Chapter 3

“Mom, where’s A’Ruo? Is she at school?”

Han Zecheng stepped into the house, greeted his mother, and asked immediately.

He had indeed come back because of Su Ruo.

He had received her letter, taken emergency leave for three days, and hadn’t even taken the train—he had driven seven or eight hours straight through the night to get home.

Wu Guizhi’s face instantly fell when she heard that the first thing out of his mouth was a question about his wife.

She said coldly, “She’s in the room.”

When she saw her son say, “Then I’ll go check on her,” and immediately turn toward the room, his tall figure overlapping with the memory of her late husband Han Hehuai, a wave of sourness surged in her chest, clogging her breath. She snapped sharply, “You sure care a lot about her!”

“Let me tell you, she’s been lying in bed all day. Doesn’t lift a finger around the house. Your elder sister-in-law has to bring her food and drinks. Just because I talked to the brigade secretary and didn’t let her register for that so-called college entrance exam, she’s been giving me attitude!”

“Tell me, what kind of wife did you marry?”

“And yet you still dote on her like she’s royalty. But does she even care about you? If she did, would she have gone behind both our backs, running to the brigade secretary asking for a stamp so she could register for the college entrance exam? Isn’t she just planning to abandon you and your kid?”

Han Zecheng’s steps paused slightly, and he felt a tightness in his chest.

But he merely pressed his lips together and didn’t respond. He pushed open the door and strode inside.

Inside the dimly lit room, a pale-faced, delicate-looking woman lay on the bed with her eyes closed, seemingly asleep.

Next to her lay a small boy of about four or five years old.

When the little boy saw someone enter, he shrank back warily at first. But when he recognized who it was, his eyes lit up with surprise. He hesitated, then called out, “Dad… Daddy?”

“Guoguo.”

Han Zecheng quickly walked to the bedside in just a few strides, took the little boy’s hand in one of his own, and gently placed his other hand on the woman’s forehead.

She wasn’t too warm. He breathed a little easier, then turned to his son and asked, “Guoguo, is your mom not feeling well?”

The little boy’s eyes were already red, and at his father’s question, tears began to fall silently down his cheeks. Probably afraid to cry too loudly and wake the woman on the bed, he hurriedly wiped his tears and hoarsely said, “Dad, Mama got sick yesterday… she’s been sleeping for two days… and she still hasn’t woken up.”

Han Zecheng’s expression changed again and he asked, “Has a doctor come to check on her?”

The little boy shook his head.

Han Zecheng tested the woman’s forehead and breath again, then let out a breath and said to the little boy, “Guoguo, stay here with your mom. If she wakes up, give her some water. I’ll go to the brigade and get a doctor to come take a look at her.”

After saying that, he turned and walked out the door, ignoring Wu Guizhi who was calling after him from behind.

,,,

A few hours later.

“She still hasn’t woken up? What a precious one she is. Lao Er, you haven’t come back for over half a year, and now that you’re back, why the sour face toward me?”

“She’s in this condition because of her own doing. What does it have to do with me? And even if something really happened to her, there’s no reason for you to give me attitude. I say, you spoiled her too much. Ever since she married into our Han family, when has she ever treated you or the rest of us nicely? Yet you still held her in the palm of your hand. Now she wants to leave, doesn’t want to live with you anymore…”

“Mom!”

Su Ruo heard the argument outside and felt a splitting headache, along with soreness and heaviness all over her body.

Who was arguing outside?

Her head hurt, and she instinctively tried to press her forehead, but her hand was caught by something soft…

She uncomfortably opened her eyes… and was briefly disoriented before going completely blank.

What was she seeing?

In front of her were dull, grey brick walls, small dim windows, a few wooden pieces of furniture, and the floor… the floor was dusty, bare earth.

This wasn’t the room she knew. No familiar bookshelves, no off-white floral curtains, no landscape paintings on the walls…

Where was she?

Why was she here?

Wasn’t she sleeping in her own room?

“Ah Ma.”

A soft, childish voice filled with joy rang out by the bed, and her hand felt that tight grip again.

Su Ruo looked down and met a pair of bright, gleaming black eyes full of joy—belonging to a little boy.

Round and beautiful.

“Ah Ma, you’re awake? I knew you’d be okay!”

Though the boy’s little face was smiling, his eyes were watery and carried traces of tears. His voice was even a bit choked.

Su Ruo was stunned.

Ah Ma?

Someone outside seemed to have heard the movement inside.

