Free Web NovelChapter 192: Chapter 192: Who Am I?
Behind the Golden Orchid Forest on the island was a small hall where people could rest.
It was empty at the moment, and Mo Lingwei pulled Shen Ningning inside.
"Brother, aren’t we going to eat?" The little girl maintained her sweet smile, her dimples just visible.
Mo Lingwei, however, gazed at her somberly. After a long moment, he said, "You don’t have to force a smile in front of me."
At his words, Shen Ningning’s smile instantly melted like ice, and tears welled up in her eyes.
She lowered her head. "But I don’t want to cry. If I cry, I won’t be a good girl."
But even as she said it, she couldn’t hold back her tears and began to sob.
Shen Ningning dropped all pretense. In that moment, she didn’t want to be a sensible child; she only wanted to cry and release the anguish in her heart.
"I always thought this Ruyi was a keepsake my parents left for me. I always believed they couldn’t bear to abandon me. But as it turns out, even the Ruyi isn’t mine."
"The name Shen Ningning should belong to Uncle Xie’s real daughter. If I’m not even Shen Ningning, then who am I?"
Mo Lingwei reached out and hugged her tightly.
As he listened to her sobs, his own body trembled with heartache for her.
"Don’t worry about whose daughter you are. You are your own person! You have your wolf pack, the bountiful Wolf Mountain, Grandma Qin who loves you, the villagers of Xiangyun Village who worship you, and you have me!"
"Being anyone’s daughter can’t bring more happiness than just being yourself. A name doesn’t define you. Your very existence is the ultimate proof of your life’s meaning."
Shen Ningning wailed in his arms.
The Black Wolf King entered, its heart aching as it watched the little girl.
Mo Lingwei knew the Black Wolf King was intelligent and could understand him. "Watch over her for a while," he said. "I’m going to summon a boat. She’s upset, so I’ll send her home early. I’ll have someone bring Grandma Qin over shortly."
With that, he went out.
The Black Wolf King then lay down beside Shen Ningning. The little girl flopped over, burying her tear-stained face in its fluffy fur.
"Langlang... WAHHH..."
"Don’t cry." With no one else around, the Black Wolf King finally spoke in the human tongue. "If worst comes to worst, I’ll raise you. Our home has everything."
Shen Ningning lifted her tear-filled eyes. The Black Wolf King disliked speaking in the human tongue, and even though the spring water had given it the ability, it only ever did so on special occasions to comfort her.
The little girl hugged its large head tightly, and her tears finally stopped.
She and the Black Wolf King were family, not by blood, but by bond.
Before long, the guard Wu Fang also brought Grandma Qin over.
The moment Grandma Qin saw Shen Ningning, she was utterly heartbroken. She pulled the little girl into a tight embrace and stroked her hair.
"My poor Ningning. We were so close to finding your parents, and then we get this news."
She grasped the little girl’s hands and said earnestly, "Ningning, don’t you be afraid. When I first found you, I promised that as long as I have a scrap of food to eat, I’ll make sure you grow up safe and sound!"
"So what if you don’t have birth parents? You’ll always be my Ningning."
The Black Wolf King nodded in agreement.
They would all cherish her!
Soothed by her family’s comfort, Shen Ningning’s sadness finally began to fade.
Instead, she broke into a sweet smile. "That’s right! I have Grandma and Langlang. I’m not alone. And now Uncle Xie is my adoptive father! Everyone is so good to me, so I can’t stay sad forever."
With that, the little girl ran to the window, knelt facing the heavens, and clasped her small hands together.
She closed her eyes and made a wish. "Daddy, Mommy, if you are watching from the afterlife, please rest assured. I’ll take good care of myself. Ningning is five years old now, not a little kid anymore."
When the banquet ended, Shen Ningning and Grandma Qin boarded a carriage to leave the palace, taking the Black Wolf King with them.
Mo Lingwei accompanied them, but before the carriage could even leave the palace gates, it was forced to a halt.
