Chapter 144 Chapter 144 Visiting Relatives

Zhang Yuandong was shocked by the first sentence Liu Fang said. Zhang Xiaohui actually ran away.

Because of Zhang Xiaohui's special circumstances, she has been secretly detained for the past few years and has rarely been able to come into contact with outsiders. In the past few years, relevant departments have secretly monitored her previous in-laws' family to verify the truth of her words. Not all of the things she said can be matched, but there are a few things that really happened.

Originally, a prisoner like Zhang Xiaohui was so special that the relevant departments were very strict in her supervision. However, after the big movement, some powerful departments were in chaos, and some departments even stopped operating. Someone took this opportunity to secretly rescue Zhang Xiaohui. When the people in power found out about this, they thought it was just an ordinary prisoner who was lost, and didn't take it seriously at all. When people who knew the inside story learned about it, it was too late. Zhang Xiaohui had already run away to who knows where.

Zhang Xiaohui has always been extremely hostile to Lin Yue, and the higher-ups think that she will definitely lurk around Lin Yue and attack him. After learning that Zhang Xiaohui had escaped, the higher-ups called the original military region, but learned that Zhang Yuandong had been transferred, so they quickly sent Liu Fang over to protect Lin Yue. At the same time, if they really found Zhang Xiaohui's whereabouts, they could also implement the arrest plan.

Zhang Yuandong was thinking a lot, and his expression was tense. He could hear from Liu Fang's words that the relevant departments had been keeping an eye on Lin Yue.

He didn't want to test human nature. He was afraid that Lin Yue's specialness would be discovered and he would be imprisoned like Zhang Xiaohui. He thought of the snake he released in Secretary Liu's house that morning and felt a surge of regret. If he could do it again, he would not let Lin Yue take such a big risk for others.

Lin Yue was more open-minded than Zhang Yuandong about this matter. Huaguo was a very tolerant country, and those supernatural things were not uncommon. Every region had widely circulated supernatural events. As long as there was no harm to the people and the country, the relevant departments would just monitor secretly and would not interfere too much.

This is indeed the case. Because of the importance that Chang Kaishen and his people attached to Lin Yue and Zhang Xiaohui, the higher-ups had already begun to pay attention to Lin Yue. The strength of her and the children was amazing, and Zhang Yuandong, although it was undeniable that he was a very good fighter, the change in his physical fitness was also very obvious. Although Zhang Yuandong had been deliberately controlling it, the gap between before and after was still very large. No one would believe that there was no adventure involved.

However, the relevant departments did not take any further action, but only secretly provided Lin Yue with a little more protection. Even Commander Wang had received a call asking him to pay more attention to Lin Yue's safety. However, he had received instructions in advance from a leader who was on good terms with Xu's father, so he did not think much about it when he received the call.

The group got off the train, took the bus, and arrived at the foot of Xiaoxing'anling.

In February, Y City was still covered in snow. Even though the group was dressed very warmly, it was still difficult for them to adapt to the temperature. Three adults held four children in their arms, and carried heavy luggage in one hand, moving slowly in the wild on this cold winter day.

After much difficulty, they came across a small village. Zhang Yuandong, holding a letter, hurried to the front to ask for directions.

Not long after, a middle-aged man in his forties followed Zhang Yuandong over.

Zhang Yuandong's tone was obviously filled with joy, "Wife, this fellow villager said he would take us there!"

The fellow villager was wearing a thick grey cotton jacket, a dog-skin hat, his hands tucked into his sleeves, and he looked honest and simple. He looked at the children whose faces were red from the cold, and said, "It's snowing heavily, and you are leading so many children. You won't be able to reach Luohe Brigade until dark. I have a big sled at home, come on, I'll take you there!"

The fellow villager's surname was Xie, and he asked a few people to call him "Old Xie". Zhang Yuandong put the big backpack on his shoulders on the sled, took the rope from Old Xie, and thanked him: "Thank you very much, brother, I will pull the sled, please help us show the way."

Old Xie looked honest, but he had a generous personality. Hearing Zhang Yuandong call him "Brother Xie", he was very happy and did not bother to be polite with Zhang Yuandong. He walked in front to lead the way.

Several children were very interested in the sled and twisted their bodies to get off and sit on this strange means of transportation. The adults had no choice but to let the children take turns sitting on it. The sled was very big and it was no problem for several children to sit on it. However, the wind was strong and the snow was heavy. Several children could not stand such cold weather. They could only sit on the sled for a short while before being held in the arms of the adults again, shrinking their heads to resist the invasion of the cold wind.

The road was not easy to walk on, and Old Xie introduced it to several people along the way. After walking for nearly two hours, they finally saw the shadow of the Luohe Brigade.

Although this place is located in the Lesser Khingan Mountains, it is different from the small farmland on the mountain in their hometown. Before reaching Luohe Brigade, the first thing they passed was a large stretch of grain fields. The fields were covered with heavy snow, and the white was almost endless.

The children had never seen such heavy snow before. When they saw the fresh snow in the fields without any traces of human trampling, they wanted to roll around in it. Old Xie reminded them, "You are not familiar with this place. Try to walk on the roads. Don't step on the fresh snow. No one knows how deep the snow is. If you are not careful, you may sink into it."

Lin Yue was shocked. She had heard about the power of the snowy nests in the northeast before. She quickly grabbed a few children and gave them a lecture.

It was already past three in the afternoon. Because it was too cold, there were almost no people on the streets of the village. Old Xie took them to a house and helped them go in to ask for directions.

