An 80s female translator was spoiled rotten by a rough and jealous man.

Chapter 196 What happened next? What happened after that?

Later, Chu Yao would visit Jiang's mother and Yingzi in Jiangjia Village every time she had a holiday.

Jiang's mother taught at the village primary school for most of her life, while Jiang's father was a grassroots policeman who died in the line of duty when he was in his thirties.

Jiang Ying was still in school, excelling in both character and academics. One autumn, Jiang Ying was on her way home for vacation. She was almost at the village entrance when she saw a slender girl about ten meters ahead, carrying several bags. The girl's back looked familiar, and Jiang Ying tentatively called out, "Sister Yao?"

Chu Yao turned around when she heard the voice, and when she saw who was behind her, a smile bloomed on her lips: "Yingzi, why are you back?"

"The school gave us two days off for National Day, so I came back to help my mom harvest cotton," Jiang Ying answered as she jogged closer.

"Sister Yao, what brings you here too?"

"I happened to be on vacation, so I came to visit you and your aunt."

Remembering something, Chu Yao asked, "This time it's the start of the senior year, right?"

Jiang Ying nodded.

Chu Yao couldn't help but sigh, "Time flies! When I first met you, you were still in your third year of junior high school, and now you're almost graduating from high school."

Jiang Ying looked at the large and small bags in Chu Yao's hands and said, "I'll take some," and then snatched most of the items from Chu Yao's hands.

The two chatted about their recent lives all the way to the Jiang family's door, an old-fashioned double wooden door, one closed and the other open.

Jiang's mother was sitting on a wooden stool in the main room, staring blankly at a point on the ground, seemingly lost in thought.

The sound of girls talking came from the doorway. Jiang's mother suddenly came to her senses and looked up ahead.

Jiang Ying walked on the right and had to push open the wooden door to go in, so she naturally missed her mother's dejected expression. But Chu Yao did not. There was no wooden door to block her view on the left, so she immediately saw the deep worry between her mother's brows and the entire process of how she quickly composed herself and put on a kind smile.

Upon seeing this, a hint of doubt arose in Chu Yao's heart.

Jiang's mother stood up with a smile and said, "Why did everyone choose to come back today?"

Jiang Ying said jokingly, "The school cafeteria food is awful. I want to come back and eat here for a couple of days."

After putting her things on the table, Jiang Ying hurriedly unzipped her schoolbag, took out a math test paper, and proudly showed it to her mother, saying, "I got 118 points on this mock test, which is a lot better than before. Don't say I'm bad at math anymore."

Chu Yao praised, "Only two points were deducted in math, that's amazing. When I was in school, math was the subject I was worst at."

Unexpectedly, Jiang's mother blurted out, "Her brother is better at math and often got full marks in high school. He's just a little bad at English. The two siblings complement each other. If only..." Before she could finish, Jiang's mother realized something and stopped talking abruptly.

The three people inside the room held their breath in unison, and for at least ten seconds, no one in the main room spoke.

Chu Yao changed the subject again: "Yingzi, you've been growing a lot lately, so I bought you a new pair of pants and a jacket. Go back to your room and try them on to see if they fit."

"Xiao Yao, stop buying things for us all the time. My salary isn't much, but it's enough for Yingzi and me to cover our expenses. You're a young woman, you should think more about yourself. Save your money and spend it on yourself," Jiang's mother advised patiently.

"Auntie, you know my situation. I don't have any relatives. You and Yingzi are my relatives. You're being too polite by saying that. Don't you consider me family?"

Having said that, Jiang's mother had nothing more to say.

After Jiang Ying went back to her room to change her pants, Chu Yao was about to ask something when Jiang's mother immediately put on a mysterious expression. She first craned her neck to look around the door to see if there was anyone else there, and then pulled Chu Yao into her room.

Upon entering the room, Chu Yao sensed something was amiss and asked thoughtfully, "Did something happen?"

After closing the door, Jiang's mother turned around and answered softly, "I received an anonymous letter at school. It was written by him, and there was another one for you inside."

Upon hearing this, Chu Yao's heart pounded violently in her chest, a chaotic and frantic pounding that she couldn't quite define. Since their parting at the manor that night, she hadn't received a single word about him for three years. Where was he? What was he doing? Was he alive or dead? She had no idea.

When Chu Yao spoke again, her voice trembled: "Where...is the letter?"

……

Jiang's mother was also somewhat of an intellectual. She had just learned about Jiang Zheng's situation three years ago. The incident was so sudden that it greatly shocked her. The written agreement with the official seal was too convincing, and Jiang's mother, unable to accept the reality, even fainted on the spot.

