CHAPTER 280: CHAPTER 213: THE TRUTH OF THAT YEAR (PART 2)

Zhou Xiaozheng lifted his head and blinked his sore eyes, hoarsely saying, "Auntie, you take a rest first. I won’t leave; I’ll stay here with you. We’ll talk when you’re feeling better."

Old Mrs. Cheng tried taking several deep breaths, felt a bit better, and then said, "I’ve always been waiting, waiting for someone to bring the token and bring you over, but waiting and waiting, I never saw you. I thought maybe the world was too chaotic, you were too little, maybe it was hard for others to bring you out. I should just wait patiently.

But when I got married, the token didn’t appear, and you didn’t appear; when I had my child, you still didn’t appear. I don’t know where I went wrong, maybe I was too foolish, forgot, or misunderstood something. I kept recalling every word my sister said to me, remembering her saying you were in a secret place, a safe place. I thought as long as the child was fine, I’d wait a bit longer. And so it was until Liberation, and still no token, no you.

I quit my job, searched everyone who had ever met my sister, everyone connected with my foster parents, even the least likely side room of the Gu Family I endured my resentment to have someone inquire. But it concerned your safety; I didn’t know if it would affect you, so I could only secretly search for boys of a similar age among these people’s families and relatives.

Disappointment again and again; I didn’t dare to see my sister and brother-in-law every year, how could I face them? My sister told me to raise the child well. My foster mother saved my life, my sister saved my life. She died for me, and I couldn’t even find their only blood relation. What face do I have to see them? I’m even afraid of dying, afraid that if I die how can I meet my foster mother and father, how can I meet my sister and brother-in-law? How do I face them?

But on that day, I still couldn’t help but go to their graves. I was afraid that if I didn’t go, how could my sister and brother-in-law visit me in dreams? I feared if I didn’t go, they would be sad. Even if I hadn’t found the child, I wanted them to hear and bless me to find the child."

Zhou Xiaozheng saw her face getting worse and hurriedly stopped her, saying, "Auntie, don’t get agitated. It’s all in the past. Look, I’m fine. I have a wife and daughter; you’ve found me. It’s all over, don’t think of those unhappy things. We’ll all be happy from now on."

"But I hate myself. If it had been my sister, she would have recognized you. She’s so smart. But I was too foolish; you greeted me just a few times passing by, and I still didn’t recognize you. Look, your eyes follow your brother-in-law, your eyebrows too, and your dimples follow my sister, but I just couldn’t recognize you."

Zhou Xiaozheng forced a smile, "Auntie, do you know why I’m smiling? I just thought of my Jiao Jiao; she said the same things to me. She said, ’Dad, look, I’m like you. See, my eyes follow you, my eyebrows too; I feel everything about me follows you.’

Auntie, you’ll certainly like Jiao Jiao when you see her; your speaking tones are quite similar. Look, I’m doing well now. You need to get healthy, take me and the kids every year to see my parents. Didn’t my mom tell you to raise me well?

You should first get healthy, cook some meals to nourish me often, you should be healthy to see me often. We’ll make up for those forty years, you get well and take me to see Grandpa and Grandma, take me to Jiangnan, take me to the places my parents lived.

So you have to take care of your health, right? Let’s focus on happy things, do happy things, and tell my parents when Qingming comes, okay?"

As Old Mrs. Cheng listened, her face gradually showed a smile, nodding from time to time.

Zhou Xiaozheng quietly breathed a sigh of relief and said a few more teasing words to amuse her, making her laugh.

Mr. Cheng saw his wife was fine, feeling relieved. Noticing Mrs. Zhou staring blankly, he felt regret secretly; this old lady was a good person, raising his nephew. But he still had to ask what needed asking.

He cleared his throat, and as Mrs. Zhou’s gaze fell upon him, he quickly asked, "Big Sister, I want to know where the old clan leader is? Who holds the token?"

Mrs. Zhou pointed at the amulet Zhou Xiaozheng had taken out and said, "The token is the amulet, always hanging on Xiaozheng’s neck; I told him not to lose it, just in case it was needed in the future.

