In the fiery red era of the heavens, refrigerators are refreshed daily.

The next morning, Yang Guangming was awakened by the faint sounds of city noise coming from outside the window.

He lay on the hard bed in the guesthouse, staring at the slightly mottled marks on the ceiling caused by dampness. It took him a moment to fully wake up and realize where he was.

Yesterday's hustle and bustle, the in-depth conversation with Political Commissar Yang, my father's unexpected secret arrangements, and the possibility of buying a private house... fragments of information swirled and settled in my mind, eventually turning into a heavy sense of security.

At least, the two mountains weighing on my mind—job and household registration—are about to be removed.

He got up, dressed, washed up, went to room 203 next door, knocked gently on the door, and then pushed it open and entered.

Mother Tian Yufen and grandmother Qin Lanying had already woken up.

Tian Yufen was sitting in a chair by the window, staring blankly at the people coming and going in the courtyard downstairs. Her eyes had a faint dark circle, and her eye bags were more obvious than usual, clearly indicating that she had been troubled by her thoughts last night and had not slept well.

Grandma Qin Lanying sat leaning against the headboard, looking much better than when she arrived yesterday. The heavy worry that lingered on her face was gone, but the deep fatigue left by the long journey was still evident in her brows.

Yang Shanshan was still curled up in bed, sleeping soundly, her little face flushed.

"Mom, Grandma, are you sleeping well?" Yang Guangming deliberately lowered his voice so as not to wake his younger sister.

"It's alright. This bed is softer than our kang (heated brick bed), and it doesn't hurt when I lie on it." The old lady stretched her stiff shoulders and neck, making a slight "click" sound. "It's just that in this city, it's never quiet at night. There's always a buzzing sound, like there are mosquitoes, but they're not mosquitoes. It makes people feel uneasy."

Tian Yufen simply turned her head, nodded slightly to her son, and didn't say anything, her eyes filled with an uneasy emptiness.

She silently got up, walked to the bedside, and gently nudged Yang Shanshan, her voice a little hoarse: "Shanshan, get up."

Then, with slightly mechanical movements, he helped the sleepy, pouting little girl get dressed.

"Let's go to the cafeteria for breakfast in a bit, and then I'll accompany you for a walk around the neighborhood to get familiar with the area. I heard there's a small park nearby that's quite quiet," Yang Guangming suggested, trying to lighten the somewhat tense atmosphere in the room.

The old lady waved her hand, a hint of weariness on her face: "No, Guangming, my old arms and legs are so weak. I sat in the car all day yesterday, and my bones feel like they're falling apart. I haven't recovered yet. It's better for me to rest in the house."

Going out would only cause you trouble. There are so many cars and people in the city; it makes me dizzy and anxious.

Tian Yufen also said, "I don't want to go out either. I'm not in the mood to shop. My mind is a mess, so I'll just stay inside. Maybe I can calm down a bit."

Yang Guangming understood their feelings.

Arriving in this unfamiliar place where I had no relatives or friends, although there was a glimmer of hope for the future, things were still not settled, and my heart was still filled with anxiety.

Coupled with the complex emotions of about to meet her father, a mixture of anticipation, resentment, grievance, and confusion made it difficult to have any desire to travel.

He didn't press the matter further, forcing a smile: "Alright, let's talk inside. After lunch, if Grandma feels better, we can take a walk around the guesthouse courtyard. It's better than staying cooped up inside all the time. This courtyard looks quite large, with a few trees. It'll definitely be cool to sit in the shade and enjoy the breeze."

The family went to the cafeteria quietly.

Breakfast consisted of the usual cornmeal porridge, cornbread, steamed buns made from a mixture of wheat and water, and a dish of finely shredded pickled vegetables—simple, but hot and filling.

For Tian Yufen and Qin Lanying, the fact that they could have a ready-made meal without having to get up at dawn to light a fire, and that the food was clean and filling, was already very satisfying.

Yang Shanshan sipped the scalding hot porridge, curiously observing the other diners in the canteen. Most of them were dressed in crisp military uniforms or dark cadre uniforms, their expressions serious, their steps hurried, and their voices low, creating an invisible atmosphere that made people afraid to speak loudly.

Back in the room, Yang Guangming chatted with his mother and grandmother, mostly about interesting things at school or reminiscing about old news from their hometown village, such as which family's daughter got married or which family had a new baby, trying to avoid sensitive topics such as his father, work, and household registration.

