Chapter 7: The Lie I Don't Want to Expose

  Starry night, after receiving the photo and taking a closer look, it was a family portrait.

  A middle-aged couple sat in the front, behind them stood two tall boys, with similar looks, the one on the left was a bit older, gentle and elegant, giving the impression that he would be a refined young master strolling through Jiangnan's misty rain if he held a folding fan. The one on the right was younger, with bright black eyes, a slightly raised mouth corner, full of vitality, a sunny youth. Between the two boys stood a little girl, just sixteen or seventeen years old, with a radiant smile, adding a touch of liveliness to her already beautiful face.

  Her gaze was involuntarily drawn to the woman in front of her, who was her grandmother. At 40 years old, she had the looks of a 30-year-old and the sweetness of a 20-year-old girl. She was one of those women whose beauty would not be obscured by time. Xing Ye thought back to how she looked at 30 years old, and in terms of appearance, they were about 70-80% similar. However, their temperament was incomparable. At 30 years old, if she didn't wear makeup, her pale and haggard complexion would be impossible to conceal. But her grandmother's elegant and refined temperament made up for the disadvantage of age, just like fine wine that gets better with time.

  She must be a happy woman, only happy women have such a smile.

  Looking at the grandfather sitting next to me, when my mother first mentioned him, I imagined him as the character Qi Xiao in "The Legend of Zhen Huan" played by Chen Kun, but now looking at the photo, he looks more like Liu De Kai in his middle age, just don't know what his temper is like.

  "Grandma is so beautiful, both uncles are very handsome, and mom looks like a little princess."

  "That year, your grandfather was rehabilitated, and our family reunited. This is a photo of the whole family taken on purpose." Yu Yue handed the photo to Xing Ye overnight, looked at it seriously, and sighed: "It's also the last whole family photo."

  "Mom, after you're done, let's go visit grandma and them together, okay?"

  "Don't coax me anymore, I know my own body is good or bad, and I won't be able to hold on for much longer. When that day really comes, don't be sad."

  "Mom..."

  Yu Youyue interrupted her.

  "I'm not a good daughter, I've received so much love from my parents, but I haven't been filial to them for even one day. Instead, I've made them worry and grieve with me through the night. When you have the chance, you must take good care of your grandparents on behalf of your mother, okay?" Yu Yue looked at her daughter until she saw her nod solemnly in agreement, then a faint smile spread across her face.

  One night, holding a green hardcover book in front of his mother, he asked: "Mom, what is this?" He was puzzled in his heart. In his previous life, he had not discovered these things. It seemed that at that time, he only knew how to cry and didn't know anything about human affairs. Many parents' belongings were burned by relatives, so it's likely that these things weren't valuable either. The handkerchief and the chain might have been given to the child to play with casually as well.

  Yu Youyue took over the hardcover book and didn't respond to Xing Ye's words. Instead, she let out a sigh and said slowly:

  "Yèzi, your dad and brother are truly worried about you, we owe them a lot as mother and daughter."

  "Dad and brother are forever my closest family members" Xīng Yè thought of her stepfather and Hui Ye Gege, that kind of affection is forever inseparable.

  "Yes, we have never kept secrets from you at night. Although you and they are not blood relatives, blood is not the only standard to measure kinship. From now on, you should be close to Kaguya, support each other, and no matter what happens, don't forget that he is your brother, your own brother."

  "Mom, what's wrong? Do I need to say it, my brother and I are fine." Xīng Yè saw her mother looking tired and said: "Mom, go lie down and rest, we'll talk about it tomorrow."

  Yu Youyue had been talking for a long time and was already very tired, but she couldn't help feeling anxious and decided to muster up her energy to make things clear tonight.

  "It's okay, I have something to talk to you about, it's about your origins. Mom knows you're a good kid, from the time you were old enough to understand things, she never mentioned this in front of me, was she afraid of hurting my feelings? Don't you want to know who your real father is?"

  "Mom, we're living a good life as a family, I don't want to know anything about that person who only brought me into this world but never appeared in my life. The father I have is not him." Xing Ye said it all from the bottom of her heart.

  Yu Youyue also saw that her daughter was speaking from the heart, and she felt deeply moved.

  "You have the right to know, I was originally afraid that you were too young and couldn't handle it properly, but during this time your father is not around, seeing how careful you are in dealing with things, my heart is at ease now, you've really grown up."

  "Mom, I really don't want to know, you don't have to tell me."

  "To be honest, I really don't know how to tell you, all I can say is that it was an immature romance. I believe both parties were genuinely invested, but we neglected the fact that although love is between two people, marriage involves many external factors, and life isn't just about having love. This was my diary from back then, as well as our correspondence, if you read it, you'll understand everything."

  Xīng yè ná qǐ nà lǜ pí běn, xiǎng dǎ kāi, yú yōu yuè àn zhù le tā de shǒu.

  Translation:

  At night, she picked up the green notebook and wanted to open it, but Yu Youyue held her hand back.

  "Yèzi, listen to mom, these things I haven't seen since I married your father, don't look at them for now, wait until mom is gone..."

  Dropped diary in a hurry on a starry night, held mother's hand, heart aching but didn't know what to say.

  "Yèzi, I don't want to say anything more about your biological father. I don't want my words to influence your understanding of him. Remember that I don't hate him, and whether or not you acknowledge him is up to you to decide. Daughter, Mom can't be with you anymore. You need to learn how to choose the most beneficial life for yourself. Oh, no matter how sensible you are, you're only 16 years old after all."

  Her mother's words were like a will, making Xing Ye very sad. She hugged her mother's shoulders and held on tighter. After experiencing emotional ups and downs, her mother lived a plain but happy life with her stepfather for over a decade. Her children were still young, but she was about to leave the world, unable to see her maternal family again, who had become her eternal pain.

  "Yèzi, will your dad be able to come back? I'm afraid..."

  Yu Youyue's words shocked Xing Ye into opening his eyes wide.

  "Of course, I could have...". Xing Ye couldn't continue under his mother's gaze.

  "It's good to be back, to see each other again..."

  In an instant, Xing Ye understood her mother's thoughts and held back her tears. The clumsy lies she and San Shu had told, as well as the evasive language of the others, had already made their clever mother suspicious. However, she didn't want to expose the truth or ask for clarification, so she still had a glimmer of hope that Father was indeed on a business trip. Although she was afraid and worried, she feared even more that her worries would be confirmed, making everything irreparable. Therefore, she chose to believe their lies, not allowing her last shred of hope to be destroyed, for as long as people have hope, they can keep going.

  She was also preparing for the worst, knowing that she couldn't live alone in the small town after losing her father, so she opened up the dusty memories and mentioned her grandparents. If it wasn't to let them take care of her, she probably wouldn't have mentioned them to anyone again in this lifetime.

  That night, Yu Yue didn't let Xing Ye return to her own room. The mother and daughter leaned on each other, chatting for a long time until they fell asleep in exhaustion. It was only that night that Xing Ye discovered she had never understood her mother, this good mother who had sacrificed so much for her.