After Chengru and Chengjie left, everyone in the Fu family was looking forward to hearing from them, but perhaps because they were not used to the army, or perhaps because the training for the new recruits was too hard, they waited for several months but did not receive a single letter from the army.
However, there were two letters that surprised everyone. One was from a border province and was written to Xu Shuzhen, and the other was from Yunnan Province and was signed by Shen Qiaosheng, who had been missing for six years.
Xu Shuzhen rushed over from school, sweating profusely. She took the letter and opened it directly. She hadn't received a letter from her boyfriend for a long time and was extremely nervous at the moment.
The letter was very thick, with several pages of eloquent writing at the front, describing the customs of the border province and their contributions to supporting construction. Xu Shuzhen kept reading with a smile, but her smile fell only when she saw the last page.
"Shuzhen... I am ashamed to face your feelings and waiting, and I am ashamed of the vows we made to each other. Life in the border provinces is hard, and there is no end in sight. In such endless efforts, it is she who has always been by my side, supporting me and encouraging me. She is a very beautiful girl from the border province. I cannot bear to let her down, so I can only say sorry to you, please don't wait for me any longer..."
Fu Baoer watched Xu Shuzhen go from being filled with joy to bursting into tears, the letter paper in her hand was soaked, "Sister Shuzhen, what's wrong? Don't scare me."
Xu Shuzhen's heart seemed to be hit hard. The letter only mentioned the appearance of "her" a few times, but in front of Xu Shuzhen, many scenes of her lover getting along with other women clearly emerged.
She had seen in books the gracefulness of girls from border provinces, who were good at singing and dancing, and had bright and charming temperaments. Perhaps it was people like these who could illuminate the way to support border provinces?
"It's okay, I'm fine." Xu Shuzhen was a little distraught. She had been in love with her lover for ten years. She was 28 years old now. Even though they were far apart, Xu Shuzhen had never given up on this relationship.
But she always felt something was wrong. "No! I want to go to the border province! I want to see for myself! I want him to tell me everything in person!"
Fu Baoer guessed something from Xu Shuzhen's few words, but she had never understood the matter of love. There were too many infatuated men and resentful women in this world, and there was one in her family. Fu Baoer looked at the letter in her hand and decided to hand it to her sister-in-law quickly.
Fu Xiuzhi had just returned from work when she saw her niece, looking very curious. "What's wrong, Bao'er? You're acting so secretive. What's the good news?"
Fu Baoer pointed at the table and said, "Aunt, take a look for yourself, but don't get too excited!"
"What's so exciting about that..." Fu Xiuzhi's words stopped abruptly. What did she see? It was a letter from Yun Sheng, a letter from Shen Qiaosheng!
Fu Xiuzhi didn't care about being shy in front of her niece. She tore open the letter and unfolded it impatiently. Shen Qiaosheng's handwriting was just like him, with bright moon and cool breeze, revealing his unyielding pride.
"Xiuzhi, I'm glad to hear from you. It's been six years since we last met..."
After arriving in Yunnan Province, Shen Qiaosheng did not have a good life. The climate, diet, dialect, and various living habits here were completely different from those in the north, and he suffered a lot of discrimination here.
Local village cadres often took the lead in bullying these demoted "five black categories". As the leaders set an example, the villagers would not treat them well. Shen Qiaosheng could only eat the least amount of food and do the most work. He would be dragged out for criticism every day, his body covered with dirty feces, or pounded with stones until he was bleeding.
He lived like this for six years. During these six years, he didn't dare contact anyone, for fear of being caught with the slightest fault. It wouldn't matter if he was punished, but if his family was implicated, that would be the end of it.
Fu Xiuzhi was already in tears when she saw this. Fu Baoer was panicking. Could it be that her uncle-in-law also had someone else in Yun Province? Then she had to... had to... beat up Shen Suizhi first!
The letter also wrote that the village where Shen Qiaosheng was sent was poor and backward, and the people were not enlightened, but they were extremely united. They had tried several times to marry a girl from the village to Shen Qiaosheng, and had used countless means, but they were all resolved one by one by him. Shen Qiaosheng wrote these in humorous sentences, but Fu Xiuzhi could guess the danger in it.
"He must have suffered a lot..." Fu Xiuzhi's vision was blurred and she couldn't read the rest of the content at all. Fu Baoer hurriedly snatched it away and read it for her aunt.
"Don't worry, Xiuzhi. When you read this letter, I should be on my way back to the capital. You must be surprised..."
Fu Baoer breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that the Shen family had been rehabilitated. No, no, no, the word "rehabilitated" was not right. It could only be said that the power struggle above had a winner. The faction that the Shen family relied on was temporarily safe, so they immediately sent someone to take Shen Qiaosheng back.
Shen Qiaosheng asked them to tell the news to Shen Xiuqi and Shen Suizhi. He would return to Beijing to take care of everything first. When everything was settled, he would come to Qingshan Village to pick up his father and nephew and visit Fu Xiuzhi's family.
"Xiuzhi, I miss you so much," Fu Baoer chuckled. "And you, like me, are you worried about me day and night?"
Fu Xiuzhi blushed and snatched the letter into the house.
"Aunt, do you miss my uncle?" Fu Baoer rushed out like the wind before Fu Xiuzhi rushed out to spank her, "I'm going to find Grandpa Shen!"
Shen Xiuqi and Shen Sui were very surprised to hear the news. Could they actually go back? They actually thought it was fine to stay in Qingshan Village.
"Alas, I knew this day would come, but I didn't expect it to happen so soon." Shen Xiuqi believed that the storm would eventually pass and China would not remain in chaos forever.
Seventeen-year-old Shen Suizhi has lost his youthful immaturity and has a more steady look on his face. He is like a tall pine or cypress. In the past few years, he has grown into the pillar of his grandfather. "If grandma and my aunt's family know this news, they can rest assured in Hong Kong City."
But now I still can’t bring my family back, and there is no way to communicate.
"Oh, isn't this a good thing? Why are you all so sad?" Fu Baoer waved his hand, interrupting the grandfather and grandson's worries, "Don't think about it, you should be happy!"
Chen Xiuqi patted Fu Baoer's head happily: "Baoer is right, this is a great thing. Although Qiao Sheng suffered a lot in Yun Province, he has grown up after all. My youngest son has had too smooth a life. After this experience, perhaps he will make further progress."
Fu Baoer shrugged. The older generation liked the theory of "suffering brings happiness", but she disagreed. "Grandpa Shen, you are wrong. It is better not to suffer this kind of hardship if you can. My uncle-in-law is a child of destiny. Without these experiences, he will only be better, right?"
Shen Xiuqi was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter. This little girl, her words were crooked but her logic was not. "Yes, Baoer is right. Such suffering is not worthy of our praise."
Shen Suizhi looked at his grandfather and Baoer with a smile, and silently swore in his heart that he would work hard in the future to create a world for them so that they would no longer have to suffer.
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