Ling Huanwu remembered that Zhou Jiuzhen also seemed to have a birthmark on his buttocks.
But the shape is not heart-shaped.
She had just seen the little boy's white bottom picking up stones in the corner, and then she remembered that when a little kid grows into an adult, the heart-shaped pattern must have spread and changed, and it would never remain unchanged as a heart shape.
Then I remembered that my mother-in-law had mentioned that Zhou Jiuzhen had saved a little girl when he got lost.
And Zhou Jiuzhen's eyebrows and eyes, which are very similar to Zhao Tingguo's.
All of this seems to connect.
Ling Huanwu didn't think much of it and hurriedly boarded a bus to the train station.
She had to find her mother-in-law immediately and find out which park Xiao Zhou Jiuzhen had rescued back then.
That very night, she took a train back to the coast.
Throughout the journey, she felt uneasy, as if she were getting closer and closer to the truth.
If Zhou Jiuzhen is indeed Commander Zhao's missing youngest son, then he will definitely find out the truth and release Jiuzhen.
Ling Huanwu disregarded the fatigue of the journey and shortened what would have taken three days to just two.
When she disembarked, she was so seasick and exhausted that she almost collapsed on the dock.
The women from Shitou Village who came to the beach at dusk to try their luck and find some seafood saw her on the dock and rushed over to help her up, all of them quite surprised.
"Captain Ling, why are you back so soon? Didn't you say you were going to find a way to rescue Commander Zhou?"
"Your mother-in-law was just called to the army base to pick up a telegram. We thought it was a telegram from you..."
Ling Huanwu was startled, and a bad premonition immediately welled up in her heart.
If neither she nor Zhou Jiuzhen could send a telegram to her mother-in-law.
The only person who could send a telegram to his mother-in-law was Zhou Shuyao.
She didn't have time to respond to her aunts' concern and quickly hurried back towards the army.
Inside the military communications room.
They couldn't find the mother-in-law.
Ling Huanwu asked the comrade in charge of receiving telegrams what telegram her mother-in-law had just received, what her condition was, and whether there was anything unusual about her body.
The comrade who received the telegram was puzzled and answered truthfully, "Auntie was very calm. I didn't pay attention to what was written on the telegram, but Auntie thanked me after taking the telegram and left."
Upon hearing this news, Ling Huanwu could only breathe a sigh of relief.
It seems her guess was unnecessary.
Perhaps if she hadn't gone to Hong Kong with Zhou Shuyao, the disappearance of her child in this life would never have disappeared again...
As Ling Huanwu walked out of the communications room, lost in thought, she heard a series of exclamations coming from the training ground not far away.
"Oh my god, someone has fallen down the stairs on the training field! Quick, go check it out..."
Immediately, the crowd solidified, and a soldier broke through the encirclement, carrying someone as he ran towards the infirmary.
Although Ling Huanwu couldn't see clearly who the soldier was holding.
But she only felt her right eyelid twitching, and she had to hold onto a tree to steady herself.
Seeing the soldier carrying the person past her and leaving, she quickly shook her groggy head and followed.
Until the soldier placed the bloodied old woman on the examination bed, Ling Huanwu felt a "boom" in her head. An overwhelming panic gripped her, making her hands and feet tremble as she approached.
On the small examination bed, the doctor was using cotton to plug the wound on the old woman's head that was still gushing out.
The mother-in-law lay there with a deathly pale face, showing none of her usual gentle demeanor.
Even as she collapsed, she still clutched that light yet deadly telegram in her hand.
Ling Huanwu exerted tremendous effort to finally retrieve the telegram from her mother-in-law's hand.
She crumpled a telegram, on which was written, “Mother, Xiao Bao is lost. Quickly call Huan Wu to Hong Kong.”
These few words struck Ling Huanwu like a thunderbolt, her hands trembling as she gripped the edge of the telegram.
She knew Zhou Shuyao wouldn't joke about something like this; something must have happened, and he had no choice but to send a telegram back for help.
The old woman on the bed woke up from her coma, her withered hand trembling as she reached out to grab her.
Ling Huanwu quickly reached out and grasped her hand, tears suddenly falling down her cheeks.
"Mom, everything will be alright. I will find Xiaobao. Don't worry..."
Before she could finish speaking, her mother-in-law closed her eyes again, but her hand gripped Ling Huanwu tightly and refused to let go.
The army doctor tried to stop the bleeding with cotton for a long time, but the blood flowed like a rushing river and just wouldn't stop.
"The patient needs to be rushed to the city hospital for respiratory monitoring and emergency treatment immediately. He has lost too much blood and could fall into a coma or die at any time. Go and call a boat right away."
Ling Huanwu held her mother-in-law's hand the whole way, and hurriedly followed the stretcher onto the escort boat.
The salty sea breeze, carrying raindrops, pounded on the ship's deck, mixing with the blood from Ling Huanwu's palm, creating a warm, damp patch.
She gripped her mother-in-law's hand tightly; the hand that had patted her back countless times and given her flatbread was now slowly growing cold.
The smoke from the stove still lingered between his knuckles, but he could no longer lift his fingers to shield her from the bone-chilling wind.
"Mom, hang in there," her voice was shattered by the waves, and she whispered in her mother-in-law's ear, her sobs escaping her lips. "There are hospitals in the city, and doctors will definitely be able to help... Don't you remember? You said you'd wait for me to give birth and help me take care of the baby..."
The mother-in-law's eyelids trembled, and her cloudy eyes struggled to move toward her face.
Blood was still seeping from the wound on her forehead, staining the cotton in Ling Huanwu's hand red, just like the frost-bitten hawthorn that her mother-in-law had secretly given her in Stone Village in her previous life. Only this red was burning hot, making her heart clench.
"Huan..." Her mother-in-law's voice was softer than a mosquito's buzz, and her withered fingers twitched slightly in her palm, as if she wanted to squeeze back. "Don't... cry..."
Ling Huanwu nodded frantically, but tears fell like broken beads, landing on their clasped hands and mingling with the blood as they streamed down.
She remembered when she first married into Stone Village in her previous life, she was clumsy and was always laughed at by the neighboring aunties. It was her mother-in-law who pulled her into the kitchen and stuffed a hot steamed bun into her hand: "We farmers are not afraid of being clumsy, as long as we are honest."
Once, she had a high fever, and it was her mother-in-law who knelt in the mud and begged someone to drive her to town in a tractor, which saved her life.
In this life, when her parents scolded her time and time again, her mother-in-law always stood up for her, showing her concern and believing in her.
She had long regarded her mother-in-law as her own mother.
In this life, she wants to protect her mother-in-law and ensure she lives to be a hundred years old.
She prayed to God that nothing would happen to her mother-in-law.
The boat rocked violently, and the old woman's head tilted to the side. The hand that had never let go finally went limp.
"Mother?" Ling Huanwu called out tentatively, her voice trembling uncontrollably.
There was no response.
The sea breeze grew fiercer, lifting the hem of her clothes and taking away the last bit of warmth from her mother-in-law.
Ling Huanwu buried her face in her mother-in-law's cold hands, which still bore the familiar calluses from years of housework. But she would never again gently pat her back and say, "It's alright."
"mother……"
A cry pierced the throat, startling the seabirds into taking flight.
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