Cheng Yan Ni watched the siblings grow up since they were little, with a soft spot for Han Jingchen. She always thought that by getting married and having a daughter, he could live happily ever after. Who knew things would go wrong? These years, he’s been single. It’s not that no one persuaded him to start a family again, but he listens to no one.
Jiao Qiutang feared his old wife would start her old refrain, so he quickly spoke up: "Jingchen seldom comes by, let him stay for dinner."
Old Mrs. Cheng Yan Ni agreed wholeheartedly: "Yes, yes, yes, Jingchen loves my stir-fried pork the most."
With that, she turned and shouted towards the back: "Second daughter-in-law."
Someone ran out from the house: "Mom, what’s up?"
The old lady took down the basket hanging on the wall: "Jingchen is here, go buy some meat. If there’s fish, get one too, and a block of tofu. You can decide on the rest."
After sending the second daughter-in-law to buy groceries, she returned to sit by the table.
Han Jingchen helped Mr. Jiao pour tea before speaking: "Uncle Jiao, do you remember someone named Qiu Shaocheng?"
Mr. Jiao put down the teacup in his hand: "Why are you asking about him?"
Han Jingchen didn’t hold back: "When I was young, I overheard you talking about him. Later, out of curiosity, I asked my dad."
The old couple of the Jiao Family exchanged a glance, and Mr. Jiao said: "You found out?"
Han Jingchen nodded: "I know some things, but I came today to ask about the specifics of that time. I feel there’s something suspicious about it."
Before Mr. Jiao could speak, the old lady chimed in: "That Qiu Shaocheng seemed like someone skilled in scheming. I warned your dad, but he wouldn’t believe in the malice of people."
Mr. Jiao patted his wife’s arm and continued: "You can’t say that. After all, he did help us that day. Without him, maybe we all would have been in trouble."
The old lady wouldn’t agree to that: "Don’t defend him. If not for his insistence on following, we would have left that place long before, without needing his help to divert them. Besides, if he hadn’t tagged along, we could have avoided it. Yet, why did he insist on giving the child to Chuan Nian, saying those ambiguous things, as if he was doing it for our sake?"
It turned out, back in the day, Han Jingchen’s father was injured while on a mission. It was Qiu Shaocheng who took him to the medical office. By coincidence, they met several times afterward and developed a rapport.
Jiao Qiutang and Qiu Yanni also met Qiu Shaocheng once because of Han Chuan Nian. Later, on the day trouble occurred, they ran into Qiu Shaocheng on the street, holding a child and wearing a grim expression.
Because they were on a mission, they didn’t greet him. But Qiu Shaocheng, as if possessed, followed them holding that child. No matter what they said, it was like he didn’t understand, resulting in their exposure due to his delay.
What nobody expected was that Qiu Shaocheng would put the child in Han Chuan Nian’s arms, reciting the child’s date of birth, and confessing that he knew he had implicated them, offering to divert the people away. If he couldn’t come back for the child, he entrusted it to Han Chuan Nian, and ran straight outside after saying this.
Actually, it wasn’t Qiu Shaocheng that diverted those chasing them. It was the students’ parade at the street corner that allowed them to escape, and thus Han Chunli came into their family this way.
At that time, Big Brother and Little Sister had returned to the countryside with their grandparents. Due to wartime circumstances, they couldn’t return to Beiping for a while, and only he stayed with his parents. Coincidentally, at that time, they had to leave for a while, and by the time they returned, Han Chunli naturally became the Han Family’s fourth child.
Besides the Jiao Family couple, only he and his parents knew the truth of the matter. After all, he was already five years old back then, old enough to understand that the child wasn’t born by his mom. Later, after his mom passed away, he overheard the conversation between his old man and the Jiao Family couple, confirmed it with his dad, and was told not to disclose it, but to treat his sister well.
It’s likely that even the old man never realized how thoroughly he had been used, which even harmed his own family.