Chapter 234: Confession

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The cleaning lady hadn’t expected to receive a negative answer. “You really don’t know him?”

Mu Jingzhe shook her head firmly. Who was this person? She didn’t know him. She must have made a mistake. Mu Jingzhe turned around and left, her expression still a little dazed.

Her slow-witted brain spun and dug out the memories of the movie being released in the village a few days ago. Upon closer inspection, she realized that Shao Qihai’s cries were identical to what she had heard that night.

Therefore, the binoculars really belonged to Shao Qihai, and the person she had come across that night was also Shao Qihai…

After Mu Jingzhe left, the cleaning lady scratched her head and hesitated, not sure whether she should go forward and comfort Shao Qihai. This wasn’t a girl, and she didn’t know how to comfort him.

When Mu Jingzhe returned to the ward, the five kids had already calmed down. “Mommy, where’s Daddy? Didn’t you find him? Let’s go look for him together.”

Mu Jingzhe came back to her senses and quickly stopped them. “No need. I found him. He’ll be back in a while.”

Judging from the way Shao Qihai had fled, he probably didn’t want the children to see him cry. After Mu Jingzhe sat down again, she couldn’t help but slap her thigh. No wonder he had taught the children to shed blood and sweat but never tears previously. It was because he couldn’t bear to see them cry!

That’s right, Mu Jingzhe had already roughly guessed what was going on. She had seen some cases of tear incontinence. Some people cried uncontrollably when they were agitated, while others couldn’t help but cry when they saw others cry.

Mu Jingzhe had been fortunate enough to meet a male colleague with such a condition. He could cry while doing very overboard things, such as hitting someone or speaking viciously while crying.

Shao Qihai was probably the latter type, which was why he had refused to watch Little Bei’s movie with her at first. In the end, he hadn’t resisted secretly taking the binoculars to watch it. He had cried like a dog and had even been discovered by her.

Then, when Shao Dong had cried yesterday, Shao Qihai’s face had been covered in tears. Everyone had thought that it was because of the pain, but now, it seemed that this wasn’t the case.

If today was added to the mix… there was conclusive evidence.

Mu Jingzhe clicked her tongue with a strange expression. She didn’t know how he had survived previously and just how many people knew his secret.

Come to think of it, many people in this society would cry. It was the same even in the places where he used to stay, where there had been only men. Those who went to the army to train would cry when they missed home and things got tough, and then when they retired from the army, they would cry like dogs. How could Shao Qihai have endured it?

When she imagined Shao Qihai hiding under the blanket in the bathroom or hiding in various deserted corners, crying like a dog, and fainting from crying too hard while hugging his retiring comrade, she couldn’t help but feel amused.

So was he the infamous crybaby of their troops? Did everyone know that he was such a crybaby?

Upon thinking of a cool person like Shao Qihai actually being a little crybaby, Mu Jingzhe was amused. The song that had left the deepest impression on her flashed across her mind.

“Fallen leaves drifting in the cold wind. The army is a green flower. Dear comrade, don’t think about home. Don’t think about your mother…”

This song was really catchy. She didn’t know how to sing the latter part, but anyone could sing the first part. Hence, Mu Jingzhe couldn’t help but sing it.

“Mommy, which song is this?” Little Bei’s eyes lit up as she listened carefully.

“Just a song your father used to sing.” Mu Jingzhe was proud. This time, she didn’t sing it wrong. This song had also never been adapted before. “You’ve never heard of it before?”

Little Bei and the others shook their heads. Only then did Mu Jingzhe realize there was a problem. When had this song officially come out? Was it available now?

The version that she was singing had probably yet to be released… Mu Jingzhe quickly shut her mouth at the thought of this.

Shao Qihai, who had been kicked out by the cleaning lady and had finally managed to calm down, was speechless.

He covered his eyes at the door and almost burst into tears upon hearing Mu Jingzhe’s song.

This was because he recalled those unforgettable moments. Many a time, life in the troops was arduous and dull, but one would also gain precious comrades-in-arms.

Unlike what Mu Jingzhe had imagined, Shao Qihai had concealed it very well. No one knew about his problem. Everyone knew that he didn’t like people crying, so they would restrain themselves in front of him.

When he trained new recruits, his first rule was that they were not allowed to cry. If they cried, they would be punished and made to run. The effect was still good.

However, there was also a time when he had lost control. It was when his best pal had retired from the army. Fortunately, it had rained that day and others hadn’t been able to tell if the rain droplets were tears. Though he rarely cried openly, that day, he had been so depressed that he had cried in the rain while training his men to fight.

It hadn’t been easy for him to make it through. He hadn’t expected that in just a short time after returning home, he would continuously fail. He had taught his children to shed blood and sweat but never tears, and he had failed.

Shao Qihai went back with complicated feelings and didn’t notice Mu Jingzhe’s awkward, spirited gaze. However, he saw that she was looking at his eyes, and it occurred to him that his eyes were probably a little red. Afraid that she would be able to tell, he didn’t dare look her in the eye.

The kids, however, didn’t notice. They just hoped that Shao Qihai could tell them what had happened previously. There were some things that couldn’t be said, but he should be able to tell them what kind of injuries he had suffered.

They were depressed because they didn’t know anything about Shao Qihai. Shao Qihai thought about the doctor’s words, then looked at the five kids and finally said what he could.

Based on this, Mu Jingzhe knew that she had met him several times before. “So you’re that old perv… my savior.”

Shao Qihai was very ashamed when he heard that. “Actually, it’s also because of me that you encountered those situations. You were implicated by me many times, including when you and Little Bei came across the fire.”

In the end, Shao Qihai still confessed. “I tried my best to stop them from affecting you, but I didn’t expect you to still be implicated. I’m really sorry.”

Mu Jingzhe hadn’t expected Shao Qihai to be the reason behind all this. It would be a lie to say that she wasn’t angry. However, Shao Qihai hadn’t intended for all this to happen. Later on, he also said that he’d secretly protected them.

At this point, the knot in the children’s hearts was finally eliminated. It turned out that Shao Qihai had deliberately faked his death because it had been too dangerous.

Mu Jingzhe hadn’t expected something like this, which only happened in TV dramas and movies, to happen to her. “Now that you mention it, I was really lucky…”

However, Shao Dong thought of another problem. “Daddy, what if you’d really died in the process and couldn’t come back?”

Shao Qihai froze before he smiled and said, “I didn’t die and did come back. Don’t think about what-ifs. They don’t exist…”

“No, I want to know. If you had really died, would we have known? Or would we always have thought that you deliberately abandoned us?” It was rare for Shao Dong to be stubborn.

Shao Qihai looked into Shao Dong’s eyes and couldn’t bring himself to lie. “You would have known. Even if you didn’t know by now, you might have known in the future. It would have been fine as long as you found out and forgave me in time.”

Seeing that the expressions of the five kids weren’t right, Shao Qihai quickly said, “My situation is actually much better.. Compared to truly nameless heroes, this is nothing.”