“No matter how difficult they are, there must be something they fear. They have the numbers, but we can also call for help. Your brother always wanted to come back for the college entrance exam, he definitely wanted to go home.”

Having anticipated that Ji Qinghe, such a gentle and refined man, would face trouble with that greedy family, Ji Meng couldn’t tolerate their excessive behavior. Her expression turned cold.

“I’ll accompany you to go get brother back in a while.”

“Moreover, just after brother passed away, sister-in-law’s family is acting so outrageously. We can’t expect them to treat Qingyu well. Although children may fare better with their mothers, if sister-in-law can’t protect her or if she remarries and neglects Qingyu, we can’t just leave her there to suffer. We have to talk about it.”

Ji Qinghe had been thinking about this issue, but he hesitated because, after all, that was his granddaughter’s maternal family, and he still had a daughter-in-law there. Now, upon Ji Meng’s words, thinking about how his granddaughter might be suffering or already was suffering, he immediately made up his mind.

“I’ll talk to your Uncle Fu later. Once your brother’s memorial is over, I’ll borrow two people from him to accompany me for another trip to bring your brother and Qingyu back.”

Hearing this, Ji Meng nodded. “Yes, we need to make sure about Qingyu’s situation. It would be best to get the police or the neighborhood committee involved to help witness it, to avoid any further disputes later on.”

After discussing the matters regarding Ji Qiao and Qingyu, the atmosphere fell into a brief silence.

After a while, Ji Qinghe recovered from his guilt and remembered something, raising his head to look at Ji Meng. Hesitant, he asked, “Mengmeng, what about you? When did you get married? How is your husband…”

Worried that Ji Meng might get upset, Ji Qinghe asked cautiously.

He was happier than anyone that his daughter had returned, and he liked the granddaughter she brought back. However, he had no idea when his daughter got married, who her husband was, what he was like, or whether he treated her well.

Was this trip with his granddaughter just to see him, or was she planning to stay…

These were questions he couldn’t avoid asking.

In the past two years, many educated youth had returned to the city, and a lot had gotten divorced because of it, which made Ji Qinghe worry that his daughter might be in the same situation.

Of course, what he was most concerned about was whether his son-in-law treated his daughter poorly…

Earlier, when he took Qiuqiu out, he only asked her how old she was, he didn’t dare to ask anything else for fear that his daughter would think too much.

He had anticipated that this topic would come up.

Ji Meng pressed her lips together and spoke:

“After a year in the countryside, Qiuqiu is now over four years old.”

“Qiuqiu’s father is a soldier, a very capable and strong man who worked his way up to the position of deputy regiment commander… About a month ago, he sacrificed his life.”

“Sacrificed?” Ji Qinghe was stunned.

He had thought of many possibilities, but this was the last situation he had expected.

He was gone.

His son-in-law is dead.

His daughter had become a widow! At not even twenty-four years of age, she was a widow with a daughter…

Ji Qinghe felt as if he had been struck by lightning, he couldn’t accept it. He pressed his head down and looked up at the sky, wanting to scream out his frustration, but he found that his voice was hoarse and he couldn’t cry out at all.

“How could this happen? How could this happen…?”

“Mengmeng, dad was wrong, I was really wrong. I harmed you all, it was all my fault!”

Ji Qinghe buried his head deeply and wept uncontrollably.

All these years, no matter how difficult life on the farm had been, Ji Qinghe had never regretted taking the time back then to save that child.

But at this moment, he regretted it, truly regretted it.

He owed it to the children, he owed it to his two children.

Mengmeng had not scolded him in vain, he had indeed, with his own hands, destroyed this family and ruined his two children.

Ji Qinghe wept bitterly, holding his head in anguish, wishing he could die to atone for his sins.

He didn’t understand why heaven treated him and his children this way.

“What did you do wrong?”

Seeing a frail old man in such a state in front of her made Ji Meng uneasy. She tugged at her hair in irritation and spoke up.

“Was it wrong to save that child?”

“I don’t think you did anything wrong. The child’s situation was so critical at the time, as a doctor, how could you possibly stand by and watch someone die? Besides, didn’t you say that even if you had arrived at the revolutionary committee’s house in time, the wife still wouldn’t have been saved?”

The original body had a deep memory of the incident when their home was raided, including the scene where she scolded Ji Qinghe and his explanations. Even after so many years, it remained surprisingly vivid.

Combining this with the arguments between the original body and the female lead, who was studying medicine, regarding the grandfather’s case, Ji Meng was almost clear about the entire incident.

The issue with the revolutionary committee’s wife was not simply about excessive bleeding.

