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Chapter 25 Burned Clean
“Mother, I’m fine.” Jiang Wumei endured the stinging pain on her face, her eyes resolute. “I ran into Liu San when I went out to buy rice today. I spoke to him for a few minutes and gave him the rice. Then I was cornered by two strangers.”

“A stranger? Are you sure?” Shen Xiangyun took out a wooden box from the drawer of her dressing table, opened it, and took out a small white porcelain bottle.

She used the blue checkered handkerchief she was holding to gently dab a little of the medicine from the small porcelain bottle and wipe the redness and swelling on Jiang Wumei's face.

"Hiss!" Jiang Wumei gritted her teeth and endured the pain. When the medicine was first applied to her face, it didn't hurt at all. It felt cool and comfortable. But after a while, before the medicine could cover the red and swollen area, it started to hurt.

This pain wasn't intense, but rather like countless tiny ants biting your face; it was a tingling, persistent ache that was hard to ignore.

"Bear with it, it won't hurt in a bit." After applying the medicine, Shen Xiangyun put the small porcelain bottle away and returned it to its original place.

She walked over and sat down in front of Jiang Wumei. "Mom is going to write a letter in a little while. Go pack your things and take a few clothes with you. Go stay at your uncle's house before it gets too dark."

Jiang Wumei's eyes widened!
"Mother, what do you mean by this? Why are you suddenly asking me to stay at my uncle's house? You always tell me not to go to my uncle's house unless it's absolutely necessary. What happened?"

There must be a demon in the abnormal situation.

Jiang Wumei keenly sensed that something was wrong.

"Don't worry about it, just listen to me." Shen Xiangyun didn't intend to say anything more. Just then, a cool evening breeze blew in through the window, making the oil lamp on the table flicker.

Jiang Wumei suddenly noticed the oil lamp on the table. "Mom? This... why are we using it?"

"Go and pack your things quickly," Shen Xiangyun urged, unwilling to say more.

"Mom, I won't go if you don't tell me." Jiang Wumei's expression was unusually stubborn.

The mother and daughter faced off in silence.

Shen Xiangyun finally gave in, "Wu Mei, you're all grown up now, you should know some things. You've always known where your father went, and you've received occasional letters over the years."

"Mom, why are you suddenly bringing up that man? Can't you look forward? What can that man bring you? As for those letters, I'm not going to read a single one. Can letters replace a person?"

Shen Xiangyun wanted to say something, but she sighed softly, "He is still your father."

"What kind of father is he who gives birth but doesn't raise his child?"

"Jiang Wumei!" Shen Xiangyun scolded in a low voice!

Seeing her mother's cold, stern face, Jiang Wumei pursed her lips and shut her mouth in protest, "And then?"

“The recent situation… is not good. Your father’s identity has an impact on us. What happened today reminded me that we are being watched.” Shen Xiangyun was born into a wealthy family and received higher education from a young age. She has an exceptionally keen insight into current affairs.

Jiang Wumei's expression was complicated. She wanted to refute, but the words she was about to say changed, "Is it really that serious?"

"Hmm." Shen Xiangyun nodded. The oil lamp flickered in the wind, making her face indistinct.

Jiang Wumei lowered her head in deep thought. She had always trusted her mother's judgment, and what happened today was indeed very strange. It seemed that they were indeed being watched.

There are indeed some people who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals these days, so we must be careful. She suddenly remembered the letter from this morning, and her gaze fell on her mother's dressing table. "Mom, those things can't be kept." She said in a resolute tone, with an unquestionable coldness.

Shen Xiangyun's heart suddenly trembled. She looked up at her daughter in disbelief. The daughter in front of her had grown into a young woman, and now her eyes were filled with a sharpness and coldness that she could not understand.

Her heart skipped a beat. When did her daughter develop such strong hatred for her father?

"What nonsense are you talking about! This is the only thing your father left behind all these years." "It's precisely what he left behind that's fatal!" Jiang Wumei interrupted her abruptly, rushing to the dressing table in a few steps and skillfully opening the right drawer.

She took out an iron box, opened the lid with a pry bar, and found it stuffed full of letters. She reached out and grabbed a handful.

The letter was held in his hand; it was just a thin handful, and there wasn't much left in the box.

I thought there would be many letters, but I didn't expect there to be so few.

Jiang Wumei was somewhat disappointed and resentful. For more than 10 years, her mother had been bound hand and foot and heart by one letter after another.

She thought there would be many more! But it was only a few dozen.

"Mother, if we were being targeted, the first thing we would do is deal with these things, but when you thought of sending me to my uncle's house, didn't you ever think of burning them?"

"Don't burn it!" A hurried and distorted exclamation came from Shen Xiangyun's mouth.

The usually calm and composed Shen Xiangyun was now in a state of panic. She rushed over anxiously, her hand gripping the other end of the letter. In her haste, she didn't notice that her fingernails had left deep marks on the back of her daughter's hand.

"Wu Mei, let go."

"I do not want."

The letter was torn and crumpled repeatedly as the two hands struggled with it, making tearing sounds one after another.

Soon, the outermost layer of letters was ruthlessly torn apart by the force, like fragments of bygone days being shattered and then mercilessly discarded.

“Mother! Wake up!” Jiang Wumei clutched the letter tightly in her hand, refusing to let go. “If someone really comes looking for us, these letters will be enough to send us to hell.”

Shen Xiangyun didn't speak, but lunged forward, trying to pull her heart back.

However, she used so much force that she lost her balance.

"Clang!" There was a loud noise.

The two bumped into the table and fell to the ground together.

The kerosene lamp on the table also fell over, the lampshade rolled off, and kerosene inside gushed out with a hissing sound, filling the air with a pungent odor in an instant.

The black kerosene spread like a spider web.

With a heavy heart, Jiang Wumei pressed her hand onto the spread kerosene, watching as the kerosene greedily soaked into the letter.

She pushed hard, shoving the kerosene-stained letter towards the wick of the kerosene lamp, which had lost its shade.

"Whoosh!" With just a spark, the letter burst into flames.

"No!" Shen Xiangyun tried to rush over and extinguish the fire.

But Jiang Wumei held him, watching as the flames devoured the letter, and as the flames slowly dissipated, the eerie light fading until only ashes remained.

The mother and daughter stood frozen in the deathly silence, seemingly foreshadowing an irreversible change in their relationship.

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(End of this chapter)