When the visitor heard that they were here to visit relatives, he enthusiastically took them to a slightly shabby adobe house.

The people in the house heard the noise outside and went out to see, they saw a large group of people standing at the door, including Old Xie from the next village, Old Xie's brother-in-law from this village, and several young people who looked exhausted.

The tall young man in military uniform in the group carefully checked for a while and called out, "Uncle, I'm from Yuandong."

Zhang Zhigang's body trembled, and he ran over with thick cotton shoes. He ran to Zhang Yuandong and carefully examined him for a long time, and then looked over Lin Yue's body again, and then he murmured in disbelief: "It's Huizi, it's really Huizi! Old woman, come out quickly, Huizi and his wife are here!"

Soon, an old woman with gray hair came out of the house. Her eyes were cloudy and her back was a little hunched. She wiped her hands on her lapels and scolded sharply, "You old fool, Huizi's family is all in the army, thousands of miles away from us, how could they have time to come to us!"

Before she finished her words, she saw a group of people standing at the gate. She quickly walked over, looked at them carefully, and accurately grabbed Zhang Yuandong and Lin Yue's hands, and said excitedly: "It's really Huizi and his wife! Oh, why did they come all the way here! Come in, come in!"

When everyone entered the house, they saw several people standing at the door, all looking outside. There were also a few children, who probably didn't have thick winter clothes, so they were wearing thin clothes and wrapped in thick quilts. They were standing at the door barefoot, trying to join in the fun.

As soon as he entered the house, Lin Yue felt a rush of warmth. There was a fire burning in the stove, and there was also a floor stove. The room was so warm that it was almost as warm as the heating in later generations.

Lin Yue followed Zhang Yuandong and greeted everyone in the room, and introduced Liu Fang and Old Xie. Uncle Zhang and Aunt Zhang thanked Old Xie repeatedly, and Old Xie smiled and said, "If I had known that this was a relative of Sister Zhang, I wouldn't have needed to ask my brother-in-law and would have come directly!"

Aunt Zhang smiled and invited him to stay for dinner, but Old Xie refused, saying that he would not save Aunt Zhang's family this meal next time he had the chance. As it was getting dark, Old Xie left quickly without saying anything more.

When the original owner got married, her uncle's family had not yet fled to the northeast to escape famine. She knew this family, but six or seven years later, her uncle and aunt had obviously aged a lot, while her cousins ​​were still the same, having remarried and had a few more children.

Zhang Yuandong and his uncle's family often corresponded, and Lin Yue had sent them things several times. In fact, the situation of his uncle's family had been mentioned in the letters before. When he fled from famine, his eldest cousin's wife refused to follow him no matter what, and decisively divorced him. The current wife was found after he came here, and now he has three children. As for the other two cousins, they got married after they came here.

My uncle's family had two daughters. One was married before fleeing the famine, and the other married into a neighboring village after coming here.

Aunt Zhang and Uncle Zhang were still extremely excited at this time, looking at this and that. They still didn't dare to recognize the young couple, but felt that they hadn't seen each other for a few years and had changed a lot. Especially these children, this was the first time the old couple saw them, and the more they saw them, the more they liked them. Aunt Zhang saw her grandchildren pushing and shoving, frowning, and scolded: "This is your uncle and aunt, you are so stupid, you don't even know how to call people!"

The children called out slowly, their eyes still rolling with curiosity. The eldest sister-in-law brought a few cups of sugar water and said with a smile, "You are a few naughty kids who have never seen the world. Don't make fun of me, sister-in-law."

Lin Yue smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, stop talking like that. Every child is naughty. My children are also the bullies in the village when they go out." She took out half a bag of candy from her pocket and gave a few pieces to each child. The children cheered and couldn't wait to peel off the candy wrapper and put the candy in their mouths.

Seeing them like this, Aunt Zhang wanted to scold them again, but she held back because she had guests at home today. She just said, "Go away, go somewhere else! The house is not big, what are you doing here?"

When the children heard this, they all ran out. Two children, wrapped in a thick blanket, ran so fast that they almost tripped over the door. A little boy of about six or seven years old walked up to Lingling and Wanli, and thought of something, and coaxed the siblings: "I have a lot of treasures there, do you want to go and see?"

Lingling and Wanli looked at each other and shook their heads at the same time. They had just arrived in a new environment and had not yet adapted quickly.

The little boy was a little disappointed, but he soon raised his head and shouted to the house: "Grandma, you adults are talking, why don't they leave? If they don't leave, I don't want to leave either!"

Aunt Zhang pretended to take off her shoes: "Get lost! You dare to negotiate with your grandma!"

The little boy was not afraid either. He ran away laughing, as if he was trying to tease Aunt Zhang on purpose.

After the group of children had gone out, Aunt Zhang called the four brothers and sisters surrounding Lin Yue over to her. The more she looked at them, the happier she became.

"You two must be Lingling and Wanli, right? You've grown so big in the blink of an eye!"

Lingling asked curiously: "Grandma, have you met my brother and me? Why can't I remember?"

Aunt Zhang found it funny and teased her, "How could I not have seen you? When we were fleeing from famine, you two even came to see us off!"

The two siblings stared with their eyes wide open. They thought for a long time but could not remember this incident. They could not help but ask, "Why don't we remember it?"

Aunt Zhang laughed out loud: "You were too young at that time. You were still in your mother's belly and followed her to see us off!"