Therefore, she dared to come home and ask, and was certain that Sheng Linlang would not lie to her.
“And Su Zhe,” Xu Qingzhu said gently, “He came to see me yesterday.”
"What did he say?" Sheng Linlang asked. "Did he mention anything about what happened before?"
Xu Qingzhu nodded: "So I'd like to hear what you have to say, because what he said might not be right."
Sheng Linlang shook her head with a wry smile, "It should be right."
//
Afterwards, Sheng Linlang spoke softly to Xu Qingzhu about what happened more than 20 years ago, interspersing her experiences with Sheng Qinglin.
Throughout Xu Qingzhu's childhood, Sheng Linlang rarely mentioned Sheng Qinglin, as if deliberately avoiding her presence.
But occasionally he would tell Xu Qingya, "You have a very powerful uncle."
So when she was in kindergarten, Xu Qingya would brag to others about how amazing her uncle was.
Xu Qingzhu had limited experience at school, spending most of her time at home, and hadn't heard Sheng Linlang talk about her uncle much.
Looking back now, I guess I didn't want her to know too much.
The Sheng siblings have contrasting personalities: one is strong-willed, and the other is gentle.
Sheng Linlang was gentle and quiet from a young age, with a soft and easy-going personality, while Sheng Qinglin was stubborn and had a bit of an artist's arrogance. He skipped grades and soon became a classmate of his sister.
The two had a very good relationship. In school, anyone who wanted to pursue Sheng Linlang had to get past Sheng Qinglin first.
Years later, when Sheng Linlang mentioned Sheng Qinglin, she said that he was a troublemaker when he was in school, often inviting friends and drinking with them, and no matter how much Sheng Linlang tried to persuade him, he wouldn't listen.
As a result, he later went to university and became engrossed in academics.
Sheng Qinglin is passionate about architectural design and possesses exceptional talent in this field.
Compared to him, Sheng Linlang seems to have only one advantage left: beauty.
Sheng Qinglin met Su Yao in college, and the two fell in love at first sight and quickly entered into a passionate relationship.
After they started dating, Sheng Qinglin often brought Su Yao to see Sheng Linlang, so Sheng Linlang and Su Yao got to know each other and had a good relationship.
Before they even graduated, Sheng Qinglin had brought Su Yao home several times.
When the two were about to go abroad to study, the Sheng family grandmother gave Su Yao her ancestral bracelet, saying it was for her future daughter-in-law.
When Sheng Linlang saw Sheng Qinglin off at the airport, she cried uncontrollably. Sheng Qinglin said, "If you keep doing this, I won't leave."
It was Su Yao who comforted Sheng Linlang, saying that she would take good care of Sheng Qinglin after she arrived, and would also send Sheng Linlang text messages to urge Sheng Qinglin to study hard and achieve something great.
Sheng Linlang said, "I just hope he's safe and sound."
Su Yao said confidently, "It definitely will."
While abroad, Su Yao became pregnant unexpectedly. She originally wanted to hold the wedding when her pregnancy was not obvious, but Sheng Qinglin happened to be involved in an important engineering design project. Su Yao then said that it would not be too late to hold the wedding after the baby was born.
During Su Yao's pregnancy, she would call Sheng Linlang for more than half an hour every day to chat about everyday things and life in China.
But I never expected the accident to happen so suddenly.
The night before Sheng Qinglin proposed, he was still asking Sheng Linlang how to kneel on one knee in a way that would make her look both handsome and special.
Sheng Linlang laughed at him, saying that he was already a father, yet he was still acting like a young boy.
Sheng Qinglin then proudly told her, "My daughter is very beautiful. I plan to name her Su Qingzhu, with the same surname as Yao Yao."
"Will Mom and Dad agree?" Sheng Linlang asked with a hint of worry.
Sheng's parents are rather traditional people and feel that it would be better for him to take Alpha's surname.
"Why don't we just go back and register my little bamboo's household registration first?" Sheng Qinglin said smugly. "When have my parents ever been able to control me?"
Sheng Linlang chuckled, "That's true."
Sheng Qinglin also asked her if she had a boyfriend. If she did, she should tell him immediately and introduce him to him so he could vet him. Sheng Qinglin even made a list for her of the young men from wealthy families who had bad character and personality. Basically, she had categorized all the men who were suitable for her.
At that time, there were indeed many people pursuing Sheng Linlang, including scions of prominent families and talented young men, among whom were many Alphas from wealthy and influential families. However, Sheng Linlang preferred Xu Guangyao.
He is a kind and honest person who pays attention to details; he is only nice to her because he genuinely likes her.
Unlike those wealthy young men who only wanted to win her over to show off, he didn't.
So Sheng Linlang said there was someone she was seeing, but they hadn't officially started dating yet.
Sheng Qinglin immediately said he wanted to return to China, and that once Su Yao recovered, they would take Xiao Zhu back to China.
Sheng Linlang jokingly told him not to rush, and then Sheng Qinglin would chat with her for a long time, the topic often veering towards his newborn daughter, his tone full of pride and doting.
But unexpectedly, the next day, Sheng Qinglin was in a car accident on his way to propose to Su Yao, and he died before he could be taken to the hospital.
When the Sheng family found out, they immediately took a helicopter to the scene.
At that time, when Sheng Linlang saw Su Yao, she was emaciated, as if all her vitality had been drained away. But she was holding her daughter, who had just turned one month old, in her arms. She was always in tears, crying so hard that her voice was hoarse and she couldn't stop herself. She was still trying to comfort her daughter and tell her not to cry.
What happened that day will always haunt me like a nightmare.
