Song Zhaodi found it amusing. “Did I ask you?”
Zhong Jianguo was momentarily at a loss for words. “Trying to provoke me won’t work.”
“Sanwa, tell your dad to take you to play.” Song Zhaodi placed the child on the bed and left the room before Zhong Jianguo could respond, heading downstairs with the fabric she had bought earlier.
Zhong Jianguo followed her out, saw what she was holding, sighed, and carried Sanwa back to the room. “Son, let’s take a nap together.” He laid the child down on the bed.
The little boy was usually used to napping for an hour or two after lunch. But since he was still energetic from the morning, he didn’t want to lie down. He pushed Zhong Jianguo’s hand away, sat up, and called, “Baba, baba.”
Zhong Jianguo, exhausted from staying up all night, merely hummed in response, pulled Sanwa into the crook of his arm, and closed his eyes again.
Sanwa peeked outside, then looked at his unresponsive father. After a moment of deep thought, he used Zhong Jianguo’s body for support to stand up, climbed over his father’s arm, and moved to the edge of the bed.
The child realised the ground was quite far down. He thought about it for a moment, then plopped down onto his bottom, turned over onto his belly, and slowly slid downward.
Thud!
Zhong Jianguo jolted awake.
“Waaaahh…”
Sanwa’s wails came from the floor.
Zhong Jianguo rubbed his forehead, reached down to pick up his son, and sighed helplessly. “I told you to nap with me, but you wouldn’t listen. Now you’ve fallen, haven’t you? Come on, let’s go find your mom.”
Zhong Jianguo slipped on his shoes and carried the child downstairs. The moment Sanwa saw Song Zhaodi, he stretched out his arms and whimpered, “Mama…”
Song Zhaodi’s hand trembled, nearly pricking herself with the scissors. She quickly asked, “What did he just call me?”
“Mama…” Sanwa’s tear-filled eyes gazed at her pitifully.
It should have been a touching moment, but seeing his runny nose, Song Zhaodi couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re just like your brother—only calling for me when something’s wrong. Otherwise, I’m just the stepmother.” She turned to Zhong Jianguo. “What happened?”
“He fell off the bed, landed on his butt. Nothing serious.”
Zhong Jianguo lay down on the long bench, which was about 1.8 metres long, and decided not to go back upstairs. “You can sew later. Just hold him while I get some sleep.”
Song Zhaodi glanced at him. “Still not planning to tell me?”
“I’d like to, but I have to follow regulations.” Zhong Jianguo said, “Song Zhaodi, don’t think you can use the kids to force me.”
Song Zhaodi snorted. “Even if you don’t tell me, I can figure it out. Xiao Zhao is from the other side, isn’t she?”
“You think she looks like one?” Zhong Jianguo asked meaningfully.
Song Zhaodi was busy wiping Sanwa’s nose and didn’t catch the implication in his tone. “Not really. She seems like a normal person, but her behavior doesn’t match. Unless… she’s a trainee?”
“A trainee?” Zhong Jianguo didn’t quite follow.
“Like someone still under evaluation, not yet officially employed,” Song Zhaodi explained.
“Hah!” Zhong Jianguo found it ridiculous. “You sure have a way with words. But no, that’s not it.”
Song Zhaodi walked with Sanwa in her arms, thinking aloud. “Not a full-time agent, not a trainee… Could she be… a temporary worker?” She turned to Zhong Jianguo.
Zhong Jianguo’s mouth fell slightly open—clearly, he hadn’t expected her to guess so quickly.
Seeing his reaction, Song Zhaodi smiled. “Still not going to tell me, Commander Zhong? Then let me guess. She has relatives on the island, so her claim about being from Hangcheng is true.
“She dares to let people know about her relatives here, which means she’s not doing anything outright suspicious. That suggests she’s just an ordinary person temporarily recruited by the other side—not spying, just passing along any information she happens to hear in exchange for money. She and her handler have a simple transaction: money for information, correct?”
“You’re not even pretending anymore, are you?” Zhong Jianguo countered.
Song Zhaodi was momentarily taken aback, then chuckled. “Ever since I laid everything out for you that night, I haven’t been pretending—I’ve just been myself. What exactly do you think I’m faking?”
“If you don’t want to explain, fine. Just don’t play dumb. I’ve got plenty of time to wait you out,” Zhong Jianguo said, resting his hands behind his head. “Since you already figured it out, and you were the one who reported Xiao Zhao, I won’t hide it from you.
“The East China Sea Fleet hadn’t even moved to Wenzhou yet when Old Jiang’s side got wind of it. When his people came scouting, they ran into Xiao Zhao. They saw she was lazy and greedy, so they gave her fifty yuan to cozy up to officers’ wives and fish for useful information.”
Song Zhaodi frowned. “Specifically the wives of company commanders and above?”
