"I didn’t know my nephew had grown into such a considerate young man." Hearing the familiar voice of his aunt, Xin Xiamu turned to see Li Man smiling at him with an indescribable warmth and gentleness.
"Aunt," Xin Xiamu opened his mouth to say something but looking at her face he realized he won’t be able to hide anything from the woman before his eyes.
With the same warming smile on her gentle face, Li Man stepped closer to him and gave him a hug saying, "Is it hurting?"
With his chin supported on her shoulder, Xiamu felt choked up with emotions. He knew he could hide away from his own mother but his aunt was shrewd enough to read him like an open book. Therefore, he didn’t try to hide away his pain or act all understanding before her. "I didn’t think it’ll be this tough. I thought I was strong enough but... I have overestimated myself."
Li Man smiled with a hint of gloominess in her eyes as she stroked his head slowly. "Who told you to act all strong by yourself?"
Xiamu pulled away a bit and trained his eyes on her face saying, "One of us had to end with this pain and I didn’t want that person to be my brother Qiao."
"Aiyoh! My dearest nephew, my idiot son also doesn’t want to see you upset." It seemed like she was chiding him but Xiamu could feel her concern. "And as for me, how can I see either of my precious sons sad or hurt?"
"My dearest aunt, just make sure to lend me your shoulder as always and I’ll be alright in no time." He tried to joke to get over the gloomy feeling lurking in his heart.
Li Man poked his head and said, "This is why I always wanted a daughter. You both boys are gonna give me a heart attack one day." She pressed on her temple to ease the ache she felt and added, "It’s truly a pity that we don’t have any girls in this generation."
Xin Xiamu’s eyes shifted a bit at her remark. Looks like it was the right time to let out the secret he’s been hiding within himself. "Aunt, there is a girl in this generation." Li Man frowned at his sentence and gave him an inquiring look. "Go and ask mom why she never told you that she hadn’t just left a husband behind... In fact, she abandoned a daughter as well."
Li Man was jolted as he completed his words.
It was quite normal for Xin family to be completely unaware of Xin Qian’s matters since Xin Qian disobeyed her own mother’s wishes and left the family to pursue her career. That incident built a wall between Xin Qian and the Xin family. Since the Xin family severed all ties with Xin Qian for rebelling, no one in the family even found out when she got married or who she married.
But after a few years, Xin Qian came back to knock at the Xin Mansion carrying a newborn Xiamu in her arms. She looked pale and as she crossed the threshold of the mansion, her legs gave away and she fainted.
The entire Xin family was left anxious and perplexed. The doctors clearly mentioned that she was mentally stressed and a bit of strain on her mind might push her towards a mental breakdown. On doctor’s advice, nobody even brought up the topic of Xin Xiamu’s father. And after Xin Qian was sent abroad on her insistence, nobody dared to invade her buried memories.
Today, listening to Xin Xiamu talking about having a sister, Li Man was frozen at her place. How could a mother leave her daughter behind? What really pushed her to leave her own child? And even if the circumstances asked for it, why didn’t she ever talk about her daughter? There were so many questions in Li Man’s mind but she had no answer.
"How is that possible?" She spoke out in disbelief. "Did she tell you herself? How did you find out?"
"Of course, she didn’t say anything to me at all. Whenever I brought up the topic of my father, she would get irked for no reason." Xin Xiamu complained thinking about the times when he was reprimanded for just even saying the word ’dad’. "If I hadn’t tried to find out about my father through other means, I would have still been oblivious to the fact that I have a twin sister who is only minutes older than me."
"I have to talk to Xiao Qian..." Li Man grumbled to herself and turned to leave.
"Don’t bring up the topic of my father. She’s fuming right now." Xin Xiamu’s voice made her halt in her steps.
"Why?" asked Li Man.
"She had a chance encounter with dad today. And they both had a bit of a squabble."
"Why?" Li Man asked again.
"They seemed like blaming each other for the fallout... I’m not too sure."
Li Man pursed her lips to think for a moment before coming to a conclusion. "I still need to know her reason for leaving a daughter behind. If she brought you back, surely she could have brought her as well." With that, she left Xin Xiamu alone under the pavilion.
When he saw her walking away, Xiamu pulled his own hair cursing himself, "Urgh! What the hell were you thinking? Why did you have to drop this bomb at this moment? To distract aunt from my matter, I really chose the worst way this time... Ah, well... It has been done. I was going to tell aunt anyway. So, it doesn’t matter." He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly trying to appear calm.
Although he had planned to tell Li Qiao first, he still ended up telling his aunt.
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