Chapter 2: The Martyr's Orphan

"Sister, you're awake." Xiangbei began to cry loudly.

An Yinan abruptly covered Xiangbei's mouth, "Don't cry."

Xiangbei nodded, and only then did An Yinan lower her hand; if they woke that old woman up now, she feared the two of them would not escape another brutal beating, and right now, she couldn't muster a shred of strength.

An Yinan sorted through her memories, some memories she, as a bystander, could not empathize with.

The original owner shared her name and was seventeen years old this year.

Their father was a soldier who had sacrificed his life in a border conflict; their mother was a Textile Factory worker who, upon learning the news of their father's sacrifice, entrusted them to their grandmother's family, promised to give her Textile Factory job to her sister-in-law, and after having them sign a liability guarantee, drank poison with a smile to join their father.

But how could she have imagined that the grandmother, along with the uncle's family, would occupy their house and beat their children, leaving the sister and brother to sleep in the woodshed.

Every day they could only drink a little dregs water to keep from dying.

The uncle's family had two girls and one boy; the three children either beat and scolded them or tattled to the adults to have them beaten.

Preferring sons over daughters?

Then why was Xiangbei treated the same way?

All of this revealed something unusual.

After An Yinan finished sorting through the past, she held Xiangbei in her arms; the ten-year-old boy was not even as tall as other people's nine-year-olds, and his whole body was covered in bruises, with old beat marks not yet healed and new ones appearing.

"Xiangbei, Sister will lead you to a good life."

In two lifetimes, he was her only relative.

"Sister." Xiangbei was strong and did not cry again, only hugging his sister's neck; he wanted to grow up quickly and then protect his sister.

The next day, following the cursing outside, An Yinan patted Xiangbei's face.

"Today, Sister will send you to Zhang Shen's house." An Yinan said softly.

"Okay." Xiangbei nodded; he did whatever his sister said.

Once it was quiet outside, An Yinan gave Xiangbei half a white flour Steamed Bun, "Eat something first."

Xiangbei quickly shook his head, "Sister, I won't eat, I'm not hungry, you eat, Sister."

Last time, it was because his sister took half a black Steamed Bun that she was beaten, but just as the words fell, his stomach let out a hungry growl.

An Yinan rubbed Xiangbei's head, "You eat it; this isn't taken from them, Sister has some too."

She took the other half of the Steamed Bun from her bosom and showed it to Xiangbei; only then did Xiangbei pick the smaller one and begin to eat.

The child was so sensible it made one's heart ache.

Since she had come here, she would certainly keep Xiangbei safe.

After the siblings finished the Steamed Bun, An Yinan pulled Xiangbei along, crawled out through the dog hole behind the woodshed, and went to Zhang Shen's house.

Zhang Shu worked as a repairman at the Textile Factory, a job their mother had introduced him to back then, and Zhang Shen had been secretly helping the siblings all along; otherwise, the two would have starved to death long ago.

"Yinan and Xiangbei are here, come inside quickly." Zhang Shen pulled the two children in, unable to hold back her tears; the two children who were originally clean and fair, how had they been worn down like this in just one year?

How could that old woman be so heartless?

A married-off daughter is like spilled water, but this job and the house belonged to the children's parents; how could she be so vicious.

"Auntie, I want to leave Xiangbei at your place for half a day; I'm afraid he'll get beaten again at home." An Yinan stated her purpose directly.

Zhang Shen wiped the corners of her eyes, "Done, just stay at Auntie's place, stay as long as you like."

After settling Xiangbei, An Yinan touched the things in her bosom and went straight to the County Revolutionary Committee.

"This isn't a place for children, go play elsewhere." The gatekeeper saw An Yinan and pointed outside.

An Yinan wore a smile, "Uncle, my father was a martyr; I've come to find Uncle Chen Jianhua, he was my father's comrade-in-arms."

In this era, upon hearing the word "martyr," the gatekeeper stood in respectful awe.

"In that case, sit in my little room for a moment, and I'll go ask for you."

An Yinan nodded quickly, "Thank you, Uncle."

The gatekeeper ran quickly into the building behind, lowered his head to say a few words to a young man, and only after the young man looked at An Yinan in the gatehouse did he nod.

About two minutes later, a tall figure came jogging out, followed by the young man from before.

"I am Chen Jianhua, little girl, who is your father?" Chen Jianhua's voice was quite loud; having been a soldier for many years, a loud voice had long since become a habit.

An Yinan stood up, "Uncle Chen, my father is An Qingguo."

Chen Jianhua froze, his eyes turning red, "Little girl, your father is An Qingguo? How did he... when did this happen?"

Martyrs were processed from above and would never reach the County Revolutionary Committee; he hadn't heard a whisper of it.

"It's been over a year." An Yinan's eyes also turned red.

Chen Jianhua closed his eyes for a moment; his mind was filled with scenes of them fighting side by side. His own life had been saved by Brother An, yet he never expected that he was already gone.

"Uncle Chen, I came today to ask you for some things." An Yinan saw Chen Jianhua's attitude and felt a bit more confident.

If Chen Jianhua were not as her father had described, she would have to find another way, which would be much more troublesome.

"Speak, little girl." Chen Jianhua looked at the little girl; her eyes were clear and upright, but this gaunt, skeletal appearance made one's heart ache especially.

"I have a lot to say, do you have time?" An Yinan asked earnestly, her little brows furrowed; these things couldn't be explained in a sentence or two, and she also wanted Uncle Chen to know the whole story.

Chen Jianhua nodded directly to the young man and said to An Yinan, "Come with Uncle Chen."

An Yinan followed behind Chen Jianhua, walking for about five minutes before reaching Chen Jianhua's office.

Chen Jianhua poured a cup of hot water for An Yinan and let her sit on a stool, "Speak slowly, no rush."

Only then did An Yinan begin to speak, from the bad news of her father, to her mother entrusting the two siblings to their grandmother, to her mother dying for love, and then to the uncle's family taking over her mother's job while occupying their house and harshly beating the siblings; she didn't even bring her own emotions into it, simply recounting it from a third-party perspective.

Chen Jianhua stood up abruptly, the anger on his face impossible to hide, "How could they dare?"

An Yinan tugged on Chen Jianhua's sleeve, "Uncle Chen, this is the liability guarantee my mother made them sign at the time; the conditions above are written very clearly."

"This is my father's martyr certificate."

"I also want to take my brother to the hospital to have his injuries examined, but I expect I'll need your help to arrange it, otherwise we won't be able to get a certificate."

The hospitals now were different from modern times; without a major incident, the Doctor would just give a few casual instructions and be done with it, and there was no such thing as a written certificate.

This was also the reason why she did not take An Xiangbei to the hospital first.

"Alright, Uncle Chen will make the arrangements." Chen Jianhua nodded.

An Yinan smiled, "Uncle Chen, there is one more thing I would like to trouble you with. I want to take Xiangbei to the countryside, but I need to pull some strings; otherwise, Xiangbei is not old enough, and I cannot leave him alone in the City."