But upon closer reflection, she began to notice some suspicious points. For instance, since her son lost contact with his family, her monthly payslip included an additional "Outstanding Rural Teacher Subsidy." At first, she thought it was a policy reform aimed at improving the treatment of rural teachers.

But she later discovered by chance that this subsidy was almost exclusively listed on her payslip. She went to the principal's office to inquire about the situation, and the principal told her that the school has one or two award slots each month, and the top one or two teachers are selected according to the rules set above, mainly based on teaching experience, course load, and teaching level. So every month, it's perfectly reasonable and compliant for you.

Jiang's mother didn't think much of it at the time. She was indeed the most senior teacher in the elementary school, teaching all the Chinese classes from grades one to six, with a full schedule every week.

Once a seed of doubt is planted in a person's heart, they will be unable to resist trying to verify that faint and vague conjecture.

Later, when Jiang's mother went to town to attend a public lesson, she intentionally brought up the topic. In a conversation with other rural primary school teachers in the same area, she learned that they had never heard of any subsidies for outstanding teachers.

Then, another winter came. The day before New Year's Eve, she dragged Yingzi to do a thorough cleaning at home. While rummaging through drawers and cabinets, she found a dusty notebook. The pages were already yellowed, and the writing on the cover had faded so much that it was hard to make out the original characters. Only the right half of the character "铮" could be barely made out.

Suddenly, Jiang's mother had a strong, inexplicable intuition that this notebook might answer her long-standing questions. She eagerly opened the notebook, randomly flipping through a few pages. Inside were Jiang Zheng's elegant yet neat handwriting, and the pages were densely filled with information on police academies across the country, including their admissions details, majors, admission requirements, and areas of strength.

In a daze, Jiang's mother remembered that it was a summer afternoon seven or eight years ago. The cicadas were chirping incessantly, and the heat was intense. She was busy in the kitchen when her son, Jiang Zheng, appeared from behind her, bringing with him the heat and dampness of the outside world. Suddenly, a large finned fish appeared in her field of vision, hooked on a grass stalk and dangling in front of her eyes. The fish's eyes were no more than two inches away from hers. The fishy smell suddenly filled her nostrils, and she heard Jiang Zheng's beaming voice, boasting, "Mom, we're having fish for dinner tonight. I just caught it from the water."

Jiang's mother waved her right hand, brushing away the annoying finger in front of her, before turning to her side and gently scolding, "Hurry up and put your clothes on. What will your sister think when she comes back and sees you shirtless?"

Jiang Zheng put on his shirt and went back to the kitchen, chatting with her with a grin. While they were talking about this and that, he casually asked, "Mom, I did pretty well on my final exams this time. My teacher said that if I keep doing this, I'll have a lot more options when filling out college applications next year."

Jiang's mother said with relief, "That's a good thing."

Young Jiang Zheng casually added, "Then how about I call the police academy?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang's mother's face instantly darkened, and she put down the kitchen knife in her hand. She turned around to look at him, her eyes cold, and her tone equally icy: "I disagree!"

Seeing this, Jiang Zheng quickly laughed it off: "I was just joking. Don't all boys dream of being a policeman? They think wearing a uniform is super cool. Don't take it seriously, and don't be angry."

The matter was eventually dropped, and Jiang's mother didn't take it to heart. Jiang Zheng did well on the college entrance exam, performing as expected, and told her he had been admitted to the mathematics department of a university in Shanghai.

Jiang's mother tried hard to recall and realized that she had never seen Jiang Zheng's admission notice.

As she turned to the first page of the notebook, Jiang's mother's pupils dilated instantly. There was a black and white photo of Jiang's father on it, the same photo that was on his martyr's tombstone. Next to it was written the following words: "Serving the country with utmost loyalty is the duty of a man. When the sea is calm and the river is clear, the road ahead is long and arduous. I will follow your teachings and look up to you."

It was Jiang Zheng's lofty aspirations and enduring faith at the age of eighteen.

It's a young person's little bit of heroism.

It is a son's simple yet unwavering respect and following in the face of the precious cause to which his father dedicated himself; he is his spiritual leader.

One thing is a coincidence, two things are coincidences, and when you consciously explore, you will discover one coincidence after another. Are there really so many coincidences in this world?
Jiang's mother stroked the man in the photo, her eyes already reddening without her noticing, and softly asked, "So, your son chose the same path as you?"

……

They both lied to each other.

