It doesn't matter if your souls are scattered, as long as you die.

d市

The little girl woke up and sat on the bed in a daze. Seeing this, Yu Huifang teased, "Mommy's darling, are you planning to stay in bed today?"

Jiaojiao snapped out of her daze, grinned, and said, "Mommy, Jiaojiao wasn't staying in bed, Jiaojiao was having a dream."

When Yu Huifang heard her daughter say she had a dream, her body stiffened involuntarily, but she relaxed when she saw her daughter's smiling face.

She thought, this time it must not be a nightmare, otherwise her daughter wouldn't be laughing.

I sat down on the edge of the bed and stroked the child's head. "Oh, what did our Jiaojiao dream about?"

Jiaojiao giggled as she recalled the scene in her dream, "Mommy, Kongming lanterns, so many Kongming lanterns flying in the sky, so beautiful!"

"Really? But how did you know it was a Kongming lantern, baby?"

"Ah..." The little guy was confused for a moment, "There was a voice saying that Kongming lanterns are for praying for blessings."

"Mommy, Mommy, Jiaojiao wants to make a Kongming lantern to hang outside, and light candles every night so that lonely people won't feel lonely anymore."

Yu Huifang was surprised that her daughter had said something so profound. She sensed something was amiss and tentatively asked:

"Sweetheart, who is the lonely one?"

"Ah Li, little sister who doesn't eat braised pork."

These words were like a bomb exploding in Yu Huifang's brain, and memories of those days more than a year ago came flooding back.

Could it be...?

Jiaojiao's dream about the future was because of that child.

After a moment of doubt, she became certain that it was the child who told her that Zheng Yuan's parents were not actually dead.

Although she hadn't yet found out whether Zheng Hua and Qin Fei were truly alive, she believed her.

A dream saved my daughter, and also saved her and my family.

This is a blessing from heaven, and we must repay it.

After thinking it through, she looked at her daughter and said softly, "Jiaojiao, Kongming lanterns are for flying, and they are not suitable for hanging with candles, because the candles will go out."

How about we make a lantern?

The little girl thought for a moment and then happily stood up, making a big circle with her hand.

"Sure, sure! Make a big lantern, so Ali can see it at a glance."

"Okay, okay, lie down now, don't get cold."

After the little girl lay down, Yu Huifang covered her with a blanket, leaving only her head sticking out.

With a smile that revealed her teeth, she suggested, "Mom, we should write on the lamp: 'Ali smiles broadly, may the bright moon always be with her.'"

Yu Huifang nodded.

……

d市

When Liu Xiaomei woke up early in the morning, she found the door to the main room open. She was startled and thought her house had been burgled.

When they went outside, they found their son, Shengsheng, fiddling with a knife, a saw, wood, and other things.

"Sheng Sheng, what are you doing so early in the morning?"

Shen Quansheng, who is not stupid, has already started school and has consistently ranked first in his grade, making him a well-known child prodigy in the area.

After her son recovered from mental illness, Liu Xiaomei paid back all the things she had taken advantage of and the things she owed.

With their son's reputation as a genius, their family is no longer the disliked household it once was.

Shen Quansheng didn't answer his mother's question directly, but instead asked, "Mom, if your little sister comes back, will you accept her?"

"Of course!" As soon as Liu Damei heard her son mention the little sister, she knew who she was talking about.

She knelt down beside her son and whispered, "She is a great benefactor to our whole family. I would give my life for her, let alone just accept her."

Shen Quansheng looked up and smiled broadly, "Then let's prepare in advance, who knows when she might come."

"Getting ready? Okay, Mom will go buy new blankets, new clothes, new shoes..."

Liu Damei didn't understand what her son meant. She got up, went back to the house to get the money, and hurriedly ran to the department store.

Mr. Shen got up and, watching his daughter-in-law rush off, asked his son, "Shengsheng, where did your mother go?"

Shen Quansheng didn't even look up. "Mom went to buy things. Dad, hurry up and wash up. After you're done, go find a wooden frame. I need to hang lanterns."

Mr. Shen didn't understand why his son wanted to make lanterns, but his son's good grades were his pride, so there was no need to ask him why he wanted to make such a request; he would just help him.

The magnificent lights shine for one person.

I hope that one day, I can illuminate her lonely soul.

……

Menzhong County

The Lantern Festival has just passed, and all departments and factories have resumed work. The closed doors of the recycling station have also been opened.

Xiao Hong rushed inside, but the old gatekeeper grabbed her arm. "Little girl, why are you running so fast? This isn't a toilet."

It's so cold outside, and it's early in the morning. Little Red runs in against the cold wind, her face covered in shredded radish.

