Conseillère militaire et princesse

Chapitre 12

"Yes, yes! I saw her missing person ad a while ago, saying she's been missing... for about three years now..."

"Huh? Didn't Kang Hui and Lan Ming break up three years ago?"

"Yes, Kang Hui became a vegetable after a car accident at that time... I heard she committed suicide shortly after recovering..."

The murmurs grew louder and louder. Kang Hui squatted on the ground, covered her ears, and cried out, "I really am Kang Hui... Please believe me... Please believe me..."

"Mom... let's go home." The auditorium fell silent again. A little boy appeared out of nowhere, followed by a girl drinking strawberry yogurt. The sound of the girl sucking on the straw was especially jarring in the silence.

Kang Hui suddenly stood up: "I'm not your mother! You've mistaken me for someone else!"

"Mom... if you really don't like Dad, we'll live on our own... we'll run away from home together..." the little boy continued timidly.

"I told you I'm not your mother!" Kang Hui shoved Xiao He away, and Xiao He sat on the ground and burst into tears.

"Sister Kang Hui, are you alright?" Ding Yan looked at Kang Hui, whose expression was chaotic. "I didn't bring him here on purpose. I just felt sorry for him... Sister Kang Hui... Sister Kang Hui?"

Kang Hui stared intently at Ding Yan, then suddenly grabbed her hand and said to everyone, "Listen! Listen! What did she call me? What did she call me? She called me Sister Kang Hui! I really am Kang Hui!"

Then everyone turned their attention to Ding Yan, who innocently sucked out a mouthful of blood and licked his lips. "Sister Kang Hui has been renting my apartment for the past three years. All I know is that she's a painter, nothing else..."

"A painter?!" Lan Ming looked at the portrait in the center of the hall. "Xiao Hui... Xiao Hui was also a painter..."

"So! I am Kang Hui!" Kang Hui shouted, looking at everyone with pleading eyes: "There must be some mistake... there must be some mistake... I am Kang Hui... I have always been Kang Hui..."

“Mom…” Xiaohe suddenly said coldly, “Mom… how could you be Aunt Kanghui? Have you forgotten? When Xiaoping died… you said you were going to find Aunt Kanghui to paint a picture of her, and you’ve never come back since! Mom!”

"Xiaoping...who is Xiaoping?" Kang Hui squatted on the ground, scratching her head violently, as if her chaotic head was crawling with lice from the inside out.

She suddenly screamed and rushed out, only to be grabbed by the arm by a cold-looking man at the door.

The man said, "Have you made enough of a scene? Come back with me!"

Xiao He cried out, "Dad! Don't let Mom run away again!"

14.

Neighbors' testimonies, fingerprints, blood types, and even DNA all prove that Kang Hui is Yao Ying.

The only one who wouldn't admit this fact was Kang Hui herself (let's still call her Kang Hui for now). She felt that something must have gone wrong.

Perhaps she has been trapped in another dimension, and in this space she is Yao Ying? This is probably the only reason that can explain everything, yet it is also the least likely reason.

Before finding evidence that she was not Yao Ying, she had no choice but to stay in this small town, living in a dilapidated house, facing an abnormal father and son, under the pressure of society and the violence of a gloomy man.

That "son," a ten-year-old child, actually made a perverse demand to drink her milk every day. Even when there was no milk, he would keep biting her, shouting that he wanted to make up for the milk that his sister had taken away.

Every night, in front of their son, the "husband" would beat her and "legally" rape her.

She felt as if she had suddenly fallen from heaven to hell.

The temple bells are the only thing that brings a little comfort each day.

The sound of the bell was melodious and soothing, as if it cleansed away all the filth of the world.

One day, she followed the sound of the bell and found the temple.

The temple was small and not very lively, with only a few worshippers coming and going occasionally.

She stood far away outside the door, feeling a sense of déjà vu, as if she had been here in a past life.

A monk hurried past her, then suddenly stopped, staring at her in astonishment: "You...you really came back?"

"You know me too?" Kang Hui asked blankly.

"Of course! Yao Ying! You used to help us with chores and repair Buddha statues and murals! You... forgot?" The monk had probably heard about her story, and his eyes were full of sympathy.

