It’s understandable that Li Shengmei was thinking of her maternal family; given that in the He Family, He Hongjun had clan members, but no direct relatives, so Li Shengmei arranged for Yang Zhonghong to return to her maternal home.
Now that Li Shengmei had spoken her mind, both He Hongjun and He Xuexiang fell silent, only then did Dong Meihua realize that Li Shengmei had been harboring this plan.
The next morning, Gao Guo Cheng spoke up, "I don’t know where these rumors started, but I hope they stop here."
Gao Guo Cheng didn’t say much, but with those words, he seemed to disassociate himself from the matter, although everyone knew that it was Li Shengmei who had instigated it. Some even wanted to tease Gao Guo Cheng, but he had already left.
Then, Yang Zhonghong purposely met with Yang Xuehua and said, "You did right to refuse, rest assured, Li Shengmei won’t be able to trouble you."
After saying this, Yang Zhonghong walked away, leaving Yang Xuehua completely confused about his intention. However, as things calmed down, Yang Xuehua also breathed a sigh of relief.
Over at Xia Xiao’s side, she told Gao Jiaxing that she was going to the Youth Point dormitory, but then she secretly went to Black Bear Cave to see Ge Liang. After drinking some spring water, Ge Liang got better. When Xia Xiao arrived, Ge Liang was munching on raw vegetables that she had left.
Although it was the vegetables she had left, seeing Ge Liang gnawing on them so raw, Xia Xiao felt a pang of sorrow, thinking how pitiable the child was.
However, Xia Xiao couldn’t reveal her true identity to Ge Liang. Seeing that Ge Liang was fine, she secretly left some vegetables and departed quietly.
"Since Gao Jiaxing is leaving, you could hand Ge Liang over to him, and Gao Jiaxing could take him away," Shitou said.
Xia Xiao shook her head, "I’ve thought about it, but who could Brother Gao entrust Ge Liang to? It’s better for him to stay in the Bear Cave until he grows up a bit, maybe his appearance will change, and then we can see whether he can be adopted."
"This might be difficult since he looks like Ge Lai," Shitou said.
"If he eats well and grows taller, we can alter his age a bit. Others probably won’t recognize him." The rightful source is noⅴelfire.net
That was the only way Xia Xiao could think of; she really didn’t know how else to settle things and was also looking out for a good family who might adopt Ge Liang.
When Xia Xiao returned home, she saw that Gao Guoqiang had come back from the city, and Zheng Xianghong greeted him with a question, "Why were you gone so long?"
Gao Guoqiang said, "I went to see mom, got back a bit late."
Then Gao Guoqiang added, "Guihua is getting married the day after tomorrow, and mom and Guofu hope that we all go."
Gao Jiaxing interrupted, "When I got married, none of them came back. I won’t go for Gao Guihua’s wedding."
"You grandmother and your uncle and aunt hope you will come to give Guihua moral support," Gao Guoqiang said.
"No time, I have to report back to the military early tomorrow. This time, it’s not the usual place. I heard it’s on a secret small island for training. I don’t know exactly where; they didn’t say. I’ll find out when I get there," Gao Jiaxing said.
Gao Jiaxing had no interest in the wedding of Gao Guihua and Wang Xueyong and he wasn’t naive either; Wang Xueyong had visited several times, clearly, it was his idea rather than being just the wish of his grandmother and uncle and aunt.
"The military matters are more important," Gao Guoqiang didn’t press further, looking at Gao Jiazhi, Sun Yuhua, and Xia Xiao.
Gao Jiaxing immediately blurted out, "Xiaoxiao is also not going."
Upon hearing Gao Jiaxing, Sun Yuhua quickly said, "I’m not going either."
Zheng Xianghong also spoke, "They are celebrating. I’d better not go and give them an opportunity to talk about me."
"Okay, Jiazhi and I will go," Gao Guoqiang said.
Xia Xiao suddenly remembered that Gao Jiaxing was leaving tomorrow, and she felt truly reluctant to part. She hadn’t consciously counted the days, so she hadn’t realized how quickly time had slipped by.
Back in the room, Xia Xiao asked, "Brother Gao, what time are you leaving tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow morning," Gao Jiaxing touched Xia Xiao’s face. He was also reluctant, but this temporary separation was for a better reunion in the future.
"Morning, so soon," Xia Xiao softly exclaimed.
"Yes, I’ll be leaving tomorrow morning," Gao Jiaxing held Xia Xiao in his arms, "Xiaoxiao, once I reach the small island, I’ll find a way to contact our family. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be with your cousin there."
"Okay." Xia Xiao couldn’t guess which small island Gao Jiaxing and the others were heading to train at, especially since it was a new secret base, which certainly couldn’t be disclosed.
"Brother Gao, are you guys the first batch to go over?" Xia Xiao asked.
Gao Jiaxing nodded, "Yes, the first batch. I heard there’s no one on the island."
Xia Xiao commented, "If there’s no one on the island, it’s going to be tough. But the most dangerous part is the sea. Falling into the sea would make it hard to escape."
That was what Xia Xiao was really worried about. She felt that anything on land could be manageable, but falling into the sea could be fatal, not knowing where the currents might take her, or if she would be eaten by a large fish.
"There won’t be any problems," Gao Jiaxing smiled.
Xia Xiao said, "I’m going to help mom cook dinner. After we eat, let’s take a walk around, how about that?"
"Good," Gao Jiaxing nodded. Indeed, it was good to take a walk.
Then, Xia Xiao went to help Zheng Xianghong cook. After dinner, the family ate together and Gao Jiaxing and Xia Xiao went out.
"Where do you want to go?" Gao Jiaxing turned to Xia Xiao.
"Where can we go in these deep mountains?" She moved her lips, wanting to suggest Nanhua Mountain, but it was unrealistic at night. Plus, if they reached Black Bear Cave, how could she explain that the bears wouldn’t attack them? What if Gao Jiaxing, in a quick reflex, shot the bear?
Xia Xiao didn’t dare to risk it, so they could only walk around nearby.
As they walked, they unexpectedly came across Hong Xing. Gao Jiaxing asked, "Where are you going?"
Hong Xing replied, "I’ve dreamt for several days that Ge Liang was eaten by wild beasts, so I wanted to look around the mountains to see if I could find his remains or something."
Xia Xiao kept silent. She thought highly of Hong Xing; it was a pity he was in the Red Star Production Team, otherwise she might have entrusted Ge Liang’s care to him.
Gao Jiaxing said, "You’re thinking too much. Dreams are the opposite of reality, not true."
"But I can’t sleep. The day Ge Lai had an accident, he asked me to take care of his son," Hong Xing said, feeling very distressed.
Gao Jiaxing patted Hong Xing on the shoulder, "Ge Lai won’t blame you. Don’t overthink it. Mind your own business. If you can’t stand Liu Haiguo, try to take him down."
As soon as Gao Jiaxing finished speaking, Xia Xiao’s eyes brightened, "Yes, Hong Xing, you could try. In the future, compete with Liu Haiguo for the team leader position."
Hong Xing said, "I hadn’t thought about that."
"You can think about it now. You wouldn’t want to see Liu Haiguo making the Red Star Production Team a mess, right? I’m not saying you should challenge him now, but when you work hard, you might have a chance in the future," Xia Xiao said.
Gao Jiaxing added, "Xiaoxiao is right. You should consider it. Liu Haiguo is unpopular, and he won’t last long as the team leader."