Wu Fang lifted the curtain and reported, "Your Highness, the Prime Minister’s carriage is waiting ahead."
Mo Lingwei looked down at Shen Ningning. "Do you want to speak with him? If you’re not in the mood and don’t want to talk, I’ll turn him away for you."
The little girl quickly shook her head. "It’s alright, Brother. I should say a few words to Uncle Prime Minister."
And so, the two carriages stopped side-by-side on the palace road.
Shen Ningning lifted the curtain with a small hand, but the first person she saw was Xie Mingxu.
"Ningning," he said, his brow furrowing as he looked at her eyes, swollen and red from crying. "I’ll come to the Xie Mansion to pick you up tomorrow."
Mo Lingwei asked coldly, "For what?"
Xie Mingxu pressed his lips together. "We’re opening the ancestral hall to record Ningning’s name in the Xie family’s ancestral register. It’s the greatest gesture of sincerity we can offer her, so the Xie family ancestors must be made aware of this."
Shen Ningning nodded obediently, her gaze sweeping past him to Xie Suzhi behind him. His face was pale, and his tall frame stood there like a silent mountain.
When he saw the little girl looking at him, he gave a gentle, kind smile, but his eyes were filled with sorrow.
"Ningning," he said, "you have suffered all these years."
But Shen Ningning gave a soft, sweet smile. "I haven’t suffered. Grandma and Langlang took very good care of me! By the way, Uncle Xie, I’m returning this to you."
She lowered her head, her small hands fumbling with something for a moment.
In the end, what she held out was the Ruyi she had treasured more than her own life.
Both Mo Lingwei and Grandma Qin were stunned.
This was the thing she cared about most. Fearing she would lose it, she even tied it to her waist and never took it off, not even to sleep.
Back when Aunt Qin would kick and beat her, the little girl would always curl into a ball to protect her belly.
Because she was afraid that if her Ruyi was shattered or broken, she would never be able to find her parents.
Now, however, she was returning it to the Xie family without any hesitation.
Xie Suzhi’s gaze deepened. "This Ruyi shares a fate with you. You should keep it."
Shen Ningning shook her little head. "It’s not mine, so I don’t want it. I’ve already taken the name ’Shen Ningning.’ Uncle Xie has given me more than enough."
Then, she stretched out her arm and finally placed it in Xie Mingxu’s hand.
In the past, she needed the Ruyi to hold on to the memory of her parents.
But now that she knew her new path forward, she naturally wouldn’t cling to the past.
Once the item was returned, the little girl had nothing more to say. At a glance from Mo Lingwei, Wu Fang drove the carriage away.
The Xie father and son stood silently on the palace road, their faces grim.
After returning to the Xie Mansion, Xie Mingxu followed Xie Suzhi into the study.
Once the door was closed, Xie Mingxu finally erupted in anger.
"Father, you’re lying! Shen Ningning is my biological sister. What’s all this about her being a farmer’s daughter?!"
Xie Suzhi was seized by a violent coughing fit. After a moment, he recovered and looked at his son, his eyes as dark as an abyss. "How can you be so certain?"
Xie Mingxu said coldly, "Before my sister was lost, I held her many times. I knew her like the back of my hand. My sister has a red mole on the palm of her right hand, and so does Shen Ningning."
He had noticed it long ago.
In this world, who could look so much like his mother? And how could it be such a coincidence that she also has the same red mole as his lost sister?
Xie Mingxu was almost certain that Shen Ningning was his biological sister, but his father’s return had shattered his assumption.
"Why are you lying? Don’t you know that the Crown Prince has recently uncovered many things about what happened to Mother back then? He must have told Shen Ningning, which is why her eyes were so full of hope when you appeared."
"Father, you became gravely ill and even coughed up blood over my sister. I believe you want to find her more than anyone. But now she’s right in front of you, so why would you spin such a huge lie and turn your own biological daughter into an adopted one?"
