Chapter 1

Autumn 1980.

The rain fell softly, hitting the roofs of the rows of Soviet-style buildings in the military compound, making a crisp sound.

  Dressed in black and with a sad expression, Song Shishi knelt in front of her house, staring at the closed door in front of her.

  ”Dad, I beg you, please let me go in and kowtow to Mom and say farewell to her, okay?” Her voice became hoarse from crying.

  After saying that, she kowtowed heavily again, and her forehead hit the ground with a dull sound.

  The door opened, and Song Zhenhua looked down at Song Shishi, who was kneeling in the rain with a bloodshot forehead, and said in a cold voice: “How dare you come to see your mother off? If it weren’t for you, how could she be so angry that she had a heart attack? If it weren’t for your stubbornness and stupidity, how could your mother leave so early?”

  Song Zhenhua’s eyes were bloodshot, and his clenched fists were shaking uncontrollably.

  Song Shishi was in tears. Looking at Song Zhenhua, who was wearing a neat military uniform and had an angry face, she felt sad and didn’t know how to defend herself.

  ”Dad, I know I was wrong. Please, I just want to say goodbye to mom properly.” Song Shishi begged bitterly.

  Song Zhenhua raised his hand and pointed behind Song Shishi, “Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance. Go up and slap that guy now and cut off all ties with him, and I will give you another chance to see your mother off for the last time and kneel in her mourning hall to show your filial piety.”

  Song Shishi looked back.

  In the heavy rain, not far behind her, An Jinsheng was standing there holding an umbrella, looking at her quietly.

  Song Shishi raised her hand to wipe the rain off her face, but she couldn’t see An Jinsheng’s expression at the moment.

  The thought of breaking off all contact with An Jinsheng made her heart suffocate with pain.

  She simply couldn’t do it.

  Otherwise, my mother wouldn’t have been so angry that she had a heart attack and died.

  ”Dad, please don’t force me!” Song Shishi almost begged.

  ”Force you?” Song Zhenhua sneered, completely disappointed with his daughter.

  Seeing that her father was angry, Song Shishi realized that she had said something wrong again and she wanted to explain.

  At this time, an umbrella was held over her head.

  Then with a “thump”, An Jinsheng knelt beside her and raised his hand to slap her in the face twice.

  ”Uncle, it’s all my fault, don’t blame Shishi.”

  ”As long as you let her go in and kowtow to aunt, I’ll do anything you ask me to do.”

  After saying that, An Jinsheng pretended to continue slapping himself, but was stopped by Song Shishi.

  ”Dad, don’t make things difficult for him. It’s me who pissed off Mom to death. You have the right to blame me. This has nothing to do with Jinsheng.”

  Even at this time, Song Shishi was still protecting An Jinsheng. Song Zhenhua was so angry that he raised his foot and kicked out. His military boots landed on An Jinsheng’s chest, causing him to roll on the ground several times before stopping.

  An Jinsheng curled up on the ground in pain and couldn’t get up for a long time.

  ”Dad, what are you doing?” Song Shishi was anxious, and couldn’t help but sound reproachful.

  Song Zhenhua nodded, as if he had finally made up his mind: “Song Shishi, I, Song Zhenhua, will pretend that I have never had a daughter like you. From today on, you and I will sever the father-daughter relationship! I don’t want to see you again!”

  Sever the relationship!

  These words were like a heavy hammer, hitting Song Shishi’s heart hard.

  Her eyes widened, her face full of shock, and tears instantly burst out.

  ”Dad, you can’t do this to me. I’m your biological daughter.” Her voice trembled. Her kneeling body could no longer support itself and fell to the side. Fortunately, she used her palms to support the ground in time and stabilized herself.

  But Song Zhenhua slammed the door shut, blocking all her vision.

  Song Shishi shook her head desperately, “No, no… Dad, please don’t leave me.”

  No matter how Song Shishi knocked on the door, the person in the room never opened it for her.

  At this moment, she finally realized that she not only lost her mother forever, but also her father.

