Before leaving for the army, my sister gave me an officer's ID card: "If I can't come back, just say you are his unmarried daughter-in-law to save your life."
My sister didn't come back. I took the certificate and went to see him.
The officer with a fierce face and a cold heart was worrying about a basin of dirty clothes.
My legs went weak and I knelt down: "Husband, I'll wash you."
He froze and the soapberry fell into the basin.
Later, when the team set off, he stood under the locust tree and asked me: "Come with me, or stay?"
I asked him why he took me in in the first place.
He turned away: "I don't know how to wash clothes."
——Later I found out that he didn't know how to do it. It was never about washing clothes.
