WRS – Chapter 85

When He Yan returned, Jin Xiuzhu casually asked, “Was it fun at your classmate’s place?”

He Yan gave a hum of acknowledgment, eating lychees as he replied, “It was nice. I even had lunch at their house. It’s just that the road was too far.”

Jin Xiuzhu didn’t notice anything unusual and simply nodded. “It’s all mountains around here. It’s normal for the road to be far. You’re not going to the army these next few days, right? I promised to take you to the neighboring provincial capital to play. We still haven’t gone yet.”

He Yan nodded readily. “Sure!”

Inside, he began to look forward to it. “I want to have a really good time.”

Not far away, Liuliu, who was doing homework, immediately raised her hand when she overheard. “I want to go too!”

Fu Yanyan joined in the excitement. “We should all go!”

Jin Xiuzhu had planned to take the two girls anyway. “Alright, then pack up tomorrow. We’ll leave the day after.”

Upon hearing this, Liuliu cheered. “That’s great!”

Then Jin Xiuzhu suddenly remembered something. “Oh right, do you want to go back and take a look?”

He Yan didn’t react for a moment. “Go back where?”

“Back to your hometown. It’s been so many years—you can go have a look at least, especially to see your father.”

He Yan didn’t speak. He had thought about going back in the past—wanting to tell his relatives that he was doing very well now, that even if they treated him poorly, his current parents treated him well. He had even wanted to see that woman, to ask whether she regretted it.

But he no longer felt that way. He cherished his current life and didn’t want those people to disturb it.

Still, when he thought of his biological father, he hesitated. “I should go. I want to see my dad.”

Jin Xiuzhu responded softly, “I’ll go with you.”

He Yan said, “My hometown is really remote, the roads aren’t easy to walk.”

He actually understood Lin Zhaodi a lot better that day. He had seen her avoid him and duck into the house. Her family’s conditions were very poor—she must have felt embarrassed. Just like how, when he first joined the army, knowing he was adopted, he always felt inferior around Wu Xiaojun and the other kids, feeling like he didn’t deserve to stay there.

Only after his mom married his dad and brought his sister along did he finally feel like he had a home, a real family.

Jin Xiuzhu comforted him, “It’s alright. You’ll get used to it once you walk it. When your dad gets home tonight, we’ll ask him for the address. We can go ourselves. As for your other relatives… let’s not contact them for now.”

She’d heard from Jiang Mingchuan that He Yan’s relatives back home were not good people. Since He Yan had grown up well and was doing well, if those people clung onto him, it wouldn’t be easy to shake them off. She primarily wanted to take him to see his father.

He Yan felt touched. His adoptive parents had never loved him less because he wasn’t their biological child. On the contrary, because he was the eldest, his mother had always valued him, taught him many things, and never let him lack food, clothing, or anything else. Whatever his sister had, he had too.

He had gradually begun to forget that he wasn’t their biological son—that he had another set of parents. Now that he had gotten into university, his mom was not only happy but even encouraged him to go back to see his biological father.

He felt emotional—excited to see his father, but also sad because he wasn’t their biological child.

That evening, when Jiang Mingchuan returned, Jin Xiuzhu mentioned taking the three children out to play.

As soon as she said it, the three children all turned to look at Jiang Mingchuan with expectant eyes.

Jiang Mingchuan held his chopsticks without saying a word. He figured something was off—they were being unusually good today, even waiting for him to come home and eat together. Normally they’d just save a portion for him.

So that was why—they wanted to go out and play.

Seeing her father silent, Liuliu put down her chopsticks and ran over, tugging at his arm and whining, “Daddy, please~ agree, pleeease. Daddy, I love you the most…”

Jiang Mingchuan was shaken side-to-side and could barely eat a bite.

Seeing this, He Yan quickly ran to his other side, grabbed his other arm, and mimicked Liuliu’s tone, “Daddy, pleeease…”

Jiang Mingchuan looked extremely disgusted and turned away from him. “Shut up.”

Jin Xiuzhu and Fu Yanyan burst into laughter at the exchange.

He Yan ignored him and continued acting coquettish along with Liuliu, making Jiang Mingchuan break out in goosebumps. Finally, helplessly, he nodded in agreement.

Only after he agreed did Jin Xiuzhu deliberately mention the trip to He Yan’s hometown. If she had mentioned it earlier, Jiang Mingchuan would’ve agreed immediately—then the two kids wouldn’t have done their silly antics.

And Jin Xiuzhu loved seeing him flustered like that.

Sure enough, when Jiang Mingchuan heard the real intention, he didn’t even think before nodding. “Yes, he should go. I’ll write down the address for you later.”