Yang Shanshan quickly regained her energy, leaning against the window, her little hands gripping the windowsill, tiptoeing, watching the occasional green jeep and the clanging bicycles passing by below, enjoying herself immensely.

Time passed slowly as we waited, and the sun gradually rose higher outside the window.

Around nine o'clock, a soft, hesitant knock came from outside the door.

"Dong dong dong."

The sound wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears, shattering the seemingly peaceful illusion in the room.

Tian Yufen and Qin Yulan were both stunned for a moment, subconsciously stopping their conversation and turning their gazes to Yang Guangming, their eyes filled with inquiry and a hint of barely perceptible tension.

Yang Guangming was also a little puzzled. Political Commissar Yang had just left yesterday, and his father wouldn't be back until the day after tomorrow. The staff at the guesthouse usually wouldn't come to bother him at this time. Who could it be?
He stood up, gesturing to his family not to be nervous, walked to the door, but instead of opening it immediately, he called out, "Who is it?"

A soft, but slightly off-key female voice came from outside the door: "Excuse me, is Comrade Yang Guangming in this room?"

The voice was unfamiliar; it was definitely not someone Yang Guangming knew.

He opened the door and saw a woman who looked to be in her early thirties standing outside.

She had short, ear-length hair, neatly combed and tucked behind her ears. She wore a slightly faded military uniform, which was clean and fit perfectly without a single wrinkle.

She was slender, even somewhat thin, with a fair complexion. Her features revealed that she had been a beautiful woman in her youth, but at this moment her face was pale and lacked color.

What is most striking is her unique temperament, a mixture of frailty, tranquility, and even a lingering sense of morbid melancholy, which seems somewhat out of place in the rather austere environment of the military camp guesthouse.

Her posture was somewhat stiff, with her hands hanging at her sides, and she looked a little nervous.

Yang Guangming was certain he had never seen this person before and assumed the other person had the wrong room or was one of the other staff members sent by Political Commissar Yang. So he politely asked, "I am Yang Guangming. Who are you looking for? Have you come to the wrong room?"

The woman's gaze fell on Yang Guangming's face, and she examined him carefully. His eyes, which were filled with a hint of weariness and complex emotions, flickered slightly.

She forced a strained, unnatural smile, her voice still carrying that strange, somewhat uncoordinated intonation, as she softly said:
"It's Comrade Yang Guangming. Hello, my name is Wen Anrong. I heard that Comrade Jianxiong's relatives have come to Kyoto and are staying at the guesthouse. I... I came here specifically to visit them."

Wen Anrong!
The name struck like a silent yet powerful thunderclap, instantly exploding in Yang Guangming's mind.

His brows immediately furrowed, and he subconsciously took half a step forward, blocking the doorway even more firmly, almost completely obstructing the other person's view into the room.

How could it be her? What is she doing here? How did she know we live here? Did Political Commissar Yang tell her? Or her father?

His father's current wife, the woman who caused the family's breakdown in the eyes of the original owner and his mother, the villain who had only existed in the villagers' veiled gossip for the past eight years, was now standing vividly in front of him.

A strong sense of rejection and vigilance, along with an uncontrollable anger, welled up in Yang Guangming's heart.

He absolutely did not want this woman to enter the house. If his mother saw her, it would be like rubbing salt into an unhealed wound, or even directly igniting a powder keg that had been piling up for eight years, which would inevitably cause violent emotional fluctuations.

This was an unnecessary meeting that would only cause the mother more pain.

"Comrade Wen Anrong." Yang Guangming deliberately lowered his voice, his tone instantly becoming distant and cold. "Thank you for your kindness. However, my mother and grandmother have had a long journey and are not feeling well. They need to rest quietly and are not at ease receiving guests. Please leave."

He tried to refuse with unequivocal words, hoping to make Wen Anrong back down.

However, the guesthouse rooms were too small, and the soundproofing was practically nonexistent.

Inside the room, Tian Yufen and Qin Lanying had clearly heard the conversation outside the door, especially those three words—Wen Anrong—which, like a red-hot iron, hissed and burned into Tian Yufen's heart.

She was sitting on the edge of the bed, head down, unconsciously clutching a small piece of Yang Shanshan's clothing in her hand. The moment she heard the name, her body stiffened abruptly, as if struck by an invisible electric current. Then, as if injected with a powerful, uncontrollable force, she suddenly stood up.

