Su Xiangwan thought, well, being abused every day, internal injuries from that kind of violence must be pretty severe, right?

However, marital issues weren’t something outsiders could interfere with.

She couldn’t help her sister-in-law with her problems and decided not to bother with it.

Gou Dan and Lu Dan exchanged glances and felt that this trip to the city wasn’t as fun as last time.

For children, fun was the most important thing.

Seeing her two nephews pouting, Su Xianghong said, “Come on, Aunt will take you to my little tin house and make some noodles for you. How about that?”

Gou Dan quickly said, “I want one egg in my noodles, and I want to drink brown sugar water.”

Aunt’s brown sugar water was really tasty.

However, just after passing the police station and before reaching the transformer station, they ran into Song Qingshan.

He was riding a horse with Chen Aidang and several military officers, rushing toward them from the other side of the street.

Lu Dan saw this and couldn’t stop the drool from coming out. “Mom, mom, look! My dad’s riding a horse!”

Gou Dan also thought the horse looked impressive, his mouth wide open. “Mom, that’s my dad, he’s really riding a horse!”

Su Xiangwan felt uneasy.

Why? Because people who worked on the reservoir in the mountains couldn’t drive vehicles up, so they had to ride horses.

Since the Qing Shui Gorge Reservoir was deep in the mountains, it meant that Song Qingshan had probably been coming directly from the mountains, and didn’t have time to change vehicles.

He rushed straight to the police station.

With how important Song Qingshan’s work was, if he was riding a horse to the police station, something major must have happened.

Indeed, a very big event had occurred in the county these past few days.

The police chief, Mou Qinian, was waiting for Song Qingshan and Chen Aidang in his office.

Here’s what happened.

After Fang Jinhui returned to the city, he didn’t listen to his uncle’s advice and tone down his actions.

Instead, relying on his uncle’s position as a regiment commander, he became even more arrogant.

A few days ago, he somehow got his hands on a few bundles of explosives and was threatening to blow up the reservoir to rescue his “counter-revolutionary” gang and continue his revolution in the city.

Director Mou was wiping sweat from his brow.

When he saw Song Qingshan, he immediately saluted him. “I’m so sorry, Song team, we may have gotten ourselves into big trouble.”

Of course, he also thought that since both Song Lao San and Fang Jinhui were relatives of Song Qingshan and Song Tingxiu, Song Qingshan probably didn’t want things to escalate.

So he suggested, “We can keep this quiet for now. How about we find someone to secretly collect the explosives and lock up the two of them? What do you think?”

“The whole county is being notified about this. Tell the county governor and the secretary to seal the city and initiate a manhunt,” Song Qingshan said.

“Fang Jinhui is your nephew, and Old Third Song is your brother. If you proceed this way, it could harm the reputation of your family,” Director Mou said.

Chen Aidang, who was also present, tried to persuade Song Qingshan, “Why don’t we just catch him quietly? There’s no need for a big public operation. It could affect your promotion.”

“Catch him,” Song Qingshan said resolutely. “We need to make the announcement public and initiate an open manhunt.”

In fact, those packages of explosives came from Song Qingshan’s tractor, and it was precisely because Fang Jinhui was young—he had heard that explosives were kept on his uncle’s tractor—that he made the fateful decision to steal them.

His grandfather was nearly beaten to death, his father had been expelled from public office, and now his uncle was being investigated for sexual misconduct with girls. If these things were confirmed, Fang Jinhui knew he would be severely punished.

So, unable to resist, he stole the explosives.

He actually loved his uncle, Song Qingshan, and looked up to him.

However, the situation changed when Su Xiangwan exposed their family’s corrupt dealings, causing them to fall from being respected revolutionaries to being branded as corrupt officials by society.

From that moment on, what Fang Jinhui did wasn’t just a mistake—it was a crime.

Outside, Su Xiangwan and Su Xianghong were standing on the street, holding children in their arms.

