novelraw Chapter 695 - 705 Follow-up (17)
Chapter 695 - 705 Follow-up (17)
"I didn’t expect... she was also an illegitimate child," Qiao Mo spoke softly.Xu Wan nodded, "Actually, at the time, both Father and Grandma treated her well. But Father could never get over his inner hurdle, believing that her mother had designed the situation that led to Xu Qing’s birth. So every time he saw her, it was as if she reminded him of the mistakes he’d made, and he preferred to avoid it."
"But in reality, Father cared for her greatly. After all, ultimately, she was his blood. When she ran away from home back then, Father sent people to look for her for a long time, and was even bedridden from illness, always having a heavy heart. It’s just a pity, she always believed it was because of being an illegitimate child, she suffered."
Qiao Mo let out a breath, "I really didn’t expect that I would have a blood relation with Aunt Xu."
Xu Wan gently patted her hand, "No wonder when I met you, I felt close to you. But, to be honest, I didn’t have a good relationship with her back then. Shortly after she came to our house, my mother suffered quite a bit, her health declined, and our originally harmonious family turned frosty due to her presence. So naturally, I blamed her for everything."
...
As they chatted all the way, not knowing how long passed, Qiao Mo arrived at Xu Wan’s home.
Xu Wan lived in a rather secluded villa area, seemingly because she disliked noise, making the area very quiet.
Qiao Mo stopped in front of the villa’s entrance, where a middle-aged man in a shirt with a composed demeanor approached Xu Wan and draped a coat over her, "Why did you come back so late?"
"This is Xiao Mo, whom I mentioned to you, but you’ll never guess whose daughter she is."
The man turned his head to size up Qiao Mo, and upon seeing her, he momentarily froze, then nodded slightly.
Qiao Mo carefully studied the man before her, his features were deep-set and compelling, but brushed with maturity and poise from the erosion of time, like a sword sheathed, losing some sharpness yet incredibly incisive.
Qiao Mo followed them, examining the villa’s decor. It featured a rather minimalist post-modern style, most items were intelligent, with stylish modern artworks visible everywhere.
Xu Wan briefly explained a few things to the man before leading her on a tour upstairs and downstairs.
"This is Louis’s room... he liked reading about guns and ammunition as a child and also enjoyed those robots, Transformers," Xu Wan introduced to Qiao Mo as she observed a shelf full of Transformers and models.
Qiao Mo carefully observed, noticing many family photos of Aunt Xu, Uncle Li, and Louis arranged on the bookshelf, which looked cheerful.
"This is the study... usually used by his dad... there are many books here, although most are quite mind-boggling."
"This is the conservatory, I like to grow some plants and flowers, so his dad hired an artisan to design it to allow better sunlight and a higher temperature than other rooms."
...
Xu Wan patiently explained everything to Qiao Mo until they paused in front of a room, where her gaze appeared somewhat moist.
Her hand pressed against the doorknob and gently pushed it open.
The sight revealed a room filled with deep and light pinks, whites, packed with dolls and pretty jewelry and toys that girls love.
Xu Wan’s eyes ached, "This was... prepared for my Xiao Ai... I just never thought I would end up losing her."
As she spoke, a string of tears involuntarily flowed down her cheeks, unable to control it, with eyes filled with regret.