Widow Remarries in Sixties

Wang Ling scooped a big spoonful of food into her mouth and shook her head, “I’m not too sure either. When I was called over, the kid was lying on the ground, crying and screaming, with blood all over the place. It really scared me. He said it was Captain Yang’s son who hit him, because Yang Yingxiong was angry that his mom arranged for Zhao Yun to marry his dad. His dad and grandma no longer cared about him. Now that Liu Hongyue is gone, he took revenge and beat the kid.”

Jin Xiuzhu blinked. So it was Liu Hongyue who had arranged the match between Zhao Yun and Yang Yao.

This made it seem that Zhao Yun and Liu Hongyue were quite close. Now that Liu Hongyue was in trouble, Zhao Yun was quick to distance herself, which seemed rather cold-hearted.

Wang Ling helplessly said, “I’ll call the factory later to ask for leave. I won’t attend the meeting today. I’ll go to the hospital again in the afternoon. I need to inform Zhao Yun about this. No matter what, she has to take her child to the hospital for a check-up. Otherwise, it will sound bad if word gets out.”

Jin Xiuzhu nodded and said gently, “No matter what, the child is innocent. Let me know when you’re going this afternoon, I’ll go with you.”

Wang Ling looked at Jin Xiuzhu with some gratitude, feeling that she was truly kind-hearted.

Thinking this, she also said it out loud, “If Liu Hongyue had been half as kind as you, she wouldn’t have ended up like this.”

Jin Xiuzhu smiled without saying anything. She was just going to watch the drama.

At noon, Jiang Mingchuan came back with a few small persimmons in his hand. They were red but not fully ripe.

“These are wild persimmons picked from the mountain. They’ll be ready to eat in a day or two.”

Jin Xiuzhu took them and looked at them more closely. She had never seen such small persimmons before and found them quite interesting.

While having dinner, Jin Xiuzhu recounted the events of the morning to him. She first talked about the four-piece set incident. Upon hearing that one set cost eight yuan, he immediately felt a pang of pain in his wallet. “That’s way too expensive! That money could buy several bolts of cloth.”

“How can that be the same? These sets sell for seventy to eighty yuan in the department stores. I’m even thinking of buying another one or two sets to save for when the kids grow up and get married.”

Jiang Mingchuan hesitated, “But aren’t you planning to buy a sweater next month?”

Jin Xiuzhu fell silent after hearing this. After a while, she suggested, “Then why don’t you borrow some money from someone else?”

Jiang Mingchuan: “…”

Jin Xiuzhu asserted confidently, “You said you wanted to let me live a good life…”

Seeing she was about to bring up past grievances again, Jiang Mingchuan quickly interjected, “Okay, okay, I’ll borrow the money and buy it.”

He had already resigned himself to their lifestyle. With the family eating lavishly every day, saving money seemed impossible. They might as well muddle through like this. At least all the spending was on food, and their two kids were growing up healthy and strong.

Satisfied, Jin Xiuzhu then brought up Qi Kang’s son and mentioned that she planned to visit the hospital with Wang Ling that afternoon.

Jiang Mingchuan didn’t object and even praised Jin Xiuzhu for doing the right thing. “Adults are adults, and children are children. Qi Min has been away from the base for a few days, so it’s good to check on them.”

Jin Xiuzhu responded with a hum.

She didn’t mention that she was just curious about what had happened.

Wang Ling went home for a nap and didn’t come to find Jin Xiuzhu until after two in the afternoon. Jin Xiuzhu took her two children and went out with her. Since it was the weekend, He Yan was also at home.

The two adults and one child took a boat to the county town, then transferred to a bus to the county hospital.

Upon arrival, Jin Xiuzhu bought a bag of pears at the entrance. It was pear season, and they were relatively cheap.

Wang Ling took her directly to the second floor of the inpatient department at the back. Qi Kang was in room 209. As soon as they entered, they saw the boy lying in bed asleep, with a bandage wrapped around his head.

Seeing this, Wang Ling’s heart softened a bit. She didn’t disturb him and quietly exited the room. She then asked the nurse standing at the door next to theirs about the boy’s condition.

The nurse said, “The doctor said the boy is fine. He could have been discharged a while ago. The flu is quite serious recently, and staying in the hospital isn’t good.”

