After leaving the alley, Qian Shulan took her two children on the bus without waiting for long.
Dongfeng Farm is in the countryside, so the road is a bit bumpy. Even if three people were sitting in the seats, they were still shaken. In addition, the dust flew in through the window, blinding people's eyes.
Qian Shulan asked the two children to cover their eyes.
About an hour later, we finally arrived at our destination.
After the three of them came down, Qian Shulan threw her bag on her back, looked around, and pointed to a house not far away, "It should be there."
Xiaodie looked back and found that the houses over there were very neat and tidy, and they were obviously public properties.
She was jogging ahead.
Qian Shulan followed, holding Xiaomin's hand.
Arriving at the reception room, Qian Shulan smiled and greeted the old security guard, "I want to see Captain Qian Dajun, how can I get there?"
While speaking, she took out the letter of introduction that she had asked Wang Shouzhi to get from the street office.
The old man took the letter of introduction and looked at it carefully, then looked up at her and asked, "What is your relationship with him?"
"I'm his relative!"
Seeing that she was with her family, the old man guessed that she was visiting relatives, so he didn't ask any more questions, "Turn right after entering the door and it's the third house!"
Qian Shulan hurriedly thanked him and turned right after entering the door as he instructed.
This labor camp is very large, and most criminals in Linyang Province are sent here for reform.
Turn right after entering the gate. This row of houses is what Qian Shulan saw from the outside just now. The row of red bricks and green tiles looks very impressive.
Qian Shulan found the third house, but was not in a hurry to go in. She bent down and took out the things in her bag.
It was still a basket of peaches. This was the only fruit available in this place and at this time of year.
Qian Shulan asked the two children to follow her and then knocked on the door.
The courtyard door was just opened and a middle-aged woman walked out. She was holding a basin of water and was about to pour it out, but when she saw Qian Shulan standing outside the door, she hurriedly took the basin back.
She patted her chest with lingering fear and said angrily, "Sister, you showed up out of nowhere and almost scared me."
Qian Shulan quickly apologized.
The woman looked cheerful. She waved her hand and said with a smile, "It's okay!" He glanced at the things in her hand and said with a smile, "What's wrong with you?"
Qian Shulan nodded, "Yes! I'm looking for Captain Qian Dajun. Is he home?"
The woman said in a loud voice, "At home. What else can he do if he is not at home at this time!"
As he said this, he poured the water in his hand out and invited people in.
As soon as the woman entered the yard, she shouted into the house, "Old Qian, someone's looking for you!"
When Qian Shulan entered the living room, a middle-aged man in his forties walked out of the house.
The woman pointed at Qian Shulan and said, "This is for you. I brought her in."
Then he asked Qian Shulan to sit down and went to pour some water.
Qian Shulan placed the peaches she brought on the coffee table in the living room.
The woman poured three bowls of water. Qian Shulan took it with a smile. She took a sip and found that sugar was added to it.
The woman took one look at the peach and slapped her thigh in delight, "Big sister, where did you get this peach? It's so beautiful."
Qian Shulan smiled and said, "I asked a friend to get it for me when I came here."
The woman smiled and nodded, then she nudged the silent man beside her and winked at him, "You treat them well. I'll wash two peaches for my two grandchildren first."
As he said this, he took away all the peaches in the basket on the coffee table.
Qian Dajun was speechless towards the old woman. She ate the peach before the other person even said anything. If you can't get the job done, what are you going to give back to her
However, no matter how unhappy he was, he couldn't scold her in front of the guests. As he was old, he had to save some face.
Seeing that Qian Dajun had been silent, Qian Shulan coughed lightly and directly explained her purpose, "It's like this, I want to see Li Guocheng, can you please give me a favor?"
As she spoke, she took out the letter of introduction and the piece of paper.
Qian Dajun took it immediately and thought nothing of the letter of introduction, but when he saw the last piece of paper, he was stunned.
He pointed at the paper with only one stamp on it and asked, "Sister, do you know him?"