“Alright.”

That night, after they returned to their room, Jiang Mingchuan said, “Actually, a few years ago, He Yan’s relatives tried to contact him. I never replied. When his grandma passed away, I sent twenty yuan. After that, I never heard from them again.”

“She passed away?”

“Mm.”

Jiang Mingchuan didn’t have a good impression of He Yan’s relatives. He still remembered how he had gone there to check on the children, only to see little He Yan carrying a basin of dirty water outside. As he walked, the filthy water splashed onto him—his face, his clothes, everything was dark and stained. He was so skinny and pitiful.

He had asked why he was doing that work, and the boy said that since it was his uncle’s house, if he didn’t do the chores, his uncle wouldn’t give him food. When asked about his mother and grandmother, he said his mother had run off, and his grandmother was also living in the uncle’s house and told him to behave…

At that moment, Jiang Mingchuan was reminded of his own childhood and decided on the spot to take the child away.

They were the ones mistreating the child, but when he tried to take the boy, they acted reluctant and demanded money.

So Jiang Mingchuan had immediately found the production team leader, had them bear witness to the adoption, and wrote an agreement with a handprint.

He had been determined then—determined to raise He Yan well so he wouldn’t grow up like he did.

But after adopting him, he realized he rarely had time to properly take care of the boy, and even when he did, he didn’t know how to connect with him. Things only improved after Jin Xiuzhu came into their lives.

“So I told He Yan—we’ll only go see his father. There’s no need to visit the other relatives. He’s still young. If they latch onto him, it’ll be annoying. Especially since he’ll join the military later. It’s better to stay away from troublesome relatives.”

“You’re right.”

Jin Xiuzhu thought for a moment and asked, “Then what about He Yan’s mother?”

“I made inquiries about her. After his father passed away, she took half the compensation money and remarried. I did contact her once, and she told me not to disturb her again.”

Jiang Mingchuan had initially thought she didn’t know about He Yan’s situation, but later realized—that wasn’t possible. They lived in nearby production teams. She had to know. She just pretended not to.

“Alright. Write down all the addresses. We’ll go if we have time.”

“Okay.”

They chatted for a while longer, and then Jiang Mingchuan’s hands started wandering. Jin Xiuzhu pushed him away twice. “Aren’t you hot?”

“You’ll be gone for who knows how long. I won’t be able to see you.”

Jin Xiuzhu huffed, but stopped resisting, even though her mouth complained, “While I’m gone, no cold showers, eat properly, and don’t skip breakfast…”

“I know.”

Annoyed, Jiang Mingchuan lowered his head and kissed her to shut her up.

—

The next day, Jin Xiuzhu began packing with the three children. Summer made things easy—just two sets of short sleeves and long pants each, plus sandals. Everything fit into one bag.

Because they were excited to go out, the two girls had stayed up the previous night finishing their summer homework. Jin Xiuzhu was surprised when she heard and checked it. Although they did finish it, the handwriting toward the end became downright chaotic. Some characters even looked like they were written by different people. It was obvious they had rushed—and bullied their brother into helping again, judging by the dark circles under his eyes.

She ignored their little schemes and pretended not to notice. Once everything was packed, she sent He Yan to the train station to buy tickets.

He returned at noon, handing her the tickets. Then he grinned excitedly. “Mom, I just called Wei Ningqing. He said Yang Yingxiong is in the neighboring provincial capital! We can go find him when we get there.”

Jin Xiuzhu brightened. “That’s wonderful. I haven’t seen Yingxiong in so long.”

“Right? He actually didn’t even come to play with me. Just wait—when I see him, I’ll beat him up.”

“You only know how to talk big.”

“Hmph, Mom, you just wait and see. I’ll definitely beat him until he cries.”

The moment He Yan thought about Yang Yingxiong being in the neighboring provincial capital, he became so excited he couldn’t sleep. Before dawn the next morning, he woke up, cooked a pot of noodles, then went out to buy steamed buns and mantou to bring along as road snacks.

When Jin Xiuzhu woke up, it was already seven. After eating noodles and tidying up, she set out with the three children.

Before leaving, she also called out to the neighbor, Li Yun, asking her to look after the house. Li Yun had been very busy lately. Hearing that they were going out to travel, she felt envious—but if she were really asked to go out, she definitely wouldn’t want to. Staying home and studying medicine was far more fun.

Nanxing could speak now, vaguely calling out, “Auntie… Auntie…”

Jin Xiuzhu rubbed his small head. “Auntie will bring you something tasty when I come back.”