Creaaak—the door opened. Backlit by the window, a tall figure walked in. He wore a neatly pressed military uniform. Though she couldn’t see him clearly, his facial features were sharp and defined, a bit dark-skinned but extremely handsome and intimidating.

He took a few steps toward the bed.

Expressionless, he looked down at Su Ruo.

Su Ruo was startled by this sudden man. She propped herself up, barely managing to sit up, and stared at him blankly.

“You finally woke up!”

A voice suddenly exploded from behind.

The man’s aura had been too strong and sudden, so Su Ruo’s full attention had been on him. Only when the loud voice erupted behind him did she snap out of it and turn toward the source.

It was an older woman in a blue shirt, slightly chubby.

Her eyes and mouth drooped sharply, making her look very mean.

Seeing Su Ruo sitting up, the woman’s mouth drooped even more, and deep creases appeared as she said coldly, “Good that you’ve woken up. Otherwise, Lao Er might think I couldn’t tolerate you and forced you to your death.”

“Lao Er’s wife, you know best how we’ve treated you over the years. You look down on our Han family, yet we’ve always gone along with you, spoiled you. But this time it’s a matter of principle. If you really want to take the college exam, fine. Our Han family can’t keep a high-maintenance lady like you, and we don’t want to. Now that Lao Er is back, you two might as well get a clean divorce. But if you’re going to leave, you leave alone. Guozi is our Han family’s grandson—you can’t take him with you…”

At this, Su Ruo clearly felt the small hand holding hers tighten suddenly.

She looked down at the boy and saw him tense up, like he was covered in thorns. Her heart inexplicably ached.

She reversed her grip and held his small hand, giving it a comforting squeeze.

The little boy’s eyes lit up again, and Su Ruo felt her nose sting, almost bursting into tears.

“Mom, A’Ruo just woke up. We can talk about this later!” the military man interrupted the older woman.

He frowned and paused, then said, “I want to talk to A’Ruo alone.”

“Talk? What’s there to talk about? You’re just going to spoil her again…”

“Mom!”

His voice wasn’t loud, but there was a commanding sharpness to it.

“Fine, talk. But let me tell you, she can take her college exam if she wants—but she has to sign the divorce papers first! She looks down on you and our Han family? Then we don’t need to keep her!”

The older woman heard her son getting serious and, though furious, didn’t dare argue further. She slammed the door and left, face full of resentment.

Only then did the man turn back to Su Ruo.

Divorce papers?

What were they talking about?

Su Ruo’s heart pounded wildly, filled with confusion and tension.

She didn’t know what was happening.

Wasn’t she just asleep at home?

Why had she suddenly woken up here?

And who were all these people?

Her mind was a mess, and suddenly, a ridiculous thought popped into her head: could it be that her stepmother or stepsister got so mad at her that they drugged her in her sleep and sold her off as someone’s wife?

The more she thought about it, the more nervous she became.

The man noticed the tension in her and the wariness in her eyes as she looked at him.

His gaze darkened slightly, but unlike how he had spoken to the older woman earlier, he didn’t immediately begin “talking” to her. Instead, after watching her for a moment, he walked over to the table, silently poured a glass of water, scooped something from an enamel jar into the cup, stirred it with a spoon, and then brought the white enamel cup to her bedside. Sitting down, he handed it to her and said, “You were unconscious for a whole day. Drink some water to moisten your throat first.”

Su Ruo didn’t respond.

She didn’t even look at him.

At that moment, her eyes were fixed on the table where he had just poured the water.

When he walked over earlier, her eyes had instinctively followed him—at first just casually—but then they locked onto something… it was a desk calendar. There was a bold number “25” on it, but what shocked her wasn’t the bright red Arabic numeral—it was the small line of text above it: October 1977.

She stared blankly at that calendar.

At first confused, then as her mind processed it, she felt like she had been struck by lightning.

“A-Ruo.”

“Ma.”

The man’s restrained voice and the boy’s hesitant tone called her back to reality at the same time.

Su Ruo numbly and stiffly withdrew her gaze.

She looked at the man first, then at the little boy.

And then suddenly, she noticed something about the boy’s face—some of his features, especially his brows and eyes, looked incredibly familiar.

Those big eyes like black grapes, slightly upturned eye corners, the small upright nose, and pointed chin—they all resembled hers. This gave Su Ruo a strange, bewildered feeling.

“Ma…”

Perhaps because her expression was different from usual, the little boy looked a bit lost, calling out again with hesitation and panic in his voice.

Su Ruo jolted again.

He called her “Ma”!

She opened her mouth but had no idea how to respond.