Chapter 745 - Zhang Leyan’s Birth (1)
"Actually…" Tang Moyu's voice brought Zhang Jiren back to reality. "I should be the one who need to apologize to you." He turned his head, confused as to why she suddenly had a change of heart towards him.
His jaws hardened, not daring to assume that she finally found it in her heart to accept him as her brother. When it came to Tang Moyu and Li Meili, he always had to lower his expectations.
"I realize now how foolish and a hypocrite I've been, treating you like an enemy. Whether I like it or not, you are my brother. If I can love and accept Wan Jie and Beixuan as my siblings, there's no reason for me to deny my real brother. We are not even simply just brothers and sisters—we are a pair of twins." Tang Moyu paused and looked at him straight in the eyes.
During her pregnancy with her little buns, Tang Moyu read a particular book about twins. It mentioned that twins tended to be closer than typical siblings. They shared a bond that was oftentimes unexplainable. She wasn't sure if she believed it or not but as she watched her children grow up together, there were things that couldn't be expressed by mere words if she was to describe her little buns' relationship with each other.
When she found out that she had a twin brother, Tang Moyu often wondered if they would get along like Xiao Bao and Little Star had Tang Lingjun lived. Yet, fate played a trick, and here she was, talking to her twin brother himself.
"If it isn't too much trouble for you, I want to know what kind of life you've had from childhood, up to the time you found out that I am your twin sister," she requested.
Zhang Jiren was lost for words. Complex emotions stirred inside of him. He wasn't ready for this but wouldn't deny that he was glad that Tang Moyu was finally willing to accept him as her brother.
"What do you want to know?" he asked in return.
"Everything," Tang Moyu said before checking the time on her wrist. "We have a lot of time to waste here anyway."
The corner of Zhang Jiren's lips curled up. He had never thought that there would be a day he would find himself conversing with his sister like this, and it was a good experience he would forever keep in his heart.
He started his narrative from the moment he gained awareness at the orphanage. He talked about how he struggled to live and had fought his way to get enough food from the other orphans like him, and how he felt conflicted and hateful whenever he thought of the family that abandoned him.
Tang Moyu remained silent, patiently listening to his story— of the kind of life that he had when he was a child. While she grew up being ignored by her father and emotionally tortured by Zhang Wuying, at least, she didn't have to worry if she had something to eat or if she would be cold during bad weather, unlike her twin brother. She then realized that she wasn't the only one who faced such hardsh.i.p.s in life. Thinking about it, each and every one had a story of their own and that they had battles they had battles they had to win to survive.
"It must be frustrating not to know the reason why you were left there," she commented once Zhang Jiren was done recalling the kind of life that he had in the orphanage.
"Indeed. I used to always wonder if my parents had left me because they neither didn't love me nor want me. It made me question why I was born anyway if I was going to be abandoned and to fend for myself," Zhang Jiren replied.
"When Zhang Xianzhe came and took me in, I honestly wasn't sure whether I should believe his claim that I was his son or not. But since I saw it as a chance to get out from that horrible place, I went with the flow." He chuckled as a memory crossed his mind.
"People have no idea what really goes on in an orphanage. Some people just use orphans to flaunt their money when they make huge donations. On the other hand, some people working at orphanages pretend that they are doing a good job helping children like us, when in fact, there are things that happen behind the closed doors that are different from what the public perceive the institutions to be."
Orphanages were deemed benevolent institutions for abandoned children. But often times than not, they were also dens of abuse. Physical, emotional, psychological— the caregivers, and shockingly, the patrons themselves were the ones who inflicted these kinds of abominations on the children they were supposed to protect.
Tang Moyu's eyes narrowed at that. She had never thought that her twin brother was also subjected to these kinds of abuse, although she should have known.
"You've done a good job, coming out as a decent man after all the things you've been through. That's commendable in my opinion. Not everyone can manage to avoid being influenced by people with malice around him," she commented.
"I guess I could say I'm just lucky to find out the truth before it was too late." Zhang Jiren smiled at her. "If I didn't know earlier, I have no doubt that I would end up just a puppet being controlled by the Zhang family till this day. I wouldn't even be surprised if they would set me up to go against you."
That was something Tang Moyu had no doubt would happen if things didn't turn out the way they did. She also knew that even if she found out that he was her own twin brother, she would turn her back on him if that meant she would be able to protect people around her.
"You aren't alone now, Tang Lingjun. Since you are my twin brother, I expect that you are also an opportunist like me. I'm after the Zhang family too, so you better make yourself clear now or else you would have to face me eventually. " Her eyes zeroed on her brother, waiting for his reply.
A mischievous smile crossed Zhang Jiren's lips. Truly, he and his twin sister were similar in so many ways.
"Do you think I will protect them? Then you don't really know me well yet, dear sister."
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