The next morning, the sky was just beginning to lighten.
Qin Tian got up very early. He washed his face with cold water, shaved off his stubble, and changed into a clean and crisp set of clothes. The person in the mirror still had some dark circles under his eyes, but his eyes had regained their former clarity and determination.
He rolled up his sleeves and began fetching water, sweeping the floor, and wiping the tables… He wanted to erase every trace of that woman from the house, bit by bit. When the first ray of sunlight shone through the window, the entire house was transformed, filled with the fresh scent of soap and sunshine.
After doing all this, he went to another place—the orphanage in the county town.
Xiao Feng had been brought here overnight from the guesthouse by the police. He was still wearing the same dirty clothes from yesterday, his little face streaked with tears. He was huddled in a corner, hugging his knees. When he saw Qin Tian, he timidly called out, "...Dad?"
Qin Tian felt as if he had been stabbed hard by a needle.
He walked up to the boy, squatted down, and looked at the face that bore no resemblance to his own, yet had called him "Dad" for years with complicated emotions. On that face, one could vaguely see the shadow of Wang Wu's fleshy features.
He was the son of an enemy, irrefutable proof of a woman's betrayal, and a living symbol of the shame that had etched into his life.
But he was, after all, just a child. A child who knew nothing, who would only grab his clothes for candy and cling to his back to act spoiled.
Suppressing the bitterness welling up in his heart, Qin Tian took out a handful of White Rabbit milk candies he had prepared beforehand from his pocket and stuffed them into the boy's hand. Then, he took out an envelope containing almost all of his savings and handed it to the director of the orphanage.
"Dean, this child... I'm entrusting him to you." His voice was a little hoarse. "Give him a new name, let him forget the past, and start anew."
The dean sighed and nodded: "Don't worry, Engineer Qin."
Qin Tian glanced one last time at the boy who was clumsily peeling a candy wrapper with his head down, said nothing more, resolutely turned around, and strode away from the place.
He didn't turn around.
Some things in the past must be severed in order to usher in a new life.
When Qin Tian drove the research institute's jeep back to the guesthouse, Su Wantang and Lu Linchuan had already packed their luggage.
“Uncle.” Su Wantang looked at him and keenly sensed that something heavy about him had disappeared.
Qin Tian smiled at her, a genuine and relaxed smile from the bottom of his heart: "Let's go home."
The car drove towards the family compound. The sun was shining brightly, and the poplar trees along the roadside were shimmering with golden light.
Back in her bright and clean home, Su Wantang put down her luggage and took a deep breath. The sweet scent of face cream that used to linger on Li Xiumei was gone; in its place was the comforting smell of "home."
"Don't sit still, everyone!" Qin Tian took off his coat, tied on an apron, and looked like a general commanding a vast army. "Lin Chuan, go to the supply and marketing cooperative and buy me all the best beef you can find! Wantang, find all the spices we brought from our hometown. Today, your uncle will show you a skill and make my secret recipe that I rarely share – five-spice beef jerky!"
After surviving such an ordeal, a grand celebration is the best form of healing.
Soon, Lu Linchuan returned carrying a large piece of bright red beef hind leg.
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