"Impossible," Xu Nianji shook her head, saying, "I saw with my own eyes how Mom was pregnant, how can my younger sister not be my sister?"
The year Xu Nianhua was born, Xu Nianji was already over four years old. She remembered the way her mom looked pregnant, telling her she was about to have another sister.
Although she was young, Xu Nianji particularly remembered this deeply because her mom went to the county to give birth to her sister and left him for several days, during which he cried terribly.
"I was pregnant, but..." Ji Ying took a deep breath, remembering the year the doctor told her that her child was born lifeless, and at that moment, she felt as if the sky had fallen.
She said, "I gave birth to a girl, but because I couldn’t deliver naturally, when they took me to the county, the child was born not breathing."
When Ji Ying spoke of this, she blamed herself immensely. If, if only she had been taken to the hospital earlier, perhaps her daughter might not have died.
Thankfully, thankfully heaven compensated her by blessing her with a daughter.
"Nianhua, your father and I found you on the roadside. Later, we reported it to the police, but no one came to claim you, so we kept raising you, and eventually, we raised you as our own daughter." Ji Ying, holding Xu Nianhua’s hand, feared that because of this, Nianhua would become estranged from them.
"Yes, we really did report it. The police station should still have the record," Xu Qinghe repeated.
"Dad, Mom, I believe you," Xu Nianhua nestled against Ji Ying, saying, "Blood doesn’t mean anything. In my heart, you and Dad are my real parents."
Ji Ying felt something was off. Nian’an had always struggled to accept it, but Nianhua seemed too calm.
"I’ve known it for a while," Xu Nianhua pondered and decided to say half-truthfully. She had known it for a long time and thus could not pretend to be surprised.
Ji Ying and Xu Qinghe looked at each other, wondering when they might have carelessly discussed this topic.
Xu Nianhua, with downcast eyes, said, "When I first found out, I was very upset and felt I couldn’t accept it, but gradually, I came to think, what does it matter if I wasn’t born to you?"
She looked up, her gaze earnestly expressing, "In my heart, you are my parents, and in your hearts, I am your dearly loved daughter, and that makes me very happy."
"Mom, Dad, just because my true identity is revealed, you wouldn’t dislike me now, would you?" Xu Nianhua, looking pitifully vulnerable, her eyes rimmed with red, seemed like an about-to-be-abandoned kitten, eliciting sympathy.
Ji Ying shook her head directly, saying, "No matter what, you are always my daughter."
"Yes, you are my little sister, and I recognize no one else as my little sister," Xu Nian’an pursed her lips, somewhat regretful. Why did he insist on checking the blood type?
He would rather not have known this.
But, on second thought, Xu Nian’an felt that no matter what, his little sister was still his little sister, the one he had protected since childhood.
"Nianhua, your biological parents..."
Ji Ying just started to speak when Xu Nianhua interrupted, "They abandoned me on the roadside, why should I look for them? Perhaps, their family is happy as they are."
"Maybe, they had their unavoidable hardships," Ji Ying thought. In that era, many people were indeed compelled by circumstances.
Xu Nianhua smiled slightly, saying, "Mom, let’s not think too much about it, after all, I only recognize you as my mom."