Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Gu Bei knocked on the door and came in. Seeing that his wife had recovered, he finally relaxed. The girls stood up and gave their seats to Gu Bei.
Gu Bei sat by the bed and asked, âAre you two feeling better now?â
Yun Nan quickly nodded. Chen Yao said, âItâs been hard on these children these past few days. Weâre fine; I actually feel much more relaxed now.â
She sighed softly and looked around the bedroom. âIâm staying in my daughterâs house, but she never comes to see me in my dreams. I donât know⦠perhaps she still has some unfulfilled wishes?â
Gu Bei held her hand and replied, âOf course she does.â
Chen Yao and Yun Nan were stunned. Yun Nan only knew that her motherâs lifelong wish was to find Yun Nanâs and her own biological parents. âCould it be that Mom had unfulfilled wishes I didnât know about?
Gu Bei stated, âThe human traffickers who kidnapped her and the family who abused her are still at large!â
Yun Nan came to a sudden realization. âYes, youâre right. Mom never dared to mention it. Dad said she still often had nightmares even years after sheâd escaped. They hurt Mom very much!â
Her expression dimmed. âBut I donât know where that village is. It was probably the most dangerous place in the world to my mother. She wouldnât even tell me where it was.â
Gu Bei patted her head and reassured her, âDonât worry, Shi Nian and Ye Kun have already found it for us!â
Yun Nanâs eyes widened as she shared a look with Chen Yao. âHow did he know?â
Gu Bei smiled. âThat boy, Shi Nian, has always placed you in his heart. He takes every single one of your matters seriously. Once I told him my idea, he and Ye Kun immediately got to work. In addition, our family has established a wide and powerful network in our many years of searching for your mother, so it was easy for them to find that village.â
âIs it very far from here?â Yun Nan asked hesitantly. âFrom what I could remember, they never came looking for my mother.â
Gu Bei answered, âItâs not that far. Some villagers have been here before but didnât pass the news of your mother living here back to her adoptive family.
Firstly, because your father took good care of your mother, sheâd filled out and grown taller and had become quite different from the poor, abused child in the villageâthey didnât recognize her. Secondly, that family has a bad reputation, and those who visited the town from that village were good people. They saw how well she was doing and didnât want to ruin her life, so they kept quiet about it. Thatâs how your family managed to stay safe and unbothered for many years.â
âI see, so thatâs howit was,â Yun Nan thought.
Chen Yao held Gu Beiâs hand tightly and said, âYou canât let go of those who hurt our daughter!â Her eyes reddened as she spoke.
Gu Bei patted the back of her hand reassuringly. âDonât worry, I wonât let them off. I just came in to see how you guys are doing. Iâll go over to that village with Shi Nian and Ye Kun in a short while. You two stay here and rest up. Wait for us to come backâIâ
âI want to go, too!â Yun Nan interrupted Gu Bei and looked at him firmly.
âGrandpa, let me go with you. Iâm fine now. I want to find Momâs jade pendant. It belongs to my mother; we must retrieve it.â
âThen, Iâm going, too!â Chen Yao spoke up.
Iâll get it back even if theyâd already sold it!â
However, Chen Yao uttered, â1 know youâre afraid that my body wonât be able to take it, but I can! I must go and see where my daughter lived, see what her living conditions were like back then. I wonât be at ease otherwise.â
Gu Bei inaudibly muttered to himself. Looking at Yun Nan and his wifeâs expectant faces, he finally decided and nodded. âAlright! Letâs go together!â
Yun Nan immediately jumped out of bed and packed her things. Shi Nian was shocked when he heard Yun Nan wanted to go but didnât object. He silently took a thermos cup and made a cup of chrysanthemum tea for Yun Nan. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Zhang Tao sat in the courtyard basking in the sun, supervising her daughter-in-law as she washed the bedding. Her husband, son, and grandson had drunk too much yesterday and vomited everywhere. She had beaten her daughter-in-law out of bed before dawn and told her to dismantle everything that needed dismantling and wash everything that needed washing.
Her daughter-in-law wasnât even fifty years old but looked older than her mother-in-law, Zhang Tao. Zhang Tao didnât have a trace of pity in her heart as she looked at her.
Her grandson, Zhang Xian, finally woke up, came out of the house, and stretched his back. A smile immediately appeared on Zhang Taoâs face when she saw him, and she got up to say, âOh, sweetums, why donât you sleep a little longer? What are you doing up so early?â
She then turned around and scolded her daughter-in-law, âAre you blind? Canât you see that your son is already awake? Why arenât you making him something to eat? Are you trying to starve him to death? You black-hearted hag! â