Traveling back to 1952, starting a comeback from a relief station

"Is He Daqing coming or not?"

"This guy is too shrewd; he only gave me a few dozen yuan."

"What will I do if he doesn't come?"

"Forget it, if he doesn't come, I'll just go back by myself. My third son's illness still needs money to be treated. If he won't stay with me, I'll just find someone else."

Just as she was wondering what was going on, she caught a glimpse of three people entering the station, with He Daqing walking in the middle.

Bai Cuihua was overjoyed and quickly waved her hand, shouting:

"Old He, over here!"

But soon, the smile on her face froze—

The two people beside He Daqing held his arms on either side. Although He Daqing's hands were hidden under his clothes, his posture made it look as if he was tied up.

Bai Cuihua panicked and was about to back away when the three men were already in front of her.

He Daqing was pulled aside and held down by one of the men, while the other walked up to Bai Cuihua, pulled out a small notebook, showed it to her, and said in a deep voice:

"We are from the local police station."

"You're Bai Cuihua, right? Do you know He Daqing?"

Upon hearing that it was someone from the police station, Bai Cuihua's body visibly stiffened, and her face instantly turned pale.

She was asked about her relationship with He Daqing.

Bai Cuihua said with a mournful face:

"Officer, I have nothing to do with him!"

"Yes, we know each other. He said he wanted to come to Shicheng with me and live together..."

Bai Cuihua was just an ordinary widow from the countryside. All she ever wanted in her life was to find a man to settle down with and help raise her children. She had never seen anything like this before.

Upon hearing that the police suspected He Daqing of being an enemy agent, they were immediately terrified.

They didn't care anymore.

He told the whole story in detail.

To distance herself from the situation, she even confessed in detail the few dozen yuan she got from He Daqing and the few odds and ends she bought.

She even took out letters written to her by her family.

To prove that he had indeed come to wait for He Daqing to return to Shicheng together.

The police officers verified the information.

I finally figured it out:

There was no enemy intelligence collusion involved; it was just a couple having an affair and planning to elope.

One of them had lost his wife, and the other was a widow. It was barely believable that they were dating and living together.

They took He Daqing back to the police station and gave him a severe scolding and education.

After all, he has a son and a daughter at home.

His youngest daughter, Yushui, is still so small. This is purely irresponsible of him to abandon his family.

When He Daqing came out of the police station and returned to the courtyard, it was already late at night. The courtyard was quiet and dark.

He quietly pushed open the door and entered the room. He Yushui had cried herself to sleep, curled up on the bed.

Sha Zhu sat at the table, dozing off with one hand propping up his cheek.

Hearing the door open, she woke up with a start, looked up and saw He Daqing. Still not quite sure what was going on, she asked in a daze:

"W-Why are you back?"

That night, Sha Zhu's mind was in complete turmoil.

One moment he's wondering if his father is really an enemy spy, the next he's worried about whether his job will be affected.

He even considered the worst-case scenario—what he should do and how he should act if the police came to collect the body.

Seeing He Daqing standing in front of him completely unharmed, he was still in a daze.

He Daqing was initially a little uneasy, but Sha Zhu's question ignited his anger, and he said in a deep voice:

"What do you mean, 'coming back' or 'coming back'? I'm perfectly fine! I'm just being framed by those two bastards, Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong!"

Seeing He Daqing return, Sha Zhu's stubbornness returned.

He said, with his neck stiff:

"Is everything alright?"

"Then why does everyone in the compound say you're an enemy spy?"

"If you want to leave, then leave! Why take all the money from the house? That's money I saved up for my wedding!"

"You dare to get angry with me, kid?"

Enraged, He Daqing kicked Sha Zhu.

"I haven't even said anything to you yet, and you're already telling me what to do!"

Early in the morning.

As soon as it was dawn, He Daqing got up.

But today, no matter where he went in the courtyard, he could feel the prying eyes of the neighbors.

Some people even came up to us and asked:

"Old He, did you escape from the police station? Or did the police deliberately release you as bait to arrest other enemy agents?"

The more the story spread, the more bizarre it became, and before long, several different versions of it were circulating in the courtyard.

Annoyed by the questions, He Daqing snapped at them impatiently:

"Stop talking nonsense!"

"I have absolutely no connection with enemy agents!"

"If there were any real connection, do you think I could have come back so easily? This is pure slander!"

He only dared to complain a little, and had no intention of confronting Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong—if things really got out of hand, his secret of eloping with his suitcase in the middle of the night would be exposed, which would be even more embarrassing.

Fortunately, his shout did have some effect.

The neighbors were thinking to themselves:

Yes, if they were really enemy agents, how could the police release them so easily?

But it's a fact that he was planning to run away with his suitcase last night, so what do you say about that?

Seeing that someone was about to ask more questions, He Daqing quickly lowered his head and walked briskly out of the courtyard.

As he passed by the front yard, he bumped into Wang Anping pruning red plum branches at the door. Wang Anping looked up, saw him, and greeted him cheerfully.

"Master He, don't take it to heart, and don't be embarrassed."

"You're still young. A man is in his prime at forty. You have decades of good life ahead of you. It's only right that you find a companion to keep you company in your old age."

He Daqing was taken aback, and his heart warmed instantly—finally, there was someone who understood him!

That's right, he's only forty years old.

Why can't I marry another one?

With that thought, he straightened his back again and his steps became lighter.

But as he stepped out of the courtyard house, a question suddenly arose in his mind:

No one in the hospital knew about what happened last night. How did Wang Anping find out?

Last night, there was a scene in the courtyard where Jia Dongxu was punished for eating alone, and today there was news that He Daqing was stopped while trying to run away. Recently, the gossip in this tenement has been coming one after another.

The neighbors gathered together, and all they talked about were these two things.

As they were discussing this, several people arrived at the courtyard gate. Leading the way was Wang Qin from the street work group, carrying a banner and clutching a red certificate. As soon as she entered the courtyard, she called out loudly:

"Anping, I've brought you good news."

"Last time, the honor was delivered to our work group by the police station, but today we specially brought it to your door—a banner that reads 'Heroic Act' and a certificate for outstanding individual in the neighborhood!"

Wang Qin was talking to Wang Anping in the front yard.

Hearing the commotion, the neighbors in the middle and back courtyards all rushed over, curiously inquiring:

"What merit did Wang Anping accomplish that the street-level work team personally delivered an award to him?"

Many people in the compound know Wang Qin.

Yan Bugui squeezed to the front and asked with a smile:

"Team Leader Wang, please tell me, what exactly happened? What terrible thing did Wang Anping do?"