Chu Yao lied to Jiang's mother, saying that Jiang Zheng had saved her at the manor, and the price he paid was that she would help take care of his mother and sister after she was released safely. She fabricated the story, keeping the parts that might arouse suspicion to herself, and she didn't intend to tell anyone.

Jiang's mother didn't understand at first and questioned, "But you're a soldier!"

Chu Yao said, "One thing at a time, these are two separate matters. What he did is the police's business, not mine. But I owe your Jiang family a debt of gratitude, and I must keep my word."

Later, Jiang's mother noticed that Chu Yao had been staring blankly at an old photo album in the house more than once. It was called a photo album, but there were only a few photos in it. Jiang's mother went over to look at it a few times and found that every page she turned to had a photo of Jiang Zheng, which was also the only color photo in the album.

This photo was taken by his school when he was in high school. He participated in the basketball league and led his team to victory. He was wearing a bright red jersey, which was flamboyant and eye-catching. The boy standing in the middle was the tallest, and his exposed pale skin looked somewhat out of place compared to the boys of the same age around him. He had his left arm around his shoulder and his right arm around his back, and he was laughing in a silly way.

The vibrant energy emanating from him almost overflows through the photo.

And that's not all. One day, the village children were playing with bamboo dragonflies when one of them got stuck in the osmanthus tree in front of the Jiang family's house. The children were all too short to reach it. Jiang Ying saw this, came out of the house, appeared behind them, stood on tiptoe, and picked the bamboo dragonfly off. The girl squatted down and said with a smile, "Here, your bamboo dragonfly."

Unexpectedly, the group of children scattered in all directions, running away in panic as if they had seen some kind of monstrous flood. They shouted incessantly, "Her brother is scum," "scoundrel," "Mom said there's not a single good person in their family," "heartless," "devoid of conscience," "may he die a horrible death." The cacophony of harsh words was clear and jarring enough to be jarring.

The children ran off in a swarm, but Jiang Ying remained squatting on the ground, her expression gloomy, as if she had lost all her vitality.

At this moment, Chu Yao rushed out of the house, snatched the bamboo dragonfly from Jiang Ying's hand that she hadn't handed over, and threw it hard on the ground. As if that wasn't enough, she stomped on it with her foot.

After calming down, Chu Yao realized she had been being irrational. Why should she bother arguing with a bunch of kids who hadn't even grown up yet? What could they possibly know?

Yes, what could "they" possibly know? They know nothing!
Jiang's mother was still sitting in the main room. Just now, before the girl rushed out, Jiang's mother was sitting next to her and saw the pain that flashed in her eyes clearly.

Jiang's mother had no doubt that her understanding of that look was accurate, because at that moment, if there had been a mirror in front of her, the woman in the mirror would probably have had the exact same look in her eyes.

She firmly believed that at that moment they shared a common emotion: reluctance, heartache, a desire to protect, and a fierce impulse rising within them to run out and tell everyone—even if everyone in the world met a terrible end, he would live to be a hundred.

This... inevitably made Jiang's mother think more deeply about Chu Yao's feelings. Was she really just keeping her promise and repaying a debt of gratitude?

How could her profession and status allow her to have deeper feelings for a man who has committed heinous crimes and is wanted by the police?

Jiang's mother had actually kept something from Chu Yao. She hadn't shown the notebook she found to anyone, but had hidden it well so that no one would find it.

One is a loyal soldier, and the other is a mother who loves her son. In addition, they are also companions who support each other through the long years, waiting for an unknown outcome. Or rather, they are more like kindred spirits who met by chance on an adversity journey. They lean on each other, keep warm, and draw strength from each other to persevere.

Even though they were both trustworthy people; even though they had vaguely sensed in each other year after year that the other seemed to share the same obsessions and expectations, those hidden, unspeakable emotions that others could never empathize with, always resonated intensely in one unexpected moment after another, as if saying - you are not alone, I believe in him too, I am also waiting for him to come back.

However, they also reached a tacit, unspoken consensus: the fewer people who know, the safer he will be.

I'm sorry, you're included in this too.

Therefore, they never communicated about this matter, and they rarely even mentioned this person to each other. Neither of them tried to break through this thin veil of secrecy. They each guarded their own secrets and tacitly protected a secret that might belong to both of them.

Today, however, is the first time in three years that these two women have sat down together and openly discussed "him".

Chu Yao gripped the envelope so tightly that her knuckles turned slightly white. The brownish-yellow envelope bore only four words: "To be opened by Chu Yao."