“I actually had no intention to ever mention again what happened back then. They really can find me no matter where I go.” Qiao Qiang looked out of the window as he thought about the past.
Qiao Mei had heard some things from Chen Hu about her uncle and aunt in the capital, but he only said positive things like they were a wealthy family in the capital who specially wanted to find Qiao Qiang so that he could return to the capital to enjoy life. Chen Hu probably did not know anything else.
“Grandfather, can I know what happened back then?” Qiao Mei asked carefully.
Qiao Qiang looked at Qiao Mei and could not help but sigh. She was already 18 years old this year. When he first returned to the village, she was still so thin and petite, as skinny as a bamboo pole, and she almost died. Now, she was already a beautiful young woman and it was time to let her know about what happened back then.
Qiao Qiang sighed and said, “Time really flies.”
For a moment, he did not know where to start. After thinking for a moment, he started with the past events.
“In those early years, your grandmother and I lived in the village. Back then, we had a nice life even though our family was poor and we did not have much food at all. Your grandmother was a virtuous woman, she was beautiful and also capable. However, there was a famine back then, everyone had no food and we could only eat elm bark. Those were some difficult times…”
Qiao Qiang paused for a moment before continuing, “Later on, your grandmother was killed by enemies who came to the village. At that time, I was working outside the village and managed to escape the same fate. When I came back, there was only your father left, so I heartlessly abandoned him and joined the army. When I entered the army, I wanted to make a name for myself and I managed to achieve some good results by the time I was 32 years old. Our leader thought highly of me and felt that I had a future, so he asked his daughter to marry me. Later on, we had two children, Qiao Guo and Qiao Lan. Oh! No, their names should be Liang Guo and Liang Lan now.”
He did not say much about what happened after that. The gist was that the old leader probably thought that getting a nobody son-in-law with no background meant he would get a lot of help with his family, but things did not go according to his plan. Qiao Qiang did not listen to their orders at all and did not want to help their family do anything. This made the Liang family very troubled.
Initially, the Liang family’s daughter was very happy with Qiao Qiang. However, Qiao Qiang’s stubbornness caused the Liang family’s daughter to always get reprimanded by her father, who said that she did not know how to persuade Qiao Qiang to help her family. The couple was very loving in the first few years of their marriage, but later on, her attitude towards Qiao Qiang changed for the worse.
Much later on, there was a fundamental conflict between Qiao Qiang and the Liang family. The Liang family then tried to kill Qiao Qiang to protect their own family. When this ploy was discovered by Qiao Qiang’s comrades, he barely managed to escape from the army and survive the attack. Later on, he returned to the village, which was far enough for him to get away from everything, and no one could do anything to him.
Back then, the Liang family was ruthless and insisted that the Liang family’s daughter get a divorce. They even ensured that Qiao Qiang left the marriage with nothing. The children also took on the Liang family’s surname so that they would not become useless people who could not enter the army.
If it were not for them, things would not have come to this point today, where a war hero like Qiao Qiang languished unnoticed in this faraway unknown village.
Qiao Mei did not expect to hear that there was such a grudge back then. After a moment of silence, she got up and went to the kitchen to burn the letter. Out of sight, out of mind. Halfway through burning the letter, she remembered that the stamp had been left intact when she opened the envelope. If she had kept it, it would be a treasure in the future.
Forget it, I don’t really need this stamp. I’ll be angry just looking at it. It’s better to burn it and throw it into the stove pit and go back to the house to accompany my grandfather.
“Grandfather, do you want to go to the capital to have a medical examination? We won’t go and see them, but let’s go and get you checked out.” Qiao Mei was still worried about Qiao Qiang’s health.
“Sigh! No, no! I’m in good health. I can even chop wood. Why should I see a doctor! No!” Qiao Qiang said as he waved his hand.
When Qiao Mei heard this, she decided not to go for the time being. However, she would definitely try to persuade her grandfather to go to the capital to see a doctor at some point in the future as it was not something that could be left to him to decide. When Xia Zhe returned, they would bring her grandfather to the capital and she would do anything to get it done. At this juncture, she would not mention it and she would wait for an opportunity in the future.