"Walk properly and don't pull or tug. You are girls, not young anymore. You should understand the differences between men and women."

Of the two girls, the older one was calmer and just pursed her lips and looked at Shen Heping quietly, while the younger one's face suddenly flushed, and she agreed and stepped back.

The older girl still wanted to support Shen Heping as he walked, but Shen Heping raised his hand to avoid her, shook his head in disgust, and walked forward on his own.

He likes girls who are well-behaved, obedient and gentle. He doesn't even want to look at disobedient girls.

Xiao Guo took the key and opened a standard double room. It was worthy of being a guesthouse for cadres. The room was quite large, with clean windows and white gauze curtains. There were only two beds. The sheets and quilts were clean and tidy without a wrinkle. There was a separate bathroom, and the wooden floor was underfoot. The girl was wearing rubber-soled cloth shoes, and she stepped on them silently, feeling very comfortable.

Shen Heping said to the two girls, "Ye Hong and Ye Sha, you sisters should stay here for now. Ye Hong, you got admitted to Beijing Normal University, right? Don't worry, the registration period is three days, and today is only the first day. Get some rest first, and let Xiao Guo come over tomorrow to take you to the school to register."

The sisters showed up unexpectedly. They were Luo Qiongzhi's daughters. They had traveled across provinces to the Qianjin Steel Plant in Province D to look for him. It was Director Zhao who called again. Shen Heping thought it was a small favor, so he should help. He had helped so much in the past, why did he owe them this time? So he asked Director Zhao to send them to Beijing, and he would pick them up at the station according to the train number.

Without letting his family know, after the Lin Xiaoxue incident last time, Shen Heping decided to deal with this kind of trivial matter by himself and not bring it back home. What if it caused a mess again and alienated his wife and daughter-in-law, and his son would be unhappy, and he would be upset too.

Shen Heping took out a stack of banknotes from his pocket and put them on the table, then said, "This is 100 yuan and 60 kilograms of food coupons. Ye Hong will probably need to buy some things at the beginning of the school year, and leave some for Ye Sha. Your sister sent you to school, and you will need travel expenses when you go back. You can eat directly in the canteen of the guesthouse. The food here is good."

After saying that, Shen Heping was about to go out, but Xiao Guo had already left and was waiting in the corridor at the door.

But Ye Hong grabbed him and said, "Uncle Shen! Don't you want to ask me anything else?"

Shen Heping frowned: "Let go, I told you, what's the point of pulling and tugging?"

"What's the matter? I'm yours...I'm your niece!"

"No way! Just speak, don't be so sticky."

Ye Hong's eyes sparkled with tears: "Uncle Shen, my mother..."

"You said at the train station that your mother Luo Qiongzhi passed away. I'm very sorry. Please accept my condolences. Although your mother is gone, she must have hoped that you can live well. Living a good life is the greatest comfort to her."

Ye Sha covered her mouth and cried out: "My mother's life is so miserable, she was mad at my father to death!"

Ye Hong wiped her tears and said, "Uncle Shen, my mother was beaten to death by my father until she vomited blood. Please avenge my mother and send someone to arrest my father... arrest Ye Quan!"

Shen Heping's frown could kill a fly: "You said at the station that your mother died of illness, and now you say that your father beat her to death until she vomited blood? That's murder, it's a crime, why didn't you call the police at the time?"

Luo Qiongzhi and his wife, as well as their three daughters, were basically assigned jobs by Shen Heping. In accordance with Lin Dajiang's wishes, he really took great care of Luo Qiongzhi.

Luo Qiongzhi left Lin Dajiang in a fit of anger and got married quickly. Unfortunately, she met the wrong man. The man she married had a bad temper, and her parents-in-law favored boys over girls. Luo Qiongzhi gave birth to several girls but no boys.

Because of this, she was abused by her husband and blamed by her parents-in-law. Her life was once in dire straits. After Shen Heping learned about it, he arranged an easy job for Luo Qiongzhi through their factory leaders. Not long after, she was transferred to a regular job. Her husband was also transferred to a lucrative position in the sales department, and even her brother-in-law and sister-in-law were arranged with jobs.

When she started doing all this, she didn't let Luo Qiongzhi know. She just hoped that her family would be well off and that her parents-in-law and husband would treat her well, so that she would not let Lin Dajiang down.

Later, their factory leader was transferred and told Luo Qiongzhi and his wife about it, intending to make them grateful. Luo Qiongzhi and his wife did come to visit them once and brought some local specialties. When Shen Heping passed by on a business trip, he also visited their house and gave them some supplies.

Later, they had more and more children and life became difficult. They tried their best to help solve the problems of their three eldest daughters, including work and even some relatives.

I thought Luo Qiongzhi would be able to live well this way, so I didn't pay attention to her in recent years. After all, Luo Qiongzhi and Ye Quan had been together for 20 to 30 years. Regardless of whether they had a son or not, their older daughters should have married. What else could a grandmother worry about? But I didn't expect Luo Qiongzhi to still be in trouble and passed away last year.

Lin Dajiang died. Luo Qiongzhi might not have known about Lin Dajiang's death, but she also died with him.

