When Ye Zi heard they had a holiday, she laughed happily with another friend. Now there were four of them; Lu Lu brought one person, Ye Zi brought another. They switched shifts every two days and it wasnât tiring. During break time, they knitted sweaters at the orphanage.
"Xiao Ling, you came at the right time. Yesterday Brother Wu came to my house and offered a business deal. Iâm planning to check out the fabric, letâs go together."
"Sure!"
The two finished checking the goods, tallied the accounts, and rode out on their bikes.
"What kind of deal?"
"Military division, a unit needs waterproof cotton coats. I need to check if last yearâs fabric is still available; itâs roughly outfits for a hundred people."
"A hundred outfits? Isnât that a bit too few?"
Lin Wan laughed, "Ah, you donât understand. Being linked with the unit, if theyâre satisfied this time, we wonât be lacking business prospects in the future. Itâs all about thinking long-term. Weâre going over to get fabric to make two sample pieces. We arenât even sure if Brother Wuâs business will go through or not."
"Oh, itâs still not confirmed?" Su Ling looked worried; if it didnât work out, theyâd have been busy for nothing.
"Itâs just some extra work. But if it succeeds, a unit has a lot of people. Thatâs quite something."
"Alright, alright."
In business, Su Ling and Yin Peibai couldnât compare to Lin Wan.
The two of them went to the Textile Street and, sure enough, Old Li still had that kind of fabric but not much. Making a few dozen pieces shouldnât be a problem.
Old Li also said that if they needed more, he could bring in the fabric in two days.
Lin Wan took the fabric and was heading home with Su Ling, ready to quickly produce samples for Brother Wu.
Who knew theyâd run into someone familiar on the way.
That day, Ye Weijun took the address Liang Weixiang had given him for their son and went to find them. Who wouldâve thought he wouldnât even see a trace of Qiu Hualan, let alone Ah Qing.
After asking around, he found out this family just bought the house. Ye Weijun wasnât foolish; upon inquiry, he discovered the previous house owner had the surname Ye.
Ye Weijun further inquired from neighbors and coincidentally asked Yang Erni.
Upon hearing he was Ye Qingâs dad, she quickly responded enthusiastically, "Qing is really something; why didnât she tell you about moving? She got married back in the hometown a couple of years ago, gave birth but her husband didnât come, so I helped care at the hospital for two days. Later, she had her mom come to take care of the child. Only then did Qing have a bit of ease. Later, they hurriedly moved. Why didnât she explain the new address to you? Making you come all this way in the cold?"
"Married back in the hometown a couple of years ago?" Ye Weijun felt a sudden twist of bizarre expression, startling Yang Erni.
She quickly laughed awkwardly, "Yes, during New Year she went home, said she got married, and in a couple of months claimed she was pregnant. But then... before moving, something happened. I donât know how to tell you."
Yang Erni deliberately said these things to Ye Qingâs dad. At first, she thought Ye Qing was a pretty decent girl, but she didnât expect Ye Qing to be so unscrupulous, even deceiving neighbors like her.
She knew exactly what Ye Qing did; claiming to be married back home was just a cover-up to deceive the neighborhood.
That soldier wouldnât be so kind-hearted just to take care of her for several days without a reason, even buying her a courtyard worth thousands.
They definitely had something going on, and that child was probably the soldierâs.
Initially, when Ye Qing said she was married, Erni saw a man visit her home once, and she thought he was Ye Qingâs husband from her hometown.
Later, when Ye Qing got into trouble, chatting casually with Lin Wan, she accidentally mentioned this incident. Lin Wan then said that the man was Ye Qingâs old lover.
This shocked Erniâs worldview; she hadnât expected Ye Qing to be so deep, appearing so innocent and docile on the outside, but being so wanton in her nature.
If she had known earlier, sheâd surely have secretly reported her for crimes of indecency.
Later she heard that Ye Qing got arrested, and it was because she wanted to marry that man; she deliberately slandered the manâs wife. In the end, her plan backfired, getting herself in trouble.
