Holding the written promise letter from Li Weiguo, bearing his handprint, renouncing his parental rights, the couple left the detention center.
“Brother Zheng, is this promise letter effective?”
“It’s effective. Voluntarily giving up support is equivalent to abandonment. I’ll have others handle the adoption procedures. Even if he’s the biological father, it won’t matter. Of course, if the child is willing to support him, we can’t do anything about it.”
Tian Jing nodded. “I understand.”
“Tiantian, do you believe what Li Erzuo said?”
Tian Jing didn’t understand. “What?”
“He said you’re not Chen Yaoming’s child.”
Tian Jing curled her lips slightly. “Li Erzuo is just being mysterious. I look like Chen Yaoming’s mother. His mother was very strict with him, and he was very unhappy with her. That’s why he dislikes me.”
“But the Chen family’s ancient family motto forbids bloodlines from being scattered. Heh, let’s see how I deal with him then?”
Back home, Li Zhengguo returned to working in the fields. Tiantian had said they would sell the watermelons in the provincial capital this year, so he needed to take good care of them.
…
The summer harvest began. The villagers handed over the watermelon fields to the children who couldn’t harvest wheat, rushing to thresh the grain.
They worked hard and fast. Just as the wheat was being stored, it started to rain.
The rain was timely, perfect for plowing and tilling the land.
Two days before Mangzhong, they planted corn and sweet potato seedlings, and then the villagers returned to tend to the watermelon fields.
…
On the second day of Mangzhong, Ouyang Meihua came to ask Tian Jing if she wanted to go to the county town to watch the trial meeting.
Tian Jing refused, saying it was too hot.
Ouyang Meihua drove her large truck, bringing along villagers from Kufeng willing to go, including Li Baoguo and his two sons, and Li Weiguo’s two sons, to the county town.
Feeling irritable from the heat, Tian Jing went to the hill. The watermelon vines on the hill had only just produced their first tendrils and had no flower buds yet.
“Brother Zheng, I want to eat watermelon.”
Li Zhengguo brought his wife to the melon shed at the foot of the hill. “Good girl, it would be too shocking to have watermelons now.”
“Then can we go to Qingsongyan? I promised Little Song we’d go on vacation.”
“Okay, we’ll go the day after tomorrow. I’ll arrange the manpower tomorrow.”
“Mhmm.”
Li Zhengguo lowered his head and kissed Tiantian, who looked so obedient.
…
Ouyang Meihua’s large truck returned, bringing back everyone who had gone.
Along with them, they also brought the ashes of Li Erzuo and Wu Huidi.
Ouyang Meihua flicked the two yuan wrapped in red paper in her hand with dissatisfaction.
“How unlucky, so little, like begging from a beggar?”
Tian Jing laughed at her. “You deserve it, who told you to go watch the fun?”
Ouyang Meihua denied Tian Jing’s statement. “Watching trial meetings used to be just for fun. This time, I knew the people being tried, so I could discuss it with others and give them concrete information. Why wouldn’t I go?”
“Then don’t complain. Hurry back and take a bath.”
“Right, right. I’ll go take a bath and wash away the bad luck.”
…
Early the next morning, Li Baoguo, along with his two sons and two nephews, went to the cemetery in the northwest of Houshan to bury the two urns.
Li Weikang stopped his uncle, who was about to leave. “Uncle, Xiao Wei and I really can’t raise those two. If you don’t, I’ll just throw them on the mountain for the wolves.”
Li Baoguo was shocked. “Weikang, you are already eleven years old. Do you not understand what happened to your grandfather and grandmother, and what happened to your father? What was it all for?”
“I understand!” Li Weikang nodded vigorously. “You must live a good life to defeat the enemies you want to defeat.”
“You? You hold a grudge?”
Li Weikang nodded forcefully. “Of course. I see very clearly why my family fell apart.”
Li Baoguo swore. “You understand nothing. They harmed others and ended up harming themselves. If you don’t change, you’ll have no good end either.”