Her face turned deathly pale in an instant, devoid of any color. Her lips trembled uncontrollably, and her hands, rough and calloused from years of labor, clenched into fists, her nails almost digging into the soft flesh of her palms.

Her chest began to heave violently, pounding like a bellows.

Years of grievances, resentment, unwillingness, the shame of being abandoned, the hardship of raising children alone... all the pent-up emotions were completely ignited by this name at this moment, turning into a destructive flame that burned fiercely in her eyes.

"bright!"

Tian Yufen's voice carried a sharp and trembling quality, bursting forth after being suppressed to the extreme, and even cracked slightly, like a string that had been stretched too tightly and suddenly snapped.

"Let her in!"

Her chest heaved violently, her eyes fixed on the door, as if trying to pierce through the thin panel and see the woman outside who had caused her so much pain for so many years and who only existed in her imagination. Her eyes were filled with deep-seated hatred.

When Yang Guangming heard his mother's changed voice, he knew something was wrong.

He knew his mother's temperament. She was usually resilient and patient, silently bearing the heavy burden of life like an old ox. But once her bottom line was crossed, her fiery temper, hidden deep in her bones, would erupt and no one could stop her.

"Mother..." He wanted to persuade her again, trying to calm her down.

"Let her in! Did you hear me?!"

Tian Yufen's voice rose even higher, carrying an undeniable resolve, even a hint of hysterical despair on the verge of collapse. She took a sudden step forward, her finger trembling as she pointed to the door, "I'm going to see what this vixen really looks like today! Let her in!"

The old lady, Qin Lanying, was also startled by this sudden change and stood up. Her face was filled with complex emotions, including surprise, anger, and a deep sense of helplessness and worry.

She reached out to grab her daughter-in-law's arm, her lips trembling as she tried to say something to ease the tension, but it turned into a barely audible, heavy sigh.

At this point, avoiding the issue would only make us appear cowardly. Some things, some anger, must be faced sooner or later.

Yang Guangming sensed the almost tangible anger emanating from his mother behind him, like the rage before a volcanic eruption. He knew that stopping her was pointless and might only make her more emotionally unstable, or even hurt her.

He took a deep breath, stepped aside, and said in a cold voice, as icy as ice shards in the dead of winter, to Wen Anrong outside the door, "Please come in."

His eyes held no welcome whatsoever, only intense vigilance and scrutiny.

Wen Anrong seemed to have anticipated Tian Yufen's strong reaction, and her face did not show much surprise.

She maintained that almost rigid calm, but her hands, clasped together in front of her, tightened even more, clearly indicating that she was also very nervous.

She nodded slightly to the sunlight, then stepped into the room filled with anger and hostility.

Her steps were light, even a little unsteady, as if she were walking on cotton.

The room was already small, and with one more person, it felt even more cramped and oppressive, as if the air itself had become thick and sticky.

At this moment, Tian Yufen and Wen Anrong finally broke through all the barriers of time and distance and faced each other directly.

The air seemed to freeze, carrying a suffocating tension that was about to erupt at any moment.

Even Yang Shanshan, who was peering out the window, sensed the terrifying atmosphere. She shrank back in fright, quietly moved behind her grandmother, and tightly gripped her grandmother's clothes with her little hands.

Tian Yufen's gaze was like two poisoned knives, slicing fiercely across Wen Anrong's face and body, not missing a single detail—that pale complexion, that overly neatly combed hair, that faded yet still well-fitting military uniform...

To her, all of this was tinged with "vixen-like" and "hypocritical" connotations.

After entering the room, Wen Anrong only glanced briefly at the furious Tian Yufen and the old lady who was looking at her with a solemn and hostile expression before lowering her eyelids slightly to avoid Tian Yufen's burning gaze that seemed to want to devour her alive.

Her gaze fell on a small patch of ground in front of her feet, and she dared not look directly into Tian Yufen's eyes.

Her hands remained unconsciously clasped in front of her, her fingers tightly intertwined, the force revealing that the turmoil within her was far from the calm on the surface.

Yang Guangming closed the door behind him with a soft "click".

He leaned against the door, his brow furrowed, his arms crossed over his chest, closely watching the situation inside, like a guardian deity or a calm observer, ready to deal with any possible conflict at any time.