Nanxing hid in his mother’s arms, giggling.

Liuliu stood beside him, quickly grabbing one of Nanxing’s chubby little feet and squeezing it. After squeezing, she secretly looked at her sister and winked, signaling her to pinch him too.

Fu Yanyan turned her head away as if she didn’t see it, but her hand still quietly reached over to poke the little foot—soft, plump, with a wonderful feel.

After a few more words with Li Yun, they left. Even after walking far, they could still see Li Yun standing at the doorway holding the child, watching them go.

He Yan glanced back and couldn’t help saying, “Aunt Li is so nice, and little Nanxing is cute too. I really don’t understand why that uncle did something like that.”

Because Jin Xiuzhu had taught him from a young age to have principles and be a gentleman, he couldn’t understand how that uncle could disregard Aunt Li’s dignity and ignore gossip to keep another woman outside. And now look—got divorced and didn’t even marry the other woman. What was the point of all that?

Jin Xiuzhu said, “Your Aunt Li is doing very well like this. She takes care of her child, does work she enjoys, and has nothing else to worry about.”

He Yan sighed. “In the future, I’ll definitely treat my wife well—just like Dad. I’ll love my wife and kids, and no matter how good other women are, I won’t spare them a glance.”

Jin Xiuzhu smiled. “As expected of a child I raised. Your awareness is high—harmony in a family brings prosperity.”

He Yan proudly straightened his back. “That’s natural.”

Only Fu Yanyan secretly curled her lips. It was only in this life that the father was good. The previous life’s father had been clueless too.

Liuliu didn’t understand what they were talking about and urged them to walk faster.

They reached the train station at eight-thirty and boarded the 9 o’clock train. They didn’t take a detour this time and arrived around two in the afternoon. The station was packed, but since this wasn’t their first trip, they were familiar with things. Jin Xiuzhu held Fu Yanyan’s hand, and He Yan carried Liuliu.

After squeezing off the train, Jin Xiuzhu took the three children onto a bus to the city center. First they found a place to stay—a state-run guesthouse where she reserved two rooms, each with two beds. She stayed with her two daughters, and He Yan had his own room.

After everything was settled, it was already past three. They washed up at a public bathhouse, did some laundry, and went to a state-run restaurant for a meal.

He Yan still wanted to go out afterward, but Jin Xiuzhu didn’t let him, afraid it would get dark and unsafe. “We’ll go out together tomorrow.”

“Okay…”

He actually just wanted to find Yang Yingxiong. Wei Ningqing had told him that Yang Yingxiong heard that businesses could be started in the south, so he’d come to check things out and make some tuition money.

If it were him, he would go to the busiest street to set up a stall.

Thinking of this made his heart race. That was his childhood brother, after all.

Sure enough, the next day while walking through the black market, they soon spotted Yang Yingxiong selling clothes. He hadn’t changed much in two years—tanner and taller, but still easily recognizable.

Beside him was a young boy, also sun-darkened but very lively. Whenever a customer came by, his honey-sweet praises could practically turn flowers into bloom.

As Jin Xiuzhu and the children walked up, the two brothers didn’t even raise their heads. “If you like it, take a look. Looking is free. The clothes are cheap and good—nowhere else will you find better.”

He Yan grinned. “How cheap, exactly? Buy one get one free?”

Probably never having met such a shameless customer, the two brothers looked up at the same time. Before Yang Chaoying reacted, Yang Yingxiong had already leaped over the stall to hug He Yan. “Why are you here?!”

He Yan laughed loudly and rubbed his head. The two of them wrestled like kids.

If not for Jin Xiuzhu stopping them, they might have kept roughhousing forever. Yang Chaoying also came to his senses, abandoning their stall completely as he ran to Liuliu. “Liuliu—!”

Liuliu rolled her eyes. “You big dummy, you didn’t even recognize me.”

Yang Chaoying scratched his head and giggled.

Yang Yingxiong walked over with his arm around He Yan’s shoulder. “Auntie, Yanyan, Liuliu—”

Yang Chaoying followed suit. “Auntie! Sister Yanyan! Brother He Yan!”

He Yan reached out to ruffle the little guy’s hair.

Seeing how bright the two brothers were, Jin Xiuzhu felt relieved. “You two go ahead and work. We’ll wander around and come back later.”

“Okay.”

But He Yan didn’t want to leave after finding Yang Yingxiong. He simply squatted beside him to help sell clothes.

Yang Yingxiong, however, was worried and told his brother to follow behind Jin Xiuzhu. “Keep your eyes sharp, don’t let Auntie run into pickpockets.”