It was hot, and the kids wanted popsicles.

There was a vendor nearby pushing a cart, with the popsicles wrapped in cloth.

Su Xiangwan asked, and found out that one popsicle cost only five cents.

She decided to spend two dimes to buy four: one each for Su Xianghong, Lu Dan, and Gou Dan, and the remaining one was shared between her and Zhizhi.

Just then, she saw Song Tingxiu running quickly from a distance.

The young man, who had been a soldier, ran very nimbly. But when he saw Su Xiangwan, he suddenly turned around, and unfortunately, he ran straight into a utility pole with a loud thud.

Trying to act composed, he quickly turned around again, only to trip over a piece of cement and stumbled right into Su Xianghong. With a thud, he fell to his knees.

Su Xianghong had just unwrapped the popsicle when she looked up and saw a police officer kneeling in front of her, holding out his hand.

She was momentarily stunned, thinking that he was asking for the popsicle, so she handed it to him.

Song Tingxiu took the popsicle, looked up, and saw a girl who appeared to be about seventeen or eighteen.

Her face flushed bright red, turning pale pink and tender.

A group of soldiers rode in on horseback and then left quickly. Soon, the street was empty.

Only Song Qingshan dismounted and walked across the street.

“Brother, you’re finally here. Let’s talk about work now, about Old Third and Jinhui,” Song Tingxiu said quickly, holding the popsicle.

Su Xiangwan exclaimed in surprise, “What? Did they get into trouble again?”

Song Qingshan, wearing his military green uniform, furrowed his brows but didn’t speak.

Song Tingxiu gritted his teeth in frustration, “That day, I should have beaten Old Third to death in Hongxing Commune. If I had done that, neither he nor Jinhui would have gone on to commit more crimes.”

Su Xiangwan looked at Song Qingshan, thinking to herself, This man’s face must be getting red from embarrassment. How can he not feel ashamed?

Half an hour later, Su Xiangwan and the children followed Song Qingshan to the command center of his unit in the county town.

As Su Xiangwan looked around the courtyard, she saw soldiers walking back and forth.

It seemed that they were all reinforcements brought in from Qingshui Gorge, currently searching the entire town for explosives.

The loudspeakers outside were blaring with announcements, repeatedly broadcasting the names of Fang Gaodi and Fang Jinhui, father and son, as part of the public manhunt.

There were hardly any people out in the streets anymore; everyone had taken shelter indoors.

Song Qingshan, however, seemed unhurried.

He gave orders for the entire regiment to go out and search for Fang Jinhui and Fang Gaodi, before heading into his office.

This was Su Xiangwan’s first time visiting the military base, and as she walked around, she noticed Song Qingshan following closely behind.

She kicked him lightly and said, “Your nephew has explosives, and you’re not worried? You’re not going to go find him?”

Song Qingshan just smiled and said nothing.

Meanwhile, Lu Dan and Gou Dan were rubbing their stomachs. “Dad, we’re hungry. Really hungry.”

Song Qingshan’s orderly, Xiao Wu, though just a low-ranking officer, was the one who was always on duty when the leaders went home, which meant he had little to do outside of guarding.

Now, however, he seized the opportunity to show his usefulness and quickly said, “Come on, let’s go to the cafeteria. The army’s kitchen has food. I’ll take you there.”

“Do you have big roosters in your army?” Gou Dan asked. What he really wanted to eat at that moment was chicken.

Xiao Wu shook his head. “No, no roosters. But we do have big steamed buns and salted vegetables.”

As soon as Gou Dan heard about the steamed buns, his eyes lit up. “Steamed buns are fine! Steamed buns with pickled vegetables are delicious!”

Though the army kitchen was technically closed at this hour, when the family members of officers came by, the soldiers in the kitchen quickly got to work.

They reheated big white steamed buns, chopped up salted vegetables, and drizzled them with sesame oil, then served the kids each a bowl of millet porridge.