She said, panting, "Grandpa, I'm not here to use the restroom, I'm here to buy something."

The old man released her hand. "Oh, you're buying something? It's a mess inside. Tell me what you're looking for, and I'll tell you the approximate location so you can find it easily."

"Grandpa, I'd like to see if there are any lanterns here."

"A lantern?" The old man frowned. There was indeed one, and it was extremely well-made, but it was not suitable for use outside.

"What do you need the lantern for?"

"Hang it on the front door of the house."

"Just make one yourself."

Xiao Hong looked embarrassed. "I don't know how!"

The old man looked at the girl, thought for a moment, and said, "Help Grandpa tidy up the things in that little house over there, and Grandpa will make one for you."

Xiao Hong immediately smiled, bowed to the old man, and said, "Thank you, Grandpa. I'll go tidy up right away."

Two days later, Xiaohong hung red lanterns at the front door of her house.

The words "Ah Li smiles, the bright moon will always be with you" written in black calligraphy are particularly eye-catching.

Little Red looked up at the lantern, made a prayer gesture with her hands, and silently prayed:

Ali, from now on, this lamp will shine for you, and you will never have to feel lonely again.

……

A village educated youth settlement

For Gu Sen, a mechanical genius, drawing a lantern blueprint and then making a lantern is no problem at all.

After the Lantern Festival, Gu Sen, who was supposed to go to work, took leave and went to the bamboo forest early in the morning. He cut a bamboo and made a lantern.

The people at the educated youth settlement all thought he was very strange. The New Year was over, so why was he still making lanterns?

Gu Sen didn't explain, only saying that he wanted to maintain a festive atmosphere.

Bai Miaomiao circled the hanging lantern, and was suddenly attracted by a line of words on it.

Gu Sen walked up behind her and whispered something in her ear.

Bai Miaomiao suddenly realized, turned around and said to Gu Sen, "Brother Gu, I want to learn how to make candles, so that this light will never go out."

Gu Sen put his arm around her. "I'll find you some materials."

"Um!"

Ali, if one day you can see this lamp, I hope it can help light your way forward.

……

A rural village

On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, Xu Juzi woke up early in the morning. Without cooking or even washing her face, she rushed to the house of a bamboo craftsman in the village to buy lanterns.

Bamboo craftsmen usually make all sorts of bamboo crafts, but they don't make lanterns. In those days when people couldn't even get enough to eat, who would bother making these things? Besides, hanging lanterns wasn't a common practice in their area.

However, since someone is willing to buy it, the bamboo craftsman said he would make one and have Xu Juzi pick it up tomorrow.

To save the bamboo craftsman's time, Xu Juzi personally went up the mountain and picked out a bamboo stalk that was somewhat black and shiny for the craftsman, just asking him to hurry up.

The daughter, Xu Chenchen (originally surnamed Chen, but now takes her mother's surname after her father's), didn't know why her mother was making lanterns, so she asked, "Mother, the New Year and the Lantern Festival have already passed, why are you still making lanterns?"

Xu Juzi smiled and said, "It's not just this one year. There will be many more years to come. In the future, our family will hang lanterns at the front door every year... no, every day."

"Why? Mother!"

Xu Juzi patted her daughter's head and showed her the side of the red lantern with words written on it. "The mountain spirit may come down from the mountain one day. If we don't hang lanterns, she may not be able to find her way."

Xu Chenchen, who was already in school, saw the words above and immediately understood what was going on.

"Mother, one lantern isn't enough. It will break in the wind and rain. We need to prepare more."

"No, no, even if we prepare more, it won't be enough. I might as well learn how to make lanterns, then I'll have countless lanterns to use in the future."

Xu Chenchen was extremely excited. "Mom, tomorrow I'll go to the mountains to hunt some rabbits or pheasants as a gift for Grandpa Bamboo Craftsman to formally become his apprentice."

"Your mother will go with you tomorrow."

Xu Chenchen gazed into the distance with bright eyes, praying in her heart: Little fairy Ali, I hope you can come to my house next year and celebrate the New Year with us.

Meanwhile, in many places, many people whom Yunli didn't even know hung lanterns at their doorsteps.

The lanterns are all different, but the words written on them are all the same: "May Ali smile and may the bright moon accompany her forever!"

……

Yun Li spent the Lantern Festival alone, while Li Mo had gone home a few days earlier to spend the festival with his family.

He invited her to come with him before he left, but she refused.

Yun Li stayed alone in the place where Yun Jiaoyue used to live, feeling very calm and even a little bit of happiness.

Yun Li felt happy, but Yun Xuan, thousands of miles away, was not.

She was forcibly taken away and detained on her way back from buying groceries.

