"Are you Sister Qingzhu’s daughter?" Ge Xiaotong asked softly.
Her voice was tender and pleasant to the ear; upon hearing it, Chiang Xiao’s heart skipped a beat, and she remembered.
In her past life, during her college years, she had gone to visit her aunt at Deng Qingjiang’s house one weekend and just happened to run into Deng Qingjiang driving a woman out.
The woman was pleading non-stop, repeatedly saying one thing: to think it over again and not to hurt the elders’ hearts.
That woman’s voice was so soft it seemed it could wring out water.
That was Ge Xiaotong!
So in her past life, Ge Xiaotong had sought out Deng Qingjiang. The elderly she referred to might have been her grandparents. But back then, Ge Xiaotong had dry hair like straw, a sallow complexion, and a thin frame—she looked like someone crushed by life, gasping for air.
And now, the Ge Xiaotong lying in the hospital bed, although pale and thin, still possessed the brightness of an eighteen-year-old girl.
Ge Xiaotong was only eighteen years old, but she was Chiang Qingzhu’s cousin, and Chiang Xiao had to call her ’cousin aunt.’
"Cousin aunt, hello, I’m Chiang Xiao."
Ge Xiaotong seemed quite unaccustomed to being addressed as ’aunt’ by such a grown girl; her face turned slightly red, showing a hint of embarrassment.
Seeing their genuine attitude toward her grandparents, Chiang Xiao felt relieved, gently tugging at her grandfather’s sleeve and whispering, "Grandpa, I’m going to step out for a bit. I’ll come back with some buns later."
It was almost lunchtime, and it was definitely too late to rush back to the village. Chiang Songhai’s back hurt, and going out to find a place to eat would require walking, which was inconvenient. So Chiang Xiao had already decided to buy some food.
These matters were now basically up to her, and Chiang Songhai would never object. He immediately agreed.
Chiang Xiao then ran out.
Leaving from here to Hu Xibing’s tea shop meant passing by that old residence area. Chiang Xiao didn’t enter the dark alley, still unaware of the subsequent developments, and she did not dare to wander too close.
There were customers in Hu Xibing’s shop. When he saw Chiang Xiao come in, his eyes brightened, signaling her to have a seat first.
In fact, seeing that he was still open for business as usual, Chiang Xiao already felt at ease. Hu Xibing didn’t seem to be in a low mood either.
Tea buyers were scarce that year. The customer only bought half a pound of ordinary roasted tea before leaving.
Hu Xibing came over, originally intending to pat Chiang Xiao on the head, but then he suddenly remembered something and retracted his hand.
"Brother Hu, could you get me a cup of water first? I’m dying of thirst." Chiang Xiao had had water in the morning, and after half a day at the hospital, she was parched. Back then, hospitals didn’t have public water dispensers. She had brought a green military canteen, but the water in it was for her grandfather to drink.
Hu Xibing hastily poured her a cup of tea.
"Why didn’t you wake me up before leaving yesterday?" If he hadn’t seen her note, he would have been scared to death. If he had lost her, Captain Meng probably wouldn’t let him off the hook.
"I had something to do." Chiang Xiao finally felt relieved after drinking some tea and quickly asked, "How did things go? What about Tyrant Meng and Zhao Xin?"
"Tyrant Meng?" Hu Xibing almost spit out.
"Uh, I mean Captain Meng," Chiang Xiao wanted to slap her own mouth for inadvertently blurting out the nickname she had given to Meng Xinian before.
That evening when she ran out, she only saw Zhao Xin and didn’t see Meng Xinian. Without knowing the details, she always felt uneasy.
Chiang Xiao thought that since she had fought side by side with him, it was normal to be concerned.
Hu Xibing said, "Captain Meng was injured and was sent to the Capital City by helicopter right away; he should be in a hospital there now."
Since both Captain Meng and Zhao Xin trusted her, Hu Xibing felt it was okay to talk to her about this.