Chapter 73: The Buried Past
As night fell and the room quieted down, Cheng Cheng applied face cream in front of the mirror. The climate in the capital was dry, and with the heating on in the room, it was even more important to moisturize.
Zhou Yue tiptoed back from the next room and closed the door behind him.
"Is Xiaoxiao asleep?" Cheng Cheng looked at him in the mirror.
"Yes, I'm asleep." Zhou Yue nodded, his expression carrying a hint of gentle weariness. "I've been on the train for several days, and I was excited all day today, so I fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow."
Cheng Cheng put down the face cream, patted her face, turned around, a faint worry between her brows: "Are you really taking Xiaoxiao to see Mr. Qian tomorrow? Should we prepare something in advance? I'm worried..."
Before she could finish speaking, Zhou Yue understood her meaning. He walked to his wife's side and calmly continued, "I understand your concerns. Don't worry! At this stage, we will absolutely not let Xiaoxiao leave our side. She is still too young and needs the protection of her family, which is far more important than advanced knowledge."
Zhou Yue grasped Cheng Cheng's hand, offering her strength: "Right now, let's use this time in Beijing to take her to visit several scholars, spark her interest, and broaden her horizons. Once we return to the base, we'll continue to guide her while she learns on her own. All we can do is lay a solid foundation for her and protect her growth until the day she's truly ready to leave the nest."
Cheng Cheng and Zhou Yue had discussed their daughter's education and upbringing many times. They felt that having Xiao Xiao attend school in a conventional manner would be a waste of time. Her logical thinking and self-learning abilities were already several levels above her peers, and attending classes in a regular classroom would be nothing short of torture for the little girl.
“Okay.” Cheng Cheng finally said softly, leaning back slightly and gently resting her forehead on Zhou Yue’s stomach, who was standing next to her. Her tone became firm. “Then let’s do it as we discussed. Let Xiao Xiao have a childhood as happy as possible, just like any other child. As for the future, we’ll accompany her when she’s older.”
Zhou Yue nodded slightly and put his arm around her shoulder.
Cheng Cheng slept soundly through the night. When she woke up the next morning, Zhou Yue was no longer in the room, and Xiao Lingxiao's spirited voice could be heard downstairs.
She walked to the window, looked down, and a smile unconsciously crept onto her lips.
In the courtyard, an old man and a young boy were practicing tai chi, facing the rising sun.
With a serious expression, Xiao Lingxiao demonstrated the boxing technique to her great-grandfather. Her movements were skillful and her posture was impressive.
Zhou Jianying, dressed in a modified old military uniform for morning training, stood to the side with his hands behind his back, watching intently with obvious satisfaction. He exclaimed, "Good! Solid foundation, powerful momentum, well done!"
Hearing her great-grandfather's praise, the little girl played even harder, her face beaming with the excitement of being recognized.
After she finished her set of punches, slightly out of breath, and stood up straight, Zhou Jianying laughed loudly. His previously slightly hunched back straightened instantly, and he said, "Girl, watch carefully!"
The two sets of boxing techniques are of the same lineage, but Zhou Jianying's boxing style is fierce and powerful, carrying the killing intent honed on the battlefield, making him a formidable force.
Little Lingxiao's eyes widened in amazement, and he couldn't help but clap and cheer, "Great-Grandpa is amazing!"
The old man and the child had a great time!
After breakfast, Zhou Yue took his daughter out to visit his mentor.
The house became much quieter. Cheng Cheng stayed to keep her grandparents company. Qin Youyi took her hand and sat her down on the sofa. The sunlight shone warmly through the glass window.
"Xiao Cheng, come and take a look at this." Qin Youyi suddenly remembered something, got up and took out an exquisitely packaged cardboard box from the cabinet. Inside was a brand new imported camera.
“This was sent back from abroad by your second sister a few days ago. She said we should take more photos. We don’t really know how to use this foreign gadget, so it’s just been sitting there.” She handed the camera to Cheng Cheng. “See if you know how to use it. Take as many photos as you can while you’re back, especially take a few of Xiao Xiao’s. When you go back, we can take them out and look at them when we miss our child.”
Cheng Cheng took the camera, bent down and carefully explored how to use it. She quickly figured it out and held up the camera: "Grandma, please sit down. Yes, sit in the wicker chair by the window. The light is just right. I'll take a picture of you."
Qin Youyi sat down on the rattan chair, her posture dignified, looking at the camera with a slight smile, her eyes kind and peaceful.
With a crisp click of the shutter, Cheng Cheng smiled and said, "It's done. I'll take the film to the photo studio to get it developed in a few days, and then you'll be able to see it."
"Alright!" Qin Youyi stood up with a smile, then, as if remembering something, beckoned to Cheng Cheng, "Come with me."
Cheng Cheng quickly stepped forward, took her hand, and followed her grandmother into the bedroom.
Qin Youyi pulled an old-fashioned camphor wood box from under the bed and carefully took out several thick photo albums with worn edges.
Cheng Cheng guessed what was going on, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up.
Qin Youyi put on her reading glasses and opened a photo album with a blue leather cover: "Let me show you A-Yue when he was a child."
