“Ei? In the time I went to get some rice wine, little lass Jian came home.” Outside the unlocked door came Principal Chen’s jubilant laughter, “Tonight little lass Jian will accompany Old Uncle and I as we drink some wine and celebrate a Spring Festival of reunion!”
Since the moment Ye Jian had graduated from junior high, they hadn’t had a reunited New Year. In the past, she was training even in the first month of New Year and only rushed back on the last day before school reopens. Her training that spans from the start of the year till the end of the year, occupied most of her time during her last four years, and her studies had instead become a secondary objective.
The alcoholic fragrance of rice wine mixed with the fragrant spice from the dishes. Tonight had become the night when Ye Jian smiled the most and when she was the happiest. To say something that would incur internal damage to Major Xia, she was much more happier than spending time with him.
Ye Jian didn’t drink too much; she drank less than one shot before the two elders urged her to get some early rest. Training for twenty-two consecutive days, no matter which unit she was placed in, still counted as a high-intensity training session, and she should get some well-needed rest.
Her emotions fluctuated hugely when she returned; she also drank some alcohol; after spending two hours chatting with her two dearest family, Ye Jian, who was extremely happy to the core, naturally obeyed their wishes, after brushing up, she really got into bed and fell asleep.
She fell asleep. Inside the living room, Principal Chen poured Old Uncle Gen a warm cup of rice wine; after clinking their glasses together, he said: “From what I see, the things Uncle want to say shouldn’t be mentioned for the time being, why don’t we wait till after Gaokao before we bring it up again?”
“There’s not too much time before Gaokao, let’s have her finish the exams peacefully. The military is also waiting for her Gaokao’s results to be published, and is waiting for her to officially start her military journey. At this important crossroad, Uncle Gen, I’m scared things would go wrong.”
If Ye Jian’s Gaokao was affected just because of Ye family’s darned matters, then that’s not worth it at all!
Old Uncle Gen sipped on his cup; he let out a long sigh, “That Ye family’s old woman is going crazy, indulging that son-in-law of hers to act so lawlessly. I’m scared he’ll bring trouble to the school, and little lass Jian wouldn’t be prepared.”
“What Old Mrs. Ye is doing is really inappropriate, and also her son-in-law, I don’t quite understand why they want you to step in, to persuade Ye Jian to meet with them? Also, that night, I also heard Old Mrs. Ye mention something about a ‘jade pendant’. While listening to her, I have a feeling that it has a very important relationship with Ye Jian?”
“There’s also something I wanted to ask you that night. Since Uncle knew Sun Yaozu was a wanted criminal, why didn’t you contact the police to take him away? Leaving him alone till now, he had just turned into a huge scourge.”
This time when Principal Chen went back to pick up Old Uncle Gen to the provincial city, that same night, he saw Old Mrs. Ye bringing her son-in-law and daughter in tow as they walked in with an extremely confident air around them, he wanted to come out to stop them, but was stopped by Old Uncle Gen and was asked to stay in the room, for Ye Jian’s sake, he mustn’t show himself.
Though he didn’t show himself, he did hear quite a lot of things, one of them was about a ‘jade pendant,’ the other was news that Sun Yaozu’s wanted criminal status had turned from criminal to innocent!
After he finished his questions, the living room fell into silence once again; after a good while had passed, Old Uncle Gen spoke: “It’s not something that can be told clearly in a few words, but I did regret not telling the police about it.”
“About that jade pendant, actually, little lass Jian knew about it, you can also consider it a memento of her mother’s, however I advised her not to take back that disastrous thing.”
Principal Chen’s hand that was grabbing for peanut kernels paused, “I’m a bit confused by Uncle’s words, since it’s a memento of the Fallen Hero Sun Xueqing, why did it suddenly become a disastrous thing?”
“After she got her hands on that piece of jade, she returned in a tiny box, she was gone, turned into dust.” Mentioning Ye Jian’s mother, every wrinkle on Grandpa Gen’s face was seeping with seriousness, “She also mentioned this to me, if one day she died out there, it most likely has something to do with that piece of jade.”
