"There's a lot of work at the factory, it's quite busy..."
Wang Xiulan stepped forward and asked softly.
"How is Jinhua? Is the child alright?"
"It's alright."
Su Mingqiang kept his head down.
"I've been vomiting everything I eat these past few days..."
A hint of heartache flashed across Wang Xiulan's face as she turned and took the packaged oil paper from Su Yufen's hand.
"Here's some mutton and vegetables; take them back for Jinhua to nourish her."
Su Mingqiang looked at the oil paper package with the words "Donglaishun" printed on it, and his Adam's apple bobbed.
He wanted to refuse, but considering that his family hadn't had any meat for several days, he eventually reached out his hand.
"Thank you, Mother..."
The moment he took the oil paper package, a tear uncontrollably fell onto the back of his hand.
Su Mingqiang hurriedly wiped his face with his sleeve, his voice choked with emotion.
"Then... I'll head back now. Jinhua's waiting for dinner..."
After saying that, he turned and walked away quickly, his back looking particularly thin under the streetlights.
He held the oil paper package printed with "Donglaishun" tightly in his arms, as if it were a precious treasure.
Wang Xiulan watched her eldest son's departing figure, tears welling up in her eyes.
Su Jianguo sighed and put his arm around his wife's shoulder.
"Let's go home."
It was already late when I got home.
Wang Xiulan's parents sat in rattan chairs in the main room, their expressions solemn.
The old lady held a handkerchief in her hand, wiping her eyes from time to time.
The old man silently puffed on his pipe, his brows furrowed in worry.
"Xiulan."
The old lady finally couldn't help but speak up.
"Mingqiang...how did he become like this?"
Wang Xiulan was filling a thermos with boiling water when she heard this and her hand trembled.
She put down the kettle, wiped her hands on her apron, and lowered her voice.
"Mother, this is a long story..."
The old man tapped his pipe.
"Pick the important points! Wasn't that child quite filial before?"
Wang Xiulan recounted in detail how Su Mingqiang caused trouble by dividing the family property, how he threatened to sever ties, and even how he said he wouldn't let her father be buried in the ancestral grave after his death.
By the end, her voice had choked with emotion.
"Back then, he was like he was possessed, insisting on forcing his father to give him money..."
"What a terrible thing!"
The old lady slapped her thigh.
"A son cursing his own father? He deserves to be struck by lightning!"
The old man remained silent for a long time.
His previous upbringing was flawed; he was biased, which led to him being kicked out of his home in his old age, becoming destitute and now living with his daughter.
The old man glanced towards the side room, where he could hear Su Jianguo teasing the child.
"Your family's Jianguo is a kind and honest man."
It's late at night.
Wang Xiulan carried a basin of steaming hot water into the bedroom.
Su Jianguo was sitting on the edge of the bed looking at the account book. When he saw her come in, he closed the book and put it aside.
"Honey, let's soak our feet."
Wang Xiulan squatted down and gently lifted her husband's feet into the water.
The water temperature was just right, and Su Jianguo sighed comfortably.
Wang Xiulan's hands were warm, pressing down on the soles of his feet with just the right amount of pressure.
The only sounds inside were the sound of water and the two people breathing.
"Founding the Nation..."
Wang Xiulan suddenly spoke up.
"Mingqiang's wife doesn't look well during her pregnancy; look at him today..."
Su Jianguo's feet stiffened for a moment in the water.
"I was thinking..."
Wang Xiulan continued to massage his ankle.
"The young couple had no experience, and Jin Hua had cut off ties with her family..."
"Xiulan."
Su Jianguo interrupted her, his voice eerily calm.
"He chose this path himself."
A ripple spread across the foot bath water.
Wang Xiulan lowered her head, and the stray hairs on her forehead fell down, obscuring her eyes.
"But children always..."
There's no going back in life.
Su Jianguo lifted his foot out of the water, and water droplets slid down the back of his foot.
"I've loved him for thirty years, and what have I gotten in return?"
Wang Xiulan took the foot-wiping cloth, her movements a bit more forceful than usual.
"But he knows he was wrong now..."
"Do you know you're wrong?"
Su Jianguo sneered.
"He knows he's poor!"
He put on his slippers, walked to the window, and turned his back to his wife.
"Xiulan, have you forgotten how he cursed me?"
Wang Xiulan stopped talking and slowly poured out the foot-washing water, making a splashing sound.
"I just...feel sorry for that unborn child."
She said it softly at the end.
As Su Jianguo gazed at the old locust tree outside the window, he vaguely saw again the indifferent back of his eldest son before his death in his previous life.
He clenched his fists.
Everyone has their own destiny.
...
And so, the time came to the morning of the fifth day.
3:15 a.m.
Su Jianguo suddenly opened his eyes and quietly got up.
It was pitch black outside the window.
Su Jianguo dressed in the dark, and his heart involuntarily quickened when his fingers touched the camera bag on the bedside table.
Today, he will use this rented camera to capture irrefutable evidence that will bring down Deputy District Chief Liu.
In the kitchen, Su Jianguo ate two bites of the leftover steamed bun from last night, rinsing them with cold water.
The cold food brought him fully awake.
He checked the camera to make sure the film was loaded and the flash was charged.
Finally, he took out a small notebook and a fountain pen from the drawer and stuffed them into the inside pocket of his cotton-padded jacket.
The courtyard was quiet.
Su Jianguo pushed his bicycle out of the courtyard gate.
The streets were deserted in the early morning, and Su Jianguo rode very fast.
We arrived at the barbed wire fence surrounding the freight station.
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