Free Web NovelChapter 258: Chapter 258: Gu Xinsheng
The man was now convinced that the girl before him must be Li Wan’s daughter. The resemblance was just too strong. Without a blood relation, it would be impossible. This girl was practically a carbon copy of Li Wan. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
"You must be... Qingqing." The man smiled at Su Qing and gestured to the bamboo table and chairs nearby. "Please, have a seat. I’ll be right over after I tidy up."
"You know my name?" Su Qing was a little surprised.
The man pressed his lips together. "Xiao Wan—that is, your mother—mentions your name from time to time. She always calls you Qingqing."
Su Qing froze at his words and glanced toward the bamboo house.
"Have a seat," the man urged Su Qing.
Su Qing nodded and sat down on a bamboo chair. Seeing the man enter the kitchen next door, she looked at the bamboo house again. ’The original owner’s mother, even in her current state, had never forgotten her daughter.’
’It’s a shame the original owner never knew, right up to her death, that her mother was always thinking of her.’
A sudden, inexplicable sadness washed over Su Qing.
A handkerchief was offered to Su Qing.
Su Qing paused, looking at the man sitting across from her. Only then did she realize she was crying.
"Your mother... she thinks about you a lot." The man didn’t seem to know how to comfort Su Qing and could only say, "She would be so happy if she knew you were here."
"I know." Su Qing nodded lightly and accepted the handkerchief from his hand. "Thank you."
"It’s nothing."
Su Qing wiped her tears. Neither of them spoke, and silence stretched between them for a while.
After a long moment, the man finally said, "My name is Gu Xinsheng. I was your mother’s junior high classmate."
Su Qing had figured the man had some connection to Li Wan, but she hadn’t expected them to be childhood sweethearts. She looked at Gu Xinsheng and asked, "Then why did you bring my mother here? The Li family has already reported it to the police. Aren’t you afraid they’ll come and arrest you? Legally speaking, what you’ve done is a crime."
"I know." Gu Xinsheng sighed. "But I couldn’t let your mother stay with the Li family any longer. I believe if she were lucid, she would never want to stay there."
"You know my mother well?"
"I suppose so." Gu Xinsheng paused for a moment before continuing, "Actually, your mother and I haven’t seen each other in almost twenty years."
Su Qing said nothing, listening as Gu Xinsheng went on.
Gu Xinsheng seemed to have opened up. "You’re still young," he said. "Some things might not be appropriate to tell you, but I want you to know that I mean your mother no harm."
"Uncle Gu, I’m already seventeen. I understand a lot of things. Please, just tell me." Su Qing was quite interested in Li Wan and Gu Xinsheng’s story. In truth, she could tell that Gu Xinsheng liked Li Wan. It was just that perhaps fate wasn’t on their side, and Li Wan had ended up marrying the original owner’s father.
Now that the original owner’s father was gone, she intended to cure Li Wan and then let her live as she pleased. After all, her mother had suffered for so many years. If she was willing to be with this Gu Xinsheng, Su Qing would give her blessing.
Gu Xinsheng nodded. "I think you’ve probably figured it out already. I’m in love with your mother."
Su Qing gave a faint nod. ’It was too obvious. Besides, this Gu Xinsheng made no effort to hide his feelings for Li Wan. You’d have to be blind not to see it.’
Gu Xinsheng continued, "Your mother and I were classmates in elementary and junior high. She was a great student and had always planned to test into high school after junior high graduation. We were in the same class, but I didn’t really understand my own feelings back then. After junior high, I enlisted in the army."
"But sometime after leaving Jia City, I realized I had feelings for your mother. So, I wrote her a few letters. However, they all vanished without a trace, with no response whatsoever. I assumed your mother didn’t want to reciprocate those feelings, so I gave up."
"By that time, my mother must have already been sent to the countryside," Su Qing said.
"Yes." Gu Xinsheng nodded. "But back then, I never imagined she would be sent to the countryside. It wasn’t mandatory at the time, and besides, her dream was always to go to high school. Why would she go to the countryside? So I always thought she’d received my letters but chose not to reply because she didn’t want to reciprocate. But then, by chance, I found out that not long after I enlisted, your mother was forced to go to the countryside by your grandmother’s family."
"My mother was forced to go?" Su Qing asked in surprise. "It wasn’t voluntary?"
"Of course it wasn’t voluntary," Gu Xinsheng said. "Her biggest dream was to go to high school and then get into university. Why would she have been willing to go to the countryside? It was your grandmother’s family who forcibly signed her up for a spot, leaving her with no choice but to go since she couldn’t continue her education."
Hearing Gu Xinsheng’s words, Su Qing lowered her gaze. ’The Li family... were they afraid of something back then? Is that why they were in such a rush to force Li Wan into the countryside?’
At this, Gu Xinsheng sighed again, his voice thick with endless regret. "Even though I found out your mother had been forced to go to the countryside, I couldn’t come back. I was on a mission and couldn’t leave. Later, I was assigned to a secret mission, and besides..."
"You found out about my mother and father’s marriage?" Su Qing asked.
"Yes." Gu Xinsheng nodded. "After I heard your mother had gotten married, I completely let go of the idea and focused wholeheartedly on my duties. I only came back to visit recently after my mission ended. To be honest, even though I’d let go of the idea, I never forgot your mother all these years. So, I decided to come back and stay in this city for a while. And then... I couldn’t resist asking about her."
At this point, Gu Xinsheng became indignant. "I never would have imagined that your mother had already returned to Jia City, and that she’d ended up like this. As for you and your father, the story I heard was that you had both died during a hunting trip deep in the mountains."
"I’m afraid that was the story the Li family spread," Su Qing said, her voice cold.
"Most likely," Gu Xinsheng said. "I haven’t been back long, and my inquiries were rushed. I only heard a snippet about you and your father. When I found out what had happened to your mother, my first instinct was to get her out of the Li family’s house. I knew she would never want to stay there."
"How do you know so much?" Su Qing asked. "You know about my mother’s grievances with the Li family? I’ve heard before that my mother wasn’t on good terms with my eldest uncle."
Gu Xinsheng let out a dry laugh. "Your mother has two siblings. Among the three of them, she was the one who was bullied the most at home."
"What! Three siblings!"