“Exactly.” Zhong Jianguo nodded. “Xiao Zhaodidn’t like the idea of catering to others and decided she might as well become an officer’s wife herself. She told this plan to the man who paid her, and he promised that if she married a battalion commander or higher, she’d get five hundred yuan.”
“Her salary is only about twenty yuan a month, so five hundred is a fortune to her. No wonder she targeted Commander Qian after Commander Lin ignored her.” Song Zhaodi paused. “Commander Qian doesn’t know about this, does he?”
“No, he doesn’t,” Zhong Jianguo replied. “But his whole family can’t stay on the front line anymore. He has military achievements, and since he didn’t actually have a relationship with Xiao Zhao, he’ll probably be reassigned to a remote area.”
Song Zhaodi smirked. “Even if they send him to the northwest, he brought it upon himself. I bet he won’t dare bring up divorce with Teacher Yao now.”
“If he hadn’t pushed for a divorce and spent more time with Xiao Zhao, his entire family would’ve been implicated,” Zhong Jianguo added.
Song Zhaodi didn’t care what happened to Commander Qian’s family. “What about his soldiers?”
“We had an emergency meeting last night. Old Ma is taking his place.” Zhong Jianguo explained, “That’s Ma Zhenxing’s father—the driver who picked us up when we first arrived on the island.”
Song Zhaodi’s eyes widened. “Him?!”
“What about him?” Zhong Jianguo asked, puzzled.
“I don’t like him,” Song Zhaodi said bluntly.
“He is not your regiment commander. Does it matter whether you him or not?” Zhong Jianguo said, exasperated, thinking she had noticed something else unusual. “Old Ma has his flaws, but he’s capable of leading soldiers. He’s the most suitable person in their regiment.”
“Stepmother, why didn’t you wait for us today?”
Dawa’s voice suddenly interrupted. Song Zhaodi swallowed the words she was about to say and responded, “Your little brother was sleepy. Your father is very tired, so watch over your brother while I cook. Don’t disturb your father.”
“Okay.” Dawa placed his pen and workbook on the table. Erwa walked up to Song Zhaodi, looked up, and said, “Mom, I want some malted milk.”
Song Zhaodi felt like hitting someone.
Zhong Jianguo chuckled. “So it’s true that whoever feeds the milk is the mother.” He glanced at Song Zhaodi, noticing she wasn’t angry but only slightly exasperated. “Your mom cooks fast. Wait for dinner. If you’re thirsty, drink some water first.”
“I don’t want water,” Erwa pouted. “I just want malted milk.”
Zhong Jianguo replied expressionlessly, “Then wait for dinner.”
Since Zhong Jianguo wasn’t home in the morning, Song Zhaodi had to watch the three kids alone and didn’t go to the food supply store to buy groceries. There wasn’t much left in the kitchen, so she kneaded the dough and went to the vegetable garden to pick some greens.
Zhong Dawa, seeing what she was doing, muttered under his breath, “Vegetables again.”
“When your mom was around, she cooked vegetables every day, and you never complained,” Zhong Jianguo said. The children were talking nearby, and he couldn’t sleep, though he didn’t open his eyes. “Dawa, do you dislike this stepmother?”
Without hesitation, Zhong Dawa replied, “No!”
“Don’t lie to Dad,” Zhong Jianguo said. “If you don’t like her, we can find a new one.”
Song Zhaodi entered just in time to hear this. Dawa noticed his stepmother from the corner of his eye, grabbed his little brother’s hand, and said, “Brother will take you outside to play.”
Sanwa got excited at the mention of going out and pointed outside, babbling.
“Are you sure you don’t want to change?” Zhong Jianguo asked, deliberately sounding disappointed.
Zhong Dawa glanced at his stepmother, who was standing expressionless as if angry, then at his biological father, who couldn’t even be bothered to open his eyes. He grinned and asked, “Dad, who would you pick instead?”
“There’s a female doctor at the hospital I think is pretty good,” Zhong Jianguo said. “She’s gentle, has fair skin, and cooks well. Compared to her, your stepmother looks like a dark-faced judge. Most importantly, if you get sick, she could treat you at home.”
Zhong Dawa, though acting like a child in front of Zhong Jianguo and Song Zhaodi, was already six years old and well aware of many things. “Dad, do you like that doctor auntie?”
“Of course I do.” Zhong Jianguo yawned and continued, “Dawa, this is your last chance. If you still insist on keeping your stepmother, then in the future, if you don’t listen to her, I won’t argue with you—I’ll just beat you.”
Zhong Dawa glanced at his stepmother’s still-expressionless face, grabbed Sanwa, and pushed Erwa along. “Hurry up, hurry up!”
Zhong Jianguo thought, “Good, they’re gone. Now I can finally sleep.” But just as he was about to drift off, a sharp pain in his ear jolted him awake. He opened his eyes abruptly. “Song—Song—”
“Send me away?” Song Zhaodi asked with a half-smile.
