Chapter 204 Go far away, don't look back
Li Huachen was busy making arrangements.
Her attitude towards Zhou Yufan was clearly different.
Zhou Yufan looked at her profile as she lowered her head to scoop soup.
This scene is strikingly similar to the first time Zhou Yujie found Jiang Nanzhi.
At that time, Jiangnan Zhi was the same, starting with resentment and grievance.
But later, resentment gradually turned into silent acceptance.
Now, the sharpness in Li Huachen's eyes is gradually fading.
"Hua Chen...you've suffered so much these past years."
Zhou Yufan's voice trembled.
"Yu Fan, I have never blamed you."
She sighed softly.
"I understand."
She knew he had no choice in the matter, and that he also had a family to support.
Being alive is already a blessing from God.
Those were things brought out from the old house of the Li family.
My brother secretly slipped my mom a bracelet and said, 'Go far away and don't look back.'
"I later heard that he didn't make it through that winter."
Her lips trembled slightly as she said this.
The silver bracelet had already been sold, and the proceeds were used to buy a few bushels of rice, which helped them get through the most difficult months.
But her brother's image always lingered in her dreams.
Zhou Yufan's heart clenched.
He thought of Li Huachen's brother, and the man who always wore a gray Zhongshan suit.
Zhou Yufan had once envied that seemingly cold man who could so tenderly dote on his younger sister.
"After exercising, I returned to Yuxin. The old house had been converted into a grain depot."
Li Huachen took a cloth and wiped the table.
"The pomegranate tree in the corner is still there, but it's old and no longer bears fruit. I cried under the tree for a long time, crying for my brother, for my parents, and for myself..."
Looking back now, being kicked out wasn't such a bad thing. At least I watched Rong Kai grow up, and I was able to... see you again.
She neither hated her fate nor resented the past.
I'm just glad that I'm still alive today and can see him again.
Zhou Yufan grabbed her hand.
"Hua Chen, the world has changed now, and I want to marry you."
His voice trembled.
"I'll build you a tiled house and send Rong Kai to the best school."
He wanted to stand openly and honestly beside her.
Li Huachen withdrew her hand.
"Stop talking, who knows what tomorrow will bring."
She couldn't say no, nor could she say yes.
What will tomorrow bring?
Nobody knows.
"Hua Chen, I'm now helping Shu Fen manage the factory in Yu Xin, and I'm getting a salary."
Zhou Yufan spoke urgently.
"Your brother, your sister-in-law, and Yujie are all still alive. They're all alright, really, they're all waiting for us in Yuxin."
Li Huachen was taken aback.
She had always thought that the Zhou family was long gone and had long since disbanded.
I heard through various channels years ago that it was Zhou Shufen who reported their family, which led to the Zhou family's property being raided overnight.
So when she saw Shufen just now, her heart was pounding and her palms were covered in cold sweat.
"You also think that Shufen was the one who caused our family's downfall?"
Zhou Yufan asked softly.
"Actually, she didn't know anything. She was kept in the dark. Zhou Dajun was pushed into doing it, with the Yao family fueling the fire behind the scenes, forcing him to sign and put his fingerprint on the document. There was also a man surnamed Yang. The group of them worked together to push our family into a fire pit."
"Shufen only found out the truth later, but it was too late. She wanted to save her, but she couldn't."
"Hua Chen, we need to take our hats off soon."
His tone suddenly became fervent again.
“My brother has already received the notice. I will definitely find a way to pick the ones from yours as well. Trust me, I won’t let you take the blame for this forever.”
He gazed at her longingly.
Li Huachen did not respond.
Li Rongkai walked to her side, his small body pressed against her leg.
"Mother, let's go back to our hometown."
He paused, then his voice suddenly lowered.
"Haven't you suffered enough over the years?"
Before he could finish speaking, tears streamed down his face.
Li Huachen's heart tightened.
She knelt down and hugged her son tightly.
"Mother was not wronged."
She spoke gently, but her lips were trembling slightly.
Rong Kai cried even harder.
"But they insulted me... insulted you... insulted you because nobody wanted you..."
The rest of the words were swallowed up by the sobs.
Zhou Yufan stood to the side, staring intently at the mother and son, his chest heaving violently.
"Hua Chen, come with me to Yu Xin."
Zhou Yufan said softly.
“We can open our own small shop, selling daily necessities, fabrics, and needles and thread, and make a living. Rong Kai is going to Yu Xin No. 1 Middle School. My brother’s friend is the principal. He promised that as long as his file is transferred, he can enroll.”
Li Huachen stared at him for a long time, her gaze fixed on Zhou Yufan's face.
Then, her gaze slowly shifted and landed on Rong Kai's swollen, red eyes.
"Okay, let's go back to Yuxin."
Zhou Yufan's eyes suddenly lit up.
"You...you agreed? That's wonderful, so wonderful! Hua Chen, now that you're willing to go back, I feel...I feel like I can still make something of myself!"
Zhou Shufen wiped the corner of her eye.
"That's more like it. How can a family live apart?"
"No matter how hard life gets, as long as we're together, we can get through it. Back in Yuxin, the house may be a bit old, but it's still a home. Rice, oil, salt, pots and pans are all in one place, and life will surely get better slowly."
Li Huachen didn't say anything, but just lowered her eyes.
She turned and went into the inner room to start packing her things.
Finally, she walked to the windowsill and her gaze fell on the small cactus.
Then find a piece of old cloth that has been washed until it's grayish, and wrap it around the outside layer by layer.
Zhou Yufan and Zhou Shufen were also busy.
He squatted by the kang (a heated brick bed), holding a bundle of dry pine branches in his hands, and bent down to add firewood to the stove.
In this place, when winter comes, it's so cold that your bones shiver.
Zhou Shufen folded her clothes while muttering to herself.
“I rented Yu Xin’s house a long time ago. It’s not big, but it’s clean and the walls don’t let in any drafts. I can grow some vegetables in the yard, and I’m thinking of raising a couple of chickens too, so we can save some money on eggs. Aunt Yang in the front yard said she has some rice seedlings to give us, so we can plant them when spring comes.”
She chuckled twice as she spoke.
Rong Kai stopped crying, though his little face still had snot hanging from his nose.
He silently squatted down beside the box, reached inside, and pressed down the clothes that Li Huachen had neatly arranged.
After much fussing until late at night, several bundled bundles and wooden boxes were piled up in the corner of the room.
Zhou Yufan tried to persuade her.
"Hua Chen, just bring enough clothes, a few thick and a few thin ones, but don't bring anything too heavy. You'll find everything there, from general stores and fabric shops to shoe stalls. If you really need anything, we can buy it."
"Don't carry those useless things, you'll get tired on the road."
Zhou Shufen said.
"Sister Huachen, if you don't need to bring anything, please don't. We have everything we need at home. I... I don't want to see you working so hard."
Li Huachen's hand stopped on the old wooden box with peeling paint.
That was brought from the Li family.
"Keep them. Things that have been part of our home can't be thrown away. These old things are a way to remember us."
After saying that, she lifted the lid of the box, reached down, and pulled out a cloth bag wrapped in oil paper from a pile of old papers.
Opening the cloth bag, one finds Rong Kai's baby hair from when he was a child.
At the very bottom is a faded old photograph.
In the photo, she is wearing a light blue school uniform with a school badge pinned to her chest, and has two long, shiny black braids.
Zhou Yufan, standing beside him, was wearing a crisp Zhongshan suit with the collar buttoned up tightly.
This photo has been sitting at the bottom of a box for over ten years.
"You must bring this photo with you."
Zhou Yufan had silently walked up to her side without her noticing.
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