Chapter Eighteen: Recognizing Kinship (Part One)

  His name was Tianyang, and he was indeed a sunny boy.

  "Who's that girl? Is she someone you picked up on the train? You can't actually like someone like that, can you? She looks like a little bean sprout."

  A somewhat impolite remark came over, and he turned his head to look back, it was one of the two friends of that boy named Tianyang, the light was a bit dim, couldn't see his face clearly, only saw that he was tall and slender, in the cold first month wearing only a denim jacket, with his hands in his pockets, naturally posing in a handsome pose.

  "Shut up, but as a fellow practitioner, she's just a young girl who's probably never left home before." Tianyang explained.

  "Alright, I'm afraid it's Tianyang's enthusiasm again. Let's go eat, we're all starving while waiting for you." said another young man wearing a short windbreaker.

  "I said, when did Tianyang's eyesight become so bad." The jacketed man looked unimpressed.

  The three of them walked away while talking.

  It was late at night when I left the station and walked along the road, it's too late to go to my grandfather's house today, so I'll find a nearby hotel to stay first.

  A red sedan sped past him and stopped not far ahead, slowly backing up to Xing Ye's side. Xing Ye stopped in his tracks, bewildered as to why the car had stopped beside him.

  The car window rolled down and a boy named Tianyang stuck his head out, "Isn't anyone picking you up? Where are you headed? If it's on our way, we can give you a ride."

  Before the starry night could respond, the jacketed man sitting in the driver's seat spoke up, "Are you two very familiar? Just being kind."

  Xīng yè zì dòng hū lüè le tā de huà, "wǒ jiù zài fù jìn zhǎo yī jiā lǚ diàn zhù yī wǎn."

  Translation:

  Starry night automatically ignored his words, “I will just find an inn nearby to stay for the night.”

  "You're a girl carrying luggage, and it's clear you're from out of town. It's very dangerous to be walking around on the streets at this hour. Otherwise..."

  "Or what? Are you going to take her out for dinner or help her find a safe place to stay?" The jacketed man interrupted Tianyang's words again.

  The window of the car behind also opened, and it was the young man who wore a windbreaker earlier. "There's a youth hostel to the left up ahead, it's an old shop, the price is not high, the environment is still good, you can go take a look."

  "Thank you, I'll go to which store now, don't delay you, you go first," Xing Ye said.

  "We're leaving." Before Tian Yang could say anything, the jacketed man had already started the car and sped away quickly.

  Xīng yè zhǎo dào nà jiā qīng nián lǚ diàn guǒ rán rú nà rén shuō de nà bān, fáng zi yǒu xiē jiù le, dàn dǎ sǎo de hěn gān jìng, zài jiù shì jià gé hé shì, xīng yè yě jiù zhù le xià lái.

  The next day, Xing Ye inquired about the address on the note from the hotel staff. It was a new district in the city, and there was a direct bus to the train station nearby.

  At 10 o'clock in the morning, Xīng Yè arrived at this high-end residential area called Jiā Yuàn Huā Yuán. Even a small natural lake was included within the community. The entire A district consisted of independent two-story villas built around the lake. Following the address on her hand, she searched house by house until she finally found it near the lakeside, where the location was clearly the best in the whole community.

  The starry night passed through the open iron gate, and came directly to the door. In fact, the gate was only one meter five high, with more decorative than practical, and could not stop anyone at all.

  "Ding Dong" adjusted his mood overnight and pressed the doorbell.

  "Who are you looking for?" The voice came from behind.

  As soon as I turned around, I saw an old lady with white hair who looked very spirited, and a middle-aged woman in her 40s or 50s holding freshly bought vegetables.

  That must be Grandma, a glance in the dim light of night and she felt an instant connection, she tried to find traces similar to her mother's on this aged face, and indeed, the more she looked, the more alike they seemed.

  The old lady opposite had a familiar feeling as soon as she saw Xing Ye, with a hint of intimacy in that familiarity. She tried hard to recall where she had seen this girl before, perhaps the younger generation of one of her friends.

  "Miss, who are you looking for?" The middle-aged woman next to her asked again when Xing Ye didn't respond.

