501
Lin Cuicui was in a great mood and walked home with a brisk pace. But as soon as she reached the front door, she sensed that something was wrong.
She clearly locked the gate from the outside when she left, so how did it open? The sound of Xixi's giggles came from the courtyard. Lin Cuicui felt a little relieved.
Pushing open the door, Lin Cuicui paused for a moment upon seeing the person sitting in the courtyard, but she quickly recovered and walked into the courtyard with a smile, "Xingzi is here! What brings you here today?"
As she spoke, she pulled Xixi into her arms and gave her a big kiss. "Xixi, did you miss Mommy?"
Xixi was delighted by her mother's kisses, and she grabbed her mother's hair with a smile, saying between giggles, "I miss, I miss Mommy."
A hint of envy flashed in Qian Xing's eyes, but he quickly concealed it as Lin Cuicui turned her head. "Sister-in-law, training wasn't busy today, so I came to see Uncle Li and Xixi."
It was still early, and Lin Cuicui knew it couldn't be that simple. Old Li's face darkened; he suspected Qian Xing might have said something to the old man. Lin Cuicui carried Xixi inside. "Come in and have some water."
Qian Xing followed her into the house, and Lin Cuicui brought over some water. "The New Year is almost here. Does Xingzi have any annual leave this year?"
Qian Xing gave a wry smile and shook his head. "New recruits don't get any leave for the first two years. And I'm different from others; I don't get any leave at all."
Qian Xing's words were veiled, but Lin Cuicui still understood. She sat down in the chair opposite Qian Xing and asked, "Did something happen?"
Qian Xing handed a small note to Lin Cuicui. "I found this under my lunchbox yesterday morning when I was getting food at the cafeteria. To be honest, I was holding my lunchbox the whole time, so I don't even know when I put the note down."
Lin Cuicui took it and glanced at it. In truth, she didn't know what to do either. She looked at Old Li, and Old Li looked at them both. "Cuicui just went out, and now that Qian Xing is here, it would seem too deliberate for you to go out again."
There should still be someone watching our house. It's been quiet for over a year, so why is there noise again now? Looks like something else has happened.
Lin Cuicui felt that Old Li's analysis made sense. Ever since Qian Xing had confronted the Tang family about the spies threatening their family and reported it to the army, he was no longer so afraid.
However, because of this, he would never be given an important position in the military. At first, he didn't think much of it, but the longer he stayed in the military, the more he truly loved it.
But he knew he could only serve as a private for two or three years before being discharged and demobilized. So now he really wanted to earn merit. He really, really wanted to.
So when he received the note, he didn't make a fuss. He decided to go and see for himself who this spy hiding in the army was.
At night, a cold wind seeped in through the cracks in the classroom's mottled wooden windows, causing the slogan "Study hard and make progress every day" hanging above the blackboard to sway slightly.
Qian Xing sat in the back row of the classroom, staring at the open "Selected Works of Mao Zedong" in front of him by the halo of the incandescent light bulb, but his mind was not on the pages at all.
The note found under the lunchbox during the day was now being quietly clutched in his palm. The sweaty edges of the note read, "At three quarters past Xu hour, in the classroom podium drawer."
The bell rang, and his comrades left in twos and threes. Qian Xing dawdled over tidying up his desk. Once the classroom was empty, he quickly walked to the podium and opened the bottom drawer.
Inside lay a tin box labeled "Xinhua Dictionary," with half a piece of Shanghai brand milk candy wrapper still stuck to the corner—a rare treat for children these days.
Underneath the tin box was a yellowed cigarette label, with a crooked pencil drawing on the back: "Trick Lin Cuicui and Tang Xi into going to the border town."
Just as Qian Xing's hand touched the tin box, footsteps suddenly echoed down the corridor. He abruptly shoved the box into his coat and grabbed a copy of "Selected Works of Mao Zedong," pretending to read it.
As the light and shadow swept across the classroom, he caught a glimpse of a figure wearing a gray cloth mask flashing past the window. The hem of the military overcoat was stained with fresh red mud—the same color as the soil that the mess hall had turned over that morning in the vegetable garden.
Cold sweat trickled down his spine. Qian Xing opened the tin box. Inside, besides two ferry tickets for tomorrow, was a secretly taken photograph:
His father, Qian Dazhi, who lived far away in Qiligou, was squatting under an old locust tree at the village entrance, with the slogan "Never forget class struggle" clearly visible behind him. Qian Xing stared at the photo and felt breathless.
The sounds of slogans echoed from outside the window, and Qian Xing's fingers trembled slightly as he gripped the tin box. The clock on the classroom wall pointed to 7:45 PM, its hour and minute hands like sharp blades, twisting painfully into his heart.
But now he has no other choice; the military already knows he has been held hostage by spies. He may not only be being watched by spies, but also by the military personnel who are likely monitoring him constantly.
Deep down, he didn't want to do anything that would betray the Party and the people, especially since it involved Tang San's wife and a child who was just over a year old.
However, he couldn't do nothing. Battalion Commander Chang had told him before he left that this line of communication couldn't be broken. So Qian Xing came over as soon as he finished training in the morning.
Lin Cuicui hadn't gone out much lately, and she wondered what had happened. She asked Old Li, "Dad, you've been going out a lot lately. Has anything unusual happened on the South Island?"
After Lin Cuicui's reminder, Qian Xing remembered. He quickly said, "Recently, the 'Kemi' and the supercomputer independently developed by our China have been completed and will be unveiled soon. But what does this have to do with the spies wanting to arrest my sister-in-law and Xixi?"
Lin Cuicui didn't look up, and Old Li didn't look at Qian Xing either; both of them pretended to be deep in thought. They knew in their hearts that the appearance of these two items must be related to her daughter (granddaughter).
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