The beloved but ungrateful girl is reborn: This time she has truly changed.

Wang Dong clenched his jaw tightly, his gaze fixed on the thin piece of paper—

"Seeing this letter is like seeing you in person. Several days have passed since we parted, and my longing for you is like a surging tide. I wish I could fly to your side immediately and hold you in my arms..."

"As for Qi Weiwei, don't worry, you're the only one in my heart."

Last time you asked me if I still slept with her, I solemnly assure you: since I learned that she was pregnant, I have not touched her again.

"Never again."

"Qi Weiwei is nothing more than a puppet sent by the Qi family; it's a responsibility I can't escape."

When the time is right, I will definitely divorce her and marry you. Heaven and earth can bear witness to this.

"This letter should be burned immediately after reading; do not keep it."

"Your Jun. Winter of 1971."

Wang Dong's face went from shock to anger, from anger to ashen, and then from ashen to deathly pale.

His hands trembled violently, and the letter paper rustled under the lamplight.

He suddenly looked up at Qi Weiwei, his eyes frighteningly red: "This...this is real?!"

Qi Weiwei nodded: "Absolutely true."

Wang Dong's chest heaved violently as he gripped the letter tightly, his knuckles cracking.

For a fleeting moment, he seemed to genuinely want to tear up the letter—to tear up this filthy evidence, to tear up this fact that made him feel like a joke.

But he eventually managed to control himself.

He took a few deep breaths and handed the letter back to Qi Weiwei, his voice dry and hoarse like sandpaper scraping: "Sister-in-law, can you guarantee with your integrity that this letter is genuine?"

Qi Weiwei took the letter, carefully folded it, and put it back in her bosom.

She looked at Wang Dong, her eyes clear and firm: "Yes, I swear to the leader."

Wang Dong fell silent.

He took two steps back, leaned against the wall of the guard post, lowered his head, and slumped his shoulders.

The autumn night wind ruffled the hem of his military uniform, and this usually upright soldier looked so dejected at that moment.

After a long while, he gave a bitter laugh, his voice so low it was almost inaudible:

"I knew all along that she didn't love me, and even hated me."

Every time I go home on vacation, she avoids me, and at night... she always makes excuses.

I thought she thought I was a boorish person who didn't understand her little romantic gestures, or things like poetry and movies...

He looked up, his eyes bloodshot, a self-mocking sorrow in them: "So, I was just her... a decoy. She married me so she could legitimately stay in the city, stay by that bastard Tang Aijun's side, right?"

Qi Weiwei didn't say anything.

She knew that saying anything at this point would be superfluous.

Wang Dong remained silent for a while, then suddenly asked:

"Sister-in-law, what are you planning to do?"

I can give this letter to the political commissar right now!

Tang Aijun will go to jail for disrupting a military marriage!

Tang Tiantian can't escape either!

He said this through gritted teeth, his fists clenched tightly, and the veins on the back of his hands bulged.

But Qi Weiwei shook her head: "I haven't finished speaking yet."

She pulled out another piece of paper from her pocket—it was the address on the remittance slip that she had copied down, and she had written a few words on the back.

"Company Commander Wang, look at this sentence." She pointed to a line in the letter, "'Now that Yaozong is before you, it can also comfort your heart.'"

Wang Dong frowned and leaned closer to take a look.

The light was dim, and he squinted to see clearly: "I see it, but... what does this mean?"

Qi Weiwei sighed, her voice soft but exceptionally clear in the quiet night: "Didn't Tang Tiantian keep telling you that she was pregnant with both of your children, and that they were both stillborn?"

Wang Dong nodded, his eyes dimming. "Yes, I've felt incredibly guilty about it. She said it must be something wrong with my...seed. Because of this, I trained extra hard, tried my best to perform well, wanted to earn more merit and more allowances so she could have a better life..."

As he spoke, his voice choked up again.

Qi Weiwei waved her hand, interrupting him: "She did indeed get pregnant with two children, and she gave birth to two."

Wang Dong suddenly looked up: "What?"

"It's Tang Yaozong and Tang Yaozu," Qi Weiwei said, emphasizing each word.

Wang Dong was completely dumbfounded.

He stared blankly at Qi Weiwei, his mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. After a long while, he finally found his voice, dry and hoarse like sand rubbing together:

"Sister-in-law, are you out of your mind with anger?"

Yaozong and Yaozu...aren't they your and Tang Aijun's sons?

Qi Weiwei looked at him, her eyes terrifyingly clear:

No, I am perfectly sober.

I heard Tang Aijun and Tang Tiantian say with my own ears that I gave birth to two daughters and she gave birth to two sons.

She traded her two sons for my two daughters.

She paused, then added:

"They are now being raised in the countryside of Shandong Province, in Tang Tiantian's hometown."

Wang Dong's mind seemed to be stuck.

He frowned, trying to process what he was hearing, but his expression grew increasingly confused and incredulous.

"Yaozong and Yaozu...are they my sons?" he murmured.

"No," Qi Weiwei sneered, "They are Tang Aijun and Tang Tiantian's son. I heard them say it with my own ears."

She looked at Wang Dong, knowing that this fact was too cruel and that she needed time to accept it.

But she had to make it clear.

"Company Commander Wang, think about it carefully."

She slowed her speech, trying to make each word clear.

"Why were Tang Tiantian's two babies born more than half a month past their due date? Didn't the doctor say anything was wrong?"

Wang Dong was stunned.

He thought back carefully.

The first time Tang Tiantian was pregnant, her due date was early October, but the baby was not born until late November, which was called "late birth".

The second time, the due date was around December 10th, but it was delayed until the end of December.

In her letter, Tang Tiantian tearfully complained that the baby was too big to give birth to and that she had suffered a lot.

He was so distressed that he sent all the accumulated task subsidies back home.

Why?

He heard himself ask, his voice as faint as if in a dream.

Qi Weiwei looked at him and said, word by word:

"Because she took a contraceptive pill when she was with you."

This medicine takes a week to become effective.

Therefore, she always conceived two weeks later than usual.

Contraceptive pills for visiting relatives.

Wang Dong knew about this.

Some family members of soldiers come to visit, and if they don't want children for the time being, they will go to the hospital to get this medicine.

Having intercourse during the medication's effects will not result in pregnancy, but it will take some time for the body to return to a normal ovulation cycle after the medication wears off.

If Tang Tiantian really took this kind of medicine...

So the time when she got pregnant was definitely not during the few days he visited his family.

Instead... afterwards.

It was after he left that she and Tang Aijun...

Wang Dong suddenly closed his eyes.

He didn't want to think about it anymore.

But those images kept replaying in my mind uncontrollably—Tang Tiantian calling out "Brother" sweetly, Tang Aijun gently stroking her hair, the two of them... passionately entwined, and that cheesy "guarantee"...

"Sister-in-law." He opened his eyes, his voice terribly hoarse, but he had regained his composure. "You said you'd help, what kind of help?"