"Happy New Year, Captain." Regardless of anything else, Bai Jiu still entered the production team captain’s home with a smile.
"Not as happy as yours." The Captain took a drag from his homemade cigarette, exhaled the smoke, and shot Bai Jiu a look of annoyance.
Aunt Li walked in with her eldest daughter-in-law, carrying two bowls of sugar water. Hearing her husband’s words, she glared at him. "How can you speak like that? It’s the New Year, don’t be a killjoy."
After the recent incident, Aunt Li didn’t feel Bai Jiu had done anything wrong. As far as she was concerned, Gao Zhijun was gone anyway. There was no need for Bai Jiu to suffer in silence just to appease those vicious people. That mother and son had dared to commit murder. If they hadn’t been dealt with, who knew what else they would have done in the future? Keeping such menaces in the village would have been a disaster waiting to happen. Anyway, she thought Bai Jiu had done a great job.
Being scolded by his wife, the Captain felt he was losing face. He glared back at her, but upon seeing her fierce expression, he decided to keep his mouth shut.
Bai Jiu didn’t feel awkward at all. She wasn’t the one being scolded, after all. Instead, she found herself seeing Aunt Li in a new light. They were definitely on the same wavelength.
"Alright, don’t push your luck. It’s nice enough that Bai Jiu came to give you New Year’s greetings. It shows the girl has a good heart. If everyone were like those scumbags, you’d have endless headaches in the future." Since they were familiar with each other, Aunt Li didn’t leave her husband any face at all.
The man was just asking for it. The friendlier people were to him, the more he loved to lecture them, completely ignoring his own standing. He was just a production team captain. He had still been scolded like a dog during the New Year meetings, and now he was throwing a tantrum as soon as he got home. He was just spoiled.
Truth be told, Bai Jiu was a little dumbfounded. What was going on here? But she didn’t dare to speak up. That would just be throwing herself into the line of fire.
"Alright, alright! This has nothing to do with you, go do your chores." The Captain finally couldn’t hold it in and yelled at his wife.
Perhaps sensing her husband’s frustration, Aunt Li didn’t snap back. With an awkward smile, she led her daughter-in-law out, leaving them some space to talk.
As soon as they left, the Captain started to put on airs. He couldn’t help it; he had been dressed down during the New Year and had been on his best behavior ever since.
"Look at you. Was it really necessary to let things get this far?" No matter what, those two were Gao Zhijun’s mother and brother. What had she gained by sending them off to eat a bullet? It was only because Zhijun was no longer around. If Gao Zhijun were still alive, he shuddered to think how she would live her life in the future.
Hearing this, Bai Jiu was displeased. "Why wouldn’t it be necessary? They wanted my life—am I not allowed to fight back? I cannot agree with your words, Captain. Even the great leaders have said that we must never shield bad elements."
Bai Jiu couldn’t stand the Captain’s constant desire to smooth things over and play the peacemaker. "This didn’t happen to you, Captain. If it had, I’m afraid you wouldn’t be singing the same tune," Bai Jiu retorted, refusing to tolerate his nonsense.
In her opinion, if he couldn’t do the job properly, he shouldn’t be doing it at all. If an official didn’t stand up for the people, he might as well go home and plant sweet potatoes. In a production team, the Captain was the highest official. If he couldn’t even distinguish right from wrong, Bai Jiu felt it would be better to replace him with someone else.
"You..." Sure enough, being choked off by Bai Jiu left the Captain completely flustered.
"Do you remember that your husband is only missing? Even though the higher-ups have given you an allowance, they haven’t issued a death certificate yet. Have you thought about your future?" The Captain felt he was worrying himself sick for her.
These words shocked Bai Jiu and her brother.
"Wait, didn’t the leaders say he was dead?" Bai Jiu finally asked after a long pause.
The Captain shot her an exasperated look. "Don’t tell me you still don’t know what your own husband does for a living?" He had finally regained a bit of face.
Of course, he had only found out about it himself during the annual meeting. He just hadn’t expected Gao Zhijun to be so capable. The reason this news came to light traced back to Gao Zhijun’s work. He had been conducting engine research. Ever since the data from Bear Country was gradually decrypted, the whereabouts of certain individuals were also being declassified, and Gao Zhijun was one of them.
If the town leaders hadn’t had connections, this information probably wouldn’t have spread so quickly. He still clearly remembered his shock when the mayor had pulled him aside for a heart-to-heart and revealed the news.
If Gao Zhijun was still alive, then... how was this girl going to survive in the future?
Although the Captain liked to play peacemaker in all matters, he did have a good impression of Bai Jiu. In the past, she had never been overly aggressive and had worked as hard as a strong laborer. When she was splitting from the family, he had intentionally favored her. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have helped her write up the separation papers under the guise of just going through the motions. He had even taken them to the town to get stamped, fearing she might suffer losses later. He had put a lot of effort into tying up all the loose ends for her, including the severing ties agreement and household registration.
But this time, the matter was too big. If things went wrong, she would be the one to face the severe consequences. The only thing to blame was that the Gao family had produced such a promising son.
Looking at the Captain’s grim expression, Bai Jiu had a guess. She knew a bit about military affairs. In the future, not only would those people’s identities be kept confidential, but they wouldn’t even be able to mention their work to anyone—not even their closest family members.
"Captain, don’t scare me." Truth be told, she didn’t have an ounce of affection for that "dead" man. He had married and then ignored his wife, had children and ignored them. He wasn’t fit to be a husband or a father.
She had a clear conscience about sending that mother and son to the firing squad. But whenever she remembered that the man was the father of the two children, she felt a profound injustice on behalf of the original host. And she was also a little worried for herself. What man could accept a woman who had caused the deaths of his own mother and brother? Of course, she wasn’t afraid of divorce. Her only worry was that he might target the Bai Family.
"Hmph, so you know how to be afraid." The Captain glared at her. "However, the news from above isn’t entirely clear. They just show a bit of concern for the Gao family, and they don’t have much of a good impression of you."
Bai Jiu felt deeply wronged.
Bai Xinghua, who had been sitting quietly to the side like a good boy, was displeased when he heard the Captain’s words. "Captain, my sister didn’t do anything wrong! Why is all the blame being pinned on her now? Was it right for the Gao family mother and son to treat my sister like that? Was my sister supposed to just fulfill their wishes and die?"
The Bai Family might have fallen on hard times, but they could still protect their daughter, even if the cost was high.
Hearing Bai Xinghua’s words, Bai Jiu felt a warmth in her heart. But there were some things she didn’t want to drag her maiden family into.
"Xinghua, stop." Bai Jiu held him back. "The Captain only heard a rumor. The fact that he was willing to tell me shows he cares." For this, Bai Jiu was truly grateful to the Captain.
"Captain, your guess is that he might not be dead, but rather out on a mission?" Bai Jiu wanted to confirm.
The Captain didn’t say a word. He took a drag from his cigarette and then gave a firm nod. "That has to be it."
Bai Jiu smiled. "Oh, what do I have to be afraid of? I’m not the one who did anything to be ashamed of. If he wants to make trouble for me, I’ll take him on. Whether it’s divorce or anything else, I’m not scared." She was very open-minded about it.
No matter how great his contributions were, she wasn’t at fault in the slightest in this matter. If he was dissatisfied or resentful, then they could just divorce. She wasn’t afraid.
"You..." Seeing Bai Jiu still acting like she had nothing to lose, the Captain was worried sick. "Have you thought about Xiuxiu and Zhengyang?"
As a mother, who could truly part with her own children?