Xia Chuyi, fearing Huo Shiqian would lose his temper, hastily hooked his hand.
After pacifying Uncle Liberation Army, she said to Mother Xia, "I’ve arranged your affairs for after you pass. The son you wanted— I’ve also facilitated his adoption for you."
"Uncle’s family will move to the county after some time."
"The countryside house will become vacant. From now on, you will live here."
"In the future, don’t wander around without a reason, and I, except to visit dad’s grave, will not come back again."
Chuyi spoke with particular detachment, yet those listening felt a storm of emotions inside.
"Chuyi, you, what do you mean?" Mother Xia was so shocked she forgot both how to cry and laugh.
Finally, having voiced these things to Mother Xia, Xia Chuyi felt a wave of relief in her heart.
She laughed lightly, "Mom, this is the last time I call you mother."
"You always favored the children of the elder aunt’s family, and the third branch’s children. It seemed like you cherished all the Xia Family children—except for me."
"I used to think it was because our second branch practically lived at the mercy of others in the Xia Family. So, you acted that way toward them, perhaps, to secure a little breathing space for ourselves."
"But I was wrong, so terribly wrong..."
At this point, Xia Chuyi let out a heavy sigh.
"I think, perhaps we were never meant to have a mother-daughter bond."
"Since we don’t have that bond, let’s not act as mother and daughter anymore."
Xia Chuyi said these final words with an indifferent and calm expression.
All that was left on Mother Xia’s face was shock: "Chuyi, you?"
For a long time, she was unable to utter a word, head bowed, deep in thought.
Watching Mother Xia , Xia Chuyi felt utterly unaffected.
See, some people are simply born without maternal or paternal bonds.
She looked towards Aunt Xia and Xia Chengzong in the distance.
Because they were far away, she could only faintly hear the elder aunt’s agitated voice, calling out, "Chengzong, don’t blame mother... It was out of necessity..."
"It was your grandparents... I didn’t agree to the adoption..." Aunt Xia kept wiping away her tears.
"How could I... you are all my children..."
And her second brother, he stood there, stiff as a board.
She didn’t know what he said to Aunt Xia.
Aunt Xia paused, then wept even harder.
Soon after, she saw her second brother turn away heartlessly and walk towards her side.
"Chengzong!" Aunt Xia took a couple of steps and called out loudly behind him.
Xia Chenzong’s pace didn’t falter, quickly catching up to Xia Chuyi.
"Chuyi, let’s go," he said in a muffled voice.
As he approached, Mother Xia instantly forgot the sadness Xia Chuyi’s words had brought her.
She approached him with concern, "Chengzong, are you alright?"
Upon hearing this, the temperature beside Xia Chuyi seemed to drop sharply again.
He gripped her hand tightly, his eyes filled with discontent towards Mother Xia.
Xia Chuyi smiled softly.
Oh, her Uncle Liberation Army, how sentimentally attached he was. She truly wasn’t upset anymore.
To speak of being upset... her gaze shifted towards Aunt Xia in the distance.
Aunt Xia stood with fists clenched tightly, continuously wiping away tears, staring at Mother Xia lavishing attention on Xia Cheng with eyes full of hatred and rage.
Xia Chuyi thought to herself.
Mother Xia had always been selfish, only caring for her new son and never giving a thought to Aunt Xia—life in the village, most likely, wouldn’t be comfortable either.
But that had nothing to do with her anymore.
The debt of nurture, paid in a previous life, the debt of birth, settled in this one.