However, before anyone could say a word, or even before Wen Anrong had fully stood still, Tian Yufen suddenly moved.

Like a lioness completely enraged, she found an outlet for the anger that had been building up for eight years. She took two steps forward, raised her arm, and with all her might, slapped Wen Anrong's pale cheek hard, the sound of the wind rushing through the air.

"Snapped!"

A crisp, loud slap suddenly rang out in the quiet room, so quiet you could hear a pin drop. It was particularly jarring, making your eardrums go numb.

Wen Anrong's head was jerked to one side by the blow, and half of her cheek swelled up rapidly at a visible speed, revealing a clear red mark of five fingers.

She seemed stunned by the blow. Her body swayed, and she stumbled, barely managing to stand. But she didn't look up, nor did she make any move to dodge or resist. She didn't even utter a groan of pain; she just silently endured it all.

The anger in Tian Yufen's heart erupted like a volcano. After the first strike, it did not stop. She raised her other hand again, with the same determination and hatred.

"Snapped!"

Another merciless and even harder slap landed on Wen Anrong's other cheek.

This time, Wen Anrong's lip was broken, and a thin stream of bright red blood seeped out, slowly sliding down her pale skin, leaving a shocking mark.

Her head drooped even lower, a few stray strands of hair obscuring part of her swollen cheeks and any expression she might be showing at that moment, leaving only that glaring crimson and the clear handprint.

Yang Guangming's heart leaped into his throat, worried that Wen Anrong would retaliate and beat her mother, and he was prepared to stop her at any moment.

He saw his mother's violently trembling back and felt her grief and indignation that seemed to burn everything to ashes; he empathized with her.

He understood that these two slaps were perhaps the only direct way for his mother to vent the resentment, humiliation, and pain that had been building up for eight years.

Old Mrs. Qin Lanying was also taken aback by her daughter-in-law's sudden and fierce attack. She froze for a moment before rushing forward, grabbing Tian Yufen's arm that was about to continue swinging, and repeatedly trying to comfort her, her voice filled with obvious anxiety:
"Yufen! Yufen! That's enough! A couple of slaps to vent your anger is enough! Stop hitting her, stop hitting her! If she gets seriously injured, how will we explain it to her!"

Tian Yufen's mother-in-law grabbed her arm tightly from behind. She struggled for a moment but couldn't break free.

She was panting heavily, her chest heaving, staring intently at Wen Anrong, who had her head bowed. The anger in her eyes still burned fiercely, but the impulse to act recklessly seemed to have been largely released with those two sharp slaps after she delivered the two slaps that had accumulated eight years of resentment. In their place was a feeling of exhaustion and despondency.

Wen Anrong slowly raised her hand, not to cover her burning, painful cheek, but to gently wipe away the bright red blood from the corner of her mouth with her fingertips.

Her movements were slow, with a kind of resigned numbness and an almost self-destructive composure.

Then, Wen Anrong raised her head, her eyes carrying a hint of relief, and looked at Tian Yufen, who was still glaring at her, before turning to the old lady who was tightly holding Tian Yufen's hand and looking worried.

She forced a smile, more painful than a grimace, onto her face, tinged with blood. Her voice still carried that strange tone, yet it held an unusual sincerity.

"It's alright. Really, it's alright. Auntie, please don't stop me. I came here this time... I came here to get beaten up."

I know Comrade Yufen is angry, resentful, and hateful. A few slaps will make him feel better, and it will also lessen my guilt and make me feel a little better. It's the right thing to do; I'll take it.”

Her words were spoken with unusual calmness, even with a kind of composure as if she were placing herself on an altar to be slaughtered, which stunned Tian Yufen, who was in a fit of rage, and left her speechless for a moment.

Tian Yufen had imagined countless times what it would be like to meet this "vixen" or "bad woman." She had rehearsed in her mind how arrogant and domineering she would be, how clever she would argue, or how she would pretend to be a pitiful, innocent woman to gain sympathy.

But what I didn't expect was that the other party would be so submissive, even actively asking to be beaten and punished.

This is completely inconsistent with the image of the wicked woman she had in mind—a woman who used every means to seduce and destroy her family.

