Chapter 25: Inquiring About He Yashu’s Family

Early in the morning, He Yuandong came to review the documents submitted by Zhong Youliang. When he saw that the parental information for He Yashu was marked as “none,” a glimmer of hope rose in his heart.

“Go get Captain Zhong,” he ordered an aide.

The aide ran off to find Zhong Youliang.

Zhong Youliang, puzzled, arrived at the superior’s office.

“Reporting, sir! Zhong Youliang reporting,” he said loudly.

“No need to be so formal. I just wanted to ask why your wife didn’t fill in the section about her parents,” He Yuandong said as he handed him the documents.

“Sir, my wife was adopted by the Zhang family in our village. But they were greedy and cut ties with her before we came here, so my wife has no parents,” Zhong Youliang replied, grinding his teeth at the thought of the Zhang family. His daughter Xiao Zhongling had said that Tie Niu and Tie Dan constantly bullied her.

“She’s not biologically related to the Zhangs? Then where was she adopted from? You know we need this clarified before we can approve the dependent relocation request,” He Yuandong’s voice grew louder with emotion, but seeing Zhong’s confused look, he toned it down.

“I’m not too sure, but I think it was during the Anti-Japanese War. The Zhangs found her in a trench,” Zhong replied, recalling what his mother had once said in passing.

“The family who adopted her is named Zhang—why is her name He Yashu?” He Yuandong tried to suppress his growing excitement.

“I heard my wife mention that. The Zhangs renamed her Zhang Dahua when she was three. But she always said her name was He Yashu. They didn’t bother changing it further and just called her that,” Zhong Youliang explained, recalling what his wife had told him when they first married.

“The Zhangs raised her all those years—why did they suddenly cut ties?” He Yuandong asked, feeling increasingly sure she might be his daughter. After all, the child he had liked most at first sight was little Lingling.

“Sir, it wasn’t my wife’s fault. She remembered the Zhangs’ kindness and gave them whatever they asked for. But her foster mother got greedy—visited ten times in a month and nearly emptied our house. My daughter Lingling looked like a starving two-year-old at three. It wasn’t until my wife firmly cut ties that Lingling started gaining some weight,” Zhong said, heart aching at the memory.

“And at the Zhangs’, my wife was basically treated like a servant—doing all the dirty, tiring work and still getting no appreciation. They always called her ‘dead girl’ this, ‘dead girl’ that. I completely support her decision to cut ties. The whole Zhang family is lazy and relied on my wife’s labor,” Zhong said, eyes reddening with emotion.

“The Zhangs are unbelievable! They found someone’s child, didn’t help her find her real family, and even mistreated her? Cutting ties was the right move,” He Yuandong, even as a grown man, couldn’t hold back his anger at their cruelty.

“Yes, sir. So… about the dependent relocation approval…” Zhong Youliang asked, bringing the conversation back to the official matter.

“Once the unit verifies the situation in Zhangjia Village, it’ll be processed,” He Yuandong said distractedly, still fuming, and waved Zhong off.

Zhong left, still bewildered. “Whatever… I’ll go back to training.”

Meanwhile, He Yuandong kept thinking about what Zhong had said and then looked again at He Yashu’s age—22. That was the same age as his own lost daughter. He suddenly lost interest in work, grabbed his hat, and rushed home.

At home, Zhao Han was anxiously waiting, still hoping that their daughter was somehow alive.