That day, the manâs wife came over and shouted at the doorstep. The neighborhood heard everything, and only then did they know what happened.
Most neighbors thought the child was that manâs illegitimate child because the manâs wife said so too. But only Erni knew that the child belonged to the soldier.
The manâs wife thought the man was a fool.
However, Ye Qingâs mom was smart. When the incident happened, she immediately decided to sell the house and move away.
No one in the neighborhood knew where they moved, but Erni did.
That day, when helping them move, a middle-aged man came along. That uncle seemed quite earnest. While Qiu Hualan was inside tidying up, Erni purposely asked the uncle.
Thatâs how she found out they were moving to a big courtyard in the municipal construction bureau.
That was something only she knew.
"What happened?"
Yang Erni figured Ye Qingâs dad had a hot temper, and Ye Qing didnât want her dad to know for this reason.
The more Ye Qing didnât want her dad to know, the more Erni wanted to tell him.
Yang Erni was usually easygoing, but that didnât mean she was easy to bully. Anyone who bullied her wouldnât get away with it!
Initially, she helped Ye Qing so much out of goodwill, but Ye Qing turned out to be ungrateful.
"Qing got herself into trouble. I donât get how such a nice girl would end up associating with a married man. She got jealous of the wife and accused the wifeâs father in the bureau. The wife was well-connected in S City, and once she found out Qing was responsible, she turned the tables and sent Qing to jail. Qingâs mom worried about the impact, so she took the child and moved away."
Ye Weijun didnât expect to gather such substantial information this trip to S City. Instead of his daughter thanking him for funding her college education, she got herself into jail.
And with what? Seducing a married man! Ye Weijun cursed those two shameless women; no wonder they were mother and daughter, both inherently troublesome and scandalous.
"Do you know where her mom moved to? The family has been worried sick for months, thatâs why I braved the cold to come see them. Who wouldâve thought itâs so cold here, just like entering an ice cellar? I didnât bring much money, just got this address, thinking Iâd see them when I arrived."
"Oh dear, couldnât Qing at least inform you?" Yang Erni commented, clicking her tongue, noticing how thin Ye Weijunâs attire was. Heâs been outside for so long, shivering all over.
"Uncle, my father-in-law has a few padded jackets; theyâre good. If you donât mind, Iâll get you one to stay warm."
"Thank you, thank you!"
Ye Hongjun was reluctant to spend money on clothing.
But he wouldnât know that Yang Erni gave him her deceased father-in-lawâs clothes. Since her father-in-law passed over two years ago, she hadnât had the heart to throw the clothes away. She thought itâd be a waste to discard them, and they could serve other purposes well. Today, Ye Qingâs dad got a bargain.
Soon, Yang Erni brought out a set of thick black padded jackets and pants, kindly reminding, "I really donât know where they moved because they were quite secretive about it, afraid the neighborhood would find out. But a middle-aged man helped Aunt Qiu move, and it seems to be somewhere near the municipal construction bureau, though I donât know the exact location."
Yang Erni clearly felt Ye Qingâs dadâs face darken suddenly.
It was then that Yang Erni realized she mightâve said the wrong thing and perhaps Ye Qingâs dad misunderstood Aunt Qiu. But she didnât care; those who are innocent have nothing to hide, and no one would believe untrue things.
Ye Weijun, holding his anger, returned to the guesthouse to change into those clothes before heading out again.
This time, he asked several people in order to find the way to the municipal construction bureau.
"Whatâs the matter? Why did you stop?" Su Ling saw Lin Wan staring in one direction, lost in thought, and pulled her to ask.
"Xiao Ling, I just saw Ye Qingâs dad."
"Ye Qingâs dad? Could it be he found out about his daughterâs troubles and came seeking revenge?"
Lin Wan laughed nonchalantly, "Youâre not familiar with Ye Qingâs dad. Her dad is a real rascal from our village, idling around all day, loves drinking, and once drunk, he starts hitting people, especially Ye Qing and her mom. Ye Qingâs trouble? Her dad probably has no clue."
"Then whatâs he here for?"