This unconventional reaction felt like punching a wet cotton ball; not only was there no leverage, but the damp, cold, and heavy feeling enveloped her, leaving Tian Yufen with nowhere to channel the emotions she had accumulated over eight years. For a moment, she didn't know how to respond, and all her pent-up anger was stuck in her throat.

"Ah!"

Tian Yufen snapped out of her daze, letting out a cold laugh filled with sarcasm and disbelief, her tone sharp as she attempted to regain the moral and imposing moral high ground:

"You really are a vixen, good at pretending! Your mouth is full of seductive charm! You think I'll pity you or believe you just because you act like this? You're all filthy and want to get beaten up? I don't even want to bother! Hitting you would hurt my hands and dirty them!"

She shook the hand that had just hit someone, as if it had really been stained with something unclean.

She paused, then looked Wen Anrong up and down, her eyes filled with disdain and scrutiny, as if she were examining a cheap commodity.

"You say you've come to ask for a beating, but it looks more like you've come to provoke a fight!"
What? You came here to see how miserable and destitute we country bumpkins are, the ones you abandoned in the countryside to fend for ourselves?

Or are you here to flaunt your status as an official's wife and the prestige of living off government-subsidized food rations? Look at us, without Yang Jianxiong, wouldn't we be begging for food?

Wen Anrong listened quietly to Tian Yufen's scolding, her face showing no shame, anger, or grievance.

But the forced, bloodstained smile was even more bitter, and a deep sorrow flashed in his eyes, as if he was grieving for himself, for the other person, and for this tangled situation.

She waited until Tian Yufen caught her breath before speaking slowly, her voice low but clear, each word reaching everyone's ears:

"Comrade Yufen, I understand how you feel."

No matter what I say or do now, you may perceive it as hypocritical or ill-intentioned, and you will subconsciously resist and refute it.

That's normal. If I were in your position, my reaction would probably be even more intense and harder to control.

She paused slightly, as if gathering the immense courage needed for her next words. Her gaze swept over Tian Yufen, who was still agitated, and then turned to the old lady with her furrowed brows and sharp eyes, and Yang Guangming, who had been silently observing and trying to see through her.

Finally, as if having made up his mind, he said in a do-or-die tone:

“I’m here to meet you not to make excuses for my past actions. What’s done is done, and any excuses are powerless in the face of the damage caused.”

I'm not here to protest or show off.

I have nothing to boast about now...

There was a faint sense of desolation in her voice.

"I just want to tell you that I...I am willing to divorce Comrade Yang Jianxiong."

These words were like an even more powerful thunderclap, exploding in the small, already tense room, making everyone tremble with fear.

Tian Yufen was completely stunned. Her mouth was agape, her eyes were wide open, and she stared at Wen Anrong in disbelief, as if she had heard the most absurd and impossible words in the world.

Divorce? What did she say? She's willing to divorce Yang Jianxiong? How is that possible?

She went to great lengths, even risking infamy, to snatch Jianxiong away from her and ruin her family. Now that she has finally achieved her goal and become the enviable wife of an official, why would she take the initiative to file for divorce?
This is simply unbelievable! Is it a new conspiracy?
The old lady, Qin Lanying, also opened her eyes wide in shock. Her wrinkled face was filled with astonishment and disbelief, and she unconsciously loosened her grip on Tian Yufen's hand.

She had lived most of her life, experiencing war, famine, and all sorts of human vicissitudes, but she had never encountered such an unbelievable situation.

Yang Guangming was equally surprised. He scrutinized Wen Anrong more closely, not missing any subtle changes in her expression, trying to find the true intention and deeper reason behind her words from her tired, painful yet unusually calm eyes, and from the clear finger marks and bloodstains on her pale face.

Was it a feigned retreat? A strategic withdrawal? Or was there truly another hidden reason? And what was his father's attitude? Countless questions instantly flooded his mind.

Wen Anrong's words were like a bucket of ice water, instantly extinguishing Tian Yufen's raging anger, replacing it with immense confusion that almost brought her to a standstill.

She even subconsciously loosened her clenched fists, feeling all the strength in her body drain away with this sudden news.

The room fell into an even more deathly and eerie silence than before, as if even the air had stopped moving.

Wen Anrong looked at the frozen expressions of astonishment on everyone's faces, seemingly unsurprised.

She took a deep breath, as if what she was about to say would require a great deal of effort.

Wen Anrong continued, "You are the real family. You have Comrade Jianxiong's lawfully wedded wife, his blood-related mother, and his children."

