The original owner loved her two children very much. Fearing that the children would be disappointed, she always embellished everything about Zhou Chengguang, portraying him as a flawless hero and father.
Over the past nine years, although the children have lacked their father's presence, they have not lacked his love. Because Zhou Chengguang has been fighting bravely on the front lines, his children are proud to have such a father who sacrificed his personal life for his beliefs.
When a father works hard for his children, even if he's not physically present, the children will still feel his love. But when the person called father, even if he's physically present every day, ignores them and doesn't care about them, that's the true absence of fatherly love.
Da Cui, standing with her arm around her younger brother, was expressionless, her eyes devoid of any emotion. She had accepted it all, accepted everything she was about to face.
This was what Xu Keke found most unacceptable. She would rather see someone rebel than see such a young girl become so lifeless.
Xu Keke pulled the cotton coat she was wearing tighter around herself. Even in the north, with the sun shining brightly in the small room at midday in early spring, it still felt cold and lacked warmth.
Zhou Chengguang, brows furrowed, looked irritable. Liu Wenda, his face calm, kept wiping his glasses. Comrade Chen Yufen, her eyes disdainful, held her head slightly higher. Xu Keke glanced at the group with some regret; unfortunately, she wasn't feeling well today and needed to finish quickly.
"Zhou Chengguang, you're uneducated, that's why you don't know,"
Zhou Chengguang chuckled slightly, as if she were some kind of cultured person. Xu Keke ignored her and continued speaking.
"Ask Political Commissar Liu what 'caught red-handed' means. It means catching the thief on the spot. You don't understand, right? Let me give you an example,"
Da Cui looked at Xu Keke in surprise. Why was her mother talking to her father like that? It seemed like... it seemed like she looked down on her father.
Xu Keke was engrossed in her story and didn't notice the change in the little girl's eyes; otherwise, she would have been pleased.
Xu Keke patiently explained to Zhou Chengguang, "The money is in my hands now, so tell me, did I steal it? And as Comrade Liu Yufen just said, this money is only rare in our poor rural area. In their eyes, it's not something valuable. Since it's not unique, how can you prove that this money belongs to Company Commander Wu's wife? To accuse someone of stealing, you should at least grab them by the wrist."
Zhou Chengguang was good at fighting on the battlefield, but he lacked verbal skills. Xu Keke's rambling had him completely bewildered. He didn't know if Xu Keke was right or wrong. He looked to his old partner Liu Wenda for help.
Liu Wenda put on his glasses. "What my sister-in-law said is both right and wrong. There are witnesses to Da Cui stealing money."
Tsk! Tsk! Xu Keke shook her head and looked at him, "Zhou Chengguang treated you like a brother who would risk his life for you, and this is how you treat him. I really feel sorry for him."
"This woman is never going to stop," Zhou Chengguang glared at Xu Keke with hostility. "Old Liu and I don't need your interference!"
Liu Wenda was no ordinary man. He was still smiling when he said, "Sister-in-law, this isn't a matter of brotherhood. If you're wrong, you have to speak up. Even if my own parents were wrong today, I would still do the same."
Xu Keke wanted to let it go, but she couldn't stand his sanctimonious appearance and blurted out, "Let it go, how old is my Da Cui? How could she have a son as big as you?"
Liu Wenda's face darkened, and he said with an air of righteousness, "Comrade Feng Lichun, if you continue like this, I won't be polite. Don't think that the army is your own backyard where you can say whatever you want."
"The way you talk makes it sound like you've never been polite to us." Xu Keke pointed at Liu Yufen, then at the women standing outside.
“They’re all military family members. They can take whatever they want from the canteen. But when we go there, no one pays any attention to us, even though we’re also military family members. Our kids took some dry food, and they accused us of stealing. What’s wrong with that? Isn’t Zhou Chengguang a military officer? His mother has never been able to have a full meal since she came here. It’s all thanks to these two kids going hungry to save it for her.”
Zhou Chengguang waved his hand and said, "Don't talk about that. The troops are short of supplies. We are officers and we should take the lead. We can't be treated specially."
Xu Keke laughed, "You're not special at all, Battalion Commander Zhou. You're special enough. Their families all get two dishes and rice. Look at what your mother eats."
Xu Keke picked up the naan bread on the table. "Yuanbao, tell your dad, did you eat this naan?"
Yuanbao shook his head and swallowed. "My sister said that neither Grandma nor Mom has anything to eat, so I can't eat."
Zhou Chengguang hadn't expected things to turn out this way. Liu Yufen had told him that they couldn't let Feng Lichun and her children have too comfortable a life in the army, otherwise they would refuse to leave. That's why he agreed to let her make the arrangements.
This arrangement is a bit too much. I'm a battalion commander, after all. I can't let my family members be treated worse than a company commander. It's too much of a slap in the face.
Zhou Chengguang glanced at his mother, who stood to one side with bound feet and a hunched back, and sighed deeply.
“Zhou Chengguang, did you hear what your son said? I’m just wondering, what did you do wrong? Or did you offend too many people in the army? There are so many officers’ families in the army, and they can all get enough to eat, but your family doesn’t even get a hot soup. People look down on you and target you. Shouldn’t you reflect on this?”
Xu Keke's words shocked the people standing outside. They were all Zhou Chengguang's subordinates; this wasn't a case of their leader not uniting them, but rather them accusing him of undermining him. Who would dare to accept such accusations?
Seeing that Zhou Chengguang was about to speak, Xu Keke raised her hand to stop him, "Don't blame us. We've only been here a few days. We haven't had any food since day one. You led us to this room and left. When we went to the canteen, they wouldn't even give us any food. It was Comrade Li Cuihua, the wife of Company Commander Liao, who shared some of her food with us."
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