Chapter 086 Chapter 86 The Eve of Farewell
Both Sun Hongmei and Zhang Zhiwei were surprised.
On the day when they were eating wild boar in the cafeteria, Zhang Yuandong hinted to Zhang Zhiqiang that he would be returning to the army soon. This matter soon spread in the village. Anyone with a discerning eye could guess that Zhang Yuandong's return this time was probably to carry out some secret mission, and it was also related to the recent events in the village.
It was the first time that so many armed personnel came to the village. The villagers were very nervous. Zhang Zhiqiang also repeatedly stressed that no matter how curious they were, they dared not ask questions casually.
Zhang Yuandong hadn't left the house for the past two days, and everyone thought he had left. Otherwise, Zhang Zhiwei and Sun Hongmei wouldn't dare to come and cause trouble so brazenly. As Zhang Yuandong got closer, the two of them shuddered, and their hands held Lin Yue tighter and tighter. Lin Yue frowned, and just as he was about to shake them off, Zhang Yuandong came over and tore their arms apart.
The bad things that happened to him this time when he came back were more than those in the past twenty years combined. Before he went to the army at the age of fifteen, these two people just treated him harshly. He just no longer had any hope for these parents, but after coming back this time, everything that happened made him feel that these two people not only did not treat him as a son, but might even treat him as an enemy. Now that he has his own family, these two people seem to be eager to destroy his family!
Zhang Yuandong's anger is not simply disappointing now. He has been at the border for many years and has been contaminated with murderous aura. Now that he is out of control, his aura scares the couple so much that they can hardly stand steadily.
His tone was cold, and he spoke word by word: "I know what you want to do, but you know my temper. Since my previous warnings were all useless, I don't mind sending you to reunite with your good girls. Although some things have happened many years ago, they cannot withstand scrutiny. Right, filial son?"
The last sentence he said was to Zhang Zhiwei. When Zhang Zhiwei saw his eyes and heard the words "filial son", his face turned pale. He had hardly spoken to this eldest son. Even after he lived a good life with his allowance, he still chose to ignore him. So now he wanted to say something, but he opened his mouth several times and couldn't say a word.
Sun Hongmei yelled, "What are you talking about? He is your father. How can you talk to your father like that?"
Zhang Yuandong glanced over coldly: "Really?"
Sun Hongmei's expression also changed. Seeing that Zhang Yuandong didn't just want to scare them, she said in a trembling voice: "You, you are really crazy! I won't talk to you anymore, you guys take care of yourselves!" After that, she tugged at Zhang Zhiwei's sleeve and was about to leave.
Zhang Yuandong stopped the two of them and said, "I'm reminding you for the last time, my wife and children live in this house, so you'd better not mess with them. If I find out what you have done again, I don't mind settling the accounts with you!" He slammed the door shut and led Lin Yue into the house, leaving the old couple outside, feeling depressed but not daring to vent easily.
Lin Yue listened to the whole thing and was amazed. Zhang Yuandong really knew how to take advantage of the weaknesses of these two people. In the past, when Sun Hongmei came to cause trouble, Lin Yue would argue with her for a long time every time. But Zhang Yuandong just said two sentences and scared the two people away.
She had been afraid that Zhang Yuandong still had expectations of these parents, so she had never discussed these excellent parents with him. But after listening to the conversation just now, it seemed that this was not the case.
She asked tentatively: "Are you okay after having such a big fight with your parents this time?" She really didn't want to say something like "After all, they are your parents", she felt that they were not worthy.
Zhang Yuandong frowned, hesitated for a moment, and finally chose to be honest: "That's not my father."
Lin Yue was shocked. He only said "He's not my father" and didn't deny both of them, which meant that he already knew her life experience. She asked carefully: "When did you know?"
Zhang Yuandong thought for a moment and said, "It seems to be when I was seven or eight years old. One time when I came home, I overheard the two quarreling. Zhang Zhiwei said that he should have sold me when I was two years old. I was not his son. He had raised me for so many years in vain and even blocked his biological son from reincarnating."
When Lin Yue heard him say "when I was two years old", her heart moved, and she felt that something was about to be connected. She repeated Zhang Yuandong's words in a low voice, and combined with her previous doubts, her eyes lit up, and she suddenly remembered what Lin Laoer said a long time ago.
Zhang Yuandong continued, "I just thought that I should just break off relations with them, so that they wouldn't bother you all the time. But then I thought, I'm going back to the army soon. If I break off relations with them now, and you continue to live in the village, and then they leave you this shabby stall, people in the village might gossip about it, and your life will be even more difficult."
In fact, severing ties is not uncommon in recent years. When the class division was carried out in the 1950s, everyone was afraid of being implicated, and many people severed ties with their parents and children, and many divorced. It may have been politically correct at the time, but in fact, it was not a good reputation. Lin Yue also knew that in a few years, there would be more such things.
Lin Yue put aside the thought in his mind and said with a smile: "Now is not a good time. If you are really determined to break up with them, there will be a chance in the future."
If her guess is confirmed to be correct in the future, then when Zhang Yuandong wants to break off ties with this family, people will only sympathize with him, and no one will say that Zhang Yuandong is wrong.
But she was still a little curious and asked, "Then do you know who your biological father is?"
Zhang Yuandong shook his head. "When she got married, a few people in the village actually knew about her situation. It was still the old society at that time. She told the clan leader that she was working as a servant in a wealthy family and was bullied by the young master of the family. The young master wanted to take her in, but she didn't want to be someone else's mistress, so she ran away. I only found out about these things later. Because of this, several older people in the village sympathized with her situation."
