The military compound was a bit like the residential communities that would emerge more than a decade later, except the buildings weren't as tall.
Hua Qingqing followed the guard until they stopped in front of a house.
"This is Minister Hua's home. I won't accompany you in, little comrade."
"Thank you for leading me here. This place is very different from our brigade. I might get lost."
After thanking the guard, Hua Qingqing approached the door of the Hua family's house. Just as she was about to knock, the door was opened from inside.
A woman with bobbed hair was coming out with a basin in her hand. The basin was filled with water, presumably to be poured out.
Hua Qingqing's eyebrows twitched, and she quickly dodged to the side.
"Hello, auntie!"
Hearing a clear and loud voice, Wu Yunhua looked up. In front of her stood a tall and thin girl. The girl had a slightly round face, and her eyebrows and eyes seemed vaguely familiar. Her bright and sincere smile was quite endearing.
She was stunned for a moment.
"Little comrade, who are you?"
Hua Qingqing said, "Auntie, don't you recognize my voice? I called you on the phone before."
This reminder jogged Wu Yunhua's memory, and she quickly invited her into the house.
Hua Qingqing noticed the iron basin in her hand.
"Auntie, go pour the water first. You don't need to be so polite with me. This is my home too."
Wu Yunhua felt a bit embarrassed. She quickly poured the water and then led Hua Qingqing into the house.
Hua Qingqing looked around the house. It wasn't very big, but it was clean and tidy, making it seem more spacious. It was obvious that Hua Jia's second wife was a very capable woman.
In the living room, there was a little girl sitting on the sofa. Her chubby face had two little braids, and she was sitting there obediently reading picture books.
Wu Yunhua introduced, "This is Miaomiao, my daughter. Miaomiao, come and say hello to your sister."
However, the little girl on the sofa remained unmoved, as if she hadn't heard her mother calling her. She still sat there obediently, engrossed in the book on her lap.
?
Hua Qingqing sensed something was wrong.
Wu Yunhua walked over angrily and tugged at Hua Miaomiao, trying to make her greet Hua Qingqing.
Hua Miaomiao immediately let out a panicked scream with a terrified look on her face.
Hua Qingqing finally understood where this sense of disharmony came from!
She quickly stepped forward to stop Wu Yunhua. "Auntie, it's okay if she doesn't greet me. We shouldn't disturb her while she's reading."
Wu Yunhua stopped and looked at her daughter for a few more times.
Seeing her daughter hugging the picture book and hiding in the corner, looking at her with a vigilant and terrified gaze, a sense of sadness welled up in her heart.
This was her own daughter!
What had she just done? How could she have forced her like this!
"Miaomiao..."
Wu Yunhua wanted to go over and hug her daughter.
Hua Miaomiao ran back to her room with the book in her arms.
Hua Qingqing didn't know what to say after witnessing this.
Who could have thought that her half - sister was sick? Just looking at this situation, one could imagine how tiring it must be for Wu Yunhua to take care of such a child on a daily basis.
Hua Qingqing changed the subject.
"Auntie, where's my room? I've been on the train for more than two days. I'd like to rest."
She scratched her head. It had been two days without a shower in this hot weather, and she could hardly bear it anymore. When she touched her hair, she could smell the greasiness. But Hua Jia hadn't come back yet, so she couldn't take a shower. She wanted Hua Jia to see how miserable his daughter had been in the past 13 years!
Wu Yunhua wiped her eyes and led Hua Qingqing to the room.
"The house isn't big. There are three rooms. You'll share a room with Miaomiao. The other bed is newly made."
As soon as the door opened, they saw a bulging quilt on a small bed. Presumably, Hua Miaomiao was hiding under it.
When Wu Yunhua saw this, she couldn't help herself and walked over to pull the quilt away.
Hua Qingqing didn't have time to stop her.
The little girl's scream rang out again.
"..."
Hua Qingqing fell silent.
Hua Miaomiao's current state obviously couldn't take any more stimulation, but Wu Yunhua didn't understand. She kept pushing Hua Miaomiao's limits, making the little girl more and more agitated.
Hua Qingqing stopped Wu Yunhua's action.
"Auntie, let your sister calm down. Let her read. If she keeps screaming like this, she'll hurt her throat."
Hua Miaomiao didn't understand why her mother was disturbing her. All she could do was scream and resist. Maybe the fact that she didn't lash out at her mother was the result of Wu Yunhua's best efforts in teaching her.
Wu Yunhua left the room.
Hua Qingqing took out a few chocolates from her bag and placed them in front of Hua Miaomiao.
She had eaten a lot of these on the train, and there was still about half left in her bag. Before she set off, she had sent a letter to Hong Kong, asking them to send more chocolates over and asking Yu Linyun and Yu Linyang to pick them up.
She stared at Hua Miaomiao for a few moments and noticed that she looked a bit like the original body. They both had thick eyebrows and big eyes. Maybe this was inherited from Hua Jia?
However, Hua Miaomiao exuded a kind of dull and silly aura. She wondered if it was because of her illness.
Seeing that the little girl was curiously staring at the chocolates but didn't move.
Hua Qingqing picked one up, unwrapped it, and put it into her own mouth.
After a while.
Hua Miaomiao moved. She imitated Hua Qingqing and started to eat. She stuffed the whole chocolate into her mouth at once, but her mouth was too small and she almost couldn't hold it.
After finishing one chocolate, Hua Miaomiao stared straight at Hua Qingqing without saying a word.
"? "
Hua Qingqing wasn't sure what she meant. She gave her a thumbs - up and said, "Great!"
The little girl immediately smiled.
Well, at least she was more obedient, more sensible, and easier to satisfy than the Yu family's kids.
"Minister Hua!"
Hua Jia looked up and saw the guard greeting him enthusiastically. His dark face showed a row of white teeth.
"Minister Hua, your daughter is here. She's at home. Go back and have a look quickly!"
Hua Jia was confused. He said "eh" twice in succession. Didn't his daughter always stay at home?
As soon as he entered the house, he heard a strange and clear voice.
He looked and saw that his youngest daughter, Hua Miaomiao, rarely showed a smile to the person beside her.
He let out a surprised sound and quickly walked closer.
This was really rare.
Hua Qingqing seemed to sense something. She saw a handsome middle - aged man staring at her curiously.
"Dad, you're back!"
Hua Jia was stunned by this call of "dad".
"Are you Qingqing? You've grown so big!"
Hua Qingqing silently scoffed in her heart. This man was really a sinner. Not only couldn't he recognize his own daughter, but he even forgot her age!
She didn't show any annoyance. She still had a big smile on her face, looking like a cheerful and well - behaved child.
"Yes, I'm already 18 years old."
Hua Jia still looked quite emotional.
"Why didn't you send me a letter before? Ask your grandma to take you to take a photo. Otherwise, I wouldn't even know you've grown so big."
Bah, how shameless!
Hua Qingqing's smile faded a bit and turned into a bitter one. "There was nothing I could do. My grandma said there were family issues in the past dozen years, so I couldn't go to school. I was too embarrassed to write to you. But I've been studying on my own. I finally took the exam this year and I'm going to high school."
Hearing this, Hua Jia's expression changed. He suppressed his anger.
"Your grandma and the others didn't let you go to school?"
"I sent so much money there every month. The Yu family didn't even let you go to school. Do they want to ruin you!"
Pfft.
So much money?
Hua Qingqing almost burst out laughing.