Zhong Jianguo ignored the pain in his ear and turned his head. The three children had disappeared. “That damn Zhong Jianqiang!”
“A female doctor, fair-skinned and gentle, huh?” Song Zhaodi twisted his ear even more, her teeth clenched. “So when are you planning to marry her? And when do you intend to divorce me?”
Zhong Jianguo wasn’t just promoted to regiment commander at a young age because of his education—his intelligence and social skills also played a big part. He knew that at this moment, explanations were useless. Even if he admitted he was just scaring Dawa, she wouldn’t buy it. So he said, “The youngest female doctor at the hospital is over thirty and already married. The one I mentioned doesn’t even exist.”
“She doesn’t exist now, but what if a younger one gets assigned here in a few years?” Song Zhaodi knew Zhong Jianguo had been bluffing. If such a doctor really existed, he wouldn’t have needed to marry someone from Xiao Song Village.
But what she found infuriating was that Zhong Jianguo had said “last time,” which meant he had brought this up before—probably more than once. The thought that she had been busy taking care of the Zhong family while they were thinking about replacing her made her stomach ache in anger.
Zhong Jianguo really wanted to slap himself. Why did he have to sleep on the hard bench downstairs instead of his proper bed? And why did he talk so much? “Zhaodi, Xiao Song, don’t worry. Even if ten gentle and pretty female doctors get assigned here, I won’t replace you.”
“Won’t replace what?” Song Zhaodi asked, feigning ignorance.
Zhong Jianguo blurted out, “I won’t replace the kids’ mother, and I won’t replace you.”
“Oh, like you could replace me if you wanted to,” Song Zhaodi scoffed, twisting his ear one last time before letting go. She snorted and walked to the kitchen.
Zhong Jianguo wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and let out a long sigh. “Women are really not to be messed with.”
“What did you say?” Song Zhaodi snapped. She was busy cooking and had let him off the hook, yet he still dared to grumble?
Zhong Jianguo immediately sat up. “I said this damn bench is hard as hell. I’m going upstairs to sleep.” Without waiting for her to reply, he shuffled away in his slippers.
Song Zhaodi shook her head, amused. “Coward.”
The next day, when Song Zhaodi arrived at school, she overheard the teachers talking about how Teacher Yao had delivered the teaching materials yesterday afternoon. Even though she had expected it, she was still surprised—it was so fast.
After class, she went to the food supply store and saw a middle-aged woman managing the dry goods counter. She headed to the meat stall and asked, “Is Xiao Zhao on leave again?”
“Xiao Zhao quit,” the butcher replied. “The director said she thought the salary was too low.” Before Song Zhaodi could respond, he continued, “With her lazy attitude, even if she made a hundred yuan a month, it wouldn’t be enough for her to eat.”
Song Zhaodi thought, “Even if she had that much money, there wouldn’t be much to spend it on.” She asked, “So she’s not marrying a military officer anymore?”
“She’s already twenty-three, not a young girl anymore. She might want to get married, but no one wants her,” the butcher said mockingly, his already unattractive face looking even meaner.
Song Zhaodi had no intention of defending someone who had betrayed her country. “Judging from what you’re saying, no one in the store liked her?”
“It’s not about liking or disliking her. We’re all workers here, all equals. But whenever we wanted to buy something, she’d act all cold and indifferent. Yet the moment Commander Zhong or Commander Qian showed up, she’d smile so wide her gums were showing,” another worker from the fish stall added. “Never seen anyone so snobbish.”
Song Zhaodi chuckled, “When I go shopping, she always acts cold and distant. I thought she just didn’t like me, but it turns out she’s like that with everyone.”
“She ignores you?” The man buying pig’s feet widened his eyes.
Before Song Zhaodi could reply, the woman selling live chickens chimed in, “I know! Last time, when Teacher Song bought some kelp and turned to leave, that Xiao Zhao even rolled her eyes at her. I thought I was seeing things, but now that Teacher Song mentioned it, I remember clearly—I wasn’t mistaken.”
Someone like Xiao Zhao wouldn’t have a good ending. Even if she didn’t die, she’d suffer greatly. Liu Ling, who had lived in peaceful times, thought about how such a person might end up in serious trouble or even lose her life. Even though she knew Xiao Zhao brought it upon herself, she still felt a little uneasy about it.
After the woman selling chickens finished speaking, Song Zhaodi suddenly felt much lighter, her eyes filled with amusement. “She’s probably just jealous of my good job and high salary.”
“You earned that salary with your own skills. What’s there to be jealous of?” An elderly man picking fish said, “My grandson told me that Teacher Song teaches first-year middle school English but doesn’t stay with the class. Is that true?”