Though the food situation at the reservoir was tight, and the quality was poor, to the children, the white steamed buns with pickled vegetables felt like a feast.

They ate greedily, and before long, each of them had finished two bowls of porridge.

The soldiers in the kitchen, feeling a little guilty for the humble meal, joined Xiao Wu in rummaging through the supplies.

After a while, they found a few eggs.

They quickly fried them up, sprinkled some salt on top, and put them in the steamed buns for Gou Dan and Lu Dan.

The two children, already full to the brim, looked at the steaming hot buns with eggs inside.

Gou Dan patted his stomach and said, “Brother, I think I can still eat. What about you?”

Lu Dan took the bun and said, “If we’re eating, then let’s eat! Who’s afraid of who? If we get too full, we’ll just run a couple of laps around their field, and that’ll digest everything, right?”

The two of them exchanged glances, then continued eating.

By the time they finished the buns, they were so full that they couldn’t sit still.

They went out to run laps, but fortunately, being country kids, they had plenty of energy, so they didn’t get sick from overeating.

Inside the office, Song Qingshan was waiting for updates on the whereabouts of Fang Jinhui, Fang Gaodi, and Song Laosan.

Su Xiangwan and Su Xianghong were in Song Qingshan’s quarters, rummaging through his things.

She thought that since Song Qingshan spent so much time at work, he must have hidden some private money or a little stash.

As she folded the blankets, she casually checked around, but she was surprised to find that there was nothing in his room except for a bed, a few books, and a stack of notebooks.

Oh, and there were a few pairs of rubber shoes, all of which had loose threads, with the big toes sticking out.

Su Xiangwan then opened one of his notebooks.

Nowadays, it was common for people to write journals, like the microblogs, QQ, and WeChat Moments that people would have in the future.

“Sis, even if you’re his wife, you shouldn’t be looking through your brother-in-law’s journal,” Su Xianghong said when she saw Su Xiangwan flipping through Song Qingshan’s notebook.

Su Xiangwan laughed and said, “He’s not here, so I’m just having a look. What’s the harm?”

Of course, it wasn’t right to go through someone’s personal notebook, but since it wasn’t locked, what harm was there in a quick peek?

As she flipped through it, she found the entries to be rather dry and boring.

There were many sections filled with geometric diagrams and construction blueprints, essentially just a work manual with no personal information.

However, when she reached the entry for May 9th, she couldn’t help but laugh.

On that day, Song Qingshan had written: I’m sorry, Leader. I’m sorry, the Party. Today, I have no mood to focus on work. This is disloyal to the organization and neglectful of my party duties, but I believe tomorrow I’ll be able to invest myself with renewed enthusiasm and energy!

At the end, he had written two large characters: Looking forward!

That was the day before they were supposed to move into their new house, and Song Qingshan was eagerly anticipating that his wife would be able to move around.

Su Xiangwan was curious and wanted to know what he would write the next day. Would he really be in the mood to work?

Just as she was thinking about this, Song Qingshan’s voice suddenly came from outside, “Where’s your sister?”

Su Xiangwan hurriedly closed the notebook and placed it back on the desk.

Song Qingshan entered and immediately noticed that his notebook was out of place.

Seeing Su Xiangwan’s hand still resting on it, he quickly grabbed it and locked it away in the drawer.

“The kids are eating over the stove. Why didn’t you take Zhizhi with you to eat?” Song Qingshan asked.

Su Xiangwan replied, “Why go to the cafeteria when I can bring it to your room?”

She pointed to a jeep outside and asked, “I asked Xiao Wu earlier. He said that’s the car assigned to you by the unit. Why didn’t you drive it when you came back?”

Song Qingshan shrugged. “The tractor is more comfortable.”

Su Xiangwan said, “But I want to drive it!”

“You know how to drive?” Song Qingshan asked skeptically.

Su Xiangwan immediately rolled up her sleeves and said, “Want me to show you? I can drive excavators and bulldozers, let alone a jeep.”