The entire family sat together in the courtyard at two tables—one for the elders and one for the younger generation.

Tang Liren originally sat with the elders but was worried about Taotao, so she came over to check on her. She ended up being pulled to sit down by Nansheng. “Mom, sit with me for a while.”

Tang Liren was a bit surprised but still sat next to her son.

Bai Nansheng said, “Mom, I need to trouble you with something about my divorce from Lanfen. The agreement has already been signed. We don’t have any property to divide, so we just need to go to the civil affairs bureau, get the divorce certificate stamped, return the marriage certificate, and pick up the divorce papers… That’s it. So I have to leave tonight and return to the unit.”

Tang Li: …

“Why so sudden?” She grew anxious.

Bai Nansheng lowered his head. “The unit is urging me to go back! They only gave me three days off, and today’s already the fourth…” He was making things up. The company commander had told him that if there was a family emergency, even being gone for over a month would be fine—they’d just send a telegram.

But he was eager to return to the unit. He wanted to make achievements, earn promotions, and become the backbone of the family.

Tang Liren felt a pang of urgency, her nose stinging as she held her son’s hand, eyes turning red.

Bai Dongsheng tried to persuade her. “Mom, Nansheng’s career is important.”

Tang Liren was flustered. “I was planning to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy you some clothes…”

“The unit issues clothes. They give us everything!” Nansheng said with a laugh.

Tang Liren choked up. “But I also wanted to make your favorite sweet potato pancakes and sugar cakes…”

“I’m all grown up now. I don’t like those anymore. Make them for Taotao instead.” As he spoke, Nansheng turned his head to the side, afraid his mother would see his reddened eyes.

When he turned, he saw Taotao staring at him curiously.

Nansheng smiled and took out a rolled-up bundle from his pocket, handing it to his mother. “Mom, take this money… It’s my salary.”

Tang Liren refused. “You’re out there all alone, and there are plenty of things you’ll need money for! I won’t take it. I should give you some money instead to keep just in case…”

“Mom, take it!” Nansheng raised his voice slightly. “Even if you don’t plan to spend it, keep it safe. You never know when you might need it. Now that Taotao is doing well and she’s so smart, we should buy her some textbooks and let her and Hongdou and Huangdou learn to read and study properly!”

Tang Liren looked at her son with a bit of relief. She held the roll of bills tightly and scolded him softly. “If you’d been this sensible and stopped getting into fights, it would’ve been better.”

Nansheng smiled.

“Mom, keep those IOUs I gave you from the Chen family safe. Remember, go to their house every month without fail to collect what you can. If they dare lay a hand on you… send me a telegram, and I’ll come back and deal with them,” Nansheng said.

Tang Liren glared at him for a long time before asking, “I wanted to ask—did you get hurt today?”

Bai Nansheng replied, “No.”

“Really?”

Bai Nansheng looked helpless. “Mom! I’m not lying. I’m the champion of the unit’s martial arts competition!”

“Brother’s lying!” Bai Taotao playfully stuck out her tongue.

Nansheng paused.

Bai Taotao said, “Actually, Brother’s injured… His right foot. It must’ve gotten hurt when he was kicking something. His toes hurt. Brother usually walks just fine, but now his right foot keep curling inward when he walks…”

Looking at his adorable and silly little sister, Nansheng felt a warm fullness in his heart.

Tang Liren urged, “Take off your shoes and socks—let me see!” She turned and called for her daughter-in-law. “Hui, where’s the safflower oil?”

“Mom, I’m fine!” Nansheng said firmly.

Tang Liren glared at her son.

“I’m a man!” Nansheng stood up, walked to the other table, and said goodbye to his father.

Bai Zhengqian was shocked. “You’re leaving tonight?”

Nansheng smiled. “There’s a train to the provincial capital at 10:30 tonight. I’ll take that one, and I’ll reach the city by morning to catch the connecting train.”

Bai Zhengqian was speechless for a long time.

He looked at his son and finally nodded. “I know you’re doing this for the family… You thought since you were already here, you might as well beat up the Chen family so we could act like the good guys afterward. But son…”

Bai Zhengqian fell silent, then said, “When you’re back at the unit, listen to your superiors, stay disciplined, and don’t be so gullible like before. You’d give your life to anyone who treated you a little better… Aim to join the Party, and if you can stay in the unit, stay there. Don’t come back…”

—Coming back would only get you laughed at for a lifetime.

Nansheng felt uneasy but nodded, said goodbye to the elders, grabbed his bag, and left.

Bai Xingxing chased him to the door, watching her brother walk away alone.

Reality had already deviated from her dreams. Even Chen Lanfen’s fate had changed. Would her brother’s fate be rewritten too?

In her dream, her brother only rushed back after Chen Lanfen died. Chen Lanfen had died in childbirth, and her death was somewhat horrifying. It seemed her brother had been deeply affected by the incident.

To cover up the truth, Chen Juxiang sowed discord and indirectly blamed Tang Liren for pushing Chen Lanfen to her death. She said that Tang Li knew that pregnant women could eat more, but she deliberately gave Chen Lanfen more. She cried, saying Chen Lanfen was pitiful, as her husband wasn’t by her side and it was her first pregnancy. She claimed Chen Lanfen had no idea that eating too much could be harmful for a pregnant woman.

As a result, whatever Tang Liren gave her to eat, Chen Lanfen ate without question. This eventually led to the birth of a giant baby, which cost Chen Lanfen her life.

Later, Chen Juxiang presented an irrefutable argument—Tan Fenghui was also pregnant, and her pregnancy was even further along than Chen Lanfen’s, yet nothing had happened to her. All of this, she insisted, was Tang Liren’s fault.

At that time, not only was Bai Nansheng, who had no experience with pregnancy and childbirth, completely fooled, but even Bai Xingxing was at a loss.

If she hadn’t stayed by her mother’s side, she might have thought Chen Juxiang’s words made sense too.

Adding fuel to the fire, Li Cui’er fanned the flames, and the Chen family joined in the uproar—

Bai Nansheng had truly misunderstood then. He stood by Chen Lanfen’s coffin for a while, gave Tang Liren a cold glance, and left without saying a word.

More than six months later, the family received a letter from Bai Nansheng.

He only wrote three sentences:

Dad, Mom, I’m sorry. Wait for me to come back. I’ll make it up to you.

Tang Liren wrote him several letters afterward, but there was never any reply. Eventually, she went to town and called the unit he was stationed in, only to find out he had already gone to the front lines.

Later—

News of his death arrived.

Thinking of this, Bai Xingxing grew nervous and shouted loudly, “Brother! Don’t go to the battlefield!”

Bai Taotao looked at her silly sister, then at their brother, showing a thoughtful expression.

Nansheng froze for a moment, stopped, and looked back at his little sister, laughing. “Xingzi, stop joking! I’m just a rookie soldier. It’s not my turn to go to the battlefield… but if the higher-ups order us to go, then of course, I’ll go! I’ll become so strong—so strong that no one will dare to bully you anymore!”

Bai Xingxing panicked. “Brother—”

Nansheng smiled. “Don’t worry, Xingzi. I know you’re worried about me, but I’ll take good care of myself. You, on the other hand, need to take care of Little Taozi, listen to Mom and Dad, and study hard to learn some knowledge… I’m leaving now!”

He waved at the family, then turned and walked away.

The dim streetlights cast a yellowish glow, illuminating a small corner of the dark street. Nansheng’s lonely shadow stretched long and thin before finally disappearing into the night.

Bai Taotao fell into deep thought.

T/N: I can’t lie, this chapter had me quite emotional.