"Does everyone in this town... know me?"

"Of course! Why did you come back? Why didn't you go further away?" The monk brought his face close to Kang Hui's and lowered his voice.

"I don't know what you're talking about..." She walked into the temple, and everything in the temple did seem familiar. The Buddha statues enshrined in the temple were exactly the same as those she had painted countless times.

"What exactly happened? Have you forgotten everything? Run if you can!" The monk followed behind her and continued to whisper.

"You slut!" A loud shout came from outside the temple. "So you really came back to your monk lover?" Accompanied by the curses, her "husband" rushed in, grabbed her hair, and tore at her as he hit her and pulled her towards the house.

15.

Kang Hui believed that she must be dead.

She looked at the coldly smiling man on top of her, convinced she was dead, preferring to believe it. Because she was dead, she was in hell, suffering this torment.

She remembered the monk saying, "Run away."

Yes, run. She gritted her teeth and left this hell on earth—if hell had an exit. Of course hell has an exit; the exit from hell is reincarnation, is regaining life and a new existence.

This desire to escape hell, this longing for rebirth, is so intense yet so familiar.

She gritted her teeth and roared, "I'm not Yao Ying at all! Why should I suffer this pain for a woman I don't even know!"

The man howled as he climbed on top of her, his body reeking of sweat, panting and groaning, "What I say you are, you are!"

Kang Hui remained silent, which only strengthened her resolve to escape.

That night, after knocking out her "son" and "husband," she rushed out of the house like a madwoman. When she passed the temple at the entrance of town, she saw the monk again.

The monk gave her some money, small change, all for incense money.

The monk said, "The compassionate Bodhisattva will bless good people with a peaceful life."

Although Kang Hui didn't understand why he said that, why he gave her money, or what his relationship was with Yao Ying in this small town, she still bowed to him and thanked him, hoping that the Bodhisattva would truly bless her.

However, in reality, the Bodhisattva did not protect her. When she finally returned to her apartment late at night to pack some necessities and move to another city, she found that someone else was already living there.

Her rent wasn't due yet! She suddenly felt bullied. She'd never felt this way, not even when her "husband" and "son" had insulted her. Now, the humiliation that had been building up inside her seemed to explode all at once.

Of course, her situation can also be explained in another way: it's called "bullying the weak and fearing the strong." People always bully the weak and fear the strong, and they take it for granted that insults from powerful and evil people are justified. It's normal for her "bad husband" to insult her no matter what, but it's absolutely unacceptable for the "good man" Ding Yan. From the moment the word "evil person" was coined, it was given the privilege of doing bad things as a matter of course.

She angrily rang the doorbell, banged on the door, and shouted, "Ding Yan! Open the door! Don't pretend you're not home!"

Ding Yan opened the door and saw Kang Hui looking disheveled. He said, "You can just ring the doorbell. You don't need to be like me and do the three-in-one thing."

"My rent isn't due yet!" she roared. If there were X-rays or something similar, you could definitely see the fury gushing from her mouth.

"I know, the rent will be refunded to you. But I never imagined that someone who's already living a happy and fulfilling family life would be knocking on your door in the middle of the night demanding rent..."

Kang Hui felt that "a happy and fulfilling family life" was the biggest irony she could ever imagine, but she didn't want to explain too much to this annoying girl. With tears in her eyes, she asked, "Where are my things?"

"Don't cry...don't cry..." Ding Yan quickly waved her hands, "Although I am also a woman...oh no, a girl, I am most afraid of seeing women cry...Don't worry, your things and rent will be refunded to you in full!"

Ding Yan turned his head: "Old Postman, have Da Mi move Sister Kang Hui's things down... Oh... I'm sorry..." Ding Yan immediately looked at Kang Hui apologetically and said, "It's Sister Yao Ying..."

"Don't mention those two words to me again!!!!" Kang Hui suddenly screamed, squatting on the ground and bursting into tears.

16.

Kang Hui's crying was like a landslide, or perhaps the kind of weeping that signifies the passing of time and the fading of the seas. In short, she cried the whole world into another world, as if she were the only person left in that world. Ding Yan's persuasion, Xiao Mi's comforting words, the sobs of Jia Yi Bing Ding, and the sighs of the old postman—all were swept away by her tears into another world.

