Seeing that Su Ruanruan had finally quieted down, Lin Yao couldn’t be bothered to continue talking to her.

After all, Su Ruanruan’s target was Qin Shishen, not her. Why should she care?

Two days and two nights on a train left everyone’s legs swollen, and with the overcrowded carriages, even going to the restroom was inconvenient.

So the moment the train came to a stop, Lin Yao hoisted her luggage onto her back, picked up Yuan Bao with one arm, and squeezed her way toward the exit.

She was strong and easily managed to get off the train.

Su Ruanruan, delicate and physically weak, could only watch helplessly as Lin Yao disappeared into the crowd. She wanted to call out to her, but her voice was too soft to be heard.

Lin Yao had no idea the heroine still wanted to find her.

Carrying Yuan Bao, she walked out of the station, brushed aside the people soliciting passengers at the entrance, and headed straight for the nearby bus stop.

Compared to the countryside, City A in 1980 was much more prosperous.

At the very least, Lin Yao had never seen a public bus in her county town.

After boarding, she said,

“To the military district in City A.”

She remembered Qin Shishen’s unit very clearly.

She had even once seen a photograph of him in military uniform standing at the entrance to the military compound. He had mailed it to her when they were courting. Later, as his position grew higher and more important, he had taken the photo back, claiming it involved confidentiality.

“Wow, Mom! The provincial capital is so big!”

Yuan Bao pressed himself against the window, thrilled by his first bus ride.

His eyes sparkled like emeralds.

Combining the best features of both Lin Yao and Qin Shishen, he was exceptionally handsome.

After forty minutes, they arrived at the entrance of the military compound.

Holding Yuan Bao’s hand, Lin Yao walked to the guard station and handed over her introduction letter.

“Hello, Comrade. My name is Lin Yao. Here’s my introduction letter. I’m here to see Commander Qin.”

The soldier looked puzzled.

“Comrade, who are you?”

“I’m Qin Shishen’s wife.”

“What?!”

Half an hour later.

Dust-covered from her journey, dressed in plain country clothes, carrying a large bag on one shoulder and holding Yuan Bao’s hand with the other, Lin Yao followed Xiao Song through the compound.

Military personnel and their family members stared openly as they passed.

“Who is that?”

“Apparently she’s Commander Qin’s vicious original wife.”

“What? The one who abandoned her husband and child, refused to raise the kid, and stayed in the countryside living comfortably off Commander Qin’s allowance?”

“That’s the one.”

“What about that child? That’s not Le Bao, is it? Le Bao isn’t that chubby.”

Yuan Bao, who overheard everything, was bewildered.

Chubby?

I’m adorable, not fat!

Hmph! I’m mad!

“So they really are twins. I didn’t believe it before.”

“Neither did I. I thought Commander Qin was just making excuses for his wife when he said there was another child being raised in the countryside.”

“His wife’s name is Lin Yao, right?”

“Looks like it’s true. That child seems to have been raised quite well by her—he looks much healthier than Le Bao.”

Instantly, Yuan Bao puffed out his little chest proudly.

That’s right!

His mother had raised him very well.

These grown-ups were so mean—why did they keep speaking badly about his mother?

Lin Yao had expected all of this and paid no attention to the gossip.

She wasn’t planning to stay in the military compound long anyway.

“Sister-in-law, we’ve arrived.”

Lin Yao glanced at the two-story Western-style house.

She had to admit—Qin Shishen was living quite comfortably.

Yuan Bao’s mouth fell open.

“Wow, Mom! Dad’s house is so beautiful! I’ve never seen such a nice house back in the village!”

“What’s there to envy? Mom will buy you one in the future.”

In her previous life, she had spent all her time in the village and never realized that China’s economic reforms now allowed people to start businesses and earn money privately.

But now she had memories from her previous life, knowledge from the novel, and the spiritual spring space.

Making money would be easy.

“Okay, Mom!”

Yuan Bao happily hugged her leg, beaming with joy.

He looked like such a sunny, well-behaved child.

Xiao Song couldn’t help twitching at Lin Yao’s bold claim.

But his attention kept drifting toward Yuan Bao.

This child…

Compared to Le Bao, they were complete opposites.

It was true that Lin Yao had abandoned Le Bao.

But it was equally true that she had raised Yuan Bao exceptionally well.

As these thoughts crossed his mind, Xiao Song knocked on the door.

After a moment, someone answered.

“Xiao Song?”

Xiao Liu looked surprised.

“Shouldn’t you be at the office taking care of the commander? Why are you back?”

Both men served as Qin Shishen’s aides, though Xiao Liu mainly handled matters related to daily life.

Before he could finish voicing his confusion, his gaze landed on Lin Yao and Yuan Bao—who looked exactly like Le Bao.

“Lin Yao!”

Xiao Liu couldn’t help exclaiming.

Lin Yao immediately recognized his voice.

With a faint smile, she said,

“You must be the soldier who always answered my phone calls.”

“Thank you for all your hard work.”

“Qin Shishen never once took my calls himself. He was always either busy or away on missions. You had to do all the talking for him.”

“If someone didn’t know better, they’d think you were my husband instead.”

“Fortunately, Yuan Bao never encountered any emergency that absolutely required his father.”

“Life wasn’t easy in the countryside, but at least I managed to raise him healthy, strong, and well-behaved.”

“As for my other child—the one my mother-in-law secretly took away and hid from me—I assume you’ve all taken very good care of him?”

“My mother-in-law truly went too far. She actually believed some superstitious nonsense that Le Bao would bring me bad luck.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“What I do know is that everyone in the family hid the fact that I had another child.”

“You all deceived me for so long.”

The moment she finished speaking, tears streamed down Lin Yao’s face.

Of course she wasn’t going to sit there silently and let people smear her reputation.

The harm she had suffered deserved to be known by everyone.

“What?!”

Xiao Song cried out in shock.

He had never imagined Lin Yao would tell her side of the story.

It was completely different from the version everyone in the military compound knew.

Nearby family members quickly gathered around, eager for gossip.

One particularly curious woman asked enthusiastically,

“Comrade Lin Yao, what exactly happened?”

Lin Yao began recounting how she had been deceived and how Yuan Bao had nearly been killed by Qin Zhizhen.

“What? Your in-laws actually did that?”

“They separated a mother and child just because of some monk’s baseless prediction?”

“And your eldest brother-in-law’s family, along with your younger brother-in-law and his wife, are simply vicious. They actually tried to kill Yuan Bao?”

“Yuan Bao, you’ve suffered so much!”

One of the family members grabbed Yuan Bao and hugged him affectionately.

He was so adorable, obedient, and sweet-talking that everyone instantly fell in love with him.

“Uncles, Aunties, my mom will protect me,” Yuan Bao said earnestly.

“I’m not afraid of them bullying me. When I grow up, they won’t dare bully me anymore.”

“How tragic!”

“That’s really tragic!”

Many people immediately sympathized.

But some remained skeptical.

“Lin Yao, this went on for three years. They hid it from you all that time?”

“Didn’t you ever notice something was wrong?”

A lot of people nodded.

They were curious too and waited for her explanation.

Lin Yao wiped away her tears, leaving only slightly reddened eyes.

Then she looked directly at Xiao Liu.

“Xiao Liu, now it’s your turn to explain something to me.”

“Why was it that both you and Qin Shishen knew about Le Bao’s existence but never told me?”

“Couldn’t either of you have dropped a hint during one of our phone calls?”

“Or simply told me the truth?”

“How could you bear to keep something like that from me?”

Instantly, every eye in the crowd turned toward Xiao Liu.

Their gazes were filled with blame.