I was wrong before, or rather, fate played a cruel trick on me, leading to the situation we have today.

But now, the mistake shouldn't continue. This mistake... was mainly my fault, and it's my responsibility to end it.

She paused, her gaze pleading, slowly sweeping over Tian Yufen and the old lady, finally settling on Yang Guangming's face. Her voice trembled slightly, but she tried to remain clear:

"Based on this, can we...can we sit down and have a proper talk?"

There are some things I've kept inside for far too long... I think you have the right to know.

Now that I know, whatever your decision or how you see me, I... can accept it.

The old lady was the first to recover from the series of shocks.

Having lived most of her life, experienced many vicissitudes, and become accustomed to the coldness of human relationships and the impermanence of life, her intuition told her that Wen Anrong's attitude at this moment, that deep-seated weariness and resigned composure, did not seem fake.

Moreover, her statements "the mistake should not continue" and "you have the right to know" seem to conceal a great secret concerning her son Jianxiong and this long-standing feud.

This secret is likely far more complex than they know.

She took a deep breath, tugged hard at Tian Yufen, who was still dazed and had a blank look in her eyes, and said in a serious tone with the hoarseness typical of the elderly:

"Yufen, sit down first. What kind of behavior is it to stand like this?"

She glanced again at the glaring redness and bloodstains on Wen Anrong's face, her tone complicated, "Since... since she's said all this, and brought it up to this point, let's sit down and listen to what she has to say. Let's hear what's really going on. It's better than us just guessing and getting angry here."

Tian Yufen was half-pulled and half-supported by her mother-in-law and sat back on the edge of the bed in a daze. Her eyes were still fixed on Wen Anrong, as if she wanted to find the answer behind Wen Anrong's shocking words from her pale and scarred face and see what she was really up to.

Her mind was a mess, like a ball of yarn tangled by a cat, completely incoherent.

Yang Guangming silently walked over and sat down next to his grandmother. He gently pulled Yang Shanshan, who had been hiding behind his grandmother, to his side and covered her ears with his hands to prevent her from hearing these overly complicated entanglements.

The little girl nestled against her brother, feeling a sense of security.

Seeing that everyone had sat down, Wen Anrong walked to the empty bed against the wall on the opposite side and slowly sat down.

Her hands were still tightly clasped on her knees, her head slightly bowed, revealing her slender and fragile neck, like a prisoner awaiting final judgment, or a penitent preparing for her final confession.

The atmosphere in the room remained heavy enough to drip water, but the tense, volatile atmosphere from before had been somewhat diluted by Wen Anrong's earth-shattering statement, "I'm willing to divorce," and her subsequent words.

Instead, a deeper, more complex cloud of doubt spread like a thick fog.

Everyone had a premonition that what they were about to hear might completely overturn their understanding of the past eight years.

The old lady spoke first, breaking the suffocating silence; her voice carried the composure of someone who had experienced the world:
"What you just said is indeed very different from what we know. You said that Jianxiong might not have told the whole truth back then, and that all the fault lay with you, and that you were willing to divorce him. What exactly happened?"

Now that you've come here today and started talking, let's make everything clear.

We...especially Yufen, have the right to know the truth.

She specifically emphasized the word "truth".

Although Tian Yufen did not speak, her bloodless lips and her focused gaze, which seemed to see right through Wen Anrong, showed that she was also holding her breath and waiting.

She awaits an explanation that can account for the eight years of suffering, an explanation that can give her heart, which has been gnawed and riddled with holes by resentment, a place to rest.

Yang Guangming listened intently, not missing a single word, pause, or subtle expression from Wen Anrong.

He knew that what he was about to hear might be the unknown truth behind his parents' divorce, which had been hidden for eight years.

The truth may be cruel or frustrating, but it is better than living in lies and suspicion.

Wen Anrong raised her head, her gaze somewhat unfocused, as if she were looking past the person in front of her and towards the distant past filled with painful memories.

Her voice, hollow and filled with deep sorrow, began to recount a story that had been buried for eight years and had changed the lives of many:
"Comrade Yufen, Auntie, and Guangming."

Her gaze swept over the three of them in turn, carrying a heavy sense of guilt. "I know that in your hearts, in the hearts of everyone in your hometown who knows about this, I have always been that bad woman who destroyed other people's families, was shameless, and seduced married men."

