An Moxue returned home, then took a bag of pastries and a bag of dried shrimp and went out again.
An Moxue carried her things into Uncle Ma's yard, and before she even entered the gate, she started calling out, "Uncle Ma! Aunt Ma!"
"Mo Xue! You're back. Come in quickly, it's cold outside," came Aunt Ma's concerned voice from inside the house.
An Moxue quickened her pace and entered the house.
"Uncle Ma, still weaving baskets? Put it down quickly, take a break, and try some pastries I brought from Hai Province." He said as he sat down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).
Old Ma put down the note in his hand, stood up, shook his clothes, sat down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), and said, "What good food did you bring me? Open it, I'll have a piece, I'm a little hungry."
"Why don't you treat yourself like an outsider! It's not easy for a child to be alone. You eat whatever they give you! Mo Xue, don't give it to him. Take it back and keep it for yourself to eat slowly." Aunt Ma scolded him while stopping An Mo Xue from wrapping the pastries.
An Moxue ignored Aunt Ma's advice, opened the package herself, took out a piece and stuffed it into Aunt Ma's hand, saying, "Auntie, try it quickly, see if you've eaten it before."
Uncle Ma then took a piece and ate it, saying as he ate, "I've had this pastry before, back during the Liberation War! Did you go to Haiyi Province?"
"Uncle, you're amazing! You figured out I went to Hai Province just from a piece of pastry."
"This pastry is a unique ethnic minority snack from Haiyi Province; you can't find it anywhere else. Old woman, you should try some too. It's made with glutinous rice; you'll definitely love it."
Aunt Ma was still holding the pastries that An Moxue had given her, but she hadn't eaten them.
An Moxue also said, "Auntie, hurry up and eat! I really like it."
Helpless, Aunt Ma started eating pastries.
Uncle Ma said, "That's more like it! It's just a child's thoughtful gesture, so we should eat it. What's that package?"
"Dried shrimp, you and Aunt Ma can use these to make soup or fry them to mix with rice. They're good for the elderly and good for bones."
"Did you really go to Hai Province? How many days have you been there?" Aunt Ma asked.
"Yeah, I was gone for five days and came back last night. One of my friends had some trouble there, and I was worried, so I went to check on him."
"How is it? Has the matter been resolved?" Aunt Ma asked.
"It's solved."
"How did you manage to get the village chief to give you a fake one? You're something else! Go, get me a glass of water." As he spoke, he rubbed his lower back with his hand, and then picked up a piece of pastry to eat.
An Moxue got up and poured Old Ma a glass of water. After pouring it, she asked Aunt Ma, "Auntie, would you like some?"
"Returning some is fine too."
An Moxue poured another half glass of water and handed it to Uncle Ma and Aunt Ma, saying, "Only Uncle Guo knew I asked for leave; I left secretly."
"You little rascal, tell me! How did you threaten him? I don't believe you!"
"It's nothing. I told him that if he didn't get a job, I would go to the county to find Director Li and get a temporary transfer. It would be the same. Hehe, Uncle Guo was afraid that if I really went, I didn't know how many days it would take, so he got one for me. I was also anxious because I was afraid that something would happen to my friend. After all, she was able to go to the countryside because of me. I couldn't feel at ease if I didn't go and see her."
"He's been so worried about you these past few days! Does anyone else know?"
"No."
“If anyone asks, just say you went to the county to assist the police in their investigation, understand? If other educated youth find out, that will be troublesome.”
"Yes, no one else told me! I only told you two. Don't worry. Uncle, have any strangers come to our village these past few days, including relatives?"
"What's wrong?"
“When I came back last night, I found that someone had gone into the house. There were only signs of searching, no damage or loss, and it was done very discreetly. If I hadn’t marked it, it would have been hard to find. They must have picked the lock to get in, because the doors and windows were intact.”
Old Ma thought for a moment and said, "There haven't been any suspicious people these past few days. They might have come down from the mountains."
"Unfortunately, the snow has left us with no clues whatsoever," An Moxue said helplessly.
"Then you need to be careful, especially now that it's winter and everyone's hibernating. If something happens, no one might know. Come to my house every two days from now on, understand?"
"It's alright, Uncle, there's no need to go to so much trouble."
"Come when I call you, let me know so I can be at ease."
"Alright! As long as you're not bothered."
"How could it not be annoying! Just call out at the door if you need anything."
"Then I have to come even more, and now that I'm here, I'm not leaving!"
Aunt Ma chimed in, saying, "If you come and keep me company, it'll be much more interesting for us mother and daughter than seeing this old geezer every day."
Uncle Ma looked helpless. "It's wintering now, but you can't neglect your martial arts training. You have to practice hard, you know?"
"Uncle Ma, don't worry, I've been practicing diligently every day."
"Don't be discouraged. One day, we'll catch these bad guys. Believe that good will prevail over evil, but you also need to be strong yourself."
"Yes, that's what I think too."
"It's snowing again. Check the defenses in the yard and see where they can be improved. Better safe than sorry. It seems this is not easy to investigate. You need to be prepared for a long-term effort."
Aunt Ma was furious: "What kind of people are these! Not a single one of them is good! They're utterly immoral." She stabbed the sole of her shoe several times with the awl in her hand, feeling as if she were stabbing not the sole of the shoe, but class enemies.
An Moxue comforted her, "Auntie, don't be angry. I'm not even angry. Let's take our time looking. They'll be caught eventually."
Aunt Ma said, "Only someone like you could have persevered. Someone else might not have been able to keep going."
"Oh! By the way, a few days ago, an officer surnamed Wu came to see you. He was in a hurry and didn't see you, so he left the things for you with me. It was probably right after you left. He told me to tell you that the mission went very smoothly and everyone was caught, so you don't need to worry." As he spoke, Uncle Ma stood up, took a package from the cabinet, and handed it to An Moxue.
"Oh, he was investigating the Majia'ao laboratory. It's good that he didn't miss anything."
"How long has this case been going on?" Aunt Ma said.
Uncle Ma said, "This is already fast! People are always restless. There have been incidents on the border in the past year or two. We survived the hard times back then, so what are we afraid of now?"
"Uncle, the border isn't that far from here, is it?"
"How far away can we be? We're already in a border province. It's just that there are always some people who think we're easy to bully and always want to come up and take a bite out of us. They're overestimating themselves."
"They're pushing the boundaries! They're trying to take advantage of us, so we should fight back hard."
"This generation of soldiers doesn't have the same fighting spirit as we did back then. If it were us, we wouldn't care about anything else. We would have just picked up our guns and started fighting. We wouldn't have let them be so arrogant. We would have silenced them long ago. It's infuriating."
“You old man, do you think things are still the same as before? We have to be careful with the border, especially with the neighboring countries. They're bound to be a bit hesitant. Your eyes light up at the mention of war; you're almost impossible to contain.”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com