Lin Yue opened his mouth wide and asked stutteringly: "Did you know that she used to work in my house, Principal Xu's house? And I heard that there seems to be only one young master in his family..."
Zhang Yuandong was also stunned, "Impossible! If it was Principal Xu, how could she not agree with her personality? Moreover, Principal Xu has been here as an educated youth for so long. With her temper, it is impossible for her to be so honest as not to cause trouble for Principal Xu. Instead, she is afraid of Principal Xu's appearance!" Because Xu's father looked like a very upright person, and not only did he donate almost all of his fortune to support the anti-Japanese war before the founding of the People's Republic of China, he also has a very good reputation now. Therefore, Zhang Yuandong actually had a filter for Xu's father. When he heard Lin Yue say this, he wanted to refute it first.
Lin Yue recalled what Xu's father said at that time. It was obvious that Sun Hongmei failed to get into bed, and no one knew what happened afterwards that led her to marry here with a big belly. She was very sure that Sun Hongmei must be lying, otherwise Xu's father would not have watched her marry Zhang Yuandong without any reaction.
But she still found it incredible: "I heard Widow Liu quarreling with her before, saying that she used to work as a maid in Principal Xu's house. Isn't that something everyone knows? Moreover, Principal Xu also told me about this before, which just happened to coincide with what Widow Liu said."
Zhang Yuandong thought for a moment and said, "Widow Liu never provides evidence when she speaks. She can make up anything as long as it can achieve her goal. Almost no one in the village believes what she says. This incident may have been said by her accidentally."
How could such a coincidence happen? Lin Yue's eyes widened in disbelief.
The two little guys looked at the two adults eagerly. They cooked so many delicious dishes tonight, but they were not in a hurry to eat! Little Lingling grabbed Lin Yue's sleeve, raised her head and said anxiously: "Mom, mom, don't talk, the noodles are swimming!"
As soon as one of the children interrupted, the atmosphere suddenly became much more relaxed. Lin Yue scooped a large spoonful of soup into the two children's bowls as a dipping sauce. The two children were very happy and ate with their bowls in their hands, enjoying the meal.
Lin Yue was happy to see that the two children enjoyed the food. She turned around and saw that Zhang Yuandong had already started to serve the second bowl.
At night, after the two children had gone to bed, she stuffed a lot of spicy sauce and kimchi that Zhang Yuandong liked to eat into his travel bag. Until now, she really felt that this person was really leaving, and might not come back for a long time. She was very angry with this guy before, but only now did she feel a little uncomfortable in her heart.
This guy still acted as if nothing had happened. At first he was reluctant to let Lin Yue bring so many things for him, but when he saw Lin Yue's attitude of not allowing him to have any say, he just stood aside and laughed foolishly.
Lin Yue glared at him unhappily and took him into the space.
"I see you're quite free. Anyway, there's still plenty of time tonight. Help me kill three more rabbits and squeeze some peanut oil."
Zhang Yuandong was a little confused about the situation, but he still went to work honestly.
He was on the train tomorrow morning. Lin Yue heard that people who took the train at this time would bring their own food from home. Zhang Yuandong's unit was stationed in a province away, in a military region in central China that specializes in knife-cut noodles. At the speed of the train at this time, it might take nearly a day and a night. Lin Yue baked a large stack of scallion pancakes for him, which was convenient and inconspicuous to eat on the train. She heard from people whose families had taken the train that most people ate boiled eggs on the train, so Lin Yue also cooked a few for her.
In order to prepare food for tomorrow's trip in the car, she dug out the cans she had saved over the years, cleaned them one by one, and picked a large basket of dried chilies, cutting them into small pieces one by one. After Zhang Yuandong's rabbit was ready, she cooked a large pot of cold rabbit and would bring it to him.
Zhang Yuandong fried the peanuts, ground them into flour, and finally squeezed out a full jar of peanut oil with the small wooden press that Lin Yue bought. Just as the oil was settling, he saw Lin Yue scooping nearly half of the oil into the pot. Although he couldn't cook, he knew how precious oil was, and was instantly shocked by Lin Yue's bold technique and was speechless.
Lin Yue had never been from Sichuan, but she liked the food there, and cold rabbit was one of them. The condiments here were not complete, and her cooking was not authentic, but in Zhang Yuandong's opinion, the food that the landlords had eaten in the past might not be this good.
Lin Yue heated up some oil in a pot and cooked a simple version of "Someone's Mother". The chili smell was very strong, and the two people sneezed from the stimulation. The fermented black beans were black and looked like they were burnt, but they were inexplicably attractive.
If Lin Yue knew what he was thinking, he would definitely laugh. This is a classic that is famous both at home and abroad. She is the undisputed goddess in the hearts of countless people. How could she not be attractive?
The two couldn't resist the temptation and had another big meal in the space.
After the dishes were completely cooled, Lin Yue put them into cans one by one and instructed, "Cold rabbit cannot be kept for too long. Eat this one first, don't let it go bad. The chili sauce can be kept for a longer time, so you can save it for later."
Zhang Yuandong followed closely behind Lin Yue, watching her prepare food and then take out a pile of clothes, putting them all into a big cloth bag for him. He couldn't help but say, "You've already given me a lot of pickled vegetables. You don't need to take so many more. I'll need to eat them for a long time."
"You finally came home, so you should at least bring some specialties to your leaders. You sent me a lot of seafood before, which means they should not be short of these seafood. I'll give you some more pickles. Even though they don't look very good, it's at least a token of my appreciation."
Zhang Yuandong stood there at a loss, with a surge of warmth in his heart. At this moment, the desire to not leave reached its peak.