Upon hearing Great Aunt inquire about the Great Grandfather’s house’s Little Aunt, Chuxia simply smiled and shook her head, "Great Grandfather said that Little Aunt is at a critical point in her research and hasn’t been home for half a month. I didn’t get to see her."
"Did you see her photograph then?" Great Aunt continued to press.
Although Chuxia was puzzled about why the other party kept pressing this issue, since they were not very familiar, she truthfully answered, "No, I haven’t seen it."
"Well then, don’t bother with the photograph, just look at yourself," said Great Aunt, looking towards Zhao Yulan, "Yulan, you’d be absolutely shocked. Chuxia and Zhiling look so much alike."
"Wasn’t it said that I resemble Great-grandmother?" Chuxia was exasperated, wondering when she had become such a generic face, resembling this person for a moment and that person another...
"Your Aunt Zhiling looks remarkably like your Great-grandmother... however," the old lady reassessed Chuxia, "neither of them are as pretty as you. Your Little Aunt’s mouth is too small, and your Aunt Zhiling’s mouth is too large. Your mouth is the prettiest."
Sweating bullets, Chuxia unconsciously covered her mouth. Talking face-to-face made it really embarrassing...
Zhao Yulan, however, took this in stride, half complaining and half proudly she said, holding the old lady’s hand, "You don’t know, just because Chuxia doesn’t look like me or Baohe, a lot of people in the village gossip. Fortunately, Baohe knows what sort of person I am and doesn’t listen to those nonsense rumors. I really didn’t expect this... Hehe..."
"Zhiliang, I’m sorry, Little Aunt," Little Aunt said while starting to tear up. "If it weren’t for me not taking good care of your parents, you wouldn’t have to suffer so much..."
Lin Baohe quickly said, "Little Aunt, look at what you’re saying. How is this related to you? Haven’t we agreed? From now on, everyone will be fine, and let bygones be bygones.
Moreover, I think I am quite blessed—having married Yulan, such a wonderful wife, and having Chuxia, such a filial daughter. Now, Chuxia has also found such a good son-in-law for me.
People, having too much fortune can’t be sustained. I suffered a bit when I was young, but later, it’s all blessings. Think about it, aren’t we all ?"
"Indeed, it’s first the hardship then the blessings. People, if they enjoy blessings first, might have to suffer later. All things considered, it’s better to suffer first," chattered the old lady, instantly brightening up again.
"Great Aunt, since I look so much like the Aunt Zhiling from Great Grandfather’s house, why has no one else mentioned this?" Chuxia asked, somewhat puzzled, "Previously, everyone only mentioned that I looked like Great-grandmother."
The old lady sighed, "Weren’t you married off to the Zhou Family? Your Aunt Zhiling married Huang Pingan, the youngest son of the Huang Family. The Huang Family and the Zhou Family have not gotten along since our generation. Your Great Grandfather didn’t mention your Little Aunt much, probably because he hasn’t figured out how to tell you this, not wanting to put you in a difficult position."
"Little Aunt, how are the relations between the Eldest Uncle’s home and the Huang Family?" Lin Baohe furrowed his brows slightly, distressed about facing such issues just as he had found his relatives.
"Your Eldest Uncle’s family is on neutral terms with the Huang Family, but he gets along well with Pingan. He’s different from the other members of the Huang Family; otherwise, your uncle wouldn’t have consented to Zhiling and Pingan’s marriage.
The two of them were classmates, and both devoted to scholarly pursuits, naturally developed feelings over time. Originally, there wasn’t any water and fire like contention between the Huang Family and the Lin Family. Hence, seeing these young ones come together was quite delightful, so they got married smoothly.
Initially, the Huang Family hoped that this union would align the Lin Family and the Huang Family on the same front, but your uncle refused; after that, the interactions between the two families started to fade.
However, no matter how distant the two families were, in the eyes of outsiders, these in-laws on the same thread were indistinguishable, and this is also why your uncle was reluctant to bring up Zhiling."
"You all shouldn’t blame him; he was suffering internally too. Actually, our Lin Family was originally more wealthy than the Qiao Family, Zhou Family, Huang Family, but after that incident, we were merely on par with them.
Furthermore, our Lin Family has fewer members, and seeing the current development, we might even lose the qualification to stand equal with those clans. Under these circumstances, the Huang Family was somewhat intentionally neglecting the Lin Family. Ah, speaking of it is truly distressing."