In the dimly lit detention cell, a thin figure huddled in the corner.
Suddenly, the door creaked open, letting in light. The figure in the corner flinched, raising his hand to shield his eyes from the light, but couldn't stop the man who followed him in.
"Student Feng, if you agree to my request, I'll immediately have someone release you, and I'll even treat you to good food and drinks, and find you an easy and respectable job. What do you think of being a sales clerk at a department store?"
The man coaxed and lured closer, and when he saw the girl cowering in the corner without resisting, he immediately smiled, every pimple on his face radiating the smugness of having power in his grasp. He lowered his head and leaned towards the red lips he had been craving for so long.
But before he could even touch her, he was struck hard on the head with a thud, screaming as he fell to the ground, covered in blood.
Immediately, a group of people wearing red armbands rushed in. Some rushed to treat the man, while others rushed over to kick and punch the girl, cursing her for plotting against her leader and deserving to die. The girl did not resist at all, but only tightly gripped the blood-stained sharp stone.
This stone was the only weapon she could find in this dilapidated cell; it could hurt others or end her own life to avoid humiliation.
But in the end, her stone was taken away. Perhaps the man didn't want to let her off so easily and wanted to break her pride one by one. In his anger, he arbitrarily accused her of a crime and threw her into a cadre school farm.
Year after year, day after day, the arduous labor on the farm, exposed to wind and sun, scorching heat and bitter cold, and the ever-present threat of danger, meant that she would always carry a sharp stone or a splinter within her...
The following day, sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains into the east-facing room on the second floor.
The girl under the brocade quilt finally struggled to wake up from her dream of her past life. The first thing she did was reach under her pillow and touch a short blade. The fear and unease brought from the dream immediately dissipated, and she sat up and breathed a sigh of relief.
She found this short blade at home on the day she was reborn, and carried it with her at all times, even keeping it under her pillow when she slept. It gave her a sense of security, because the short blade was much more useful than the stones and wooden spikes from her previous life.
Just like last night, she was able to force Pi Dapeng to retreat with her short blade.
For a moment, she did consider stabbing him in the neck when he wasn't looking. That would have caused more bleeding than hitting his forehead with a stone in her past life, and might even have killed him, thus settling the score with the hatred from her past life.
At that moment, her eyes turned red, but it was just a feint because she couldn't do that; she had family behind her.
"Sister, you're awake?"
Just then, the door was quietly pushed open, and Mingxue's little head peeked in. Seeing her sister sitting on the bed, her eyes lit up and she ran over to her: "Sister, breakfast is ready. Mom made it with my brother and me. Would you like to come downstairs and try some?"
Hearing her younger sister's plea and seeing her innocent and bright smile, all the gloom in Feng Mingshu's eyes dissipated. She got out of bed and affectionately pinched her little nose: "Okay, after you taste the breakfast Xiaoxue made, I'll take you to draw a snow scene."
Xiao Mingxue immediately clapped her hands happily: "Sister, I want to draw our house, and I want to draw you and Mom in it too."
"Won't I be there?" Mingyu ran over and asked, dissatisfied.
“You’re not on my side, so I won’t draw you.” Xiao Mingxue proudly raised her chin.
"How can I not be on your side? I'm your older brother!" Mingyu exclaimed, jumping up and down.
“But if you don’t like big brother, then you’re not on our side.” Xiaomingxue made a face at her brother.
Feng Mingshu was stunned when she heard this. She knew that the older brother her sister was talking about was Zhou Jinshan.
Xiao Mingxue turned to her again and asked, "Sister, can I draw my big brother in too?"
Feng Mingshu came to her senses, touched her sister's braids and said softly, "No need, he won't come to our house again."
Early morning, at the hospital.
Zhou Jinshan's fever subsided, and he woke up. He slowly sat up, supporting himself on the bed.
"Old Zhou, breakfast is here, open your mouth."
Lu Xiangqian, who was standing by the bed, immediately picked up a bowl of steaming rice porridge and diligently scooped a spoonful to Zhou Jinshan's lips. This disgusted Zhou Jinshan, who turned his head away.
"My hands aren't useless yet, I don't need you to feed me."
"Tell me, did you do something to wrong me, and are you trying to make amends here?"
Lu Xiangqian felt guilty after being told that, but he denied it verbally and raised his voice: "Old Zhou, you have no conscience. I was tricked by you yesterday, but I still searched for you everywhere without holding a grudge. I even stayed with you in bed at night, and now I'm feeding you porridge. What have I done to wrong you?"
“It’s because you’ve done so much for us that you’re behaving so strangely right now.” Zhou Jinshan’s voice was calm as he looked past Lu Xiangqian toward the door, as if anticipating something.
Seeing his pleading look, Lu Xiangqian pursed his lips and put down the bowl: "You don't need to look anymore. Comrade Feng went back a long time ago. I was just afraid you would feel bad, so I fed you porridge to comfort you. But you didn't appreciate my kindness and even turned around and blamed me."
Upon hearing that she had returned, Zhou Jinshan's eyes dimmed for a moment, but he quickly picked up the porridge as if nothing had happened, stirred it slowly with a spoon, and asked, "When did she go back? Did anyone see her off? Did she leave me any message before she left?"
Lu Xiangqian's eyes flickered: "Why do you ask so many questions? Drink your porridge first, and I'll tell you after you're done."
Zhou Jinshan frowned, put the bowl of porridge back on the table, and stared at Lu Xiangqian: "You speak."
He didn't say a word more, but his eyes were very piercing.
Lu Xiangqian couldn't take it anymore and had to pull out the letter and slap it on him: "Here you go, don't blame me if you can't eat after reading this. But remember one thing, even if you beat me to death, I won't let you leave this ward today. Besides, I called the political commissar early this morning, and he'll be here soon..."
Zhou Jinshan completely ignored Lu Xiangqian's rambling. As soon as he got the letter, he unfolded it, and a wad of money fell out. Zhou Jinshan was stunned and looked up at Lu Xiangqian.
Lu Xiangqian was also surprised when he saw it, and quickly shook his head: "I didn't know Comrade Feng left you money. Oh my, this must be thirty or forty yuan. She's very generous."
Zhou Jinshan lowered his eyes, gathered the money scattered on the bed, and casually put it aside. His gaze then fell on the letter, reading it slowly, word by word.
Lu Xiangqian immediately fell silent, feeling as if a hundred claws were scratching at his heart. After all, he had ruined their relationship so soon. Although Comrade Feng had agreed to his request, what if she didn't keep her word?
I also blame myself for being too principled; I refrained from opening the letter and peeking at it last night.
This is really tough.
He secretly vowed that after this was over, he would never interfere in Lao Zhou's relationship again, and he would never interfere in anyone else's relationship!
After Zhou Jinshan finished reading the letter, he looked up at Lu Xiangqian, who was so shocked that he almost jumped up and stammered, "What did Comrade Feng say in the letter?"
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