As the morning light shone through the window screen after the snow, Zheng Wanqing was adjusting her dress in front of the dressing mirror. Xie Yun was reflected in the mirror, standing in front of the window in a straight military uniform, holding a telegram in his hand.
"What do you want to report today?" Xie Yun suddenly asked.
Zheng Wanqing took out a pen from her dressing table and replied, "Well, I want to write a follow-up report on Lin Hezhi's divorce."
In the morning light, the teeth marks on Xie Yun's Adam's apple were faintly visible: "Do you need a car to take you there?"
"No need." Zheng Wanqing pinned the pen on her collar, then turned around and looked at Xie Yun quietly, with a hint of expectation in her eyes.
Her intention was already very obvious. Xie Yun suddenly chuckled, and finally leaned over and gave her a sweet kiss.
The brass door handle of the editorial office was still stained with moisture from melting snow. When Zheng Wanqing pushed the door open, Ji Chen was marking a manuscript with red lines, his gold-rimmed glasses sliding on the tip of his nose, with blue stains from pen ink on the lenses.
"You've come just in time." Ji Chen pushed a stack of papers over without even looking up. "Lin Hezhi has published another article in Awakening advocating free love, saying that arranged marriages are a barbaric legacy."
Zheng Wanqing took off her gloves and touched the wet ink on the paper with her fingertips. There was a photo next to the newspaper: Lin Hezhi was dressed in a suit and tie, holding the daughter of HSBC Bank in his arms, with a newly opened coffee shop in the French Concession in the background.
"Hypocrite." She sneered disdainfully and took out a notebook from her bag. "Let's visit Ms. Cheng tomorrow."
Ji Chen hired a rickshaw. The driver took a shortcut through the icy alley, and the bells jingled in the cold wind.
The snow in the back alley of the orphanage was not cleaned up by anyone, and Zheng Wanqing's sheepskin boots sank into the snow, making a squeaking sound.
At the end of the narrow alley, a thin woman was hanging out sheets to dry. Her red fingers were twisting the cotton cloth, and the water droplets instantly froze in the cold wind.
"Ms. Cheng?" Zheng Wanqing knocked lightly on the door frame, startling Bing Ling under the eaves.
The woman turned around suddenly, and the pine basin hit the frozen ground and broke in two. Her cloudy eyes suddenly widened, she remembered this face too clearly.
Not long ago, when Lin Hezhi pushed her away in the street, it was this lady in the blue woolen coat who handed her the jasmine-scented handkerchief.
"Are you... Editor Zheng?" Mrs. Lin wiped her hands on her apron, her voice softer than the falling snow. "Mr. Ji mentioned that you were coming."
In the shabby attic, Zheng Wanqing held a coarse porcelain tea bowl and said softly, "Ms. Cheng, we came here this time to hear your story. Regarding you and Lin Hezhi, we feel that many people have misunderstood you, and we want to speak up for you." Zheng Wanqing tried her best to make her tone sound gentle and sincere.
Cheng Suxin was slightly startled, a hint of hesitation flashed in her eyes, and then she slowly sat down and remained silent for a long time. She looked at her son sleeping in the room and thought of those years that were trampled upon.
Just when Zheng Wanqing thought that she would not speak, she suddenly grabbed Zheng Wanqing's wrist and said, "Go up, let the world see what true freedom is." When she said this, Cheng Suxin's eyes turned red and tears welled up in her eyes.
She raised her hand and gently wiped away her tears, and continued, "I have thought a lot these days. It's not that I can't understand his pursuit of freedom, but he shouldn't be so heartless. When I married him, he was just a poor scholar. Although my family was not rich, in order to help him, I sold my dowry and did needlework day and night, hoping that he would have a bright future."
Zheng Wanqing listened quietly, feeling full of sympathy for Cheng Suxin's experience. She couldn't help but ask: "What happened later? Did he change after returning from studying abroad?"
Cheng Suxin smiled bitterly, her smile full of helplessness and sadness: "After he came back from studying abroad, he became a completely different person. He began to dislike me for being uneducated and unable to keep up with him."
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