripping her throat, and she couldn't make a sound.
It felt as if an invisible hand was gripping her heart, kneading and squeezing it hard. The excruciating pain made her vision go black in waves.
She stared intently at Zhou Qiqi's thin back, her mouth agape, panting heavily, her body swaying uncontrollably.
The little hope that had been holding her back vanished in an instant, leaving only overwhelming despair.
"Thump!"
Suddenly, she fell heavily backward.
"Shuhua!" Political Commissar Lei's expression changed drastically, and he rushed over to catch her.
"Mom—!" Lei Yuhua screamed.
The police officers and Li Guixiang and her husband, who were slumped on the ground, were also startled by this sudden turn of events and raised their heads.
Only Zhou Qiqi, who was resting on Shen Huaichuan's shoulder, trembled slightly, and her fingers, gripping the hem of his clothes, tightened even more.
——
When Zhou Shuhua opened her eyes again, it was already dark.
The first thing she saw when she woke up was the roof beams covered with old newspapers and the mud-brick walls.
She blinked a few times before she could see that she was lying on a kang (a heated brick bed) covered with a blue-printed cloth quilt, which looked like the home of Village Chief Xu.
Two people in white coats were whispering to each other around the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).
As soon as she regained consciousness, she opened her mouth and called out, "Qiqi!"
Her throat was dry and tight, her voice was hoarse, and her hands were flailing haphazardly across the kang (a heated brick bed).
"She's awake! She's awake! Shuhua, Shuhua, don't panic, Qiqi's here! Right there!"
Commissar Lei quickly came over, his rough hands grasping her cold fingers, and gestured towards the corner of the room.
Zhou Shuhua strained her eyes to look in the direction he pointed.
At the other end of the room, two long benches were placed next to the window.
Zhou Qiqi and Shen Huaichuan sat there.
The room was lit by a kerosene lamp, casting a dim, yellowish light that stretched long shadows.
They were quite far apart, so I couldn't see their expressions clearly, but those two figures were definitely still inside the house and hadn't left.
The weight that had been hanging over Zhou Shuhua's heart suddenly lifted, but a bitter taste immediately followed.
She knew that the fact that the child had stayed and hadn't left was already a testament to his kindness.
Is it because of Zhou Jianbang's blood relation? Or because of Shen Huaichuan's influence?
Anyway, it couldn't be because she cares about her aunt.
She forced a smile, revealing a bitter smile that was even more unsightly than crying.
That's enough. This is enough for now. She dared not hope for anything else.
Seeing that she was staring intently in that direction, and fearing that she might become agitated again, Political Commissar Lei quickly patted the back of her hand and whispered words of comfort:
“Shuhua, look, think about it on the bright side. At least we know where Jianbang is today! He didn’t get swept away by the flash flood like the rumors said back then, with no trace of his body! He survived, got married, had a wife, and had such a wonderful daughter!”
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