At this very moment, in Political Commissar Wang's spacious and bright office, Gu Yanxiao sat upright, recounting the entire incident in detail to Dou Yiping and Political Commissar Wang. As he narrated, Dou Yiping's expression grew increasingly gloomy and unpleasant.
After Gu Yanxiao finished recounting the whole story, Political Commissar Wang's tone became somewhat stern: "Regimental Commander Dou, do you have anything to say about this matter?"
Dou Yiping was speechless. What could he say? The facts were just as Gu Yanxiao had described; the other party had not lied. He had no way to defend himself and could only lower his head and admit his mistake, saying, "It's all my fault. I failed to do a good job in ideological education, which led to my wife, Comrade Wang Cuijuan, not being progressive enough and making the mistake of hurting Comrade Xia Liang. I feel deeply ashamed about this and will definitely reflect deeply and make a self-criticism."
Seeing Dou Yiping's sincere attitude, Political Commissar Wang's anger subsided somewhat. He said, "Since that's the case, we've decided to demote you. At the same time, Comrade Wang Cuijuan must write a letter of self-criticism, formally apologizing to Comrade Xia Liang, and this letter must be posted on the notice board for a week. Do you have any objections to this arrangement?"
Dou Yiping dared not have any objections whatsoever. He nodded hastily, repeatedly saying, "I have no objections, really no objections." Political Commissar Wang then looked at Gu Yanxiao and asked, "And you? Are you satisfied with this outcome?" Gu Yanxiao nodded in response, "I am very grateful to the organization for helping my wife get justice." Political Commissar Wang waved his hand, indicating that they could leave.
As soon as they returned to the family compound, Xia Liang couldn't contain her curiosity and eagerly asked Gu Yanxiao what had happened. Gu Yanxiao took his wife's hand, and seeing that the two children weren't in the living room, he explained with relief, "It's like this, that gossipy woman has been spreading rumors all over our compound, saying bad things about you. I couldn't stand it, so I reported her husband's actions to the brigade commander. I thought she would come and apologize to you, but who would have thought her brain is completely stuffed with donkey hair? Not only is she unrepentant, she even dared to come and humiliate you." After saying this, Gu Yanxiao hugged Xia Liang tightly, comforting her with deep remorse, "I'm so sorry you had to go through all this."
Xia Liang chuckled lightly, her tone tinged with a hint of mockery, and said, "So what? What about you? When others are gossiping that I've caused your Gu family to be childless, what are you thinking?"
Without pausing, Gu Yanxiao replied directly, "These people are all stubborn. What era are we living in? They still value the difference between men and women so much! Why can't daughters continue the family line? Besides, aren't my two daughters more outstanding than other people's sons? What I can't stand the most are the sons of some families in the compound. They're always dirty, extremely naughty, and their academic performance is terrible."
Xia Liang listened with great interest as he went on and on about how much he hated boys, finding it quite amusing. She thought to herself, if those who favored boys over girls heard these words, who knows how they would condemn Gu Yanxiao.
Since his wife and daughter had finally come to visit, Gu Yanxiao took a day off from work to take them on a wonderful trip. He led them to almost every tourist attraction, creating beautiful memories at each place. Besides sightseeing, they also bought many local specialties to take back to their hometown to share with family and friends.
On the night before their departure, Gu Yanxiao spent the whole evening watching TV with the two children in the living room. He kept muttering, "Are we going back already? It feels like you just arrived." Xia Liang couldn't help but find it amusing, thinking that her husband was starting to feel reluctant to leave. But how could she not feel reluctant herself? They had been dating for a while, and now had two children, but the total time they had actually spent together was probably only a little over a year.
Time flew by, and it was midnight in the blink of an eye. Xia Liang saw that the two children were so sleepy they could barely keep their eyes open, so she said to Gu Yanxiao, "Let them go back to their room to sleep! We can see each other again when you have your annual leave." Gu Yanxiao nodded helplessly, then gently carried the two children into their bedroom and carefully placed them on the bed, afraid of waking them. After settling the children in, he returned to his own room.
The couple stayed up all night, talking non-stop. Gu Yanxiao poured out his heart to Xia Liang, feeling deeply indebted to her, their child, and their parents. Xia Liang, thinking that since they were in a sleeper car anyway, decided to give up the idea of sleeping, the two lay on the bed and talked freely until dawn.
Their train departed early in the morning, and Gu Yanxiao specially borrowed a car to take them to the train station. On the way, they stopped at the guesthouse to pick up Chen Yanling and Duan Wenchun.
Gu Yanxiao stood on the platform, his gaze fixed on the slowly departing train. His two daughters continued to wave to him, and Gu Yanxiao's hands never lowered. At that moment, his heart was filled with endless longing and reluctance to part.
Having not slept a wink last night, Xia Liang arrived at the sleeper car and entrusted her two children to Chen Yanling and her junior colleague. Exhausted, she immediately lay down on her bunk and drifted off to sleep. The two clever little ones knew their mother needed rest, so they quietly picked up picture books and lay down on the bed, reading them attentively.
When it was time to eat, Xia Liang was woken up. It turned out that Chen Yanling was worried that she was hungry, so she went out to buy her a boxed lunch. The food on the train was never very satisfying, but luckily, Xia Liang was prepared and took out the braised meat she had bought the day before to share with everyone.
After another day of arduous travel, they finally arrived at the Beijing Railway Station. When Xia Liang saw her parents-in-law and Tian Longhui and others come to pick her up, a huge weight was lifted from her heart. She had been worried that no one would be able to carry her heavy luggage.
The group consisted of nearly ten people, and apart from the two children, everyone was carrying a full load of items. Han Yulan asked curiously, "What are all these things? Why are there so many?" Xia Liang smiled and replied, "I bought some specialties from Heilongjiang to give to my grandparents and maternal grandparents when I get back, so I bought a lot."
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