He was also a pitiful child. Zhi Xia went into the room and took out half a bag of candies hidden in the cabinet, giving each of them a big handful and putting it in their pockets. She then told them to be careful when going to watch the festivities and not get trampled on again.
In a short period of time, many things had happened.
Yang Dawei was dumbfounded. Shen Hongxing threw tantrums for several days. Yang Jun still insisted on getting a divorce. Fortunately, she still had some heartache for the children and didn't make too big of a fuss. In addition, Shen Hongmei advised her to leave for a period of time first and then try to mend things after Yang Jun cooled down. They still had several children in between them, so they couldn't just sever ties completely. She could only leave the army first.
Yang Jun went to the superiors to retrieve his demobilization application. After Yang Dawei almost drowned, his health had deteriorated. Yang Jun also wanted to take him to a big hospital to examine his head and see if medicine could help. Medical treatment and medicine cost money.
The army had good benefits and there were subsidies for going on missions. These were benefits that would be absolutely unavailable after retirement.
But at the same time, Yang Cui Er, who was a year younger than Yang Dawei, could only quit school and take care of her older brother and younger twin brothers at home. There was no alternative.
After Shen Hongxing left, the Yang children grew up a lot in an instant. Although the children were young, they knew more than a little.
No matter how noisy and chaotic it had been before, with the parents there, they could rely on them. But as soon as the parents divorced, their mindset changed greatly, and their temperaments became much calmer.
After thanking Zhi Xia, Yang Cui Er took Yang Dawei away to continue watching the festivities.
Zhi Xia also closed the door to her room and headed to Zhao Xin’s home.
Upon entering the courtyard, she could hear the noisy sounds coming from the room. Pei Jing was shouting at one side for them not to go overboard. Everyone knew he was protecting his niece. A few young men drove him out.
Seeing Zhi Xia come over, Pei Jing also came up to remind her, "It's very noisy inside. This bunch of ill-mannered boys, you'd better not go in."
Zhi Xia was a little worried. "Is it okay for them to be like this?"
"It's fine. They're just playing games, making Zhao Xin do push-ups. There's also an apple-eating game later... " Marriage was about having fun, and also about bringing the bride and groom closer through small games.
But thinking of how Zhao Xin had been toyed with to the point of exhaustion, Pei Jing still couldn't help mourning for him for a second.
At dinner time, they went to the canteen to eat. It was a rare lively occasion, and the canteen had already been notified. Today's dishes were also very decent.
Pei Jing was called to Zhao Xin's side to drink with them. Zhi Xia didn't go over when beckoned, because she saw the cultural troupe people there, including Shen Hongmei.
Zhi Xia said she was going back to rest after eating. Pei Jing thought she must be tired after being busy for so long, so he didn't think much of it and told her to be careful.
As she passed by, Zhi Xia took out a bag of candy from her clothes and gave each of the cultural troupe girls a large handful. "This is today's wedding candy. Share in the wedding bliss."
It was reasonable for her to hand out candy since the cultural troupe had also arranged performances for the night.
Everyone thanked Zhi Xia profusely and she smiled and said don't mention it.
She still had a piece of candy in her palm that she handed to Shen Hongmei. "Just now when receiving the bride, Dawei also picked up a lot of candy. He even said he wanted to take it home and hide it to keep for his auntie. I saw the child has been coughing badly lately. And when he was picking up candy just now, someone stepped on his hand and made him cry quite hard. If you have time, you should go take a look at him more."
Zhi Xia looked at Shen Hongmei sincerely and gave her a faint smile.
Shen Hongmei took the candy. Zhi Xia left.
Everyone knew about Shen Hongmei's past pursuit of Pei Jing. Those around her were praising Zhi Xia.
Some also urged Shen Hongmei to hurry up and finish eating, then go see Yang Dawei. The matter with Shen Hongxing had spread through almost the entire army. They also knew the child was truly pitiful now. With Yang Jun being a grown man busy with things, only 11-year-old Yang Cui Er was at home taking care of the children. As an auntie, shouldn't Shen Hongmei be paying more attention?
Moreover, Shen Hongmei was able to stay in the cultural troupe largely thanks to Yang Jun's efforts.
In recent times, Shen Hongmei hadn't dared to visit them. It wasn't that she didn't care, but she was afraid the system would harm people again if she did.
Now being pushed like this, she could no longer use the excuse of not having time.
Shen Hongmei was still mumbling, wanting to use some excuse to get out of going to see Yang Dawei. She had also lost her appetite for the meal. The candy in her hand was being twisted around by her fingers, revealing the object inside that was clearly not candy.
Shen Hongmei knew the system could probe her thoughts, so she dared not think about what this thing was at all. She hurriedly shifted her thoughts elsewhere, but her hand tightly grasped the object in her palm.
Almost in that instant, she felt the kind of close connection she had with the system seemed to disappear.
"System... system..."
Shen Hongmei tried to contact the system in her mind, but didn't get any response at all.
She was stunned for a moment, then immense joy surged up.
She instinctively wanted to take a closer look at the thing in her hand, but was afraid the system would regain control if she let go. So she could only endure.
Standing up, she told her teammates she was going to visit her brother-in-law's family first. She left in a hurry without waiting for a response.
This behavior puzzled those around her.
Clearly, when they had urged her earlier, she was still unwilling to go. They were thinking this person really had no conscience. Unexpectedly, the next second she ran off—wasn't this behavior too bizarre?
Zhi Xia had already returned home. Looking back, Shen Hongmei didn't chase after her.
She couldn't help but suspect she had guessed wrong. Was Shen Hongmei actually in cahoots with that harmful entity and had no desire to break control at all?
Zhi Xia didn't hurry into the room. Instead, she waited in the yard for a while. Fortunately, it wasn't long before Shen Hongmei came.
She ran over, and although she was panting heavily, the expression on her face was clearly very happy.
Fortunately, she was still cautious. As she was about to hurry in, she looked left and right. Seeing no one had noticed, she quickly headed in Zhi Xia's direction.
Zhi Xia had already opened the door. She said, "Come in to talk."
Having witnessed Zhi Xia's ability to help her break free of the system, Shen Hongmei trusted her a lot more this time.
After the two entered the room, Zhi Xia closed the door and got right to business. "I can help you break free of what's controlling you, but I need your full cooperation. Let me ask you again—do you really want to break free of it?"
Because the trading device had a setting that it could not force others. Shen Hongmei had to cooperate wholeheartedly.
"Yes, as long as you can help me break free of its control, I'll do whatever you say." Since obtaining the system, Shen Hongmei had harmed half a village. This included her own younger brother's life, as well as her nephew becoming an idiot and the tragic outcome of her older sister and brother-in-law's divorce.
Although she had also gained some benefits herself, compared to the price paid, it was truly negligible.
Unless one's conscience had completely eroded away, it would be difficult for anyone to accept this fact.
Right now, Shen Hongmei was unable to think about anything else. Zhi Xia had shown her hope. Her only thought at this moment was to seize the opportunity while things could still be salvaged, break free of the system, and become a normal person again who would no longer bring misfortune to others.
