The next morning, while Tian Sangsang was cooking breakfast, she suddenly heard Meng Shuyan crying in the house. Dropping the kitchen knife, she hurriedly ran inside.
"Yanyan, Yanyan, what’s wrong?" Tian Sangsang saw her son sitting on the bed, his hair a little disheveled, his eyes red and swollen from crying. Her heart ached as she reached out to wipe his tears.
"Mom." Meng Shuyan’s voice was nasal as he threw himself into her arms, softly saying, "... Dad is gone, my dad."
What? Tian Sangsang felt a pang of guilt. "Son, your dad was here?"
She couldn’t help but overthink it. After all, she had just run into that man in the forest yesterday, and now her son was crying, calling out for his dad.
Meng Shuyan’s face was streaked with tears as he said miserably, "It was Dad’s ring... it’s gone." While crying, he tried to wipe away his tears, all the while anxiously wondering when he had lost the ring. But no matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t figure out where he had dropped it. His sobs grew even louder.
"Here it is, here it is. The ring’s with Mom." Tian Sangsang waved the ring in front of his eyes and said, "Look, here it is. Don’t cry anymore, okay?"
Meng Shuyan’s tear-streaked eyes sparkled as his gaze followed the motion of the ring. He reached out and carefully rubbed it with his soft, white fingers, a hesitant grin breaking out on his face. "So it wasn’t lost after all."
"That’s right, it wasn’t lost," Tian Sangsang said with painful determination. "But this thing, from now on, it’s going to stay with Mom. I’m going to keep it hidden."
Meng Shuyan raised his head reluctantly. "Why?"
"Why, you ask? Good question." Tian Sangsang’s tone carried a hint of coaxing as she gently guided him. "When you see this ring, does it make you think of your dad?"
Meng Shuyan nodded weakly.
"But is it really your dad?"
Meng Shuyan pursed his little lips, his dark, bright eyes fixed on the ring.
"Your dad is not an object." That sounded so strange, so Tian Sangsang quickly clarified, "Your dad isn’t just a ring; he’s a person. He’s not dead. We don’t need something to hold on to emotionally. You need to keep him in your heart. With or without the ring, it’s all the same."
"But..." Meng Shuyan bit his lip weakly, stretching out his hand to touch the ring again, his pitiful gaze pleading for Tian Sangsang not to cruelly take it away.
Pulling him into her arms, Tian Sangsang stroked his curly hair. "You have to trust Mom. Is Dad really that important?"
Meng Shuyan rubbed his fluffy head against her chest, muffled sobs escaping. "I don’t know. But I just want to... I just want to..."
This was a child’s simple fixation, one that couldn’t easily be broken.
Tian Sangsang twirled the ring between her fingers and held it up before him, smiling softly, her eyes gleaming with warmth. "Trust Mom. Someday, if someone wearing this ring comes looking for you, he will definitely be your dad. We’ll believe in destiny, okay?"
Meng Shuyan sniffled, choking back his tears. "... Okay."
"Good boy. Yanyan is the best child Mom has ever known." Tian Sangsang kissed his cheek tenderly.
Perhaps she wasn’t a good mother yet. She was still learning how to be one, even if that meant cruelly depriving her child of certain rights.
He had spent a night out—who knew if the man had been attacked by wild boars, or dragged off by wolves? Tian Sangsang carried the goji berry bass soup she had prepared, good for blood replenishment and wound healing. She served him with utmost care, as if catering to an ancestor; repaying this debt was becoming exhausting.
Back at the cave, the air inside was much cooler than outside, instantly washing away the stifling heat. Jiang Jinghuai hadn’t woken yet; he was just the same as yesterday, his blanket neatly in place, unmoved. Carefully, Tian Sangsang helped him sit up against the wall and spoon-fed him the bass soup. Afterward, she checked his temperature by touching his forehead; it was back to normal and no longer feverish like before. She lifted his shirt to inspect the wound, relieved to see it had stopped bleeding.
After sleeping the whole night, he should be waking up soon, she thought.
Tian Sangsang rested her chin on her hand, admiring his handsome face for a moment. Her hand was raised high, ready to slap him, when she suddenly pulled her fingers back and pinched his cheek instead. If she couldn’t hit him, pinching his face would do.
"Should I even be mad at you? Should I even tell you? Without knowing whether you’ll be reduced to cannon fodder, I suppose there’s no point in telling you anything yet."
"Do you even know that my son cried this morning because of you? All because of you."
"He’s never even met you, yet somehow he’s always so attached to you. You’re emotionally abusing a little kid, don’t you realize?"
"I really want to kick you into the Pacific Ocean and let the sharks deal with you."
"Honestly, you’re supposed to be a man. Taking the initiative later on, fine, but don’t you have any common sense? Proper precautions should be taken afterward!"
"No ***? No ***, you could at least ...***... on the wall! Why were people in the ’80s so innocent?"
"What am I even saying here? Anyway, I should thank you. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have my son."
"Here’s your ring. From now on, we owe each other nothing."
"Sleep, sleep, sleep. Is that all you know how to do? How can you still sleep so soundly, like a little mouse?"
Tian Sangsang played the fool, muttering to herself for quite a while before finally taking his hand. His broad palm, well-defined joints, skin not too pale, callused from labor—she slid the ring onto his left thumb. The fit was perfect.
Jiang Jinghuai woke up to a mixture of scents: floral fragrance, the smell of medicine, and the light flavor of bass lingering in his mouth.
When had he eaten bass?
Some hazy memories flitted through his mind—being pursued by enemies, falling off a cliff, fleeing into a cave for dear life, collapsing from exhaustion.
In his muddled state, he seemed to have been saved, though the details were unclear. At that time, he’d heard mosquitoes buzzing in his ears and, strangely, singing too.
Gingerly leaning against the wall to stand up, the pain at his waist furrowed his brow as he clutched the blanket, his steps unsteady as he walked toward the cave’s entrance.
Where was the person who saved him?
Suddenly, a wave of dizziness surged to his head. He raised his hand to steady himself, catching sight of the ring on his finger.
"This... how..." This was the ring he had lost in Tian Family Village. Although he felt reluctant to part with it back then, he hadn’t made an effort to go back and search for it. Now, after so many years, the ring had miraculously returned to his hand. If his memory served him right, the ring had been left behind in the home of that chubby woman.
Who had put it on him?
A cascade of locked memories came flooding back, overwhelming him. He slumped along the wall, struggling to keep his eyes open, only to faint once again.
Every summer, whenever she had free time, Shui Lian liked to take walks in the mountains, sometimes finding unusual fruits.
Carrying a basket, her light yellow dress brushing against the grass, Shui Lian wandered to the edge of a pond, scooping up fresh water to rinse the dew off her face. As she stood, her gaze fell upon a man half-leaning in front of a cave.
Carefully approaching, Shui Lian found no movement. Taking two more cautious steps, thoughts began to take shape in her mind.
Injured, in need of help.
Handsome, comparable to Xu Yiyuan in looks.
Wearing military clothing, likely a soldier, and one of rank.
Shui Lian was always adept at gauging situations. She glanced around cautiously but saw no one else. After some deliberation, she stepped closer and softly called out, "Comrade... Comrade..."