The domineering parents of the Sheng family, without any explanation, snatched Su Yao's daughter and brought her back to the country. Sheng Linlang promised Su Yao, "I will definitely bring your daughter back to you."
Because no one in the Sheng family could raise a child.
Sheng's mother has been ill for many years, and this time, because of Sheng Qinglin's matter, her condition suddenly worsened. She became bedridden after returning from abroad. Sheng's father hired a nanny and a caregiver to take care of the child. Sheng Linlang ran around during the day and cried under the covers at night.
Sheng Linlang said, "I tried to persuade and beg my father to return you to Su Yao, but he said no, Su Yao is crazy, and a madwoman can't take care of you."
“I secretly went to see Su Yao later, and she was indeed… not in a good mental state.” Sheng Linlang said, “I told my father that I was willing to raise you with Su Yao, but my father wouldn’t allow it. He always had very high expectations for Qinglin, and Qinglin’s death was a huge blow to him, so he made me get married.”
Sheng Linlang usually kept to herself and rarely went out, so she was forced to get married at her father's command. Before she could enjoy her newlywed life, she was already raising a child, which initially caused her great distress.
Xu Qingzhu looked so much like Sheng Qinglin that Sheng Linlang would watch her cry after she fell asleep that night.
When it came time to register the child's household registration, Xu Guangyao naturally wanted her to take the surname Sheng, since she wasn't his child and he didn't have much of a relationship with her.
But Sheng's mother firmly stated, "My surname is Xu."
She told Xu Guangyao, "Treat her as your own child, treat her well, and treat Linlang well too."
Sheng Linlang didn't understand her mother's original intention for a long time. After all, Xu Guangyao marrying her was considered a high-status marriage.
But after she became a mother, she realized that the original mother wanted to protect both her daughter and her granddaughter, so she was willing to give up the surname "Sheng" in order to make their lives better.
If the surname is "Xu", then she is Xu Guangyao's daughter.
Sheng Linlang was never as brave as her younger brother; she dared not defy her parents, nor did she dare to do too much.
The only thing she could do was to raise her younger brother's child properly. To this end, she secretly aborted a child. Later, when Xu Qingzhu was a little older, she raised Xu Qingya.
Sheng Linlang said, "The person I have wronged the most in my life is Su Yao."
She and Su Yao were once so close, and she had promised to return her daughter to her brother in front of his corpse, but she couldn't keep her promise.
Later, after Sheng's parents passed away, Xu Qingzhu was a little older, and she took Xu Qingzhu abroad.
Xu Qingzhu may not remember, but Su Yao had already been sent to a mental hospital for treatment and had forgotten who she was, nor did she remember that she and Sheng Qinglin had a daughter.
Fearing that it would upset her, Sheng Linlang brought Xu Qingzhu back with her.
We didn't keep in touch for many years after that.
But guilt haunted Sheng Linlang, so she began to devote herself to Buddhism in an attempt to alleviate the pain that had accumulated in her heart.
This was the first time Xu Qingzhu had heard anything about Sheng Qinglin, his past, his personality, and... his love for his daughter.
By the end, her eyes had reddened.
After finishing her story, Sheng Linlang was in tears. It had been so long since she had talked about these things with anyone, and it still hurt her heart to talk about them.
"How is Su Yao? Has she regained her memory?" Sheng Linlang asked. "Now that you know, do you plan to acknowledge her?"
Xu Qingzhu shook her head: "She hasn't regained her memory yet. Besides, she gave birth to another daughter."
Sheng Linlang was taken aback upon hearing this, and after a long while, she managed a bitter smile. "It's good that she forgot Qinglin and can live a good life from now on."
“She’s my uncle’s daughter,” Xu Qingzhu said. “My uncle had his sperm frozen abroad before.”
"Huh?" Sheng Linlang was so stunned that she couldn't speak.
Xu Qingzhu rested her head on her shoulder and asked softly, "Mom, do you think I should go and acknowledge her?"
Xu Qingzhu was also confused. For the first time, she realized that things were not simply black and white, and that no one is perfect.
In this whole affair, it seems like no one is at fault.
The only one who could be considered wrong was her deceased, autocratic grandfather.
But her grandfather had always treated her very well.
The room remained quiet for a long time before Sheng Linlang gently patted the back of her hand. "If she can remember, then admit it."
“She loves you very much,” Sheng Linlang said. “Even if you were her daughter, you would still be my niece.”
Xu Qingzhu fell into deep thought.
“Bamboo.” Sheng Linlang stroked her hair and said, “Everyone loves you and wants you to be well. Family business is not important, company is not important. The most important thing is that you are happy. When Su Yao gave birth to you, she had a difficult labor and stayed in the delivery room for a day and a night, and fainted three times. Qinglin accompanied her during the delivery. After you were born, he cried uncontrollably.”
“That was the first time I saw him cry,” Sheng Linlang said. “He told me then that if I treated Su Yao badly when we grew up, he would be the first to punish me.”
Xu Qingzhu's tears fell.
Sheng Linlang said, as if coaxing a child, "So, just admit it."
Standing outside the door, Xu Guangyao held a water glass and medicine in his hand. He slowly took a step back, his eyes red, and turned to go downstairs.
Chapter 77
After Liang Shi got home, he took a shower and put his dirty clothes in the washing machine.
With her stomach empty, she went to the kitchen to cook, but she was distracted while cooking.
Before I knew it, I had gotten used to having two people with me. When I came home at night, there was always another person there, either watching TV on the sofa, or having a light on in the study, or cooking for two.
But she knew Xu Qingzhu wasn't there today; she hadn't returned home after going home.
They must have eaten dinner.
She only made a single serving.