"No, I don’t feel bitter at all," Xu Nianhua shook her head. She looked at her hands, which had grown rough over the past two years from doing household chores. Yet, when she thought of her parents, her elder brother, and her deceased second brother, a feeling of fulfillment filled her heart.
"Little sister, even if you acknowledge us, you can still keep in touch with your foster parents,"
Gu Mingzhu’s words made Xu Nianhua very uncomfortable. She abruptly withdrew her hand and took a step back defensively, saying, "They are not my foster parents, they are my biological parents."
The words ’biological parents’ were emphasized heavily by Xu Nianhua. She looked coldly at the people in front of her, Fang Yue and Gu Mingzhu, and said, "I’m sorry, but I’m very happy with my current life, and my parents are doing well."
After speaking, Xu Nianhua ran away.
Once she returned to her dormitory, she couldn’t stop thinking, why wasn’t she the biological child of her parents?
However, the persistent visits from Gu Hai and Fang Yue left Xu Nianhua extremely puzzled.
Over the weekend, Xu Nianhua rushed home early.
Since the incident with her second brother, they had split from the Xu family and moved into the old house.
Ji Ying, in her forties but looking more like she was in her fifties, her face aged, though her mother hadn’t always looked this way.
Seeing Ji Ying with white hair, tears welled up in Xu Nianhua’s eyes and she couldn’t hold them back.
"Oh, what’s wrong, my Nianhua? Did someone bully you at school?" Ji Ying watched Xu Nianhua with compassion. Her gentle and kind demeanor was much more intimate than Fang Yue’s. After crying, Xu Nianhua wanted to talk about her origins, but facing Ji Ying’s worried look, she found herself unable to speak.
No matter what, no matter how wealthy the Gu family was, the only people Xu Nianhua wanted recognition from were Ji Ying and her husband, Xu Qinghe.
Xu Nianhua put the matter out of her mind, and together with her mother, they went to the fields to hoe weeds and plant vegetables. Talking and laughing together, the days were harsh, but as long as the family was together, she felt content.
"Nianhua, you’re not getting any younger. What do you think about that match I told you about last time? I think the boy is nice," Ji Ying chattered incessantly, "What’s his name again?"
Ji Ying only remembered the boy’s family background and forgot his name.
He had no parents, so after marrying Nianhua, she would have no in-laws to deal with. Although there was a younger brother and sister who needed schooling, Ji Ying had met the child and found him very sensible. Even though she would have to support her siblings-in-law, the boy from the Liao family had confided that when his parents had passed away, they had left funds for his younger siblings’ education.
Ji Ying liked the boy very much.
"Liao Wenjie." Xu Nianhua pursed her lips and said, "Mom, stop arranging things for me. Focus on my elder brother first."
"Sigh, ever since Zhou He left, your elder brother hasn’t been interested in marriage. I’ve introduced him to several potential matches, and he has rejected every one of them,"
Whenever Xu Nianji was mentioned, Ji Ying felt a pain in her chest and regretted her own weakness.
If only they had split the family sooner, Zhou He might have married into the family sooner, and none of the subsequent accidents would have happened.
And their second son wouldn’t have ended up working at the brick factory to earn money, eventually losing his life.
The sorrow in Ji Ying’s eyes flickered momentarily before disappearing. She didn’t want to show it in front of her daughter and make her worry. Her daughter’s heartache was even greater than hers. She said, "Nianhua, now I only have you and Nianji left. Your elder brother doesn’t want to get married, do you also not want to get married?"