Once the banquet was concluded, it was time to leave for the frontier.
Su Xingye had finished packing everything the day before. She didn't have much to take; mainly, the family was too poor, so what they could bring was scarce.
They had been staying at her brother's house these last few days, and the final night was no exception. With their departure set for the next day, Su Xiayang and Liu Suqin were deeply worried and unsettled.
Su Xiayang was uncomfortable discussing intimate family matters, but Liu Suqin was unreserved. She sent her husband off to sleep with the children and pulled her sister to sleep with her.
"You've gotten the marriage certificate, and the banquet was today. How come your sister-in-law is having second thoughts again?" She couldn't sleep, staring at the ceiling.
Su Xingye knew she was reluctant to see her go. She hugged her arm. "What is there to regret? Shen Kaiyue's conditions are quite good."
"It's the distance," Liu Suqin suppressed a sigh and tried to cheer her up. "Xiao Xing, you must remember what your brother and I told you. If that boy dares to let you suffer any injustice, bring the children back immediately. We won't live with him."
Su Xingye had heard this many times, but she nodded very seriously. "Sister-in-law, don't worry. I remember."
What use is remembering? Her own sister was too soft-natured; otherwise, she wouldn't have been tricked by that scoundrel Zhou Renqiang and treated her brother and sister-in-law like enemies. The only encouraging thing was that in the past few days, her sister seemed to have matured and become much closer to her sister-in-law.
She suppressed her worry and touched Su Xingye's hand. "Once you arrive, write home immediately. Keep that money safe; don't give it to Kaiyue. Keep it yourself for any emergencies."
Mentioning the money, Su Xingye leaned closer to Liu Suqin. "Sister-in-law, I really don't need the money. Shen Kaiyue said he'd give me his salary."
"That still won't do!" Liu Suqin insisted. "His money is his. This money is from your brother and me for you to rely on. You must take it."
Su Xingye knew that if she refused, her brother and sister-in-law would worry even more, so she finally stopped struggling. "Fine, I'll take it."
"That's right. Listening to your sister-in-law is the right thing to do. After all, Xiaoyang and Xiaoliu aren't his biological children. If the two children ever need anything extra, you can use this money to buy it, and he won't be able to say a word against it."
Su Xingye nodded obediently.
"Sister-in-law, I'll take the money. As for my house, I'll leave it to you. In a few years, Youyi will be getting married, and even if I come back, I'll stay here. It's not good for that house to be empty."
"No way. You're a big family! You can't come back to your mother's side without your own place." Liu Suqin disagreed.
Su Xingye hugged her neck. "Where would I not have a place to stay? The children will be older by then. I'll just send Shen Kaiyue back to his place at night, and I'll stay with you."
Liu Suqin laughed. "You're still talking like a child. If you want to sleep with me, I might not want to sleep with you!"
Seeing her happy, Su Xingye brought up the topic again. "Just keep the house in mind, you and Brother. If Youyi needs it when he gets married, he can use it."
Her willingness to share warmed Liu Suqin's heart. "Fine, I'll listen to you."
Finally, there was one last thing. Su Xingye had rehearsed it many times in her mind. "Sister-in-law, you saw today when we went to town that many individual vendors (getǐhù) are opening up their own shops. Do you and Brother have any thoughts on that?"
Liu Suqin looked blankly. "What thoughts? They open theirs; it doesn't affect our farming."
In her plan, she would be farming for the rest of her life. Su Xingye mentioning it did make her think a little. "I don't think those shops will last. Didn't you see? There aren't many people. Everyone still goes to the supply and marketing cooperative."
Su Xingye knew her brother and sister-in-law had never considered that path. She withdrew her arm and lay down. "Sister-in-law, listen carefully to what I'm about to say. It's just a little idea I've been thinking about."
In the pitch-black night, Su Xingye's voice was soft and gentle as she slowly explained the concept of a market economy to Liu Suqin. Her brother and sister-in-law were resourceful people. If she just opened a window of hope for them, they would surely build a door to their dreams themselves.
