Cooper had secretly been to the Johnson Family Village a few times, but he never met with the members of the Johnson Family. When they learned of his arrival this time, they called Cooper over.
Sophiaâs great-grandfather was already over a hundred years old and could hardly speak clearly anymore. He was Annabelâs grandfather, and he had been living in Annabelâs uncleâs house.
As the person with the most authority in the Johnson Family, Annabelâs uncle spoke politely with Cooper and discussed the matter of moving Annabelâs grave.
Since Annabel was an unmarried woman when they buried her, it was very inauspicious according to the villageâs rules; it meant that she couldnât be reincarnated after her death, bringing disgrace to the family.
Since Cooper had come back as Annabelâs husband and was recognized by the family, he was allowed to move her grave.
Cooper agreed to it and discussed the matter of moving Annabelâs grave with her family, showing respect and being polite to his wifeâs elders.
While they talked about moving her grave, Annabelâs grandfather engaged in small talk with Cooper. As he looked at Cooperâs eyes with a face full of curiosity, he said in amazement, âYour eyesâare they naturally born that way?â
Cooper nodded. His pupils used to be black, but they gradually turned into a shade of blue when he entered adulthood; it was most likely due to the Michel Familyâs strong genes!
The old man cracked a smile. This was probably his first time seeing such a strange pair of eyesâthey looked much more beautiful than the foreignersâ eyes he had seen on television.
Someone spoke up and said, âBack then, Finianâs aunt and her husband werenât able to conceive, so they adopted a child with blue eyes from abroad. That baby boy was very beautiful!â
Annabelâs grandfather and Cooper continued their conversation. Meanwhile, the younger generations started to talk among themselves.
It seemed like the family rarely got together; they could only meet each other during big occasions like this and talk, but it seemed that Finianâs aunt had quite the history. Once the topic was brought up, everyone joined in eagerly.
âThe son that Finianâs aunt had adopted was really smart! Oh, I heard that he even made it onto television because he could recite sonnets at the tender age of three!â
âI have no idea where they adopted the boy from. Hey, Finianâwerenât you a driver at your auntâs unit?
Tell us about it.â
Finian, who was a guy probably in his forties, retorted angrily, âHow would I know?! Sheâs not even my real aunt. We never got along well, and she was reluctant to talk to me. I was just a school bus driver around their unit, and weâd only greet each other when we met. Besides, they were both university professorsâthey couldnât be bothered about their poor relative who drove a school bus! I donât even remember much; my aunt has migrated for over 27 or 28 years now! They would send a few letters every once in a while during the first few years, but they havenât been communicating with us for the past 20 years now. Heck, Iâm not even sure whether theyâre still alive or not⦠Back then, my aunt said that she had taken some time off to go back home, but she came back with a child instead. Tsk, a blue-eyed boy!
The school teachers asked if they had adopted the child from abroad or if some international student had given the boy to my aunt because they didnât dare to raise it! Those international students have messy social lives; they can only look for their father based on their skin colorâ¦â
Someone immediately rebuked his statement, âHey! Youâre lying! After your aunt left the village to go to college, she completely forgot about her poor relatives and hasnât been back for the past 40 years!â
Finian argued loudly, âNonsense! My aunt and her husband definitely came back 20 years ago! They both took leave from the university and hurried back to the village before going back to school. I was picking up my salary when they were at the finance department to claim their ticket money! I remember clearly that she had come back; they bought the ticket back to the village at 1.00PM and took the last bus back to the city at 8.00PM!â
The people laughed and continued to discuss Finianâs aunt; the woman had left the village to go to university before becoming a professor. However, no one realized that their conversation had sparked Cooperâs interest.
After Finianâs aunt visited the village and came back to school, she brought a child with herâa boy with blue eyes.
A boy with blue eyes!
Cooperâs blood from all over his body immediately rushed toward his brain as his fingers twitched uncontrollably in excitement.
A child with blue eyes!
He never thought of the possibility that his child would also have blue eyes. Even though there was only a quarter of the Michel Familyâs bloodline in him, it was possible that the childâ¦
It turned out that he had been looking at this matter the wrong way!
Cooper continued to patiently discuss the matter of moving Annabelâs grave with the elders of the Johnson Family before finally leaving the ancestral hall. After that, he went directly to the home of the man called Finian. Without any further delay, he asked him to recall the time his aunt brought the child back.
Finian was very respectful to this new master who suddenly appeared and said, âGive me a momentâIâll go and look for my payslip. The time is printed on it, and Iâve kept it all these years. That was my first payslip, so it was a very monumental moment for me!â
He rummaged through his closet as he added, âHuh, itâs such a coincidence. Back then, I was only 19 years old when I went to the city and begged my aunt to help me out. She found me a job driving school buses. The school had withheld my salary for three months! I only received a salary of more than a hundred in the third month, but that was my first ever paycheck! Hence, I saved it!â
Then, he took out an iron box and found a yellowed payslip on the bottom. Cooper carefully took the payslip; the machine-printed payslip was very short, and it was dated a day after Sophia was born!
The day Finian received his salary was the day his aunt came back from her hometown; she was getting an reimbursement from the finance office for her bus ticket.
In other words, his aunt went back to the village at 1.00PM and returned to the city at 8.00PM that same day.
Sophia and her brother were born that afternoon!
Cooper stared at the payslip and asked Finian nervously, âWhatâs the relationship between your aunt and Angelica, a nurse from the townâs medical center?â
Finian replied, âAngelica is her cousin. They are both from the same generation, so they keep in touch with each other occasionally.â
Cooperâs heart was pounding in his chest. He was almost certain that the child Finianâs aunt had taken away was his!
He asked carefully again, âThat boy⦠Have you seen him?â
Finian answered straightforwardly, âIâve seen him once. My aunt resigned two months in advance and migrated a few days later after they got the child. I borrowed the schoolâs car to send them to the airport âI even saw my aunt holding the child! He had round blue eyes with blond hair, and he looked very beautiful! They said an international student secretly gave birth to him; it just so happened that my aunt and her husband couldnât have children, so they adopted him instead.â
â¦
After listening to Cooperâs story, Cooper patted his shoulder and walked out of the house. He stood at the entrance of that small farmhouse and lifted his head as he looked at the sky with tears pouring out of his eyes. Iâm about to find my son! Do you see this, Anna? Our son is coming back soon!