Chapter 3: What’s Your Name? Xie Yutang?

Ping’an’s condition wasn’t serious—just a cold coupled with shock. The doctor gave him an injection and then allowed them to return home.

Both Qin Zhao and his wife worked in the railway department. They lived in a small courtyard in the middle of the city, on Wutong Lane.

This courtyard had been purchased by An Tingbai when Qin Zhao was getting married, to give him a place to settle down.

The two families were very close.

Back then, the elder of the Qin family had fled famine and collapsed by the roadside in the Provincial Capital. He had been rescued by the elder of the An family. The name “Qin Lanfeng” was even given by the An family elder.

He grew up in the An household, later marrying Yun Yan, a maid from the An family. The following year, they had their first son, Qin Zhao. He always stayed close to An Tingbai, all the way until the war broke out and the Provincial Capital fell.

By that time, the An elder had already passed away, and An Tingbai had taken over the family business. The year after the city fell, An Tingbai, who had been secretly working as a Red capitalist supporting the underground Communist Party, discovered while covering their retreat that the man he had always regarded as an elder brother—Qin Lanfeng—was actually a member of the underground Party.

Qin Lanfeng took his wife and children to retreat to the rear lines, and later rushed to the front-line battlefield. It wasn’t until the war ended that he brought his wife, his then seventeen-year-old son Qin Zhao, and two-year-old Qin Lie back to visit the An family.

The next day, he received an urgent recall order from the army, and his wife and children remained with the An family ever since.

Qin Zhao spent seven of those years living in the rear, while Qin Lie was raised entirely within the An household.

When Qin Zhao got married, An Tingbai had handled the entire affair as if it were his own son’s wedding.

An Minghua sat by the bedside, lightly patting Ping’an in a distracted rhythm, silently deep in thought.

With a relationship like the one between the An and Qin families, the book’s claim that after Qin Lie’s death, Grandfather Qin and Qin Zhao demanded Qin Muhan give up his chance to join the military and marry her, then accompany her to the countryside to take care of her—it wasn’t too hard to understand.

Only in the end, Qin Muhan believed that both he and Xie Yutang ended up that way because the family had forced him to be sent down in the first place. By then, Grandfather Qin had already passed, and Qin Zhao and He Cuizhi were also included in the list of people he wanted to take revenge on.

That madman!

It was all Qin Lie’s fault! An Minghua couldn’t help but direct her anger toward him. Everything was fine—why did you have to go and die? Look at all the trouble your death has caused!

—

In the main house, He Cuizhi was rummaging through their stored fabrics and cotton.

“One autumn rain brings on a chill. Who knows if clothes can even be sent in to Minglang.”

She pulled out one of Qin Zhao’s old cotton-padded jackets. “Making a new one and sending it over would only draw more attention. Why don’t we alter this old one instead? The sleeve will need a patch.”

“Send the old one.” Qin Zhao lit a cigarette, took a long drag, and exhaled a heavy sigh. “Prepare a bedding set too. If Minglang keeps being stubborn, I’m afraid he’ll end up being sent down.”

“Alright.” He Cuizhi nodded. “I’ll stuff it thicker with cotton.”

She glanced toward the east wing and tentatively said: “Do we really have to keep Qin Lie’s situation a secret from Minghua? I’m afraid the army will send news eventually. Poor Minghua—if anything happens to Qin Lie, how will she hold on? If Qin Lie really doesn’t make it, I doubt she’ll be able to stay in the city.”

“If she ends up being sent down on top of that, who knows how much she’ll have to suffer. How can I feel at ease then?”

“If you ask me.” she said: “how about Muhan just skips conscription this year? If something happens to Qin Lie—then let Muhan marry Minghua and go to the countryside with her to protect her!”

“Nonsense! Minghua is his aunt!” Qin Zhao rebuked her in a low voice. “Keep Qin Lie’s condition quiet. Minghua can’t be allowed to fall apart. And Uncle An—we haven’t heard a single word from his side. I’m afraid it’s very serious.”

“If it really is serious, I wonder if Dad in Beijing will be affected.”

“Even if he is, it would be justified!” Qin Zhao shot a glance at He Cuizhi. “We may not carry the An surname, but we’re no different from the An family!”

Then how come none of the An family’s wealth made its way to you?

He Cuizhi swallowed those words, forcing them down. “Alright, alright, I didn’t say anything! Tomorrow, see if you can find some milk somewhere. Ping’an probably isn’t used to formula.”

The two spoke quietly and didn’t notice that outside the window, Qin Muhan was squatting, his expression complicated as he stared at the eastern wing’s window.

Little Uncle was dying—

Was he going to marry Minghua?

…

An Minghua jolted awake. Morning light was already flooding the outside world.

It was the first time in years she hadn’t dreamt during the night. It felt a little strange.

Lowering her head, she found Ping’an wide awake, blinking his large eyes at her.

“Mommy, are we going to stay at Uncle’s house from now on?”

“Just for a few days.” An Minghua reached out and touched Ping’an’s forehead. Last night, she had diluted some medicated spring water and fed it to him. By now, his fever had already gone down.

“In a few days, we’ll go look for Daddy.”

“Daddy!” Ping’an’s eyes lit up. Having never met his father since birth, he scrambled up from the bed, brimming with excitement. “Daddy has a gun! He fights spies! Daddy is awesome!”

Yes, yes, your dad’s amazing—so amazing he’s nearly dead!

