At noon in Beijing, the sun blazed like a fireball, scorching the earth. The air was filled with a suffocating heat. There was no wind, and the ground was scorching hot, burning people's feet even when they walked on it. The plane trees beside the road stood listlessly, motionless.
Lin Liying arrived at the gate of the compound on her bicycle. As soon as she got off the bike, she ran anxiously to the security booth and asked why no one answered the phone at Zhou's house.
"Commander Zhou took his family with him the day he left for work." The sentry was familiar with Lin Liying. After thinking for a moment, he said, "You can call them."
"Where's the Cheng family?"
"Neither of them are here."
Lin Liying bit her lip and asked, "Except for my eldest brother-in-law, when will the others come back?" She knew that some people would leave messages specifically for fear of being contacted in an urgent matter.
“I don’t know.”
Seeing that she really couldn't ask anything, Lin Liying hesitated for a moment, thanked them, and then rushed to the art troupe.
A young female soldier still shook her head. "We have no way of knowing about the regiment's activities in advance. If there's a mission, Captain Miao will come back early."
Miao? Lin Liying's heart skipped a beat, her expression changed, and she forced a smile. "When did you change your team leader?"
"No, I just changed my last name." The female soldier said, stuck out her tongue, and smiled awkwardly, "You can call her home. It's okay, I'm leaving first."
Lin Liying watched him slip away as he finished speaking, sighing inwardly. He'd changed his last name a long time ago. Things were really different. Calling? She smiled wryly and got on her bike. Ever since her brother-in-law, Zhou Xiaozheng, got promoted, regular phone calls couldn't be transferred to the Zhou family anymore.
Dejected, Lin Liying returned to the retirement home. As soon as she stepped into the living room, she saw several people sitting there and took several gulps of tea without saying anything.
"Wait a moment, I'll go wash my face first."
"Go ahead, don't worry. I asked my aunt to make some mung bean soup." Old Master Lin, who was sitting in the upper seat, also knew that it was not easy to run around outside for half a day in such hot weather.
Lin Liying nodded indifferently.
If there's no rush, why not let her wait until the sun sets? This involves sons, so daughters don't matter. What a waste of a good weekend. I wonder how my two sons are doing at their aunt's house?
In the living room, Lin Aidan, the second elder of the Lin family, had just returned to Beijing with his discharge certificate. Seeing his sister's expression was off, he looked at his wife. They both stared at each other, looking back at Elder Lin.
"Old Lin, just let the child go and register according to the regulations," Old Jiang advised patiently. In his opinion, being a security chief at the factory would be a good option, as it would give his daughter a better chance of arranging a job.
"That place is too far. We can go to the thermos factory."
At this time, the Beijing Suburban Thermos Factory had been established for two or three years and its scale was gradually expanding. Except for its remote location, it was no longer the small open-air factory it once was.
When Elder Jiang heard his in-laws' words, he immediately fell silent. If the father wasn't happy, how could he control his son-in-law? Especially when he saw his daughter's shining eyes across from him. Alas... children are debts that can never be repaid!
Half an hour had passed when Lin Liying came out of the shower. She sat down with wet hair and shook her head without waiting for them to speak.
Old Master Lin frowned, "Didn't you tell me that my 70th birthday is coming up in a few days?"
"Dad, I didn't even see anyone."
"What's going on? Your brother-in-law needs to go there to work. Do your sister and the others need to go there too?" Old Master Lin asked anxiously with a gloomy face.
"Lao Lin, don't be impatient. Let the child speak slowly."
"Alas, the child has grown up and his wings have become hard."
Once again, Mr. Jiang was speechless. He glanced at his father-in-law in surprise, then quickly lowered his head and picked up his teacup. He regretted following his daughter's lies.
Lin Liying was also helpless. Was this statement directed at her or her older sister? She didn't want to think too deeply about it. Some things just couldn't be thought about. If she thought too much about it, she wouldn't be able to continue down this path of her mother's family.
"I went to the compound, and just as Uncle Jiang said, no one from the Zhou family was home. Then I went to the regiment..." Lin Liying thought about it and then passed it over, "They also said my sister wasn't there."
"Didn't you think about Bayi arriving soon and ask when Shanshan would be back?"
"Her husband is a military commander. How can a commoner like me know her whereabouts?"
The old man had lived for most of his life, and although he might be a wise old man, he couldn't help but understand from the sour taste in his words that something was amiss. He patiently asked, "Did someone say something unpleasant?"
As he spoke, he smiled wryly at his old relative who was sipping tea beside him and sighed, "It's true that when people leave, the tea gets cold. Old Jiang, you must not quit."
These words were too provocative, and Mr. Jiang looked up, smiled slightly, and shook his head.
"Tell me, is someone giving you a hard time? Don't be afraid, your father will support you as long as he lives."
Lin Liying originally thought she could avoid the topic, but she didn't expect the old man to keep pressing her. Regarding her eldest sister having changed her last name back, should she say something or not?
"Did you lose your temper and say something offensive again?"
Lin Aidang, who was standing by, immediately said, "Little sister, it's time to change your temper."
Provoked by this father and son, Lin Liying sighed, "If it's nothing urgent, don't go looking for Captain Miao. Her last name is no longer Lin."
"What? This ungrateful dog..."
Jiang Jiangyu opened her mouth uncontrollably, but was immediately frightened by Old Jiang's sharp look and covered her mouth immediately. She moved on pins and needles, and nervously glanced at her father-in-law with a sullen face.
She was going to die. How could she not control her mouth? She finally got her father to bring her in, and now she was kicked out. She was really doomed!
How could Old Master Lin care about her? She was just such a thing. Not to mention whether his in-laws were around, even if they were not, he still had to take care of his two grandsons.
"Did your eldest sister really change her last name? I remember the last time she came to see me in the hospital, those people still called her Captain Lin."
Seeing his friend's expression, Mr. Jiang was really worried that something might happen to him. He kindly advised, "Don't worry about the last name. The child still calls you Dad."
“It’s different.”
"What's the difference? Actually, Shanshan changed her last name a long time ago, but everyone is used to calling her that, so she doesn't care. They still call her Xiaolin Xiaolin."
"So I'm the only one who doesn't know?"
Jiang Lao regretted getting involved in this mess even more. He glared at his daughter obscurely, then said comfortingly, "The child's name hasn't been changed. Who would bring up such things in front of you?"
"Old Lin, you should be more considerate of the child. Her biological father has come to her, so it would be unreasonable not to change. These are just formalities. Let's get down to business. I have something else to do later."
Lin Liying looked at him in surprise, then looked at the others, and suddenly realized something. She was saying, was it really necessary for her to brave the heat and travel so far for a birthday party?
Looking at the people present today, she clearly understood who the serious matter was about.
Lin Liying looked at Lin Aidang in disbelief. "Hasn't he already reported to the district armed forces department? Is that person refusing to arrange a job for you?"
The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed. "That Wu what? Did he go too far? This bastard, Dad doesn't need to do anything, I'll go and knock him over!"
Old Master Lin quickly stopped his daughter from standing up and said, "What are you yelling about? It's not true. Sit down!"
Lin Aidang on the side also grabbed her and said, "Little sister, don't be impulsive. Listen to what's going on first."
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