Rebirth in 1958: Getting rich starts from Nanluoguxiang

The woman looked up at Dabao. They were all looking at her, as if waiting for her to continue. She didn't know whether she should continue.

Dabao smiled and said,

"Sister-in-law, don't worry. We are Chen Taohua, also known as Chen Cuiping's comrades-in-arms. We just want to learn about her situation today."

The guide was so anxious that sweat broke out on his forehead, and he kept saying this.

"Er Ya, this is a senior leader. Tell us what you know, but don't hide anything."

The woman hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded and said.

"My father-in-law was still alive at that time. Taohua and Xinghua's parents passed away long ago. My father-in-law, who was also their uncle, raised them. When my father-in-law saw Taohua coming back with a big belly, he secretly asked her what happened.

Taohua said that she met her man and they got married with the approval of the organization. Her man went out to carry out a mission, and Taohua returned to Yi County in order not to drag him down.

My father-in-law was very happy when he heard this, but within two months, for some reason, people started saying that Taohua had been ruined by the army, and that she didn't even know who the father of the child was. She had come back because she couldn't make it out there.

At first, no one believed it, thinking Taohua was not that kind of person. But the rumor spread more and more, and even people from our Baoziyu didn't dare to look up when we went out, for fear of being pointed at by others.

So the clan leader opened the ancestral hall and asked Taohua to kneel before the ancestral tablets and hand over her wild man. Taohua just kept explaining that her husband was on a mission and that he was a great hero...

No one believed her and kept asking her to hand over her man. For more than two hours, Taohua refused to tell the chief no matter how he asked. The angry chief called in the family law and beat her with fifty lashes.

We didn't dare to stop her and could only watch Taohua get beaten. When Taohua was whipped, I saw it clearly. She desperately protected her stomach. Even though her back was bruised, her stomach was not hurt..."

At this point, the woman began to choke up, and Yu Zecheng stamped his feet anxiously and asked repeatedly.

"Where's the child? How's the child?"

The woman gave him a strange look and continued.

"My father-in-law was also given ten lashes for failing to discipline his children, which led to the downfall of the family. Even that wasn't enough, the clan leader drove the pregnant Taohua up the mountain and forbade her to leave until she revealed who the man was.

From then on, Taohua lived in the cave. My husband and I would always secretly bring things to visit her. Taohua had been a strong person since she was young. She cultivated a little land in the mountains and barely made a living.

The woman suddenly began to wail loudly, her voice becoming more and more shrill.

"Taohua even delivered her own child and bit off the umbilical cord herself, yet she hasn't revealed who that man is. What kind of man is he? To make her so devoted..."

Yu Zecheng finally couldn't help but burst into tears. He hated himself. He hated himself for ruining Cuiping's life for the so-called mission.

Dabao felt very sad too. He patted Yu Zecheng on the shoulder.

"Sister-in-law, please continue."

The woman nodded and wiped away her tears.

"Over the years, we occasionally gave Taohua and her daughter some salt and cloth, and they barely managed to get by. This year, there was a famine, and the village ran out of food three months ago. They survived by boiling leaves and bark, so there was nothing left for them. Now, I don't know how they are doing..."

Dabao asked in surprise.

"You mean, you mean Taohua is not dead?"

The woman shook her head in confusion.

"I don't know about the next few months, but I think they will have something to eat in the mountains. After all, they don't have to pay the public grain tax."

Yu Zecheng's voice trembled.

"Sister-in-law, where do we go up the mountain? Tell me, I want to go find them."

The woman raised a hand tremblingly and pointed to the road behind.

"Follow this road up the mountain. It's about twenty miles away."

Yu Zecheng jumped up and ran away madly.

Dabao and Tong Liang quickly followed, and the remaining soldiers carried Mu Wanqiu, who could no longer walk, and ran up...

Yu Zecheng ran madly. His sleeves were scratched by branches and his arms were bleeding. He didn't even look at them. There was a fire in his heart that made him run up the mountain regardless of everything.

This man's potential is limitless. Even Dabao can only barely keep up with Yu Zecheng. Yu Zecheng is running in the woods like a monkey. Finally, the road ahead opens up.

There are several rows of corn planted on a piece of open land. The corn has been picked, leaving only the bare stalks and leaves.

There was a cave not far ahead, blocked by a fence door made of branches. At the door, on a stove supported by a few stones, there was a small pot with steam rising from it.

Yu Zecheng slowly slowed down his pace, his eyes never leaving the small figure squatting next to the small pot. The small figure was wearing a ragged adult's clothes, with messy hair and two small braids.

Suddenly, a woman opened the gate and walked out slowly, carrying a basin. She noticed someone was there and raised her head sharply.

Suddenly... she was stunned, and she could no longer hold the basin in her hand. As soon as she let go, the basin fell to the ground and rolled several times.

The small figure stood up in surprise. It was a little girl with a few pieces of coal dust on her face. When she saw Yu Zecheng, she screamed in fright and threw herself into the woman's arms.

Yu Zecheng took off his military cap, walked towards the woman step by step, and spoke softly.

"You taught me how to hold on to this belief... I swore that you were in my heart and that I loved you... You told me that love meant eating with you, living with you, and raising children with you..."

The woman smoothed her gray hair and grinned. Her smile still vaguely reflected that of the cheerful Cuiping. Cuiping looked at Yu Zecheng who was getting closer and closer and asked softly.

"Mission accomplished?"

"Well, it's done!"

"Are you leaving again after coming back?"

"I won't leave, never again."

"What will you do next?"

"Eat with you, live with you, and raise children with you."

After ten years of separation, the conversation when they met was so dull. Yu Zecheng was already standing in front of Cuiping and reached out to help her smooth her hair.

Cuiping could no longer hold back her tears. Fifty lashes had not made her shed a single tear, but now her tears fell like pearls in strings.

Yu Zecheng wiped away the tears on Cuiping's face gently with trembling hands, but the tears kept flowing along with her smile.

After a long while, Yu Zecheng squatted down. The little girl looked at him timidly, her big eyes full of tears.

Cuiping squatted down with difficulty and said to the little girl with a smile.

"This is your dad. Tell dad, what's your name? What's your dad's name? What's your mom's name?"

P.S. I wrote this chapter with tears in my eyes. In the previous chapter, I had decided to write about Cuiping's death five years ago, the little girl living alone in the cave. But when I wrote this chapter, I suddenly realized that my heart did not want Cuiping to die. Cuiping absolutely could not die! She was a true hero, she did not deserve to die!

I seldom watch Chinese dramas, but there are only two that stick out in my mind: The Hidden Gem and The Bright Sword. The ending of The Hidden Gem left me with a deep regret. Now I write down the ending of The Hidden Gem in my own way, as a tribute to those heroes and to The Hidden Gem as a TV series.