"A, B, C, D! What are you crying for?" Ding Yan comforted Kang Hui while impatiently scolding his four brothers.

“You know that…” Xiao Jia said.

“We’ve always been like this…” Xiao Yi continued.

“Seeing someone else cry…” Xiao Bing continued.

“We’ll cry too…” Xiao Ding said at the end.

"Why didn't you cry when Xiao He was crying downstairs the other day?" Ding Yan brought over a glass of water and placed it in front of Kang Hui.

“That child’s crying looks so fake, why should we cry along with him?” they said in unison.

Ding Yan was taken aback. Was her crying really fake? How come she didn't notice?

"Alright! Alright! It was my fault..." Ding Yan patted Kang Hui's shoulder. "I shouldn't have rented your house to others without permission... If you still want to rent it, I'll just pay them some money and kick them out, and you can live here again, okay?"

Kang Hui remained crouched on the ground with her face buried between her legs, crying loudly.

“If you keep crying like this, people will think someone in my family has died! They might even send wreaths tomorrow! Please, stop crying... Here, have some water…”

Kang Hui remained unmoved and simply sat on the ground, crying even more bitterly.

"Sigh...whatever!" Ding Yan finally lost her patience. She poured herself a cup of blood and drank it all in one gulp, then turned on the TV and blasted the volume. Instantly, the entire house was filled with the sound of a boiling pot. Old You covered his ears with the curtains, while Xiao Mi simply hid in the bathroom, sitting on the toilet and reading a magazine.

Just then, Aunt Mei returned.

"What's going on today? Is there a church gathering?" Aunt Mei stood at the door, bewildered, carrying a wet plastic bag. The noise from inside immediately rushed in, flooding the entire corridor, prompting the new resident across the hall to peek out.

Aunt Mei closed the door and yelled, "Ding Yan! Turn off the TV first!" As she spoke, she rushed to the sofa, grabbed the remote, and turned off the TV. Then she turned to Kang Hui and said, "Hey? Isn't this Kang Hui? Why are you crying like this?"

Kang Hui had probably cried herself to sleep, cried herself to exhaustion, and cried herself to sleep more clearly and rationally. She raised her head and said, "I'm sorry..."

"Look! Her eyes are swollen like peaches!"

"I want to eat peaches..." Xiao Yi said.

"Stop causing trouble!" Xiao Jia slapped Xiao Yi, and Xiao Yi immediately fell silent.

Kang Hui stood up unsteadily and said hoarsely, "Where are my things?"

"Look, they've all been moved down," the old postman said.

"What about the refund?" Kang Hui rubbed her eyes.

"Here you go—three months' rent, I'll return it to you unopened." The old postman handed her an envelope.

"Hmph! Giving you a full refund is too lenient. According to the agreement, you should have a month's salary deducted." Ding Yan sat cross-legged on the sofa. She hated women who cried at the drop of a hat.

"Thank you!" Kang Hui quickly tidied her luggage, put the money in her inner pocket, and murmured, "Thank you."

"Is it... that your husband treats you badly after you get home?" Aunt Mei leaned forward and asked in a low voice.

This is terrible. These words immediately turned on Kang Hui's floodgates again. Fortunately, this time she didn't burst into tears, but just sobbed softly, tears streaming down her face. She raised her head, as if clinging to a last glimmer of hope, and said in a pleading voice, "Aunt Mei... Ding Yan... and Old Postman... you, you believe I really am Kang Hui, you believe I really am not Yao Ying?"

Aunt Mei said, "Sigh... How come so many people in this world don't even know who they are? Girl, let me tell you, you are who you believe you are! Who cares about others!"

Kang Hui was taken aback, tears still glistening on her face, but she smiled and said, "Yes!"

17.

After finally seeing Kang Hui off, the room was so quiet it felt a little unsettling.

Her voice seemed to linger for days; Ding Yan felt as if Kang Hui's cries were still echoing in his ears.

"Hey... don't you guys feel like Kang Hui's crying is still echoing in your ears?" Ding Yan rubbed his ears.

Aunt Mei listened intently and nodded.