Chapter 34: Take Your Stuff and Get Lost

Early the next morning, Luo Yaqing made hand-pulled noodles and poached two eggs.

Just as she finished her last bite, she heard noise from the courtyard.

It was Zhang Guiqin.

Carrying a large bundle of spinach and garlic sprouts, she stepped in with a cheerful smile:
“The frost’s been heavy these days—the spinach is at its best. I brought some for you two to try.”

Luo Yaqing quickly put down her bowl and chopsticks and went to take the vegetables from her hands.

Han Zhixu also looked up from his bowl and thanked her.

Zhang Guiqin waved it off:
“I don’t have many mouths to feed. I can’t finish it all. Might as well share.”

Luo Yaqing felt a bit embarrassed.
“We’ve nearly eaten all the vegetables from your garden, Auntie.”

The original host didn’t know how to grow vegetables, so the yard had been left unused. They usually had to buy their produce.

Now, they relied entirely on Zhang Guiqin’s generosity.

Zhang Guiqin chuckled, “If you really could finish it all, that just proves how good I am at growing them!”

Luo Yaqing laughed, “Then teach me how to grow vegetables.”

It was a waste to leave the yard empty. She wanted to cultivate it to make getting fresh veggies easier in the future.

Zhang Guiqin readily agreed,
“Sure! But we’ll have to wait for spring—nothing will sprout in this cold.”

Luo Yaqing nodded in agreement. It was true; nothing would grow in this frigid winter.

A glance at the clock told her it was time to go to work.

She grabbed her cloth bag and walked out with Zhang Guiqin.

Han Zhixu was clearing the table and rolling up his sleeves to wash the dishes when—

“Han Zhixu, I forgot something!”

Luo Yaqing, who had just left, ran back in, speaking as she rushed into the inner room.

Moments later, she emerged holding a letter and hurried out again.

Han Zhixu stared through the window at her back until it disappeared from sight…

The delay in getting the letter meant Luo Yaqing had to pedal hard to town with Zhang Guiqin on the back of her bike.

“Is your aunt coming to Beicheng again for the New Year?” Zhang Guiqin asked casually.

Luo Yaqing replied, “We’re going back for the New Year.”

Zhang Guiqin was surprised, “You’re not celebrating in Beicheng?”

Chen Xiaomin chimed in, “Yaqing, are you and Commander Han spending the New Year in the capital?”

“Yes.” Luo Yaqing nodded. “Han Zhixu said he’ll take me back to Beijing for the New Year.”

Zhang Guiqin asked, “Why not take you back to his hometown instead? You should meet his parents, siblings, and relatives.”

“How many brothers does he have?”

That question completely stumped Luo Yaqing.

The original host married Han Zhixu in Beijing. The wedding had been simple, with few guests.

On her side, only Aunt Qiu Shimin and a few close neighbors attended.

From Han Zhixu’s side, only one friend showed up.

They shared a meal and that was it.

The original host had never met Han Zhixu’s family and had never asked about them after marriage.

So Luo Yaqing had even less clue.

Chen Xiaomin said, “Commander Han dotes on his wife. It’s okay to spend the first New Year at her parents’.”

Zhang Guiqin agreed, “Yeah, it’s not easy for girls who marry far away.”

During her lunch break, Luo Yaqing biked to the post office to mail the letter.

She wrapped herself tightly in a scarf on the way there and back, not because she feared Qin Shuzhen, but because she found her clinginess unbearable.

She wondered how Han Zhixu planned to deal with her.

Ideally, someone should give her a scare so she’d quietly leave Beicheng.

Over the next few days, Luo Yaqing didn’t see a trace of Qin Shuzhen in town.

She figured she must have finally left.

But who would’ve thought…

The day Qin Shuzhen came to the family compound, Luo Yaqing happened to be home because the factory was on holiday.

The pork dumplings had just come out of the pot when loud banging rang out at the door.

“You eat first, I’ll get it.”

Luo Yaqing handed the chopsticks to Han Zhixu and went to open the door.

“Qing’er.”

Two people were standing outside. The moment the door opened, the man affectionately called out the original host’s nickname.

Luo Yaqing was shocked to see that Qin Shuzhen hadn’t left—and that even her uncle, Luo Kangwen, was here.

“You two…”

“Yaqing, who is it?” Han Zhixu called from inside before she could shoo them off.

Luo Kangwen answered eagerly,
“Commander Han, it’s me—Yaqing’s uncle.”

He squeezed past Luo Yaqing into the house with a beaming face.
“We came to visit you.”

Qin Shuzhen, carrying a bag, followed behind him.

Luo Yaqing was speechless. Their shamelessness was thicker than the city wall.

She slammed the door shut and sat down at the table, face cold.

“Go on, eat before the dumplings get cold.”

Luo Kangwen and his wife were still standing there, so Han Zhixu hesitated to pick up his chopsticks.

