Faced with his wife's sudden question, Qiu Jingwen did not respond, but instead waved to his son. It wasn't that he didn't trust his wife; he had promised Shao Jian that no one, including his wife, should be informed about the defection. Moreover, he didn't want his wife to know about the existence of Butterfly or the Secret Service's Mushroom Project. Although he didn't know if the project was real or not, if the information in Liu Han's letter was true, the situation would still be very complicated and severe.
Seeing that her husband was avoiding her question, Jiang Yuping stopped pressing him and followed his gaze toward their son. Qiu Yang saw his father beckoning to him, so he waved back and walked toward his parents.
A few minutes later, he arrived at his parents' side. Qiu Jingwen did not fulfill his wife and son's wish to tell them the truth about his release. Instead, he talked about the upcoming major overhaul work at the factory. He even regretted that if he had known that Shao Jian would turn him over to the enemy and make him an undercover agent after he surrendered, he would not have told his son Qiu Yang all his secrets.
The couple walked together on a country road with their son in silence. Qiu Yang probably felt that he was acting as a third wheel, so he said, "Mom and Dad, you two go for a walk. I'm going back to my dormitory in the factory area."
Jiang Yuping looked at Qiu Yang and said, "Qiu Yang, how far have you and Su Xiaowei progressed? Do her parents know about your relationship?"
Qiu Yang told his mother that he planned to visit Su Xiaowei's mother when he had some time. Qiu Jingwen then asked, "What is the current situation of Su Xiaowei's father?"
"He's still under investigation, but I've heard that some of the veteran cadres and intellectuals who were investigated with him have already been exonerated."
Qiu Jingwen didn't ask any more questions. Times had changed. He had been turned into an undercover agent, and he felt that things wouldn't be so bad in the future. Therefore, his son's marriage to Su Xiaowei shouldn't be so bad either. As long as the two children truly loved each other, even if they couldn't crack the undercover team in the future, he wouldn't be sentenced to too heavy a sentence, let alone the death penalty.
Qiu Yang explained a few words, then turned and left his parents. He felt a great sense of relief. The way things had turned out was too unexpected for him. No matter what the future held, his father was now back at work at the factory and with the family, which was a good thing.
Qiu Jingwen and Jiang Yuping watched their son leave, then continued their walk along the country path. Occasionally, a small summer breeze would blow through the rice paddies beside them, causing the rice plants to sway to one side. Once the breeze passed, they would straighten up again, while the clear, crisp croaking of the rice rose and fell in a rhythmic chorus, as if conveying some kind of inner voice.
Qiu Jingwen, who was walking, suddenly stopped and stared into his wife's eyes, as if he wanted to ask her something. Jiang Yuping saw her husband's strange look and expression and smiled gently.
"Jingwen, why are you looking at me like that?"
"Yuping, does your head still hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore, what's wrong?"
"Do you remember anything from your past, or from when you were a child?"
"Jingwen, what do you want to ask?"
"Never mind if you don't remember."
After Qiu Yang left, Qiu Jingwen kept thinking about the matter mentioned in Liu Han's letter. Although Liu Han had not confirmed whether Jiang Yuping was Japanese or Kawashima Eiko, he really wanted to find out. Seeing that her husband was no longer pressing her for answers, Jiang Yuping took the initiative to say, "Jingwen, what exactly do you want to ask? Why did you bring up things from my childhood?"
"Yuping, tell me, do you really not remember anything from your childhood? For example, who are your parents, what are their names, where did you live when you were little, and what happened to you later?"
Jiang Yuping's heart skipped a beat, and her heartbeat quickened. With her sensitivity and intelligence, she quickly figured out how her husband must have found out about her past.
"Jingwen, do you know about my childhood? Can you tell me? I only remember living in Harbin, the Ice City, when I was a child. Later, I followed my mother to Shanghai. I was injured in a bombing, and my memory may have been damaged, so I really don't remember many things."
Jiang Yuping lied to her husband. After falling off her bicycle, she slowly remembered many things from her childhood. She knew that her original name was Kawashima Eiko and that she had a Japanese father. However, she did not want to tell her husband this secret and was even more worried that her children would find out.
After hearing this, Qiu Jingwen gave a soft "oh," then took his wife's hand and deliberately probed, "Yu Ping, you had a nightmare last time. Could the Shadow Slayer mentioned in your dream really be a real person?"
"Kagesa? What Kagesa? I really don't remember."
Jiang Yuping lied and denied again, but when she mentioned Yingzuo, her emotions inexplicably rose. Yingzuo was her father's killer, and after killing her father Kawashima Ayanami, he also took her mother Jiang Lanxi as his own.
Qiu Jingwen looked into his wife's eyes and said, "You even said you wanted to kill that Shadow Man Zuo."
"Ah, is that so? Then maybe Kagesa is a demon. If I could go back into the dream, I would definitely kill him with my own hands."
"Yu Ping, what's wrong? Do you have a grudge against Ying Zuo in your dream?"
"Hmm, I remember now. In my dream, that Kagesa killed my father. I also dreamed that he raped me."
Jiang Yuping still didn't reveal that her mother had been forcibly taken by Yingzuo. Instead, she turned her gaze to the depths of the rice paddy, watching a small bird in flight, as if trying hard to recall some past events.
Looking at his wife's expression, Qiu Jingwen seemed to know about the case. He was also certain that his wife was using the dream to make a point, and then suddenly asked, "Yu Ping, did you hear the name Kawashima Eiko in your dream?"
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