Chapter Nineteen: Recognizing Kinship (Part 2)

  The old lady was lying on the sofa, apparently having fainted from a sudden attack of anger. Xīngyè rushed over in one swift motion, pinching her philtrum to revive her. The old lady slowly came to, and everyone else finally reacted, some fetching medicine, others pouring water, and yet others offering words of comfort. When the old lady regained consciousness, she tightly grasped Xīngyè's hand but couldn't speak a word.

  "You said your mother passed away, how is that possible? She's not even forty years old, still so young." Mr. Yu heard the news of his daughter's passing and was equally grief-stricken. Looking at his wife's expression, he feared she might also have some bad news to share. After many years of marriage, they were connected at heart. His wife was too agitated to speak, her unspoken questions undoubtedly the same as his own.

  "She had breast cancer, and for the first two years she endured it secretly. Later, when she went to the hospital, it was already too late, the cancer cells had spread, and chemotherapy and medication only delayed time, but ultimately didn't make it past last winter."

  "Breast cancer" muttered the old man in a daze, his eyes gazing at the old woman under the starry night.

  The old lady's eyes followed his gaze into the starry night, her hand on her chest, her whole body petrified like a statue, even her expression frozen.

  "Lan Ying? Lan Ying?"

  "Ah!" The old lady cried again, facing the old man: "It's me, it's all my fault, isn't it? It's all because of me."

  Her words left Xing Ye bewildered, but it was clear that his grandfather understood what was going on.

  "Not, not just a coincidence, no scientific basis."

  "What a coincidence, I am also... Xiaoyue is also, it must be me... It's me, why didn't I die instead."

  Staring subconsciously at my own chest in the starry night, my grandmother also had breast cancer. Medically speaking, it's not said that cancer will definitely be inherited, but families with a history of illness are more likely to have cancer patients. Both my grandmother and mother had the same disease, what about me...

  At night, under the starry sky, he suppressed his doubts and looked at the old couple embracing and crying. He wanted to comfort them but didn't know what to say. After all, it was a white-haired person sending off a black-haired one. How could the pain of losing a loved one be alleviated with just a few words?

  Xīng yè kàn xiàng Yú Jiā Kǎi, yǎn shén shì yì yào tā xiǎng bàn fǎ quàn quàn, duì fāng zhòu méi wēi yáo le yáo le tóu, biǎo shì yě méi yǒu bàn fǎ.

  If she continues to cry, the two elderly people will not be able to bear it. Xīn Yè opens the jewelry box and takes out a cassette tape. This is what she thought of as a solution - her mother must have had many things she wanted to say to her paternal grandparents, but at that time, her mother was unable to hold a pen. Xīn Yè remembered the tape recorder at home, placed it beside her mother's bed and let her record the words she wanted to say.

  "When my mother was alive, she recorded some words to tell our family members. Do you two want to listen?" As expected, Xing Ye's words successfully shifted the attention of the two people.

  Xing Ye looked at Jia Kai with a hint of intention in his eyes, holding the cassette tape in his hand, "Is there a tape recorder?"

  "There is, you wait" quickly went back to the room to fetch it.

  "At that time, mom was already bedridden and couldn't even hold a pen, so I recorded it with a tape recorder," Xing Ye explained.

  Yu Jia Kai took out a tape recorder, which should be used for listening to English in his daily life. Xing Ye handed the tape to him and gestured for him to operate it.

  At this moment, the door opened and a middle-aged couple walked in quickly. The man was elegant yet revealed a sense of majesty, seemingly someone who had always been in a position of power, with an air of authority about him. The woman was stunning yet understated, exuding a youthful vitality that belied her forty years.

  "What's going on? Jia Kai was furious on the phone and hung up before I could even ask what was wrong." It was that woman, her words arrived before she did.

  Yu Jia Kai noticed that Xing Ye was looking at him with a questioning expression, so he explained: "Just now I made a phone call to my parents, they will definitely come back for such a big thing."

  "Dad and Mom, are you both okay?" Yu Zhongliang asked with concern upon seeing the two elderly people looking worn out.

  His wife stared at Xing Ye's body without blinking.

  "Are you..." Her eyes turned red as she spoke, "You are Xiao Yue's daughter?"

  Her words immediately caught Yu Zhongliang's attention, and he was in a meeting when he received his wife's phone call asking him to come back immediately, saying it was an urgent matter but not specifying what it was. He had just met at the door and hadn't had time to speak before entering. After entering, he was startled by his parents' unusual behavior and didn't pay much attention to the little girl on the side. Now, hearing that his wife said she was the daughter of her sister who had been away from home for over a decade without any news, he couldn't help but look at the girl in front of him with surprise.