The separation came too quickly. Even though Su Xingye was prepared, she still cried uncontrollably, but she couldn't dwell on herself, because Zhou Xiaoyang's reaction was too intense.
In a child's world, when separation is just a word, the feelings aren't so stark, but experiencing it firsthand reveals its true meaning. As the train started to move, Zhou Xiaoyang suddenly darted toward the outside. Su Xingye couldn't grab him, but Shen Kaiyue quickly swept him up.
"Let go of me! Auntie! Auntie!" Zhou Xiaoyang struggled in Shen Kaiyue's arms. Seeing Liu Suqin's figure grow further and further away, he struggled hard, but to no effect. He lowered his head and fiercely bit Shen Kaiyue's hand, then burst into wails. "I want Auntie!"
Su Xingye squatted down to look at him. "Xiaoyang, Xiaoyang, listen to Mom..."
"I won't listen! You bad Mom, bad Mom!" Liu Suqin's figure was already out of sight. Zhou Xiaoyang stared straight out the window, covered his ears, struggled with all his might, and finally went limp and collapsed in Shen Kaiyue's arms from exhaustion.
Su Xingye bit her lower lip, holding back a sob. "Mom was wrong before. Mom will change from now on. Mom promises you, we will go back to see Auntie in a while, okay?"
She tentatively reached for Zhou Xiaoyang's hand, but he violently pushed it away. Su Xingye felt a stab of pain in her heart. What had the original host been doing all these years? This good child's heart was full of scars.
Shen Kaiyue saw her extreme self-reproach, bent down, and was about to pick up Zhou Xiaoyang. "It's okay. You sit down. I'll hold him."
Su Xingye held his hand. "It's fine. Give him to me."
Ignoring Zhou Xiaoyang's resistance, she took his small body into her arms, leaned back against the seat, and kept repeating, "Mom was wrong. Mom won't be like before anymore, okay?"
Zhou Xiaoyang kept his head down and didn't speak. But Su Xingye felt him tightly gripping the corner of her coat.
"I know you miss Auntie. Mom keeps her promises. We will go back to see Auntie in a while."
Zhou Xiaoyang looked up at her, then looked away. "When?"
Su Xingye raised her thumb and wiped the tears from the corner of his eye. "Around the New Year. We'll come back around the New Year, okay?"
"Mm." The small person in her arms responded softly. Then he hugged her with both his small hands.
Su Xingye silently breathed a sigh of relief, gently patting his back. She then looked at Shen Kaiyue. "Is your hand alright?"
Shen Kaiyue raised his hand to show her. There were two rows of tooth marks, slightly purple but not broken. "It's fine."
Sensing the hand around his waist tighten, Su Xingye patted his back in silent comfort. "My mind wasn't clear before. The children were raised by my sister-in-law, especially Xiaoyang. He is closer to her. He was just too upset."
Zhou Xiaoyang suddenly sat up in Su Xingye's arms, looked at Shen Kaiyue, and a trace of unnaturalness flashed across his small face. "I'm sorry."
Shen Kaiyue was a little surprised, then smiled. He reached out and touched the top of Zhou Xiaoyang's head, saying again, "It's fine." He looked at Su Xingye. "This child is responsible."
Su Xingye nodded outwardly but felt heartache inside. The atmosphere slowly eased.
Shen Jiabao had been too frightened by Zhou Xiaoyang to speak, but seeing that everything was fine now, he glanced at Zhou Xiaoliu, who was eating, and snorted. "If you miss your auntie so much, you shouldn't have followed my dad! Crying, it's embarrassing."
"Shen Jiabao," Shen Kaiyue said sternly.
"It's true!" Shen Jiabao shrank back but still stuck out his neck to argue.
"Do you want another beating?!" Shen Kaiyue scolded him in a low voice.
Su Xingye looked at Shen Jiabao, her tone gentle yet firm. "Your big brother is following me. He's not following you. I am following your dad because your dad and I are married. We are a family, and I will take care of all of you. Do you understand?"