After a brief pause, he asked, “Have you eaten?”

Luo Kangwen quickly said, “We have, we have. We ate before we came.”

But Qin Shuzhen, eyeing the steaming dumplings, turned to him and said,
“We didn’t eat. It’s our niece’s home—what’s there to be polite about?”

“Besides, we didn’t come empty-handed.”

She placed a mesh bag containing two bottles of liquor and a box of pastries on the table and sat herself down.

Luo Kangwen was mortified and wanted to explode, but held back.

Forcing a smile, he said, “Don’t listen to her. We already ate.”

Luo Yaqing didn’t care either way. She picked up her chopsticks and started eating dumplings with big bites.

Qin Shuzhen was furious watching her ignore them.

Ungrateful wretch!
She’s her aunt, came all this way, arrived right at mealtime—shouldn’t she be invited to sit respectfully?

This heartless brat!
They fed and raised her back in the old house!

But there was nothing she could do.

After all, Luo Yaqing was now an officer’s wife.

Han Zhixu politely said to Luo Kangwen,
“Please, sit down.”

Luo Kangwen moved a stool and sat a polite distance from the table.
“Commander Han, we really appreciate your help with Yafen’s situation.”

Luo Yaqing paused. Han Zhixu helped with Luo Yafen?

She stopped eating and asked,
“You saw Luo Yafen?”

Luo Kangwen nodded,
“Yes, and the farm even let us stay for a few days.”

Luo Yaqing glanced at Han Zhixu, her expression questioning:
This is how you’re handling it? You’re just setting us up for more trouble.

Han Zhixu didn’t meet her eyes. He told the couple flatly,
“I let you see her so you could talk some sense into her.”

Luo Kangwen nodded repeatedly,
“We did.”

Qin Shuzhen interjected,
“She knows she was wrong. Commander Han, can’t you help get her released?”

Han Zhixu frowned, face expressionless.
“I don’t have that authority. That’s a matter for Public Security.”

Qin Shuzhen didn’t believe him and was about to say more, but Luo Yaqing slammed her chopsticks down on the table.

“Don’t push your luck! Your daughter, Luo Yafen, committed murder!”

Qin Shuzhen retorted,
“The person didn’t die, right? And it wasn’t on purpose!”

Luo Yaqing was speechless.

Qin Shuzhen huffed,
“Admit it—you just don’t want to help.”

Luo Yaqing waved her off,
“Enough nonsense. Take your things and get lost.”

“You—you talk to your elders like that?!” Qin Shuzhen leapt up.

Luo Kangwen hurriedly pulled her back.
“Can’t you just shut up?!”

He deeply regretted bringing her along.

Whatever thread of kinship he had left with his niece was now completely destroyed.

Qin Shuzhen raged,
“Why are you pulling me?! Didn’t you hear your niece tell me to get lost?!”

Luo Kangwen’s face darkened.
“She’s right. You should get lost.”

“…Kangwen?” Qin Shuzhen was stunned.

He turned to Han Zhixu, gave an embarrassed smile.
“Commander Han, we’ll head back to Beijing tomorrow.”

He then dragged Qin Shuzhen out the door. She struggled and reached back for the mesh bag on the table.

Out in the courtyard, Luo Kangwen finally let go. Seeing the bag in her hands, he sighed, both angry and helpless.

“You really…”

“Kangwen, she was the one who disrespected me first!” Qin Shuzhen cried.

“You brought it on yourself,” he said.

“Why are you always taking her side?”

Annoyed, Luo Kangwen ignored her and walked off.

Qin Shuzhen panicked and chased after him.
“We can’t go back to Beijing! What about Yafen? You’re just giving up on our daughter?!”

His face darkened.
“If you don’t want to go back, stay here.”

“Kangwen…”

“Qin Shuzhen, I want a divorce.” he threw at her.

That troublemaking daughter—if she had quietly served her sentence at the labor farm, she might already be back home.

Instead, she kept causing trouble and almost killed someone.

And his wife—unreasonable and embarrassing.

He wouldn’t indulge her anymore.

Qin Shuzhen was stunned.
“You’re joking, right?”

They were a hardship couple—how could he say divorce?

Luo Kangwen’s expression was firm:
“I’ll report to the neighborhood office when I get back. I’m cutting ties with you.”

Qin Shuzhen panicked,
“No—no, I’ll go back with you! I’ll return to Beijing!”

“We’re a hardship couple—we’re too old to divorce!”

Her daughter was finished, bound to spend years in prison. She couldn’t rely on her anymore.

She needed her husband for the rest of her life.

“Hey! Who are you to Commander Han?”

A sharp female voice suddenly interrupted.

They jumped in fright.

Ma Xiaolian had noticed the visitors next door long ago. Seeing them arguing outside her yard, she couldn’t resist coming to snoop.