Li Yunlan glared at her daughter. "When you wereing in my arms, do you have any idea what your older brother was doing? He was thrown into the mountains and nearly eaten by wolves! He has every right to hate me, to blame me—it was my carelessness that lost him. But he doesn't!"

"Before joining the army, your brother had never even had a photo taken. He'd never been to the county town, never worn new clothes. How can you be so indifferent? How can you just want to go home?"

Zhou Xiaohong felt wronged. "But he doesn't accept us! Should we just stay here indefinitely?

And besides, it wasn't your fault to begin with. Mom, have you thought about how Big Brother—Zhou Xiaoming—must feel? He's innocent too. He's been with you for thirty years. Do you really have no feelings for him at all?"

Li Yunlan frowned, as if she'd almost forgotten Zhou Xiaoming existed. After a long silence, she said, "He may be innocent—he may not be at fault—but his birth mother is vile for swapping my son! I've done right by him. I raised him with care, helped him marry and start a family. I owe him nothing! You go. I don't want to see you. You're a traitor!"

Fuming, Zhou Xiaohong sat down in silence. She thought she was being reasonable—something like this required everyone to sit down and talk it through properly.

And Big Brother Zhou Xiaoming had a right to know, too.

Unaware of whether Li Yunlan and her daughter had left, Lin Xiaoxiao had a restless night's sleep. Early the next morning, she hurried to the hospital to report to Lu Yanda.

Thanks to Zhou Huai'an's connection, Lu Yanda treated her very well. "This short-term training program is mainly for those with some medical background—village barefoot doctors, or nurses with a few years of experience. After some systematic training, they can work as doctors in town or community hospitals."

Lin Xiaoxiao wasn't worried. "I'll study hard. I also learned a few things from my grandfather."

Lu Yanda nodded repeatedly. "That's good. If you have any questions, just ask me. The dorm is in the back—four people to a room, all here from different places to study."

That was fine with Lin Xiaoxiao. She asked another question: "Are there any restrictions at night?

Like, are we allowed to go out?"

Lu Yanda was slightly taken aback. "Not really, but it's not very safe at night. A young woman like you shouldn't wander around."

Lin Xiaoxiao quickly replied obediently, "I won't run around. I was just asking."

After his reminders, Lu Yanda took her to register. She was given a somewhat worn white coat and a stethoscope.

After signing in, someone led her to the dormitory in the back. On the way, she ran into Liu Mei, who was fetching hot water. Liu Mei looked surprised. "Sister-in-law, you really came to study?"

Lin Xiaoxiao blinked playfully. "Yeah! I'll come find you when I have time."

Liu Mei nodded. "Okay, I'll come see you too when I'm free."

The dormitory was cramped, with two slightly rusted metal bunk beds on each side and a three-drawer desk by the window.

Lin Xiaoxiao was the first to arrive. She chose the bed on the left near the desk, set her things down, then went back to get her bedding and luggage.

As she was leaving the guesthouse with her things, she ran into Li Yunlan and her daughter.

Overnight, Li Yunlan seemed to have aged—she looked haggard and weary.

Li Yunlan was still very polite to Lin Xiaoxiao. "Where are you off to?" she asked concernedly.

"Going to report at the hospital." After answering, Lin Xiaoxiao asked curiously, "Are you planning to stay here, or are you going back to Beijing?"

Li Yunlan was silent for a moment. "I want to visit his unit, but I'm afraid he'll be upset."

She didn't mention going back. Lin Xiaoxiao felt she'd helped all she could—there wasn't much more she could say. "Well, take care of yourselves. I'd better get going."

Li Yunlan watched Lin Xiaoxiao walk away, then suddenly turned to Zhou Xiaohong. "Let's go to your brother's unit. I just remembered—Xiaoling is there too. We'll go see Xiaoling. If he doesn't want us bothering him, we'll just watch from a distance."

Zhou Xiaohong was exasperated. "Mom, this isn't your fault. You don't have to be so humble.

Besides, he's doing fine. He might not even need us. I think we should take it slow. We can't force it."

Li Yunlan flared up instantly. "You shut up! What do you mean he doesn't need us? He's my son!

What have I ever given him? Are you still my daughter?—how can you say such horrible things!

Zhou Xiaohong had been scolded so much over the past two days that her eyes were red. She held her mother's arm, worried she'd make herself sick with anger. "Mom, don't be upset. Let's go see Xiaoling."

This time, Li Yunlan didn't respond. She was already plotting how to get back at Wang Fenglan's family.

When Lin Xiaoxiao returned to the dorm with her luggage, there was another woman there—around thirty years old with delicate features, carrying a baby a few months old. She'd chosen the bunk across from Lin Xiaoxiao's.

Seeing Lin Xiaoxiao come in, the woman quickly stood up and greeted her with a smile. "Hello, I'm An Xiuyun. I'm from Han Family Village. Spring planting is about to start, and there was no one to watch the baby, so I brought her along."

Lin Xiaoxiao had never raised a child and had little patience for哄ing them. Truth be told, she found children annoying—she always dreaded encountering a crying child on the road. But she could also understand—you can't exactly reason with a baby this young.

Besides, she knew it was common for people to bring children to school or work these days.

Even after the college entrance exams resumed, many would take their kids to university. She offered a friendly smile. "Hello, I'm Lin Xiaoxiao."

An Xiuyun looked at her with a hint of curiosity. "Are you from the city? Are you married?"

Lin Xiaoxiao smiled. "Yes, I'm married."

She didn't elaborate and turned to make her bed. As she unrolled her bedding, a kraft paper envelope fell out. On it was written "Lin Xiaoxiao" in strong, vigorous handwriting.

Puzzled, she realized no one but Zhou Huai'an could have put it there—but when had he slipped it in?

Inside the envelope were seven ten-yuan bills, along with some smaller change and food ration coupons.

There was also a letter telling her to return 50 yuan to Li Yinping—that ill-gotten gains were unacceptable. She mustn't take advantage of others...

Lin Xiaoxiao pouted. She didn't have such lofty ideals. Why should she return money she'd worked hard to trick out of someone?

Besides, that Li Yinping didn't seem like "the masses" at all—she struck her more like a young lady from a capitalist family!

She had no intention of returning the money. In fact, she was keeping it all for herself! The thought cheered her up.

Humming happily, she finished making her bed. Now she was sitting on a small fortune—start-up capital for whatever she decided to do next.

Sitting on her newly made bed, she gazed out the window and suddenly missed life in the family compound.

They'd only been apart a short while, and she was already missing Zhou Huai'an.

Meanwhile, Zhou Huai'an and Lü Zhigang were still on the road. Lü Zhigang advised him, "If you really can't find out who's trying to sabotage you, just drop the Zhou family name—your grandfather Zhou Bingwen's reputation. Let's see who dares mess with you then."

Zhou Huai'an shook his head. "No. Don't bring it up again. I don't need to name-drop anyone.

Zhou Xiaoming was also in the military—investigate him!"