Shen Jiabao thought of the way his father had just scolded him and mumbled, "I don't want to."
Su Xingye took a biscuit and gave it to Zhou Xiaoyang, handed one to Shen Kaiyue, and then took one herself. "Don't want what? Don't want to eat biscuits anymore? That's too bad. I'll eat them all up then."
There was only a small box of biscuits in total, and three were gone in an instant. Shen Jiabao immediately stopped arguing and quickly grabbed one to eat. He actually wanted to hide all the biscuits in his pocket so no one else could eat them, but he was afraid of being beaten if he did that, so he could only eat quickly.
This little friend was also a problem child. Su Xingye ignored him and spoke to Shen Kaiyue. "This is just the beginning for us. The children need a process of acceptance. Let's take it slowly."
Shen Kaiyue frowned, watching Shen Jiabao greedily devour one biscuit and grab another. He looked at the three other children, who were eating politely, and nodded helplessly. "I'll have to trouble you from now on."
Shen Kaiyue had specially bought four sleeper tickets for the five-day train journey. Not many people were taking the train these days, and their carriage was sparsely populated, so the environment was quite good.
Apart from the chaos of the first day, the remaining time was relatively peaceful. The children had never been on a train and were completely absorbed by the scenery passing by.
Traveling from south to north, the colors changed noticeably along the way. When they first boarded the train, they could still see lush green trees. Gradually, the colors shifted to a mix of green and yellow. Further north, there were large patches of yellow, with leaves gently falling. Occasionally, when the window was opened, cold wind rushed in.
On the last day, no leaves could be seen. Everything was bare branches, and slowly, the world turned into a blanket of white.
When the train reached its final stop, Shen Kaiyue and Su Xingye led the four children out of the small station. The cold wind was biting.
"Snow, Dad! So much snow!" Shen Jiabao couldn't wait and wanted to run towards the snowdrift.
Zhou Xiaoyang and Zhou Xiaoliu were also eager. They had never seen so much snow in their hometown. No one could resist the fun of playing in the snow.
Su Xingye and Shen Kaiyue each held two children. "No! It's too cold. You can play after you put on thicker clothes."
Su Xingye knew the northern frontier was cold, but she hadn't realized how cold. Their old clothes were too thin. They had bought thick clothes for the children before leaving, but she felt it wasn't enough. The children's health was poor, and if they weren't properly kept warm, getting sick would be a serious matter. They couldn't be careless.
Shen Kaiyue looked up and around, then waved towards the distance. Immediately, a large Jiefang-brand truck drove over.
"It's still very far from our base. We'll head back first."
The large truck captured the children's attention, and they obediently climbed aboard. Although there was no heating, the howling cold wind was blocked out, making it much warmer. Su Xingye touched Shen Yueyue's small hand in her arms, feeling relieved. "It's not too cold."
Shen Kaiyue, sitting in the passenger seat, nodded when he heard this. "It will still take four or five hours."
Then he introduced the driver. "This is Staff Sergeant Xiao Liu," and then looked at Xiao Liu. "Your sister-in-law, Su Xingye."
Liu Fu was confused. Why had his company commander, who was supposed to be picking up his elderly mother and children, brought back a wife and children? He remembered the company commander's wife had passed away several years ago.
But he wouldn't ask. After Shen Kaiyue spoke, he turned and greeted Su Xingye. "Hello, Sister-in-law! We've been looking forward to your arrival. Since the company commander sent the telegram, I've cleaned the house several times and waited for you."
He looked at the children again. "Oh, little ones, you all look energetic. Are you tired from the journey with your parents? We'll be home soon."
The moment he finished speaking, Shen Jiabao immediately spoke up. "She's not..."
"Jiabao." Shen Kaiyue looked at him expressionlessly.
Shen Jiabao swallowed the words he was about to say. Sure enough, Brother Dayang was right. With a stepmother comes a stepfather. His dad wasn't nice to him at all now.
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