  "Yes, I am Yu Youyue's daughter. My name is Luo Xingye and I'm 16 years old." This was the third time Xingye had introduced herself today.

  The more I look at her, the more she looks like her sister, and even prettier than her sister was at this age. The more I look at her, the more I like her.

  "Is it a starry night? I am your uncle, your mother's older brother, she..."

  "Zhongliang, your sister is dead, she died of breast cancer... and will never come back." The voice of his grandmother suddenly came loudly from outside the room, interrupting Zhongliang's words.

  "What?" Yu Zhongliang looked straight at Xing Ye, as if waiting for her explanation.

  Xīng yè zhèng zhòng de diǎn diǎn tóu, suàn shì gěi le tā yī gè kěn dìng de dá àn.

  English Translation:

  The starry night nodded solemnly, which was a definite answer to him.

  Worried for 16 years, looking forward to 16 years of sister, finally waited for her news, but it was forever can not see again, no wonder the father who has been calm and the mother who has been open-minded will be so sad and lost.

  "Let's hear your sister's last words." Xing Ye's grandfather was still calm and let Yu Jia Kai turn on the recorder.

  The tape recorder first transmitted a rustling sound, followed by "Dad, Mom, I'm Xiaoyue". The voice trembled and paused for over ten seconds before continuing "I'm sorry, I've wanted to say sorry to you both for a long time, but I didn't have the courage..."

  She had listened to this tape countless times on sleepless nights, and each time she couldn't help but cry. So when her mother's voice came on, she made an excuse to go to the bathroom and hid there.

  Everyone needs time to digest this series of things. Xīng Yè washed her face with cold water and stood in front of the mirror, staring blankly. Is that me? Why do I look so strange?

  The recording was only over ten minutes long, but it stopped several times in between, either because Yu Yue was too excited or because she was exhausted. After listening to it, everyone felt uncomfortable, and Grandma's tears never stopped.

  Xīn yè huí dào kè tīng, lù yīn zǎo yǐ jié shù, xīn yè lì shí chéng le jiāo diǎn.

  Translation:

  Back to the living room at night, the recording had already ended, and Xinye instantly became the focus.

  Auntie walked up and grabbed Xing Ye's hand, pulling her down to sit beside her.

  "It's all my fault, I'm the one who's wrong. As a mother myself, I deceived her into having an abortion, wanting her to lose her own child. I don't deserve to be a mother, I'm sorry." Aunt sobbed as she spoke.

  "No, Aunt, my mom never complained about you guys to me. She told me that you and Uncle were childhood sweethearts and she treated you like a little sister; she said when you married Uncle, she was even happier than Uncle himself; she also said that your son, Mao Mao, is the most lovable boy she has ever seen. You see, from start to finish, she never hated or resented anyone, not even my own father."

  "Yes, your mother was always so considerate and kind. Her tolerance makes me feel even more guilty." There was deep self-reproach in Aunt's words.

  Xīng yè méi yǒu kàn dào dàng tā tí dào qīn shēng fù qīn de shí hòu jiù jiù de biǎo qíng míng xiǎn de chōu suō le yī xià, hěn kuài yòu huī fù guò lái.

  "You don't have to feel guilty about anything," Xīn Yè said to everyone, "Actually, our lives were very good. My mom married my stepfather when I was three years old, and he had a son a few years older than me from his previous marriage. His ex-wife was a sent-down youth who left her son behind and returned to the city. My stepfather is a kind and honest man, although he didn't read many books, but he's very smart and capable. After marrying my mom, he loved me and my mom very much. In the early years, conditions were not good, and if there was meat in the dishes, it was already a rare good meal. Every time, Dad would give the meat to Mom, and Mom would pass it to my brother Huī Yè, who was young but very considerate. He would put the meat into my bowl, and after one meal, the meat would be left over. After my mom got sick, my stepfather borrowed money from all his relatives and friends, and even transferred the hardware store he had opened for many years to someone else, almost selling the house. But this father-son pair never complained, instead, they tried every way to comfort my mom. Actually, I think if my mom's illness could be cured, he would definitely sell the house without hesitation."

  Staring at the night sky, his grandparents and uncle listened intently, continuing in an even more sorrowful tone, "How could they have sacrificed so much?"

  The calm starry night was left with tears.