This pair of star-crossed lovers may have a tacit understanding in their hearts. Let them reunite in another world. There must be no evil people or pain in that world. Let them love and live happily for the rest of their lives!

Shen Heping looked at the two crying girls and said, "Tell me, what were you doing at that time? Why didn't you call the police when you saw your mother being hurt?"

Ye Hong: "We... wuwuwu! Grandpa and grandma have locked the door, we can't get out..."

Ye Sha: "My mother...she was seriously ill and kept coughing up blood. My father just pushed her twice, which was not considered a strong blow..."

"So you just watched helplessly, without stopping your father from committing the crime, or helping your seriously ill mother, or blocking her way?"

Ye Sha: “…”

How dare they come forward?

Dad wanted to snatch the passbook, but Mom held on tightly and refused to give it to him. Both of them were furious, and Dad was merciless with the stick in his hand. My eldest sister was hit on the shoulder twice by the stick and fell to the ground in pain. My second and third sisters knelt on the ground and begged for mercy, but were also kicked by Dad... In the end, Dad kicked and punched Mom and snatched the passbook. Mom vomited blood, fell into a coma, and died that night.

Shen Heping said, "You can still call the police now, but we need evidence and witnesses to convict your grandfather. You sisters all have to go to court. Are you willing to testify for your mother?"

Ye Hong and Ye Sha lowered their heads and said nothing.

How could they testify? If their fathers were convicted and arrested, they would be the children of prisoners... How would the neighbors view them? Their grandparents, uncles, and aunts would also beat them to death!

Seeing them like this, Shen Heping stopped asking questions and just said calmly, "I'm leaving now. You guys can have a rest."

He walked to the door and turned back: "Tomorrow, Ye Hong, you will take the bus to school by yourself. Since you have come to Beijing to study, you should get familiar with the environment. If you have someone to lead you, you will become more dependent."

"No, Uncle Shen!"

Ye Hong chased after him: "Let's get a small car to pick me up. Beijing is too big. I don't know how to take the public bus here. I will go the wrong way!"

Shen Heping: "The way is right before your mouth. Ask others and they will tell you."

Ye Hong held back her tears: "Uncle Shen, my mother just passed away, and my father, Ye Quan, is going to sell us for money... Please don't ignore us! I secretly got into college by hiding my life, and I didn't even have tuition fees, and I had to borrow money from others for transportation.

I can settle down in Beijing, but what about my sister? She will die if she goes back! Uncle Shen, if you have connections, please help me find a job for my sister. Ye Sha is a junior high school graduate, why don’t you find a school for her to continue her studies and apply to a university in Beijing in the future.”

Shen Heping silently looked at the two girls standing close to each other, one looked pitiful with pleading eyes, the other was calm and determined, with a matter-of-fact look, as if he would be wrong if he didn't agree.

He sighed slightly: "It's a new society now. As long as you are self-reliant and strong, no one dares to blatantly beat another person to death, not to mention that he is your father."

"No, Uncle Shen, you don't know..."

"Okay, I don't need to know. It's getting late and I have to go back. That's it. You can only stay in the guesthouse for a week. You can arrange the rest by yourselves."

Ye Hong stubbornly stopped him from leaving: "Uncle Shen, my mother said that your first wife died while giving birth and you never remarried. When my father and mother were arguing, they mentioned that you came to our house. My mother misses you very much..."

"What do you want to say?"

"I am my mother's fourth child. I don't look like my father or my mother. My father dislikes me... Uncle Shen, please take me home. From now on, I will be your child. I will take care of you in your old age!"

Shen Heping's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. He pushed Ye Hong away and said, "I have a family. I am still young. I don't need anyone to take care of me in my old age."

Ye Hong wanted to chase him downstairs, but was stopped by Xiao Guo. After hearing what he had just said, Xiao Guo looked at Ye Hong as if she was crazy:

"Our Comrade Shen has a wife, son, daughter-in-law, and grandson. The family lives a very sweet life. Are you here to make trouble? You want to take care of them until the end of their lives? Come on, I have never seen such an ungrateful person. Comrade Shen's good intentions are wasted!"

Ye Hong didn't pay attention to anything else, but she clearly heard Xiao Guo say that Shen Heping had "a wife, son, daughter-in-law, and eldest grandson."

His heart skipped a beat, and he turned to look at his sister Ye Sha: "You've heard from our mother, right? Uncle Shen's original wife died of complications during childbirth. Could it be that the child is not dead?"

Ye Sha was stunned: "I, I don't know, I just remember my mother saying: Uncle Shen is the most handsome and generous man she has ever seen, no one can compare to him..."

Ye Hong bit her lip and said, "But this man has completely forgotten about Mom and hasn't visited her for so many years. It must be because he married another woman! What kind of woman is this? She made him forget about Mom and not even know about me... I must find a way to find him! I must take back what belongs to me!"

"Sister, I heard Director Zhao on the phone at the steel factory. He said, 'Shen Yu is busy, but what about Xiao Hai? The little guy should have grown up a lot.'"

"Okay, I'll remember that."

(End of this chapter)