"Alright, alright, you two go ahead. One of you go home to your mom, and the other goes home to your husband. We'll just have to wash up and warm our own beds."
Yue Shuzhen was a woman of words; after she finished speaking, Molly pulled Jiang Wanqing and ran even faster.
Sure enough, they ran into Cheng Ran downstairs. He nodded to Molly and then walked straight toward Jiang Wanqing.
How was your day?
"fine."
"Tsk, you guys are so arrogant. I'm still here. Forget it, I'll go to the market. Otherwise, I'll definitely be covered in blood when I get back. Bye."
Molly didn't want to disturb their time together, and besides, she had "a mission to complete," so she quickly left.
Seizing on the word "market" in her words, Cheng Ran's eyes flickered. Before he could say anything, Molly had already run far away. He turned to look at his wife.
"Is she going to the market?"
"Yes, she went to the market to buy some mountain produce for her mother to make soup at home. She said if she went too late, she wouldn't be able to buy any, so she's rushing there."
"Oh no!" Cheng Ran thought to himself, realizing that Hung Hing was also in the market and sold mountain products. He hoped it wasn't such a coincidence...
Noticing that he seemed a little distracted, as if he was worried about something, Jiang Wanqing looked into his eyes and asked in confusion.
"What's wrong? What's happening in the market?"
"It's nothing, let's go back, everything should be fine."
Cheng Ran still didn't say anything, letting things develop naturally. If they met under these circumstances, it could only be said to be fate, something that couldn't be stopped. It was best not to interfere. Besides, their minds might not necessarily be clouded.
She suppressed her suspicion and agreed, thinking that given their relationship with Molly, it couldn't be a bad thing.
Half an hour later, Molly arrived at the market. There weren't many people there in the evening, mostly elderly women and men who came to snag cheap vegetables during the market shutdown.
At each stall, old ladies were haggling over prices.
"Look at these vegetables, they're all wilted. Can you lower the price a bit? I'll buy them all if you lower the price, but I won't buy them at full price."
"Oh dear, you old lady, these vegetables are all top-notch. Look, they're a little wilted, but you can just soak them in water when you get home. Or you can just buy them and I'll give them to you for free."
"No, it has to be less money..."
"Okay, okay... how much do you want!"
...
It's not unusual to see such a scene in the market. Molly walked through the various stalls, her eyes searching for places selling mountain products.
She saw a figure with two large boxes in front of him. A customer picked them up and examined them closely. They looked like mountain products, so she quickly went over.
"Young man, your mountain produce is quite good. I'll take them all. Wrap them up for me."
"Hey, wait... I want to buy one too!"
She waved as she ran, afraid that she wouldn't be able to buy any if she arrived too late.
Upon hearing that familiar voice, Hung Hing paused, his hand still holding the bag, and he didn't even dare to look up.
The footsteps grew closer, but his actions were faster than his thoughts. He pulled up his coat, covering most of his face, leaving only his eyes visible.
Molly quickly approached and asked the customer first.
"Comrade, don't buy them all, give me some. My mom is waiting to make soup with these mountain delicacies, she'll skin me alive if I can't get them! Please have mercy on me."
Seeing how cute she was and how she looked like a student, the uncle didn't make things difficult for her. He simply waved his hand and generously grabbed two large handfuls of her food.
"Okay, I'll give you this much. I won't take any more. My wife also likes this."
"Thank you, comrade, this is enough for me." Molly looked at the stall owner: "How much is this? Please weigh it for me."
She looked up for two seconds, then looked down to take money out of her pocket. But just that one glance made her feel that the other person looked familiar.
When I looked up again, the other person had already lowered their head to weigh themselves, not even their eyes were fully visible, and they didn't say anything, only holding up three fingers.
Three pieces?
He nodded, and the uncle next to him burst into laughter.
"Young man, this guy is giving you a discount because you're pretty, hahaha..."
Molly blushed. She tried to see the other person's face clearly, but she couldn't. Her eyes swept over his hand and she noticed that he was missing a finger.
She pursed her lips, thinking that her family must have suffered some misfortune, and that she must be a pitiful person. She didn't want to ask too much, so she left.
The uncle bought all the remaining mountain produce, and Hung Hing packed up and left early, staring at Molly's retreating figure, lost in thought for a long time.
He clutched the money in his hand and mouthed softly, "I'm sorry..."
The mountain produce I bought was praised by my parents, who said it tasted just like the real thing. When the soup was served, my mother was still praising it.
"Lily, you bought it from that young man, right?"
"Yes, Mom, but he says something different from what you said. He doesn't talk at all."
"Not saying anything? That's impossible. That young man is very talkative. You haven't made a mistake, have you?"
"He's missing a finger, isn't he?"
"That's right, it's him. Why isn't he saying anything today? I overheard him chatting with someone the other day. I think he was a soldier. He's a good person, but he was wounded and had to leave the army. Sigh, what a pity."
Was he a soldier? Was he wounded and discharged?
Molly suddenly dropped the chopsticks in her hand. Combined with the fact that she felt the person looked somewhat familiar, her suspicions frightened her.
She swallowed hard. "Mom, do you know where it came from?"
"I don't know about that. Although I've bought things from him a few times, we're not that close. It's not appropriate to ask about someone's private matters."
That's true... Molly puffed out her cheeks, perhaps she was overthinking it.
She picked up her chopsticks, but had no appetite to continue eating. Instead, her eyes were vacant, and she absentmindedly poked at the food in her bowl with the chopsticks.
I kept telling myself not to overthink, but I still spent the whole night thinking about it, tossing and turning and unable to sleep.
Remembering that she had asked Jiang Wanqing to inquire about Hongxing's recent situation from Cheng Ran last time, she hadn't asked again, so she asked at school the next day.
In the cafeteria, people came and went carrying their lunchboxes, but Molly still didn't seem to have much of an appetite.
"Wanqing, I have something to ask you."
"Ah, go ahead and say it." Jiang Wanqing took a sip of soup and looked at her.
"Last time I asked you about Hung Hing... how is he? Um... I didn't mean anything by it, I was just a friend checking in on him."
Jiang Wanqing's eyes flickered, and she didn't dare to look directly at her. She just ate while pretending to be calm and answered.
"He's doing well and is highly regarded in the military."
"Really?"
"Yes, really."
"You're not lying to me?"
"I'm not lying..."
Before she could finish speaking, Molly sighed, "It seems I was just being paranoid. I went to the market yesterday and thought I saw Hung Hing. Luckily it wasn't him, or it would have been terrible."
"Pfft...cough cough..."
"Who did you say you saw?"
Jiang Wanqing raised her voice instantly, choked on the soup, coughed, and her face turned red from coughing.
"No one, you all say that, so I must have misjudged. Right, why would Hung Hing come to the Beijing area? Even if they did, they wouldn't be in such a terrible state. Yes... that's it, I misjudged."
She lowered her head and ate her rice, no longer continuing the topic.
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