As for Comrade Jianxiong... in order to be with me, he heartlessly abandoned his wife who had shared his hardships and his young children. He is an ungrateful and fickle man, like Chen Shimei.

I carried this charge for eight years, and Jianxiong also... bore it for eight years.”

She paused, took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling slightly, and her strange tone seemed even more pronounced:

"But the truth is not entirely like that. Or rather, it is not as you know or think it is."

Comrade Jianxiong, he... he is an upright person, loyal and righteous, responsible and capable.

He chose to divorce his wife and marry me.

She uttered the word "combination" with difficulty, a trace of pain flashing across her face. "The main responsibility for this... or rather, the key factor that led him to make that final decision... lies with me."

Her tone was still somewhat strange, but the sincerity, pain, and confusion of being lost in memories in her words did not seem like a pretense.

"After my husband Li Wenhan sacrificed his life..."

Mentioning her deceased husband's name, Wen Anrong's eyes instantly reddened, and her voice visibly choked up.

She had to stop, blinking hard to barely control her emotions that were about to burst forth, but the deep, seemingly unhealable pain in her eyes was clearly conveyed to everyone present.

"I was really hit hard and I still can't accept this fact mentally."

Wenhan...we had a very good relationship. His sudden departure took all my energy and spirit away." Her voice lowered, filled with endless sorrow.

"During that time, I was completely dazed and confused, not knowing what I should do or what I could do."

Many times, I can't control my behavior and emotions.

I keep having hallucinations, thinking that Wenhan isn't dead, he's just gone on a long trip, and he'll walk in the next second, smiling and calling me 'Anrong'.

Her eyes became somewhat vacant, as if she had truly fallen into those terrifying hallucinations.

“There were even a few times... I woke up in the middle of the night and felt that he was watching me from outside the window. I went over and almost followed him through the window.”

Similar situations happened many times, and it was thanks to the constant support of my neighbors and a few close friends that I was able to persevere.

Her words paint a tragic picture of a person's mental world collapsing and on the verge of collapse after losing a loved one.

The despair and pain that penetrated to the bone was so intense that even Tian Yufen, filled with hatred, could vaguely sense its devastation. Her brows furrowed involuntarily, but she kept her lips pursed, refusing to show the slightest sympathy.

“At that time, I already had some mental problems.”

Wen Anrong continued speaking, her tone so calm it was almost cruel, as if she were narrating someone else's story. "Sometimes good, sometimes bad. When she's good, she's pretty much like a normal person, just not talkative. When she's bad... she's completely immersed in her own world and does things that she herself can't understand."

It wasn't too serious, and I could barely maintain my daily life. Plus, I'm a strong-willed person and didn't want to be seen as crazy or mentally ill, so I deliberately hid it. Not many people outside knew about it; they just thought I was overly heartbroken.

Comrade Jianxiong and Wenhan were old comrades-in-arms for many years, sharing a life-or-death bond.

Before Wenhan passed away, his biggest worry was for me and my son. He held Jianxiong's hand and asked him to take good care of us, my son and me, out of consideration for our comradeship.

Jianxiong... kept his promise. Entrusted by Wenhan on his deathbed, he always kept us in mind, even amidst his busy work schedule.

Out of respect for Wenhan, he took extra care of us, a widow and her orphan, from arranging accommodations and daily necessities to providing comfort during holidays. He thought of everything carefully and made proper arrangements.

I was grateful to him, regarding him as an elder brother and a comrade-in-arms I could trust and rely on. Beyond that, I never had any other improper thoughts.

She emphasized this point, looking at Tian Yufen with an honest gaze.

Tian Yufen snorted coldly, clearly not entirely believing it, but the sharpness in her eyes seemed to lessen slightly as she assessed the truthfulness of these words.

Wen Anrong's narration began to touch upon the core event that changed everyone's fate, and her speech slowed down:

"If... if things had continued peacefully like this, perhaps time could have healed some of the wounds. With my son and the care of the organization, I could have managed to get by, albeit with difficulty. At least... it wouldn't have led to any bigger mistakes."

But... but something just happened.

"Because of jealousy and unfounded rumors, coupled with my own mental instability, this led to serious consequences, burdening Comrade Jianxiong and causing your divorce."

Wen Anrong's voice lowered, filled with deep self-reproach and pain. (End of Chapter)