Military barracks.
Ling Huanwu took a paper bag of oyster cakes to her mother-in-law Wang Guihua's room.
Today, my mother-in-law happened to have a headache and didn't go out, so she didn't go to the dock and didn't know that Zhou Jiuzhen had been arrested.
Ling Huanwu instructed her aunts not to tell her mother-in-law, lest her health suffer.
When I entered the room, Wang Guihua was leaning against the bed, secretly wiping away tears with something in her hand.
When Ling Huanwu got closer, she saw that it was a black and white photo of the triplets.
As soon as her mother-in-law saw her come in, she quickly hid the photo under her pillow.
"Mother, is your headache any better?"
"These are oyster pancakes and peanut soup that I brought back from the city. I've reheated them for you, so eat them while they're hot."
Ling Huanwu poured the rich, creamy peanut soup into a bowl. She had made it with spiritual spring water from her space, hoping it would relieve her mother-in-law's headache.
The mother-in-law got up, took Ling Huanwu's hand, and pulled her to sit on the edge of the bed, where she started chatting with her about everyday things.
Seeing her mother-in-law finish the whole bowl of peanut soup while talking, Ling Huanwu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Mom, do you miss your children? How about I take you to Hong Kong to see them in a while?"
Wang Guihua gently stroked Ling Huanwu's hand and shook her head. "Children and grandchildren have their own blessings. Mother is not worried about Shuyao, because he is not the type to let himself suffer. Mother is not worried about you, but about Jiuzhen. You two are focused on construction and career. Mother is afraid that after you have children, there will be no one to take care of them."
"You two should have a baby soon, and I'll help you take care of it..."
Listening to her mother-in-law's incessant chatter, Ling Huanwu's eyes stung, and she forced herself to hold back her tears.
The traditional view of women in the older generation is that raising children is the most important thing.
If her mother-in-law knew that she might have difficulty conceiving, she would be heartbroken.
After visiting her mother-in-law, Ling Huanwu went to the military office to find Political Commissar Hao. After discussing the countermeasures with him, she set off.
In the evening, she hired a boat and set off for the city.
On the dock.
The aunties from the neighboring village, who had no work to do, were gathering seafood on the mudflats. When they saw Ling Huanwu from afar, they ran over excitedly to see her make a fool of herself.
"Isn't this Commander Zhou's wife? She used to rely on Commander Zhou's backing to run a cooperative and act like a tyrant. Now that Commander Zhou has been taken away, her good days are probably over."
"What kind of wife is she, Commander Zhou? At most, she's having an affair with Commander Zhou. It's all over the island. She already has a childhood betrothal, and she's still hooking up with Commander Zhou. She's so shameless!"
The women laughed so hard they were doubled over, their faces beaming with satisfaction.
A few days ago, Ling Huanwu announced that everyone on the island could go to the cooperative for job interviews, except for a few of them.
As a result, they were often scolded by their husbands and ridiculed.
Now that they have the chance to take revenge, they wish Ling Huanwu could break down and cry.
Ling Huanwu, carrying her bundle, coldly stared at the women with distorted faces. Before she could speak, her parents, also carrying bundles, rushed out from somewhere and began to hurl insults at the women who had been mocking her.
"Are you bunch of blabbermouths ever going to shut up? Believe me or I'll beat you up!"
Ling's father raised his fist as if to punch someone.
Ling's mother also stood protectively in front of Ling Huanwu, defending her for the first time as she had defended Song Yaoyao in the past. "Even if our Huanwu is a slut, the commander's son still insists on marrying her. You lot are just jealous and envious. Believe me, when the time comes, I'll talk to my good son-in-law, and you lot will be in big trouble!"
A few hurtful words came crashing down on them, but the aunties opposite weren't intimidated at all. Instead, they mocked Ling's parents, "Oh, oh, oh, didn't you always protect your adopted daughter? Now you're regretting it and protecting your own daughter instead?"
"Are you planning to leave this place with your own daughter? It seems like your own daughter doesn't want to take you with her. Well, that makes sense. You dote on your adopted daughter, but she won't take you with her. Now that you're old, you deserve to have no one to take care of you!"
The women chattered away, making Ling's parents blush and stammer, unable to utter another word for a long time.
Seeing that the group was arguing fiercely, Ling Huanwu decided not to waste her breath arguing with them. She turned around, hurriedly boarded the boat, and ordered the fishermen to set sail immediately.
As the fishing boat sailed away, Ling's parents assumed that Ling Huanwu was leaving this place forever with her belongings, and they both collapsed onto the dock and burst into tears.
Thinking back to those years when they believed Song Yaoyao, took away their own daughter's room, locked her in a dark room, forced her to take the blame and suffer endless torment, and even poisoned the crops in an attempt to ruin her, they were filled with deep regret.
In those years, the two of them were completely blinded by greed. In order to get rid of the label of capitalists, they deliberately took in their benefactor's daughter and treated her like a precious jewel.
In fact, they were not grateful to Song Yaoyao's mother for saving their lives.
As nannies, they took it for granted.
They simply needed an excuse to establish their image, which is why they adopted Song Yaoyao, gave her whatever she wanted, and ultimately lost themselves in the flattery of outsiders calling them "great philanthropists." By trampling their own daughter into the mud, they made themselves seem even more like the good people everyone praised.
But in the end, what did they get from all that praise?
The adopted daughter used them and then kicked them aside. In front of relatives and friends, she praised them as good people, but in reality, they all laughed at them for being stupid.
Now that they've been abandoned by their own daughter, who can they blame?
In the vast ocean, only their regretful cries echoed throughout the entire sea.
*
Inside the train station.
Ling Huanwu bought a ticket for the next available train to Yuncheng.
She didn't have a seat ticket, so she bought a standing ticket.
She discovered that this was the same train she and Zhou Jiuzhen had taken before.
I still vividly remember the scene of him carrying her on his back in a bamboo chair, walking all over the carriage.
Now, she sits alone in a corner with her bundle, listening to the rumble of the train, and sits there until dawn.
As dawn broke.
She finally returned to the place where she had lived since childhood.
Ling Huanwu learned from Political Commissar Hao that Commander Zhao's home was also in Yuncheng, so she returned there without stopping.
She knew that to save Zhou Jiuzhen, she had to start with Zhao Jingxiang's father.
After getting off the train, she didn't even have breakfast. She asked for directions along the way and took a bus to find Commander Zhao's place in Yuncheng.
In front of a traditional courtyard house, Ling Huanwu checked the door number and was about to knock when a middle-aged woman inside caught her eye.
The woman, dressed in a black cheongsam with gold thread, lay listlessly on a soft, plush blanket, her eyes lifeless.
Commander Zhao squatted down beside the woman, gently stroking her cheek, his gaze focused and affectionate.
Anyone who saw this would believe that such a tender and affectionate man was the legendary iron-faced commander in the army.
Just as she was staring blankly, the middle-aged woman in the rocking chair inside looked up and met her gaze.
In that instant, Ling Huanwu felt her breath catch in her throat.
That soul-piercing gaze is so much like Zhou Jiuzhen's!
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