He then explained to He Yan, “There are a lot of people on the streets. Pickpockets are common.”

He Yan didn’t mind. “It’s fine. My mom put the money on me.”

He even wanted to pull down his pants to show him the sewn-in pouch in his underwear. Because Jin Xiuzhu found it improper for a woman to pull money out of her own underwear, she had sewn a secret pocket into He Yan’s.

Yang Yingxiong saw this and made a disgusted face. “Enough, enough—I don’t want to see your underwear.”

He Yan heard the disdain and wrapped an arm around his neck, threatening, “Looking for a beating?”

They started fooling around again.

Meanwhile, Jin Xiuzhu and the children browsed the black market. Yang Chaoying, thinking they were first-timers, enthusiastically introduced things to them. Liuliu proudly corrected him, “Mom brought us here two years ago.”

Yang Chaoying gasped. “Really? Liuliu, you’re so lucky!”

Liuliu giggled. “But it wasn’t this lively back then.”

Jin Xiuzhu asked, “Where did you two get the clothes?”

“We bought stock from Auntie Wang. She’s opening a factory here. It’s not operational yet, but there were leftover goods from some textile factories. My brother found classmates to help transport them. They bring them over, we sell them, and we split the money. We get a bigger share since it was my brother’s idea and he found the supplier.”

“I see.”

Jin Xiuzhu nodded with praise. “Not bad. You’ve got business sense.”

Mentioning his brother made Yang Chaoying light up. “Right? My brother’s amazing! We were only planning on earning enough for tuition, but now we’ve earned enough for meals for the next half year!”

Jin Xiuzhu asked, “What are your brother’s plans for you?”

Yang Chaoying beamed. “My brother said he’ll take me with him. Next semester I’ll be studying here. He’s afraid I’ll be bullied back home.”

Jin Xiuzhu smiled. “That’s wonderful. You two can stay together.”

Yang Chaoying nodded vigorously. “My brother is the best.”

He knew that his brother had originally wanted to apply to a military academy like He Yan. But because he wouldn’t be able to take care of him, he changed to an industrial university instead.

His brother had always treated him the best, so when someone told him he had a rich birth mother, he didn’t think much of it—he only wanted to stay with his brother.

After they finished shopping and returned, they saw that most of the clothes were already sold. Yang Yingxiong stood beside the stall collecting money while He Yan shouted for customers. Tall and handsome, he sweet-talked every passing woman, even calling women in their forties and fifties “pretty ladies” without blinking.

Compared to the brothers’ rough accents, he was much more fluent.

Jin Xiuzhu and the children didn’t rush. They waited until everything was sold and then left together.

Yang Yingxiong, now familiar with the area, took them to a nearby alley to eat lunch.

It was a residential home with a simple sign reading “Liu’s Restaurant.” In the courtyard were several tables filled with customers.

Yang Yingxiong ordered food while He Yan followed. They returned carrying a few coconuts.

He ordered all local specialties and told Jin Xiuzhu, “This place is tasty and cheap—much better than state restaurants. Locals recommended it. My brother and I have eaten here twice.”

He Yan asked, “When does school start?”

“September first.”

“What about your brother?”

“I’m not living in the school dorms anymore. I’ll rent a room outside, so I can earn money on the side and he can stay with me.”

He Yan felt a twinge of heartache. “You’re going to college—your dad didn’t give you any money?”

Yang Yingxiong shook his head, but showed no unhappiness. He had long stopped expecting anything from Yang Yao.

Yang Chaoying grew angry. “He’d never give us money! He spends it all on his wife and kids! When my brother went back to pick me up, they didn’t even let us inside!”

Yang Yingxiong stayed silent.

Fu Yanyan watched Yang Chaoying. She wasn’t sure whether the child in her past life—Yang Yao and Zhao Yunsheng’s son—was this same boy. But she still found it unbelievable. In her past life, Yang Yingxiong had left home early and carried countless accusations; even after becoming successful, people still slandered him. But in this life, he had a loving little brother by his side.

The two of them studied and worked together, relying on each other—poor, yet full of hope.

What amazed her even more was that this time, walking the familiar black market streets, she felt no sadness or depression. She was like an outsider watching everything calmly, even faintly seeing the confused, hardworking young girl she once was.

Perhaps… this time, she had truly let go.

Jin Xiuzhu: The two brothers really have a great relationship.

Jiang Mingchuan: Our relationship as husband and wife is great too.

He Yan: Dad, stop trying to get attention at home.

Fu Yanyan: Saying the absolute truth at the wrong time…

Liuliu: Dad, sigh…

Jiang Mingchuan: You three unfilial children!