  Tears kept flowing and Song Shishi lay powerlessly on the ground.

  Catching sight of An Jinsheng still curled up on the ground out of the corner of her eye, Song Shishi quickly stood up and ran over.

  ”Jinsheng, how are you? Are you okay?”

  An Jinsheng frowned and stood up with the help of Song Shishi.

  He looked down at the footprints on his chest, his clothes stained with mud, and the woman beside him who was like a drowned rat. A trace of disgust flashed in his eyes.

  ”Ha!”

  A sneer suddenly sounded, “Song Shishi, you are really useless. I overestimated you after all.”

  His voice was like an ice blade in the cold winter, able to pierce a person’s heart.

  Song Shishi froze in place, looking up at him with disbelief in her eyes.

  ”You…what are you talking about?”

  ”If I had known this would happen, why would I waste my time acting with you? It’s so unlucky.”

  As he said that, An Jinsheng shook off Song Shishi’s arm that was supporting him and spat at Song Shishi who was thrown to the ground by him.

  ”I had originally thought that I could get a better job through your father’s connections.

  But now even your father doesn’t want you, so you are of no use to me.”

  Song Shishi’s face turned pale in an instant, her lips trembled, but she couldn’t utter a word for a long time.

  An Jinsheng’s words were like sharp blades, piercing her full of holes.

  ”Jinsheng, are you not ready yet? We should go. Director Zhang is probably here. Let’s change our clothes quickly and go over there so we don’t be late.”

  A clear female voice sounded behind An Jinsheng.

  ”Okay.” An Jinsheng turned around and smiled at the woman.

  That smile contained an emotion that Song Shishi had never experienced before.

  ”Jinsheng, you just lied to me, didn’t you? You clearly said you would marry me and that you would treat me well for the rest of your life.”

  Seeing An Jinsheng was about to leave, Song Shishi no longer cared about anything else and hugged his legs.

  ”Marry you?”

  An Jinsheng squatted down, pinched the back of Song Shishi’s neck with his palm, and pressed her face into the puddle.

  ”Song Shishi, take a good look at yourself now, how are you worthy of me?”

  ”If I didn’t know that you are the chief’s daughter, you are not even worthy of carrying my shoes!”

  As he said that, An Jinsheng stood up and raised his foot to rub hard on the back of Song Shishi’s hand.

  It was not until Song Shishi could no longer bear it and cried out in pain that he felt relieved and turned away.

  No! None of this is true!

  She endured the pain in her body, sat up, and shouted at An Jinsheng’s receding back: “If it weren’t for me, would you be where you are today?”

  She was forced by her father to go to Huaiqing Brigade as an educated youth.

  She had never suffered hardship before, so how could she bear the hardship of going to the countryside?

  An Jinsheng always cared about her and whenever she was most upset, An Jinsheng would appear in time to help and comfort her.

  Gradually, she developed different feelings for him.

  When she learned that An Jinsheng’s family was not well off, she felt sorry for him and spent all the money and malted milk that her mother secretly gave her on him.

  Later, her mother finally managed to get her a place in the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University, and finally she gave it to An Jinsheng.

  At that time, An Jinsheng didn’t know her true identity and just thought that her relatives helped her get it.

  After An Jinsheng left, he would write to her every month, describing what he saw and heard at school.

  At that time, she was completely immersed in love, and she didn’t care even if people around her laughed at her for being stupid.

  In the second year after An Jinsheng left, the college entrance examination was resumed and she finally had the opportunity to return to Beijing.

  She rented a house in Beijing for An Jinsheng and used her connections to help him find a job.

  It almost covered all of his living expenses.

  As long as An Jinsheng loves her, she doesn’t care about any of this.

  But An Jinsheng said that he was just acting with her.

  Those sweet days were all fake!

  Now that she has been used up, she is thrown away like a piece of trash.

  There is no such good thing in the world.

  When An Jinsheng walked out of the military compound, Song Shishi finally caught up with him and grabbed his arm.