Li Weikang straightened his back and raised his head. “You don’t need to worry about any of that. What you need to worry about are the two younger ones.”
Li Baoguo waved his hand and left. “I can’t manage them, I have two of my own to look after.”
Li Weikang jumped up and down. “You’re just a coward, a coward who reaps what others sow. You knew they were wrong long ago, why didn’t you stop them? In the end, you were just monitored, why? Why?”
Li Baoguo turned back. “Because I am a son, an unloved son. Just like you couldn’t stop your mother from leaving.”
“Even now that you are an adult, you can’t stop your mother from leaving, and you can’t support your three younger brothers. You also have many things you can’t control.”
“Weikang, I told your grandfather ‘take a step back and the sea and sky will be wide’ many times, but he never listened.”
“I hope you will listen. You should go to school and learn to read. Once you’re literate, you’ll understand many things without anyone telling you.”
Watching his uncle’s retreating back, Li Weikang pulled his younger brother and sat there, sobbing uncontrollably.
Through tear-blurred eyes, he saw a pair of yellow sneakers appear before him. He looked up and immediately pounced on the newcomer like a small beast protecting itself. “It’s all your fault, all your fault. You, you’re the one who caused my family to be destroyed.”
Li Weiguo easily blocked the fists punching his chest.
His thrown fists landed nowhere, and Li Weikang angrily stopped his actions, shouting, “What are you doing here?”
Li Zhengguo raised what was in his left hand. “Your grandfather schemed his whole life, just wanting to get rich. I’ll burn more for him. What you and your uncle burned isn’t enough for him to bribe the ghost messengers on his journey.”
After speaking, he squatted down to sort the paper money.
His back, completely exposed, was fully revealed to Li Weikang. Li Weikang bent down, picked up a stone, and raised it, but he couldn’t bring himself to throw it.
Annoyed, he threw the stone far away.
Li Zhengguo struck a match and lit the paper money. “Weikang, Wei, give your grandfather some money.”
Li Weiwei obediently squatted down and began burning paper.
Li Weikang hesitated for a while before squatting down. “Don’t think that by doing this, I’ll forgive you.”
“I did nothing wrong, why should I need your forgiveness? You are sad in your heart, but your father is still alive, and you can still see him. My father, though? Who did he provoke?”
“Your grandfather schemed against my father. Did I give him a chance? Your father used Zhang Fangcao to scheme against me. Did I give him a chance?”
“Did they seize the chances I gave them? Not only did they not, but they thought I was stupid, I was weak, and they actually wanted to force your four younger brothers on me. Why?”
“You, with those two children, don’t you resent Zhang Fangcao? Then think about why I should fulfill their insidious plots?”
“And if you switch your current feelings to how I felt when I knew my father was murdered by your grandfather in collusion with your father and Zhang Fangcao, who was my fiancée at the time, how much willpower would I need to tell myself to tolerate them one more time?”
“If it were the old you, I would definitely not say these things to you. Recently, you’ve been forced to grow up. Seeing you clumsily but diligently take care of your three younger brothers, I’m willing to say a few words.”
“In a few days, I will send the four children away. Your father has renounced his parental rights, which means he has also given up his right to be supported.”
Li Weikang was stunned. His hand was touched by the flame, and he quickly pulled it back. “Send, send them where?”
“To willing adoptive families. My arrangements are always for their good future. Your father knows this, and this is his purpose for wanting to see me.”
“But how can I fulfill his wishes? I forced him to write the promise letter renouncing his parental rights, otherwise, I wouldn’t intervene.”
Li Weikang was surprised. “My father, he, he agreed?”
Li Zhengguo nodded. “He agreed. He knelt and begged me, and I forced him. Just like you said, ‘You must live a good life to defeat the enemies you want to defeat.’”
“Among the people he knows, I am the only one who can arrange for the four children. Even as his enemy, he had to kneel and beg.”
“You work hard. I’m waiting for the day you defeat me.”