Chapter 59: Chapter 57 Aunt
Mother Su wiped the tears from her face and looked at Huo Sining with a gentle and soft expression,
“You’re right, my na is Huang Hongying. My father is Ruining’s biological uncle, which makes your maternal aunt.”
At this point, Huang Hongying took a few more steps forward, scrutinizing Huo Sining’s face carefully. When she saw the small red birthmark by her ear, she was astounded and murmured,
“She looks so much like him, even the birthmark is identical. You must be Ruining’s daughter; there’s no mistake. I have a photo of Ruining from when he was in his teens. I’ll find it for you to see. The father and daughter are really carved from the sa mold.”
Saying this, Huang Hongying didn’t wait for anyone else’s reaction; she turned around and hurried to the bedroom upstairs.
Soon after, she ca down with a box and led Huo Sining to sit on the living room sofa.
Huang Hongying opened the box, took out a yellowed photo album, and quickly flipped to an old photograph.
“Do you see this? Your dimple looks so much like the one on your face. We used to tease your father when he was little because of this dimple, saying he looked like a girl. Every ti we ntioned it, he would get annoyed and chase us, trying to hit us.”
A trace of nostalgia appeared on Huang Hongying’s face, but the sadness in her eyes could not be hidden.
“He said he wanted to be a true man, a qualified soldier, later to beco a qualified husband and father, fulfilling all his duties. He told this before he left for Rongcheng, the last ti we t. I never expected that would be…”
“The Huang family has many brothers and sisters, but your father and I were close in age, so we grew up playing together. When your father was alive, he and I got along best, and he even wrote to saying that once he returned to the capital from Rongcheng, he would get married. At the ti, I thought that was just a joke, so I didn’t ask further. If we had known about you and your mother, we would have found a way to bring you both over.”
Huo Sining didn’t speak; she listened to Huang Hongying’s reminiscences while looking down at the photograph.
A young man, his mouth pursed, dressed in military uniform, stared seriously at the cara. Unfortunately, as soon as he pursed his lips, a dimple on his cheek would appear, which made his expression seem less stern and more shyly smiling.
He had not managed to be a qualified husband and father, nor had he fulfilled his responsibilities, but Huo Sining’s years of resentnt vanished in an instant.
Looking at this person who was both familiar and foreign to her, she felt a profound respect welling up in her heart.
This was her father, a true man of honor.
At the dining table, Su Qingqing was speechless.
She had never imagined that a matchmaking dinner would turn into a family reunion.
Seeing her future sister-in-law transform into a distant cousin, she couldn’t co to terms with it.
Had she not finally t a sister-in-law she approved of, only for her to slip away just like that?
What about her brother, who was ready to confess his feelings?
Su Qingqing looked at Su Jinyuan pitifully, feeling both sympathy and regret.
Unexpectedly, it was at this mont that Su Jinyuan stood up and said,
“Mom, I ntioned before that I wanted to take a sworn sister. I never imagined Huo Sining would actually turn out to be our relative. Now it seems that my earlier gesture was unnecessary.”
Huang Hongying was stunned for a mont but couldn’t help but laugh, “So the sworn sister you were talking about was Ningning. I was wondering why you, who are indifferent to everyone except Qingqing, suddenly took a liking to a stranger and insisted on taking her as your sister. It’s the bond of blood after all. You two siblings beca friends with her despite having just t by chance. It seems you can’t sever the ties of blood relations; the mont I saw this girl, my heart went out to her, and I wanted to get closer.”
A sworn sister? What sworn sister?
With a dry throat, Su Qingqing asked, “Brother, when you said on the phone that you wanted to make an announcent, was it about wanting to make Ningning your sworn sister?”
“What else did you think?” Su Jinyuan raised an eyebrow.
Su Qingqing looked at Su Jinyuan awkwardly and then glanced at Huo Sining with guilt before lowering her head in embarrassnt and sha.
How embarrassing, her brother never had those intentions towards Ningning!
Oh my goodness, what a foolish thing had she done? She had caused such a big misunderstanding!
