“I have failed your upbringing of me.”
Jiang Ye held her mother’s hand against her own cheek. Tears streamed down, wetting her mother’s palm. “I didn’t know what to do back then,” she sobbed. “It wasn’t until I grew up that I found the courage to say all this.”
At the time, she had learned that the Jiang parents intended to marry her off to a man she had never met. Although he was the grandson of Senior Commander Huo, he was stationed as a soldier in a remote military district in the Northwest.
Recalling what she had learned from books, the great Northwest was the most distant region of the country, covered in yellow sand and extremely harsh conditions. She knew that if she married there, she would never have a chance to rise above her circumstances.
She found her biological parents and had them bring Wen Ci to the capital. The two families met “by chance,” and she added hints, both obvious and subtle, that her appearance didn’t match that of the Jiang family.
The moment Su Guilan saw Wen Ci, she became convinced that there might have been a mix-up at birth.
The comrades in the military family compound in the capital hadn’t seen Jiang Ye much, but her husband’s parents and relatives had. They had always said since she was little that she didn’t look like she belonged to the family, though they had attributed it to skipped-generation genetics.
After meeting Wen Ci, Su Guilan had someone look into the records of the hospital where she gave birth. They discovered that the Wen parents, who had once worked as nannies for the family, had given birth at the same hospital around the same time.
Su Guilan’s throat tightened slightly. She looked at Jiang Ye, her gaze firm. “So, you always knew you weren’t my biological child?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“I was too young…”
Jiang Ye could only use her youth as an excuse. “They threatened me with a knife, saying if I told you I wasn’t your biological daughter, they would kill me.”
“So…”
Jiang Ye made her body tremble uncontrollably.
“Let’s sever the ties then.” (Sever ties with Wen Ci)
“Mom.”
Su Guilan caressed Jiang Ye’s cheek, her eyes filled with a mother’s radiance. “Mom forgives you. We will still be mother and daughter from now on.”
After Wen Ci had confided the truth, there was no longer any possibility for them to be mother and daughter. Some things must be let go when it’s time. She didn’t want to lose Jiang Ye as a daughter again, even if Jiang Ye wasn’t her biological child. The bond of over twenty years of raising her since childhood was something she couldn’t bear to lose. She didn’t want to compound one mistake with another.
A flash of surprise crossed Jiang Ye’s eyes. “Yes!”
…
After his shower, Wen Yaozu found a set of clothes that made him look fairer and cleaner. He spun around in front of his sister. “So, how do I look? Isn’t your brother handsome?”
Wen Ci: “…”
She had no idea where Wen Yaozu got such confidence.
“Handsome? More like a ‘handsome’ cricket!”
At the capital’s department store, Wen Ci looked towards the second-floor specialty store selling mobile phones and hesitated. The price of a mobile phone was steep, but it would be very convenient for her, allowing her to make calls anytime, anywhere when she was out.
If she bought one, factoring in various expenses, she would only have a little over a hundred thousand left. A hundred thousand sounded like a lot, but after paying for one shipment of goods, little would remain. Then she would be in debt to Xu Jinghe again.
“Sis, do you want to buy a mobile phone?” Wen Yaozu asked.
Wen Ci told the truth. “A little.”
“Do you have enough money?”
“I have enough on me, but it feels like it’s not worth it. We have a landline at home, and after your brother-in-law recovers from his injury, we still have to return to the Northwest.”
She wasn’t sure if the mobile phone would even get a signal in the Northwest.
Wen Yaozu could see Wen Ci’s hesitation. He pulled her towards the mobile phone store. “Sis, if you like it, just buy it. Don’t hesitate.”
The sales attendant, seeing Wen Ci’s well-dressed and elegant appearance, greeted her with a smiling face. “Comrade, are you interested in looking at a mobile phone? We were the first store in the entire capital to sell them.”
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