The first picture that caught Cheng Cheng's eye was of a baby in swaddling clothes, who looked to be just a month old. The baby's skin wasn't particularly fair and tender, but the baby's dark eyes were very bright and stared straight at the camera. The baby's little mouth was tightly pursed, and there was no smile on the face.
Cheng Cheng couldn't help but gasp, as if she had discovered some incredible treasure. She immediately hugged the photo album closer, poked the little person in the photo with her slender fingers, and turned to look at her grandmother: "Has he never liked to smile since he was little?"
"Isn't that right?" Qin Youyi smiled and pointed directly at the photo. "When the full moon photo was taken, no matter how the photographer tried to make him laugh, he wouldn't smile. He looked as serious as a little old man."
As the pages turned, Zhou Yue grew from an infant in swaddling clothes to crawling, sitting, and then toddling. Qin Youyi pointed to a candid photo of him reading a book and laughed, "The older Yue gets, the less he likes taking pictures. He has far fewer photos than his older brothers and sisters."
Cheng Cheng looked at the little boy in the photo, who had a furrowed brow and a straight mouth. Most of the time, he had a tense little face with his brows slightly furrowed, looking mature beyond his years and not smiling.
He gently ran his finger across the little boy's tightly pursed lips in the photo and chuckled, "Those eyebrows, those lips, they're practically identical to Xiaoxiao's when she's deep in thought. No wonder they're father and daughter!"
"Grandma, can I look at these photos slowly?"
Qin Youyi nodded with a smile.
Cheng Cheng held the several thick photo albums as if they were precious treasures and sat down on the sofa in the living room. She finished flipping through the albums that recorded Zhou Yue's childhood growth, and then picked up an album with a dark red cover.
This photo album is obviously much older, containing photos of grandparents and even older generations.
The young man in the photo, dressed in an old-fashioned suit, looked spirited. Cheng Cheng flipped through the pages with great interest until she turned to a certain page and her gaze suddenly stopped.
This is a black and white stage photo. The person in the photo is wearing an exquisite Peking Opera female role costume, with kingfisher feather headdress and heavy makeup, and is smiling slightly at the camera.
His facial features, eyebrows, eyes, and face shape are almost 80-90% similar to hers!
"This..." Cheng Cheng looked confused and somewhat incredulous, looking up at Qin Youyi, "Grandma, how can this person look so much like me?"
Qin Youyi came over when she heard the sound. When she saw the photo, her eyes instantly became incredibly complicated, filled with longing and sorrow. She gently stroked the photo, remained silent for a moment, and then slowly said, "Child, this is none other than your own grandfather, Cheng Weiqing."
In Qin Youyi's subsequent narration, Cheng Cheng learned about a long-buried past.
Cheng Weiqing, who is her biological grandfather, was a college classmate of her grandmother Su Ninghua, her current grandfather Cheng Deshun, as well as her grandmother Qin and grandfather Zhou.
Cheng Weiqing is exceptionally talented and shares the same interests as Suning Hua, making them an enviable couple.
Later, when war broke out, they devoted themselves to the revolution. In a fierce battle, Cheng Weiqing sacrificed his life to save Cheng Deshun. At the time of his death, he was unaware that Su Ninghua was pregnant.
The rest of the story is what the Cheng family knows, but because of Cheng Weiqing's special status, the matter was kept secret.
This was the first time Cheng Cheng had learned about this past event.
Qin Youyi turned to the next page and pointed to a solo photo of Cheng Weiqing wearing a sharp suit: "Look, when he changes into men's clothing, his features are actually quite strong, so he doesn't look so much like him anymore?"
Cheng Cheng looked down at the photo. The man in the photo was very handsome, with an androgynous charm. Wearing a suit and without his heavy makeup, he only looked three or four parts like her.
She looked up and begged her grandmother to tell her more about him and about their time.
At noon, Zhou Yue and Xiao Lingxiao did not return, and Cheng Cheng had lunch with her grandparents.
After waking up from my afternoon nap, I sat alone at my desk, spread out some stationery, picked up my pen, but couldn't write a single word for a long time.
I was very hesitant, uncertain, and doubtful. I almost wanted to write to my grandmother immediately to verify this past event.
But in the end, she took a deep breath and put down her pen.
"Grandma, it's like seeing you in person as I read this. How is everything at home? We're all doing well in the capital. Zhou Yue's grandparents are in good health and dote on Xiao Xiao..."
Cheng Cheng wrote slowly. She finally decided not to touch that past that had been sealed for decades. There was no need to touch her grandmother's scars. Some past events, she knew they existed, and that was enough.
She believed that when the time was right, her grandmother would tell them about this past event.
However, their emotions were hard to calm down. The peaceful life they enjoy now was bought with the blood of the previous generation and even the generation before that. They can only remember this and strive to protect this hard-won peace, guard it well for them, and build up their motherland so as not to let down their predecessors.
Although that's what she thought, she was still somewhat restless. She desperately wanted to see Zhou Yue and Xiao Xiao and hug him and her daughter tightly.
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Author's note: Goodnight
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