When Zhou Jiuzhen returned to the cooperative, Ling Huanwu was already asleep on the table, the ink from the pen she was holding spreading across the paper.
He carefully carried her back to bed, but still woke her up.
“You’re back,” Ling Huanwu said, hooking her arm around his neck. Her sleepy eyes were like misty mountain streams filled with moisture. “From now on, I won’t allow you to be out past eight o’clock, or I’ll worry.”
"good……"
Zhou Jiuzhen gently stroked the stray hairs at her temples, his eyes filled with heartache. "I'll come back to be with you on time from now on. Okay, go to sleep. You must be exhausted these past few days..."
But Ling Huanwu didn't give him a chance to continue, cupping his face and gently covering his tightly pursed lips.
"We still need to carefully study the details of opening up space..."
The old clock in the cooperative's office had long since stopped, its hands stuck at three in the morning, as if keeping count for them.
The wooden shelf in the corner wobbled, and the enamel basin on the top shelf lost its grip and crashed onto the cement floor with a loud bang.
The red paint on the bottom of the basin had long since peeled off, revealing the white porcelain surface, which was now covered with a ring of dust—from when it got caught on the hook and struggled to get off.
Zhou Jiuzhen gripped her hand and pressed it against the headboard, his fingertips brushing against the curled corners of the book "Dedicate Everything to the Country" on the bedside table. The pages flipped rapidly, as if someone was eager to turn the pages of the story.
The wind outside the window suddenly picked up, making the old-fashioned window frames rattle and shatter the distant crowing of roosters.
The wall against which Ling Huanwu's back rested still carried the warmth of the daytime sun, and ash was falling from the wall, landing on his sweaty shoulders.
The ash, mixed with the scent of soap on his body and the scent of soap in her hair, swirled together in the cramped air, making one feel more dizzy than the flickering kerosene lamp on the corner of the table.
The cardboard box under the bed was kicked and moved, revealing layers of ledgers and drawings inside, which shimmered in the shadows like overlapping, throbbing heartbeats.
As dawn broke, the space they had been hoping for still remained unopened.
Zhou Jiuzhen squatted down to tie her shoelaces, held her hands which he had warmed overnight but then immediately turned cold, and looked up at her to comfort her, "Don't be too anxious, you must be under too much pressure. Go home and sleep at the affiliated hospital tonight, I'll watch the cooperative for you here."
Ling Huanwu nodded numbly; she was indeed too tired and needed to rest.
Zhou Jiuzhen held her hand tightly with all ten fingers and pulled her outside, breathing on her hand as they walked.
Ling Huanwu rarely showed a smile.
As soon as the two opened the cooperative's gate, they saw Granny Gao's son leading a group of people rush in, shouting that Ling Huanwu should hand over his mother.
"You surnamed Ling, where exactly did you hide my mother? Didn't you promise that she would come back as long as Commander Zhou woke up? Where is my mother?"
Just as Aunt Gao's eldest son finished grumbling, a group of people around him echoed his demand for the person.
"And what about my sister-in-law and her three granddaughters? Have you hidden them somewhere too? They've disappeared without a trace, neither alive nor dead. You have to give us an explanation!"
Ling Huanwu knew that this group of people were Aunt Liu's younger brother's family.
I heard that when Aunt Liu was struggling to make ends meet with her three granddaughters, her relatives stayed far away and wouldn't lend her even a sweet potato.
Now that they have disappeared, these relatives have repeatedly jumped out to join forces with Aunt Gao's son in an attempt to get a share of the spoils!
This group of people were chattering and threatening that if Ling Huanwu couldn't come up with two hundred yuan in compensation, they would smash up the cooperative.
Seeing that Ling Huanwu was expressionless and didn't want to pay attention to them, the group of people swung their hoes and were about to smash the sewing machine next to them.
Zhou Jiuzhen caught the hoe handle that the other person was throwing down with one hand, pulled it forward forcefully, and knocked the other person to the ground.
His cold gaze swept over the group of people, his heart filled with chill.
Only then did I understand why Ling Huanwu was under so much pressure.
It's hard to believe how many times they've come to bother Ling Huanwu over the past year.
"You dare to smash collective property and try it!"
The authoritative warning sounded like a cold knife scraping across the faces of the group, making them all flinch.
Only then did he realize that the fair-skinned young man in front of him was actually Commander Zhou, the legendary commander who could knock out a bear with one punch.
"Commander Zhou, you can't cover up for Comrade Ling. She lost the person, and she has to give us an explanation!"
"Yes, if you don't hand over the person, you'll have to pay compensation!"
Just then, her mother-in-law got up early in the morning and brought over freshly cooked pork belly noodles, intending to nourish Ling Huanwu's body.
As soon as I entered, I ran into this group of people who had come to cause trouble.
"Why are you here again? What does this have to do with Huanwu? If you can't find anyone, you can call the police. Why do you keep coming here to extort money from us..."
Wang Guihua put down the thermos and instinctively condemned the group of troublemakers.
No one knows what word angered them, but Gao's son rushed up and overturned the thermos.
The scalding hot soup spilled out.
Ling Huanwu and Zhou Jiuzhen's pupils dilated in shock; they wanted to stop it, but it was too late.
The pork belly noodles were all splashed onto the mother-in-law, causing her to scream in pain.
"mother!"
Ling Huanwu and Zhou Jiuzhen turned pale with fright and immediately rushed over.
Zhou Jiuzhen immediately helped Wang Guihua brush off the lint from her clothes, while Ling Huanwu helped her mother-in-law quickly take off her clothes.
Wang Guihua cried out in pain, looking as if she had been burned. Instantly, the two flustered women felt guilty and remorseful, their eyes reddening and tears streaming down their faces.
But Gao's son remained calm and, taking advantage of his numbers, cried out recklessly, "We're trying to extort money? Do you think you can buy my mother's life with any amount of money? If you don't give my mother back, you'll pay with your own lives!"
Lin Xiaoqin, who had arrived at work early, saw this and quickly turned around to call for a tractor to take people to the clinic.
Zhou Jiuzhen was already furious, his eyes bloodshot. He turned around and raised his hand to hit Gao Da Niang's son.
Ling Huanwu reacted quickly, grabbing him to stop him, "You can't do it, I'll do it!"
With bloodshot eyes, she grabbed a chair and smashed it at Aunt Gao's son.
In this life, the only people she wants to protect are Zhou Jiuzhen and her mother-in-law. If they are harmed, she will never let them go!
Just as Ling Huanwu lifted the chair, she heard a loud "bang" behind her as the chair shattered.
The entire room fell silent for a moment.
Everyone stared blankly at Granny Gao, who had suddenly appeared and smashed her big son's head with a chair, along with Aunt Liu and the three maids beside her. They all widened their eyes, thinking they had seen a ghost!
Ignoring the astonished looks of those around her, Aunt Gao picked up another chair and smashed it against her eldest son.
If it weren't for Aunt Liu and the triplets stopping her, she would have beaten this ungrateful son to death.
Grandma Gao was so angry her hands trembled. Pointing at her eldest son, whose face was filled with a mixture of joy and surprise, she cursed, "You beast! I must have been blind to have given birth to you! Your mother was caught in that storm back then, even the King of Hell took half a soul. If it weren't for Comrade Ling, I would have died long ago..."
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