  "I'm looking for..." Before she could finish, the door behind her opened.

  "Wow, it's you!" said the person who opened the door in surprise.

  The whole night was stunned, and I didn't expect that the person who came was actually the young man in a windbreaker from last night.

  "Are you looking for Kai's home? Come in and speak." The old lady misunderstood, and Xing Ye entered the house.

  Jia Kai didn't stop him and walked in with a frown.

  The living room was about 30 or 40 square meters, decorated very elegantly, with solid wood flooring that shone brightly. Xing Ye walked on it wearing shoes and left a string of very obvious footprints. Xing Ye felt a bit embarrassed, but fortunately the others didn't show any signs of annoyance.

  "What's your business? And how did you find this place?" Yu Jia Kai asked with a frown, quite rudely.

  "Jia Kai, watch your tone, don't be so fierce to other people's little girls." Before Xing Ye could respond, the old lady spoke up to educate her grandson, "Child, what business do you have with Jia Kai?"

  "Grandma, I really don't know her?" Jia Kai said truthfully, but looking at Grandma's expression, he knew she didn't believe him. He had no choice but to turn his head and ask Xing Ye "Tell me, what's going on?"

  "I'm not looking for you." Xīng Yè turned around and asked the old lady in a soft voice, "Excuse me, are you Ms. Wang Lan Ying?"

  "My name is Wang Lanying, and you are?" The old man looked puzzled, clearly not recognizing the girl.

  "Is your husband Mr Yu Mingyu?" Xing Ye continued to ask.

  "Ah, yes! Yu Mingyu is indeed my partner. Are you looking for us? I'm also finding your face familiar, but can't quite recall... getting old and the brain isn't as sharp anymore."

  Xīng yè didn't respond, but instead slowly took out an inlaid mother-of-pearl jewelry box from her bag. The black and shiny box had a pattern of flowers and birds inlaid on it. The middle-aged woman and Jia Kai looked at Xīng yè with puzzled expressions, but when the old lady saw the jewelry box, she stood up as if electrified.

  "You are... Little Moon... My daughter..." The old man was so excited that he couldn't speak.

  Staring calmly at the old woman under the starry night, "I am Yu Youyue's daughter, I'm called Luo Xingye. You should be my grandmother."

  The middle-aged woman and Yu Jiaqi were both shocked with their eyes wide open after hearing Xing Ye's words.

  The old lady was already tearful, "Xiao Yue... daughter..." Suddenly she shouted loudly: "Lao Yu, Lao Yu, come quickly, come quickly!" And to Jia Kai she said: "Jia Kai, go and call your grandfather, go quickly."

  Before Jia Kai went to call, a spirited old man appeared outside the living room, "Lan Ying what's wrong?" The old man's hair was snowy white and after entering, his attention was focused on his crying partner, seemingly unaware of Xing Ye's presence.

  Maternal grandparents are indeed as loving as mother said, each other's eyes will always gaze at each other first.

  "She... she," the old lady pointed at Xing Ye, and suddenly everyone's eyes focused on Xing Ye, "She is Xiao Yue's daughter, that is... that was the child we wanted to abort back then... the one we were going to abort..."

  The starry night's gaze dimmed, and she knew everything that had happened back then from her mother's diary. At the time, everyone in the family advised her mother to get rid of the child, even conspiring to trick her into going to the hospital for an abortion. It was her mother who risked her life to run out of the hospital, and this incident directly led to her mother's departure, because she wanted to protect her own child.

  "You? You said you are?" Yu Mingyu's old man looked at Xing Ye incredulously.

  "I am Yu Youyue's daughter, I'm called Luo Xinye, and I'm 16 years old."

  "Xiang, you look just like Little Moon. Where is Little Moon? So many years have passed and we've regretted it for so many years, won't she forgive us yet? Won't she come back to see us?" The old man suddenly asked what was on everyone's mind, even the old lady stopped crying, looking up at the starry night with hope.

  Alas, in the still of night, they sighed in their hearts, destined to be disappointed, to bear the sorrow of losing their daughter forever.

  "My mother passed away last December."

  The room fell silent after he finished speaking.