She had a poor constitution to begin with, and the child was conceived while she was under the influence of her husband’s harmful medication, which could have easily led to a situation where both mother and child might not survive.

Ji Qinghe had done his utmost to help her recover, enabling her to give birth to her son, which was already a stroke of luck in an unfortunate situation.

Moreover, she had unexpectedly fallen, and all the circumstances combined made it something that even a deity couldn’t have reversed.

Yet the director of the revolutionary committee was domineering and urgently needed someone to vent his anger on, he refused to listen to any explanations and blamed everything on Ji Qinghe’s late arrival, raiding their home.

Where had Ji Qinghe gone wrong?

If there was a mistake, it was in accepting every kind of illness.

But truly conscientious doctors do not have the right to choose their patients.

“I told you, don’t blame everything on yourself.”

“My life hasn’t been as hard as you think over the years. My mother-in-law and Qiuqiu’s father have both treated me quite well.”

“When I married Qiuqiu’s father, I knew he was a soldier, everything was my own choice.”

“My mother-in-law is also someone who just lost her son. When I returned to the city, she came to see me off and told me to take care of myself and to watch Qiuqiu grow up and go to college.”

“So I want to say that I hope you also take care of yourself. Think about Qingyu, she’s only a little over five. Just having a mother isn’t enough, she also needs you, her grandfather, to look after her.”

After Ji Meng finished speaking, she remained quiet and patiently waited by the side.

Sometimes, people need comfort, but they also need a certain level of calm.

After a while, Ji Qinghe’s shoulder tremors diminished, and he finally moved, wiping his face with a handkerchief and taking a deep breath. In a hoarse voice, he replied, “Dad understands.”

“Dad just can’t accept…”

He couldn’t accept it, couldn’t come to terms with it.

He had lost his son, and his daughter had become a widow before the age of less than 24.

In these times and age, it’s difficult for those with families to survive, and it’s even harder for widows.

“It’s nothing, it’s all in the past.”

Ji Meng probably understood what Ji Qinghe meant, she didn’t care much and replied,

“Dad, don’t worry about me. I’m fine, really, I can raise Qiuqiu by myself.”

“Mm.”

Ji Qinghe responded with a sound. He wanted to tug at the corners of his mouth but found it difficult and numb, even a forced smile carried bitterness. He didn’t push himself any further and remained silent for a long while before asking:

“Qiuqiu is over four now, has she started school?”

“Mm,” Ji Meng nodded. “Last year, I took her to the army with me, and she attended kindergarten for a semester.”

“Then she needs to continue her studies now that she’s here.”

“Our neighbor, Sister Zheng, has a daughter-in-law teaching at the street’s Yuhong class. Since the kindergarten just started a few days ago, I can talk to her and arrange for Qiuqiu to join.”

“Qiuqiu is four and a half, so she’s about the right age for Yuhong class.”

Talking about Qiuqiu’s arrangements lifted Ji Qinghe’s spirits a bit. He said to Ji Meng, “You should go to the Youth Educated Office later and have them help transfer your and Qiuqiu’s household registration.”

Under the current policy, married youths temporarily can’t return to the city, but with Ji Meng being a widow and Ji Qinghe being her only living relative, that issue didn’t apply.

“Mm.” Ji Meng nodded, indicating she understood. “I’ll go out and take care of it later.”

“Make sure you have all the documents with you. When you get there, just find Aunt Lai, she’s in charge of this.”

Aunt Lai was also their neighbor. Although Ji Meng was not familiar with her, she nodded to show she knew the name.

After another brief silence, Ji Qinghe gradually stabilized his emotions and recalled something. He looked up again:

“And about the night school, they’re starting classes on March 10th. Today is the 5th, so there are still five days left.”

“I’ll enroll you in the Traditional Chinese Medicine program. I’ve checked, you don’t need to prepare anything. Just show up for registration, and classes will be from 6 to 8:30 in the evening. It’s not far from here, and I can pick you up after class.”

After saying this, Ji Qinghe nervously stared at Ji Meng, fearing she might be unwilling or opposed to the idea.

Because of what happened back then, Ji Meng really disliked anything related to medicine.

She had openly expressed her disgust in front of him without holding back.

He had considered enrolling his daughter in another major, but the slots for night school were hard to come by, he only had a bit of a connection for Traditional Chinese Medicine.

“Okay.”

Ji Meng didn’t know about Ji Qinghe’s worries, she had no objections to attending night school.

Since she hadn’t even graduated from middle school, she needed a diploma to ensure that her daughter wouldn’t be ridiculed for having an illiterate mother.