The old clan leader passed away in an accident early on. At that time, I was in confinement after a miscarriage; Gu Mingzhu, the old clan leader, and my husband were discussing it, I didn’t hear exactly what was said. But I knew she left this amulet. The child was handed over to me immediately; she even bowed to me. The old clan leader once said as the child grew up, how could it be that his mother hadn’t come to take him yet, had an accident happened? He asked my husband to go inquire about Liu Xizhi. That’s when I heard the name Liu Xizhi."

Old Mrs. Cheng instantly became anxious and asked, "What year was that? Did your husband look for him? I always kept someone at my sister and brother-in-law’s courtyard in case someone couldn’t find me but found my sister. My sister had taken two wooden boxes with her when she brought the child over. One large one was for you as upbringing expenses. I personally placed the gold bars and silver dollars. The remaining small box was what my sister took with her. Where’s that small box? My sister said it was for the child."

Mrs. Zhou frowned as she recalled, "When Gu Mingzhu came in, she brought a suitcase. When she left, she indeed left empty-handed. But I never saw two boxes. Can you describe what they looked like?"

"The small one was only the size of a palm and black-red in color. The box was very ordinary, with no carvings on it, and contained two jade pendants inside. One piece of Mutton Fat Jade was used by the main branch of the Gu Family as an heirloom; my sister always wore it on her neck. And there was a jade pendant from the Zhou Family. It was a small, bright red Chicken Blood Stone seal. These two were engagement tokens exchanged between the Zhou Family and the Gu Family, kept for the child to use when getting married and having children in the future."

Hearing this, Mrs. Zhou painfully closed her eyes and remained silent for a long time.

Everyone in the living room exchanged looks, sensing something was wrong, and quietly waited for her to speak.

After a long while, Mrs. Zhou hoarsely spoke, "The Zhou Family’s seal was around the old man’s neck; he said it was passed down from his father. The round Mutton Fat Jade had its string broken, and the old man kept it. The box might still be found."

Mr. Cheng sighed, "Big Sister, we must recognize the child. We have physical and testimonial evidence. Even the small box belonging to Gu Mingzhu has photos and backups. You should know how outstanding Gu Mingzhu was. To prevent any unforeseen issues, she wouldn’t neglect to leave a way out for the child. But we couldn’t find the child, just waiting for the child to bring the token.

The old clan leader died, and the only one who knows the truth is Zhou Jianren. We’re sure Gu Mingzhu mentioned how to find Liu Xizhi, that’s why she left the token. Every mission she took, she would tell my wife in advance, if something happened to her, wait for someone to come with the token and raise the child well.

I know it puts you in a difficult position, but we must confront Zhou Jianren. If he doesn’t acknowledge it, we must report it to the authorities. We’ve waited for over forty years, searched all over the country, but he deliberately concealed the truth. If he had treated Zhou Jinyu’s lineage well, I wouldn’t mind, but look at what Zhou Xiaozheng doesn’t say, how much did Zhou Jiao suffer? The box of gold bars prepared by my wife was to prevent the child from suffering, agreed in advance as a gift of thanks. With these things, why keep the child?

Do you know how I found the child? God favored us! I suspected Zhou Jiao might have inherited her grandfather’s photographic memory, holding out hope as I searched through your comrades. When my wife heard the lead on the child, she was so shocked that she went straight to the hospital that night. Once we got the evidence, we took immediate military flights to rush over. You’ve seen how my wife’s health is, but even with our regret towards you, we still need to settle accounts with Zhou Jianren."

Old Mrs. Cheng immediately tried to get up, instructing Cheng Sijin, "Eldest son, bring Mom’s two suitcases; inside are the photos your aunt kept, let’s go now. I want to ask how my brother-in-law’s things became his! Let me throw the photos in his face and see if he has any shame left?"

Zhou Xiaozheng looked at Mrs. Zhou and said, "Mom, if it’s too hard for you, stay here. I’ll go over myself to ask; the matter needs to be resolved."

Mrs. Zhou perked up and stood, saying, "Let’s go, see what he has to say."

Zhang Guoqing prepared dinner and was just about to invite everyone to eat. Unexpectedly, he overheard everything, suddenly realizing why Old Sir Zhou’s attitude was so strange.

As Zhou Xiaozheng stepped out of the living room, he seen him, "Xiao Wu, put things aside for now; we’re driving to Zhou Family Village."