Wang Ling, with a good temper, replied, “Alright, alright. We’ll leave when the boy wakes up.”

The nurse nodded and reminded her, “Remember to pay the bill.”

Then she left.

Wang Ling looked at Jin Xiuzhu and whispered, “See, I wasn’t lying to you. It’s really nothing serious.”

Jin Xiuzhu gave her a sympathetic look.

Wang Ling complained, “I spent four yuan last night, and I haven’t paid the room fee yet. This kid really doesn’t care about people.”

The door to the ward was open. Jin Xiuzhu glanced at the figure lying in the bed behind her. Earlier, she had noticed the boy secretly scratching his leg. Although the movement was very small, she still saw it.

He was pretending to sleep.

Wang Ling said to Jin Xiuzhu, “Let’s wait a bit longer.”

Jin Xiuzhu nodded.

The two of them lowered their voices as they entered the hospital room. There were three beds in the room, but only Qi Kang was there.

Jin Xiuzhu and Wang Ling sat on the bed near the door, chatting quietly. They started by talking about Jin Xiuzhu’s job, and then, somehow, the conversation shifted to Fang Min.

Jin Xiuzhu had always been curious about Fang Min and Commissar Zhu’s relationship. The age difference between them was quite significant, and they had no children. She didn’t feel comfortable asking directly, so there was always a layer of distance between them, as she was afraid of accidentally touching on a sensitive topic.

She had asked Qian Yufeng about it before, but she didn’t know either. She only said that Fang Min was proud and didn’t interact much with others.

Wang Ling, however, knew about it and told her, “Fang Min’s family is really impressive. Her grandparents were both renowned literary figures, and her paternal family were wealthy merchants who donated all their assets during the war. Her parents studied abroad and returned to serve the country. Her mother was a war correspondent and her father was a writer. Now they both work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

Jin Xiuzhu blinked. She didn’t understand some of the terms, but from Wang Ling’s tone, she guessed they were very impressive.

“However, Fang Min wasn’t very lucky. It’s not that she had bad luck, but her childhood was tough. Her mother was still fighting in the war when she was pregnant with her. She got separated from the main troops once and gave birth to her in a village.

Later, she entrusted her to a family there. When they finally found her, that family had sent their own child in her place. She stayed in the village until she was seven or eight before her parents found out and brought her back. But her parents always favored that other child. Her grandparents probably couldn’t bear to see this, so they took her to raise her themselves.”

Jin Xiuzhu didn’t quite understand, “Why didn’t they care for their own child but favored someone else’s?”

Wang Ling sighed, “How can I put it? They raised her as their own for so many years, and suddenly realizing she’s not their biological child… but after all those years of care, the emotions invested were genuine.”

Jin Xiuzhu still didn’t understand, but wisely chose not to say anything. Instead, she asked, “Who is Commissar Zhu?”

Wang Ling continued, “Her grandparents were getting old and before they passed away, they chose a husband for her, which is Commissar Zhu. Commissar Zhu used to be their student.”

After finishing, she leaned in and whispered into Jin Xiuzhu’s ear, “Commissar Zhu used to have a wife who ran away with someone to a foreign country.”

Jin Xiuzhu was shocked for a moment, then nodded. She hadn’t expected Fang Min, who came from a good and affluent family, to have such a past.

Just as she was about to say something, the door opened from the outside.

She turned her head to see Zhao Yun coming in with a child in her arms, followed by a little boy.

Jin Xiuzhu recognized him. He was Yang Yao’s son, whom she had met once before at night.

When Zhao Yun saw the two sitting together warmly, her expression changed, but she quickly showed an apologetic look on her face. “Sorry for the delay.”

Then she turned to look at the boy lying on the bed and then at Wang Ling, her eyes full of uncertainty.

Wang Ling stood up, glanced at her watch, saw that it was already half-past three, then walked to the bed and called out to Qi Kang, “Wake up, your Aunt Zhao is here. The doctor said you can go home.”

The boy remained motionless.

Seeing this, Wang Ling was a bit annoyed. She actually guessed he was pretending to sleep. “Fine, if you want to sleep, we’ll all leave. Wait for your father to come back and deal with you.”