However, pursuing the path of taking the college entrance examination was unrealistic for her.

She had been away from school for six or seven years, and she had forgotten all the textbook knowledge. To relearn it would require time.

With only three months left until the college entrance examination, she didn’t have the ability to guarantee she would pass.

She had previously looked at middle and high school textbooks from the 80s and 90s, and those geometry and sequences were taught much more deeply than those from decades later, even covering some university-level content.

Subjects like politics were extremely strict.

Cramming at the last minute wouldn’t work for her.

The most important thing is she needed to support Qiuqiu and had to work to earn money, leaving her with no time to experience campus life.

Night school was the most suitable option for her.

Moreover, at that time, night school was specifically established for those working in government agencies who couldn’t participate in the college entrance examination, and its certificates were recognized, holding much more value than those obtained through correspondence courses decades later, they could be used like regular university diplomas.

“No need to pick me up. The class ends at 8:30, which isn’t too late. I’ll buy a bike and ride it back myself,” Ji Meng said, recalling Ji Qinghe’s offer to pick her up.

“Dad will buy you the bike,” Ji Qinghe immediately replied.

“Aunt Huang works at the supply and marketing building, and she can get coupons from there. Dad will go find her later.”

Ji Meng indeed didn’t have bicycle coupons, and she was thinking of finding someone to help her get one. However, since she wasn’t familiar with the provincial capital, she decided not to hesitate and thanked him: “Okay, then Dad, please help me get a bicycle coupon.”

“But I will pay for the bike myself, I brought back some money.”

Hearing this, Ji Qinghe looked at Ji Meng, hesitating for a moment. After a while, he said:

“Use the money you brought back to support Qiuqiu. The bike will be a birthday gift from Dad to make up for all the years I’ve been absent.”

As he spoke, Ji Qinghe paused and lowered his voice even more: “Mengmeng, don’t be polite with Dad. I owe you a lot for many years and really want to fulfill my responsibilities as a father.”

Ji Meng felt a string in her heart being plucked.

Is this what it feels like to have a dad?

She suddenly envied the original body.

“Okay, thank you, Dad,” Ji Meng said, taking a light breath and smiling slightly.

“What’s there to thank? Dad is just happy to be able to buy things for Mengmeng,” Ji Qinghe replied, his expression relaxing a bit, and there was a glimmer of light in his bloodshot eyes. After a moment, he hesitated again and said to Ji Meng:

“Mengmeng, you should study hard at night school. Once you get your certificate, Dad will find a way to let you work at the Chinese medicine pharmacy.”

“We can talk about that later, night school also takes two years,” Ji Meng said, not agreeing immediately. She had to take care of Qiuqiu, buy a house, and support Qiuqiu’s future dreams, the salary from the pharmacy wouldn’t be enough.

Moreover, after experiencing the hardships of those years sitting at a desk in her past life, she never wanted to go through that again for even a day.

“That’s fine,” Ji Qinghe replied after thinking for a moment.

After what happened with his eldest son, he didn’t want to experience any more regrets, he wouldn’t force his daughter to do anything she didn’t like.

There were still two years left, and he could still move and save more money. By then, whatever his daughter wanted to do, he would support her.

As Ji Qinghe pondered this, he suddenly remembered the marriage proposal that Old Fu had discussed with him earlier.

His daughter was back and had been married before, what should he do about that marriage proposal?

Ji Qinghe’s expression paused for a moment.

The Ji family and the Fu family had been family friends for generations. Although the Ji family was not as wealthy as the Fu family now, he owed them a life-saving favor and had built a bond with Old Fu through shared hardships, so the match was not an issue.

As for Junyan, that kid was handsome and talented. He had been delayed by Old Fu’s situation in the past years, and now he was already 28 without a relationship.

He was currently working at the Economic and Trade Bureau, a warm-hearted and intelligent person with great ideas. He would truly be a perfect match for his daughter Mengmeng.

Even though there had been some issues with Mengmeng, such as her previous marriage and having Qiuqiu.

But from what he knew, the Fu family valued people over status and didn’t care about previous marriages or family background.

As for Junyan, he understood him well, ever since that incident when he was frightened by a disfigured madwoman at the age of ten, he had become particularly concerned with appearances.

With how beautiful Mengmeng had grown up, there was no way he wouldn’t find her attractive.

But what about Mengmeng? What did she think?

He remembered that Mengmeng used to love running after that boy the most. Was there still a chance for them?

After hesitating for a long time, Ji Qinghe decided to ask his daughter. He looked up at Ji Meng:

“Mengmeng, you received the letter from Dad, right? It’s about you and Junyan…”