novelraw Chapter 694 - 704 Follow-up (16)
Chapter 694 - 704 Follow-up (16)
"Yes, still alive. I didn’t expect we could meet again." Yang Peiyun lowered her eyes, hiding the panic in them.Qiao Mo stood to the side, a bit confused about the situation, not expecting Aunt Xu Wan to know her mother.
"You... are Xiao Mo’s mother?" Xu Wan asked tentatively.
"Yes." Yang Peiyun nodded.
Xu Wan carefully examined Qiao Yun, a hint of envy flashed in her eyes: "You really look alike... I didn’t expect you to have two daughters, that’s nice."
As if recalling something, a trace of pain flashed in her eyes.
"You... have you been doing well all these years?" Yang Peiyun asked softly.
Xu Wan nodded weakly: "Pretty well, I’ve been abroad for the past few years, only returning recently."
...
The two engaged in intermittent small talk for over twenty minutes.
Qiao Mo didn’t say a word the entire time, but as they were about to leave, the equally silent Qiao Yun suddenly called out to her: "Qiao Mo, do you still have the confidence to keep Fu Nancheng now?"
Qiao Mo paused slightly: "I’m not keeping him. If he wants to leave, I won’t hold him back."
With that, Qiao Mo left together with Xu Wan.
On the way back, Qiao Mo inquired about the relationship between Xu Wan and Yang Peiyun, only to discover that she had once again uncovered a long-buried past.
It turned out that Yang Peiyun was actually Xu Wan’s half-sister.
Yang Peiyun’s real surname was also Xu, and her original name should have been Xu Qing. Back then, she was an illegitimate child of the Xu family, but Xu Wan’s father never acknowledged her, always believing that Yang Peiyun’s mother had schemed to have her.
Therefore, Mr. Xu never liked this daughter. However, when Yang Peiyun’s biological mother died early from illness, Xu Wan’s grandmother took pity on her, believing that no matter what, Yang Peiyun was still blood-related to the Xu family, so she kept her.
Xu Wan’s mother had many conflicts with Mr. Xu because of this, and Yang Peiyun, due to her status as an illegitimate and unfavored child, did not have an easy life in the Xu household. Even the servants often showed her attitude.
Year after year, Mr. Xu gradually accepted the existence of this daughter, even though he never truly liked her.
Originally, Mr. Xu arranged a decent marriage for her, but when Yang Peiyun was eighteen, she became pregnant out of wedlock. In a drunken encounter, she conceived a child with a man in his forties, and was labeled as a bastard, causing the Xu family to lose face.
This time, not even the grandmother of the family could protect her, and in anger, Mr. Xu expelled her from the family, declaring severed father-daughter ties.
From then on, Xu Qing disappeared.
Later, Mr. Xu sent people to look for her multiple times. There were rumors that she had mixed with bad company, was raped and killed, but there were also rumors that she died from a drug overdose.
In any case, after that incident, the people of the Xu family never heard from her again.
But according to what Yang Peiyun just said, she indeed suffered a lot after leaving the Xu family, being young and naïve with a good appearance, it was unavoidable that she fell into hardship.
Later, she met Qiao Dehou, who, although rough, was the only benefactor who treated her well.
She developed feelings for him and had his child. From then on, she changed her name and became his woman.
However, Qiao Dehou had many women, and although he treated her well, he already had a family. So, even though she bore a unique child, the child would inevitably be labeled as an illegitimate child.
Qiao Mo listened to this past story, a bit lost.
Xu Wan sighed lightly: "So, you really should call me Aunt."