Whether it was her words or not, Qi Kang moved slightly.

Zhao Yun put down the girl she was holding and stepped forward quickly. “Kangkang, I am your Aunt Zhao. Our Yingxiong really didn’t do it on purpose. He’s still young and doesn’t understand things. Auntie apologizes on his behalf. I’m sorry, okay?”

Qi Kang didn’t respond.

Zhao Yun immediately pulled the boy standing at the door, “Quickly apologize to Kangkang. Look at him, he’s lying in bed because you beat him. I know you’re unhappy with me, but it has nothing to do with him.”

The boy’s eyes were indifferent, acting as if he hadn’t heard her.

Zhao Yun’s eyes turned red, and she pleaded, “Can’t you just say sorry? If word gets out, it won’t sound good for you. Auntie won’t harm you.”

The boy bit his lip hard and didn’t say a word.

Zhao Yun, not getting his apology, seemed to give up. She wiped her tears and turned to comfort Qi Kang, “Kangkang, your brother didn’t mean it. He’s just angry. How about this? Auntie will go pay for you first, then buy you some treats. When your dad comes back, I’ll talk to him, okay?”

Upon hearing this, Qi Kang rarely spoke up, “Tell my dad to bring my mom back, or I won’t forgive you.”

Zhao Yun’s expression stiffened, but she didn’t comply with his demand. Instead, she said, “Auntie will go pay for you.”

Then she said to Wang Ling, “I’m going to pay.”

With that, she took the boy and left.

Fu Yanyan, who was standing next to Jin Xiuzhu, looked at Qi Kang lying in bed, then at the lonely boy standing at the door. The boy seemed to sense her gaze and looked up at her.

Fu Yanyan directly met a pair of aggrieved, sorrowful eyes.

She was slightly stunned.

That look was all too familiar to her. In her previous life, whenever He Yan did something wrong, he would blame her. Even though she hadn’t done anything, Jin Xiuzhu would never listen to her explanations and would scold her harshly. The feeling of injustice and pain always made her nose sting whenever she recalled it.

The boy quickly lowered his eyes.

Fu Yanyan didn’t know much about him. Her only impression of him was that before Jin Xiuzhu and Jiang Mingchuan divorced in their previous life, he had run away from home. Later, someone spread a rumor that he had behaved inappropriately towards his own sister.

Since Zhao Yun had come, Wang Ling didn’t bother to intervene. After Zhao Yun finished paying and returned, Wang Ling made an excuse about having something to do at home and left.

As they walked out of the hospital, Wang Ling couldn’t help but soften her tone, saying, “Zhao Yun really has it tough.”

Jin Xiuzhu felt a pang of sympathy. If Wang Ling were to enter a noble’s inner residence, she probably wouldn’t survive a month, always seeing the good in everyone.

She nodded, saying, “It really isn’t easy. Take my Xiao Yan for example. When he first arrived here, he was so thin and small, and his clothes were dirty. Now he finally looks lively. Children, if you treat them well with a sincere heart, they’ll understand.”

Hearing this, Wang Ling instinctively looked at He Yan, who was holding Jin Xiuzhu’s hand. He had indeed changed a lot.

If Jin Xiuzhu hadn’t mentioned it, she would have almost forgotten what he used to look like. Actually, the He Yan Jin Xiuzhu saw has already improved.

When he first arrived at the unit, he was truly pitiful, as thin as rail, dirty and smelly, with tangled hair. Now he had become sturdy and healthy, with a round chin.

Thinking about the Yang family’s child she had just seen, his clothes didn’t fit well, his pants were too short, and he was dirty. It was understandable if it was from fighting, but it had already been a day since the fight.

Moreover, Zhao Yun had been married for two or three months, but the boy was still so thin. Compared to her own fair and clean daughter standing beside him, the difference was stark.

A shiver ran down her spine as she felt she had discovered something.

He Yan tightly held Jin Xiuzhu’s hand. Although he was young, he wasn’t completely naive. He felt sorry not only for Qi Kang, who was lying in bed, but also for Yang Yingxiong, who was standing at the door.

One of them didn’t have their mother by their side, and the other didn’t have a mother at all. He didn’t have one either, but he had the best new mother in the world.