Chapter 83: Discovering the Truth

She trembled as she pulled out the paper, her eyes falling on the clear record.

“September 7, 1977: Miss Bai Si, accompanied by her young son, settled in Qingyang County with Zhao Sihai…; September 8, 1977: Miss Bai Si met the mother of Wang Congshu, the deputy secretary of the county committee…; September 9, 1977: Miss Bai Si returned to Zhangmu Commune with her young son, whereabouts unknown…”

The records continued, the last one being two days ago.

Sensing something, Liao Shiyun’s face turned pale, the thin paper in her hand felt like a thousand pounds.

Tears rolled down her cheeks, landing on the pile of documents on the floor.

She clutched at her chest, her mouth slightly open, gasping for breath, as if she was having trouble breathing.

Bai Ruoyan and Bai Juntao, who had come over to see what was happening, were startled and rushed forward to support her.

“Mom, what’s wrong with you?”

Their call seemed to startle Liao Shiyun, and she woke up as if from a dream.

She didn’t know what she was thinking, but she suddenly pushed them away and then frantically opened the cabinet, searching for documents.

She even grabbed anything she could get her hands on, trying to break the lock on the cabinet.

Her children were frightened by her actions and immediately stepped forward to stop her.

But Liao Shiyun, as if stimulated by something, pushed them away with tears in her eyes, screaming, “Don’t touch me!”

The two were stunned, they looked at each other.

Bai Juntao quickly stepped forward to pretend to help.

Bai Ruoyan went to call Bai Shaofeng.

When Bai Shaofeng answered the phone, the lock on the cabinet was broken.

Liao Shiyun looked at the tall stack of file folders inside, without any hesitation, she grabbed the top one and tore open the bag.

Bai Juntao was startled and immediately squatted down to stop her.

His father was the deputy minister of the Ministry of Finance, and there were many things in his study that involved important national data, so it was a forbidden area.

Moreover, these were all locked, they must be important documents.

If they were leaked, it would be a matter of life and death.

But when he bent down and saw the content on the first page of the document that was pulled out, his movements stopped abruptly.

“August 1, 1977: Miss Bai Si and Young Master An are safe and sound; August 2, 1977: Miss Bai Si and Young Master An are safe and sound; August 3, 1977: Miss Bai Si was pushed down and injured by Zhao’s mother in the field…; August 4, 1977: Zhao’s mother falsely accused Young Master An of stealing eggs and beat him mercilessly…”

“Mom, this…” Bai Juntao looked at the document that was like a diary, completely stunned.

Liao Shiyun ignored him, without finishing reading, she threw away the paper and tremblingly pulled out another file folder.

“July 1, 1977: Miss Bai Si had a conflict with Zhao Xiaohui, and she and Young Master An were put in confinement by Zhao’s mother…”

The more Liao Shiyun read, the more tears she shed, and finally, she couldn’t catch her breath, clutching her chest and collapsing on the floor.

Bai Juntao immediately forgot about looking at the documents and rushed to support her, “Mom, what’s wrong with you?”

Bai Ruoyan was worried, she didn’t have time to explain, she could only ask her father to come back as soon as possible, then she hung up the phone and went to support her.

Then she also saw the papers related to her younger sister that had fallen to the floor.

Seeing the detailed records on them, Bai Ruoyan’s face instantly changed.

When Bai Shaofeng, who was completely confused, rushed back after taking leave, he saw a messy study.

And three people, still collapsed on the floor, reading the records one by one, their faces full of tears, their eyes red.

Seeing the documents all over the floor, Bai Shaofeng’s heart sank, he knew he couldn’t hide it anymore.

Then, under Liao Shiyun’s near-breakdown questioning, he could only tell the truth.

When he learned that his daughter was on the list of educated youth going to the countryside, he wanted to find connections to keep her.

Then Zhao Cheng came to his door and said that he had monitored his daughter’s trip to the countryside and found that it was related to a big fish that was deeply hidden in China.

In order to catch the big fish with a long line, he had to cooperate with Zhao Cheng’s actions and let his daughter be sent to the countryside unknowingly, as a hostage.

He thought the big fish would be caught soon, but it dragged on for five years.

During those five years, he knew exactly what kind of life his daughter was living.

Even though his heart ached, he had to endure it for the sake of national security.

Now, looking at his wife, who was on the verge of collapse, he closed his eyes helplessly and let her scold him.

He knew that he would never be able to repay his debt to his daughter in this lifetime.

Bai Ruoyan covered her face, squatted down against the wall, and cried uncontrollably.

“Wuwuwu, it’s all my fault, if I hadn’t gone to university, the quota for going to the countryside would have been given to my younger sister, and she wouldn’t have been forced to go to the countryside, it’s all my fault… why wasn’t it me.”

She could only blame herself.

Growing up in such a family, the saying “the country comes first” was ingrained in their blood.

Could they blame the country? Could they really blame their father?

No.

If they had been chosen to be the hostage, they would have gone without hesitation.

But it was their beloved sister, and she was sent away without knowing anything.

How much pain, how much suffering, how much hatred, how much sadness and despair must she have endured all these years.

Bai Juntao clenched his fist, his eyes bloodshot.

He gritted his teeth, forcing the words out of his throat, “It’s not your fault, it’s all Bai Yunyun…”

As he spoke, his expression suddenly changed, “Dad, but it was Grandma who signed up for my younger sister to go to the countryside, doesn’t that mean…”

The person behind it was a spy, if a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was also involved, it would be terrifying.

Before Bai Shaofeng could speak, Bai Ruoyan stood up and pushed him, roaring, “Who is her grandma, she’s not your grandma! That woman only cares about her own son and granddaughter, for Bai Yunyun, she pushed Qiao Qiao into the fire pit, what did she do to our family to treat us like this, I’m going to ask her, ask her if she wants to kill our whole family and give way to her son before she’s satisfied!”

After she finished speaking, she turned and ran towards the door, but Bai Juntao grabbed her.

Bai Shaofeng couldn’t stay silent either, he hugged his wife with one hand and shouted at his daughter, “Stop!”

“Don’t you want to tolerate it anymore? She’s hurt your daughter like this, and you still want to tolerate it, you can ignore it, I’ll go find Grandpa, I don’t believe Grandpa will tolerate her after he knows!”

“Stop…”

“Lao Shao!”

“Dad!”

“Quick, quick, there’s medicine in the cabinet on the left, get it!” Liao Shiyun looked at her husband, who was clutching his chest and in pain, and forgot about her sadness and resentment.

Bai Juntao quickly ran over to get the medicine.

Bai Ruoyan stood there, pale and helpless.

Bai Shaofeng swallowed two pills, and after a while, the pain in his chest slowly subsided.

The room fell silent again, only the sound of Bai Shaofeng’s labored breathing.

With no other choice, he grabbed his wife’s hand and opened his eyes.

Looking at his wife and children’s worried expressions, his eyes were filled with fatigue, guilt, and pain.

After a long while, he spoke in a hoarse voice, “I’m sorry.”

Liao Shiyun pursed her lips tightly, covered her mouth with her hand, and tears streamed down her face again.

After calming down a little, she also understood that there was a lot of helplessness in this matter.

A thought flashed through her mind, was it karma?

But she quickly shook her head, rejecting the thought.

Her father was a spy, risking his life for the country and the people, it was a glorious thing, it was different.

She closed her eyes in pain.

Bai Shaofeng held her in his arms, unable to say anything, he could only say “I’m sorry” over and over again.