Huang Hongying obviously understood why Su Qingqing was embarrassed. She looked at her own daughter with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, but her gaze softened even more when she turned to Huo Sining:
“Although your surna is Huo, you are Ruining’s only child. In my eyes, you are his continuation. Let’s forget I ever ntioned adopting a goddaughter. You don’t need to see as so distant aunt. In my heart, you are as dear as my own daughter. Think of as your real aunt, and consider this place your ho. If you’re ever wronged, you can tell , and your aunt will have your back.”
Li Bihua once wrote: When a child falls down, if they look around and find no adults nearby, they won’t cry. They will just get up on their own. Pain feels more painful when soone is there to coddle you. Without anyone, you lack self-pity, but you show strength and resolve.
The warmth in Huang Hongying’s words was sothing Huo Sining heard for the first ti in this lifeti or the last.
Seeing Huang Hongying’s sincere and expectant gaze, Huo Sining’s heart instantly filled with a bitter sweetness.
It seed as if all the suffering and grievances of many years were surging forth. Her eyes suddenly ward, and the welling emotions, even though she lowered her head to contain them, couldn’t be held back, and her tears finally broke through the dam.
“Good child, you must have suffered so much over the years. If you’re sad, cry it out. We won’t laugh at you,” Huang Hongying consoled gently as she saw a myriad of emotions flood Huo Sining’s usually composed face. With a glance that flickered with wistfulness and sorrow, she quickly stepped forward to embrace the young girl, gently patting her back and softly comforting her.
A lonely young girl, dependent upon her uncle’s family for over ten years, could hardly imagine the scorn and humiliation she had endured.
Huo Sining covered her mouth, but the trembling of her shoulders and the faint sobs leaking through her fingers made the four people at the table acutely aware of the girl’s profound heartache.
For a mont, no one spoke; silence was their only response.
Huo Sining’s tears didn’t last long. Having faced life and death, she had matured a lot, and those past cries would soon be forgotten.
She had never intended to cling to the past endlessly. Given a second chance at life by the heavens, she was determined to leave everything behind.
Because she always believed that living well was the best revenge against those who had hurt her.
“Aunt, who else is in the Huang family?”
After dinner, as Huo Sining and the Su family sat chatting in the living room and she had regained her composure, she asked Huang Hongying in a calm voice.
“All the elders have passed away. Your grandmother had four siblings in her generation, but only your grandmother was a girl; the rest were boys. My father was the eldest, your grandmother was the youngest, and between them, there are two more uncles. Apart from your grandmother, the three older siblings are still with us. My father and your second great-uncle settled in the Imperial Capital, so many of your cousins developed their careers there as well. By now, they all have their own families and businesses. Your third great-uncle moved to Guangcheng after so issues in the Huang family, and he took advantage of the reforms there a few years back to start a real-estate developnt business, and he has established a small presence in Guangcheng. If you would like to et them, I will arrange a ti to take you to the Imperial Capital and Guangcheng,” Huang Hongying explained.
Huo Sining nodded and then asked, “And what about the Liang family?”
As soon as the Liang family was ntioned, Huang Hongying’s expression darkened:
“The Liang family? Hmph, nothing but a nest of rats and snakes, not a decent one among them. You don’t need to bother with those people. Your grandfather never liked your father; he even threw your grandmother and father out of the house to make room for his mistress. It’s even more ridiculous now. I heard he has handed over all the family business to his youngest son, who is very much like him, selling off assets and misbehaving, knowing only how to indulge in pleasure and ruin won. The stakeholders and company veterans have long been dissatisfied. In my opinion, it won’t be long before the Liang family is nothing but an empty shell. I’ve said it before: what goes around cos around. Liang Pengzhi committed unforgivable deeds, and divine retribution will co.”
Huo Sining certainly didn’t entertain the thought of acknowledging the Liang family. She was rely curious about Wu Jingyi’s affairs after returning to the Liang family in her previous life, because from Su Zhenhua and Huang Hongying’s recollections, her grandmother and father had clearly broken ties with the Liang family a long ti ago. The two families could almost be described as irreconcilably estranged.
Why then, when the Liang family learned of Wu Jingyi’s existence as a counterfeit heiress, did they so eagerly bring her back into the Liang household to care for her in the previous lifeti?
A Cinderella with nothing to her na, what use could they possibly have for her after taking her back?
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