When she realized that her identity had been discovered, she was not nervous. Instead, she shamelessly argued, "I think you've misunderstood. The reason I took on Jiaoyue's identity was because she asked for it herself."

The interrogators didn't believe her at all and asked coldly, "Why would she make such a request?"

At this time, Yunxuan was unaware that they already knew about Yun Jiaoyue's abduction. She thought that as long as they couldn't find Yun Jiaoyue, they wouldn't be able to prove that she was lying.

"Because she doesn't like Baoguo. Well, Chen Baoguo is my current husband, and also Yun Jiaoyue's fiancé."

"At that time, our family members had also passed away, and my sisters and I were all alone in H City. Afraid of being taken advantage of, we decided to seek refuge with Chen Baoguo."

"Everything was going well, but no one expected that Jiaoyue would suddenly change her mind on the train, saying that she wanted to have a free love relationship and that arranged marriages were feudal dregs."

"I was terrified at the time. If we didn't go to Chen Baoguo for help, where would my sisters and I go?"

"Jiaoyue loves me very much. She knows that her decision is irrational, but she doesn't want to be bound by the arranged marriage."

She suggested that I take her place in marrying Chen Baoguo, while she went to the countryside to stay with a former nanny.

The interrogator then asked, "What kind of rural place did Yun Jiaoyue go to?"

"I don't know." Yunxuan shook her head. "The train had just stopped at a station when Jiaoyue hurriedly exchanged her ID with me and got off the train with her luggage. I didn't even have time to ask."

The interrogator didn't ask any more questions, got up and left.

The interrogation room was locked, with only a faint light. Yun Xuan wasn't afraid at all. As long as Yun Jiaoyue didn't show up, at most she would be charged with deception and impersonation.

If her crime doesn't warrant death, she can turn the tables.

Chen Baoguo was invited to a conference room right after training.

The top three leaders of the entire military region, along with the political commissar, were all there, as well as two people he didn't recognize.

Upon seeing this, Chen Baoguo's heart skipped a beat; something big must have happened.

Sure enough, Political Commissar He's opening remarks shocked him so much that his blood ran cold.

"Comrade Chen Baoguo, do you know that your wife is an imposter, Comrade Yun Jiaoyue?"

Chen Baoguo was incredulous, wondering if he had misheard. What did he mean by saying that his wife was an imposter, Yun Jiaoyue?

His wife is Yun Jiaoyue. They were betrothed since childhood, how could there be a mistake?

"Political Commissar, you must have made a mistake. My wife is Yun Jiaoyue. We were betrothed when we were children."

"There's no mistake. Your childhood betrothed was indeed Yun Jiaoyue, but your current wife is not Yun Jiaoyue at all. Her real name is Yun Xuan, and she is an adopted daughter of the Yun family."

The speaker was someone Chen Baoguo didn't recognize.

"No, no, that's impossible. She came to me after Grandpa Yun passed away. The letter of introduction and identification all prove that she is Jiaoyue."

Chen Baoguo couldn't accept it. His family was happy now, and if his wife had really impersonated someone else, it would be a very serious crime.

Thinking deeper, if she had other motives for impersonating someone else, Chen Baoguo's mind started to spin.

Political Commissar He showed Chen Baoguo the results of the investigation conducted by the H City Public Security Bureau. After reading them, Chen Baoguo began to sway unsteadily.

If this is true, then his wife will not only be charged with impersonation, but may also be involved in the trafficking of the real Yun Jiaoyue.

"You really don't know that Yun Jiaoyue isn't the real Yun Jiaoyue?" In the conference room, Commander Wang, whose expression was the most serious, slammed his hand on the table and stared sharply at Chen Baoguo.

"Commander, I really don't know."

Chen Baoguo was unaware that although he and Yun Jiaoyue were betrothed as children, he had only met her once when she was a little over two years old.

He was only seven years old at the time, so how could he recognize her more than ten years later?

She relied entirely on her identity information and what she said herself.

But who would have thought that someone would impersonate him, so naturally no one bothered to verify it.

No, the military did investigate Jiaoyue when they got married.

"Political Commissar, when I got married, didn't you investigate... Could it be that the H City Public Security Bureau made a mistake? Could that person who claimed to be Yun Jiaoyue's daughter be deliberately impersonating her to target me?"

Before Political Commissar He could speak, Division Commander Wang shook his head at him, "There's no way we could be wrong. That child is indeed Yun Jiaoyue's child. This information has been confirmed by the secret department."

The Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs was unknown to many, even to Chen Baoguo, the regimental commander and political commissar.

Only those who have reached a certain level will know.

The comrades at the H City police station only learned about this because of the bone-crushing case; they discovered that their country actually had such a department.