Qian Shulan nodded with a smile, "Yes, he and I are friends."
Qian Dajun stood up immediately and said, "What's the problem? Wait, I'll call someone for you!"
Qian Shulan hurriedly thanked him, "Thank you for your help!"
Qian Dajun waved at her, then shouted into the house, "Old woman, I'm going to go out for a while."
Aunt Qian came out of the house and said with a smile, "Okay, go ahead. I'll chat with you."
Qian Dajun strode out.
Aunt Qian just washed two peaches for her grandsons, and the two little guys ate them with gusto.
The child insisted that she try it, but she was reluctant to eat something so precious. She had no choice but to take a bite. She found that it tasted really sweet!
This labor camp has everything good: a school, a clinic, and a temporary supply and marketing cooperative.
But there is one bad thing: there are very few things in the supply and marketing cooperative, and they don’t sell fruits all year round.
Her two grandsons haven't eaten fruit since moving here.
She smiled and tried to get close to Qian Shulan, "Sister, how much did you pay for this fruit?"
Qian Shulan was stunned for a moment, "It's a bit expensive, 28 cents per pound."
Aunt Qian opened her mouth in surprise, with a look of disbelief on her face, "What? 28 cents?"
Qian Shulan nodded and said, "No tickets are needed, it's already cheap. I asked a friend to get it for me."
Aunt Qian looked regretful. She couldn't go all the way to the county town just to buy some peaches, could she? It would take more than an hour to get there by car. After thinking about it, she decided to give up!
Qian Shulan smiled and said, "I'll bring some for you next time I come. Our production team also grows a lot of fruits, such as persimmons and dates."
Aunt Qian was pleasantly surprised. "Really? That's fine. Come over next time and I'll give you money. I won't let you pay for it."
Qian Shulan nodded obediently.
The two talked about other things for a while.
I heard someone talking outside.
Aunt Qian looked up and saw that it was a prisoner. She immediately frowned and yelled at Li Guocheng, "Don't come in! Don't dirty our place."
Li Guocheng was about to raise his foot but suddenly retracted it.
Qian Dajun looked at Qian Shulan apologetically, and it was obvious that he meant the same thing.
Qian Shulan was busy picking up her bag and said with a smile, "Then I'll go to the yard and talk with him for a while."
Qian Dajun nodded, "Okay! Just tell me what you want to say, there's no rush!"
Qian Shulan asked Xiaomin to stay where she was and took Xiaodie out of the living room.
When she arrived in the yard, Xiaodie was dumbfounded.
Since Jiang Yuying and Li Caiying divorced, Li Caiying never came to see Xiaodie again. Li Guocheng was better, seeing her once a month on average.
It's just that I haven't seen him for a few years. Li Guocheng has aged unbelievably, with gray hair, unshaven beard, dark skin, wrinkles all over, and severe bags and dark circles under his eyes. His original cadre style has long disappeared. He looks more like a farmer who has suffered a lifetime, full of bitterness.
He was very thin and his back was hunched, which was obviously caused by working too hard.
He was convicted of corruption and bribery. Even if Digital fell in a few years, it would have nothing to do with him.
He has only served four years of his twenty-year sentence, and it is unlikely that he will ever leave this labor camp.
Xiaodie looked at Li Guocheng, her eyes immediately turned red, and she cried out in a choked voice, "Grandpa!"
The last time Li Guocheng saw Xiaodie, she was only ten years old. Four years later, she had grown into a big girl.
He looked at Xiaodie crying breathlessly and wanted to reach out and pat her shoulder to comfort her, but when he saw that his hands were very dirty, he quickly retracted his hand.
Qian Shulan patted Xiaodie on the back to divert her attention. "If you have anything to say, tell your grandpa right away. Stop crying."
Xiaodie wiped her tears, took the bag from Qian Shulan, and handed it to Li Guocheng, "Grandpa, I brought this to you specially. I'm sure you will need it."