Song Zhaodi nodded, “None of the elementary schools here offer English classes, so I teach the first-year students to give them a solid foundation.” She paused, then asked, “Sir, you are?”
“I’m the younger brother of Deputy Commander Wu. I’m here to help take care of his grandson.”
Song Zhaodi thought to herself, then where’s your own grandson? She was about to ask but noticed the old man had only one arm. His posture was perfectly straight, like someone who had served in the military for years. She suddenly felt a lump in her throat and licked her dry lips, “Is your grandson named Wu Zhiyong?”
“Teacher Song knows him?” The old man looked surprised.
Song Zhaodi wanted to laugh. “Uncle, he’s my student. Of course, I know him.”
“Then can you stay with the class?”
Song Zhaodi replied, “That’s not up to me. It’s the principal’s decision.”
“That’s true.” The old man stopped staring at Song Zhaodi.
Afraid she’d run into yet another relative of a commander or political commissar, Song Zhaodi found an excuse and quickly left the supply depot, heading straight for the school.
That afternoon, Song Zhaodi altered last year’s clothes for Dawa and Erwa into shorts and sleeveless shirts. By the time she finished sewing three sets, it was already time to prepare dinner.
As she gazed at the wisps of smoke rising from chimneys around her, a phrase inexplicably surfaced in her mind—Peaceful times, a stable world.
Bang!
Snapped out of her thoughts, Song Zhaodi turned to see Zhong Jianguo driving the car straight into the gate, forcing it open. Her good mood instantly vanished. She wanted to scold him, “Couldn’t you just get out and open the gate properly?”
“I saw that it wasn’t latched.” Zhong Jianguo jumped out of the car and pulled Dawa and Erwa out with him.
Song Zhaodi took a deep breath. “Why are you driving back yourself? Where’s Xiao Li?”
“He’s sick.” Zhong Jianguo replied, “A full-grown soldier, getting sick—unbelievable.”
Song Zhaodi found that unbelievable. “Xiao Li is human, not made of steel.”
“I’ve never been sick.” Zhong Jianguo said offhandedly.
Song Zhaodi scoffed, “That’s because you’re not human!”
“You’re the one who’s not human!” Zhong Jianguo glared. “Why are you insulting people now?”
“Dad, Stepmom, can you argue later?” Dawa clutched his head, frowning. “You’re scaring my little brother.”
Following his gaze, Song Zhaodi looked over to see Sanwa sitting in his crib, his face full of confusion. “He’s not scared by me—your dad crashing the gate startled him.” With that, she ignored her husband and kids and turned toward the kitchen to make dinner.
Zhong Jianguo pursed his lips. “Son, remember this—never try to reason with a woman, because you’ll never win.”
“Dad, why isn’t Stepmom afraid of you?” Dawa asked, confused. “Mom was afraid of you, Grandma was afraid of you, even Granny was afraid of you. Why is Stepmom the only one who isn’t?” He thought for a moment. “Actually, you kind of seem afraid of Stepmom.”
Zhong Jianguo looked uncomfortable for a second. “I’m not afraid of her. I just let her have her way.”
“Then why didn’t you let my mom have her way?” Dawa pressed on.
Zhong Jianguo’s expression flickered. “Did I ever scold your mom? Did I ever hit her? No. So why do you think I didn’t let her have her way?”
“I can just feel it.” Dawa blurted out.
Zhong Jianguo’s breath caught. “Well, I feel like giving you a beating. Want to test it?”
“You only bully me!” Dawa dashed behind Sanwa’s crib in three quick steps. “If you’ve got the guts, go fight Stepmom.”
Erwa grinned. “Dad won’t dare!”
Zhong Jianguo took a deep breath and pointed at his two sons. “Keep it up! If you keep angering me, I might just drop dead, and then Stepmom will find you a stepdad who’ll beat you three times a day.”
“Zhong Jianguo, if you’ve got nothing to do, come help me stoke the fire.” Song Zhaodi’s voice called from the kitchen.
Dawa and Erwa chimed in unison, “Dad, Dad, go quickly!”
Zhong Jianguo hesitated. He didn’t want to go, but he didn’t want to stay either. After a moment, he walked over to Dawa, raised his hand, and ordered, “Go stoke the fire.”
Dawa stomped on his foot and ran into the kitchen.
That afternoon’s training had been tough, and Zhong Jianguo’s clothes were covered in mud. He simply sat down on the ground, facing Erwa. “You two are getting bolder by the day.”
“I’m timid.” Erwa said while slowly backing away.
Zhong Jianguo stretched out his long arm and pulled his son back into his embrace. “Erwa—”
“Commander Zhong, is Teacher Song home?”
Zhong Jianguo turned to look. “Oh, Teacher Yao! Xiao Song is inside cooking.”
“I’ll go call Mom!” Erwa pried his father’s arm off and ran toward the house, shouting, “Mom, Dad’s gonna hit me!”
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