“Mommy needs to go out for a bit. Can you behave while I’m gone? I’ll ask Sister Mianmian to keep you company, alright?”

Ping’an nodded obediently, then bargained: “Mommy, bring back cake!”

Something about becoming a mother must automatically unlock certain linguistic skills. An Minghua had the urge to say, do I look like cake to you?

“Mommy doesn’t buy cake. Daddy does.” An Minghua passed the dilemma along. “When we go see Daddy, we’ll ask him to buy you some.”

“Okay then!”

“Ping’an, how about we eat steamed egg?” Qin Mianmian entered carrying a bowl. The girl had two thick braided pigtails and looked about fifteen or sixteen.

School had already been suspended. She no longer went out and just stayed at home.

“Little Aunt, you go do your errands. I’ll look after Ping’an!”

In the novel, Qin Mianmian always helped her bully Xie Yutang, and later suffered a tragic end as a result of Qin Muhan’s revenge. Looking at the girl now, An Minghua couldn’t help but feel a bit of pity in her eyes.

Poor girl, stuck with such a crazy brother.

“Alright, I’ll bring candy back for you two!”

Last night, she had gone over the plot of the book again.

According to the novel’s timeline, first it was Second Brother—refusing to write an accusation letter—who was sent down to the Northwest. Then Qin Lie died in action. Then she was sent down to the Northeast. A few months later, her parents were exiled to a labor reform farm.

Before Qin Muhan began his campaign of revenge against her, her entire family had still been alive.

That meant there wasn’t much she could do yet for her parents and brothers. What was more urgent, rather, was saving Qin Lie.

She had no permanent residence now, and the old family house had been placed under surveillance. Living here at Qin Zhao’s place, it was indeed easy for the Qin family to hide any news about Qin Lie from her.

The problem was, the book didn’t mention the exact time when Qin Lie got injured.

So, An Minghua decided to take the initiative—

She was going to bring her son and follow the army!

If the Qin family didn’t try to stop her, that would mean Qin Lie really was still out on assignment at this point. If she arrived at the base early and waited, the army would definitely not hide any news of his injury from her.

But if the Qin family did try to stop her, then that could only mean Qin Lie had already been injured!

She first went to the subdistrict office that oversaw An Family’s Ancestral House to request an exit letter to travel to Hengshi, where Qin Lie was stationed.

She was officially registered as a military dependent, and all her documents were in order, so the office staff didn’t give her a hard time.

After storing the introduction letter safely, she found a secluded and empty spot and took out the luggage she had packed the day before.

It was a small leather suitcase—not large—and was mostly just to keep up appearances.

An Family’s Ancestral House was quite a distance from the train station, and by the time she stepped off the uniquely retro-styled city bus, it was already near noon.

Even in this era when travel was difficult, the train station was still buzzing with people.

Without the right connections, just getting a ticket was considered lucky. As for hard sleepers or soft sleepers? Better not even think about it.

Back near Wutong Lane, she cut through the alleys toward the Qin household—when suddenly, a lazy, insolent voice rang out from around the corner.

“You better know what’s good for you. Our Captain Zhou’s father is a revolutionary committee director. If he can’t find out anything about your dad, then no one can!”

“Our captain has nowhere to sleep tonight, just wants to crash at your place for one night. Such a small favor and you won’t even help? And you still think you’ll get news about your dad?”

There were always troublemakers taking advantage of chaos. With housing so scarce these days, it was common for kids to stay at someone else’s house. Parents didn’t even blink at it.

But from the way this punk was talking, this was clearly not an innocent request for shelter.

An Minghua looked over. A girl in a white dress was being surrounded by two troublemakers.

And when she got a clear look at the girl’s face, An Minghua couldn’t help but gasp in awe.

She was so beautiful! Her skin was smooth and pale, her big eyes watery and bright—so pure and clear, like a spring untouched by the dust of the world.

No wonder the punks were interested. Honestly, if she herself looked like that, she’d be obsessed too!

“Well, well! If it isn’t the capitalist heiress from the An family.” the bad boy with upturned eyes turned his head when he heard footsteps and saw An Minghua.

Startled at first, he quickly regained his swagger.

“I can get information on your capitalist parents too.” He sauntered toward her, raising a hand to touch her face. “No. 56 Flower Branch Alley, that’s my place. If you want to find out anything, or send anything in, come find me tonight.”

An Minghua stepped back to dodge his hand.

Revolutionary committee director, huh? No. 56 Flower Branch Alley, right?

Alright.

I’ll definitely go tonight.

“Don’t go.”

As An Minghua kept her eyes on the two punks walking away, the girl came over and gently tugged her sleeve.

An Minghua looked at her. “What?”

“I said… don’t go.”

The girl bit her lip, then finally gathered her courage to speak.

“Our parents… they definitely wouldn’t want us to pay that kind of price. People like him—once you get involved, you’ll never shake him off.”

An Minghua, who had just been calculating how to pull off a zero-dollar shopping trip at Director Zhou’s house that night, couldn’t help but smile at the girl’s earnest face.

“Alright, I won’t go.”

“Oh, right—I’m Xie Yutang.” the girl looked at An Minghua with admiration in her eyes. “Getting to meet you today… I guess this day wasn’t so bad after all.”

“I’m An Minghua.”

…

Wait a minute—

What did you say your name was?

Xie Yutang!?