When Li Guocheng saw Qian Shulan, his face turned red with embarrassment. If there was one person in the world he least wanted to see, it would be Qian Shulan.
He was afraid and ashamed of this former relative-in-law.
It was probably due to the unhappiness caused by the divorce of the two children, and there was always a competitive mentality.
He wants the other party to regret it. If your son divorces my daughter, things will definitely get worse.
But things went against his wishes. Wang Shouzhi became more and more energetic, while his daughter married a scoundrel.
If it were just that it would be fine, but he was even abandoned by his own daughter. He was truly a complete failure.
Seeing how embarrassed he was, Qian Shulan looked at him with a half-smile, "I told you at the beginning that if you raised a daughter like that, she would be a nuisance sooner or later, and you spoiled her even if you didn't teach her. Now that she has become like this, you can't blame anyone."
Li Guocheng lowered his head and said nothing. The fact has proved that she came here to laugh at him today!
Seeing him like this, Qian Shulan lost interest in ridiculing him. She still had to save face for Xiaodie. She turned and walked towards the living room, "Have a good chat with the child for a while. Don't teach him nonsense anymore."
Li Guocheng looked up at her quickly and hummed heavily.
After the people left, Li Guocheng turned to look at Xiaodie who was looking at him eagerly, and asked with a smile, "How are you doing?"
Xiaodie nodded and responded crisply, "I'm fine."
"Is your father good to you?"
"That's great!" she said with a smile, "My father has already married a new wife."
Li Guocheng was stunned for a moment, feeling a little uncomfortable. He paused and asked again, "Is your stepmother good to you?"
"Very good!" As if afraid that he would not believe her, she added, "My stepmother is my aunt, and she is very kind to me."
After Jiang Yuying adopted Qian Shulan as her goddaughter, she really treated Xiaodie as her own daughter. She had no resistance to little brats.
Xiaodie called her aunt in a soft and cute way, and she agreed to everything she said.
Even when Xiaodie asked her to take her around the county on a bicycle, Jiang Yuying agreed without hesitation.
In Xiaodie's own words, she is really content.
As for whether she was her biological mother or not, Xiaodie didn't care at all. She had a biological mother, but she had always ignored her since she was a child.
Her aunt was so nice to her. She played with her, helped her with homework, and even taught her about girls.
This is why she changed her mind so quickly. Feelings are always developed through getting along. If Xiaodie hadn't met Jiang Yuying first, she would probably be against having a stepmother.
Li Guocheng knew that Xiaodie had an aunt who treated her very well.
He had also seen the girl. She was very beautiful and a worker. Both her parents were martyrs.
It’s just that such a good girl actually married Wang Shouzhi, which is really surprising.
He rubbed his hands dryly and said softly, "That's good, that's good!"
The past is too hard to look back on. Since we can’t go back, we can only look forward.
He said to Xiaodie, "Don't come here again. Grandpa has everything he needs!"
This was probably the only kindness he had for the child. Don't provoke him, she won't be implicated by him.
Xiaodie looked at the torn clothes on his body and finally refused.
She opened her mouth and wanted to tell her grandfather about her mother, but she was worried that her grandfather would be angry after hearing it.
How could Li Guocheng not see the hesitation on her face? Not only that, he also guessed it, but he had already become indifferent to it. Just like Qian Shulan said, he could not blame anyone else for his current situation. It was all due to his own actions.
If he could resist the temptation, he wouldn't be in this situation today.
As for the daughter who had abandoned him, he could no longer control her, nor did he want to. Anyway, they had no relationship anymore.
Whether she lived a good life or not was out of his control. Instead of this, he might as well be deaf and never hear anything about her again.
The two talked for half an hour, and Li Guocheng left with his bag.
Xiaodie looked at his old back, covered her mouth and started crying.
Qian Shulan came out from the living room and comforted her, waiting until she calmed down before saying goodbye and leaving.
The author has something to say: There is a small mistake in the previous part. Xiaodie should be 14 years old. I need to reflect on this a little bit. . .