"What's that supposed to mean?" Xue Ning demanded.
"Your mother was Sun Haowei's old fiancee." Lady Yu began. Her mouth continued to move, but Xue Ning couldn't register any words due to the roaring between her ears.
"What the fuck?" Jingwei exclaimed. "Lady Yu, is this your idea of a joke?"
"I would never be able to make up something like this." Lady Yu replied. "Have you known me to lie about anything?"
Jingwei shook his head, a horrified look on his face.
"That cannot be." Xue Ning shook her head disbelievingly. "So you're telling me my mom was actually rich?"
"Believe it or not, it's the truth." Lady Yu said. She turned to look around for eavesdroppers. Seeing none, she continued. "To say your mother was actually rich would be an understatement. Do you know what your mother's maiden name was?"
Xue Ning paused and thought about it. Her mother never mentioned it. Xue Ning remembered when she was six, she learnt about surnames and marriage in school. She found out that women didn't need to take their husband's surname.
This struck her as strange because she always thought her Mom took her Dad's surname. Why else would they have the same surname?
She recalled that very incident.
("Teacher, why do my Mom and my Dad have the same surname?"
"Well that could be because -
Xue Ning had promptly decked that boy in the nose, and gotten herself a firm scolding and a trip to the principal's office. When questioned, she said he deserved it for being stupid. Her principal was unamused, and her mother had to be called down to handle it.
"What do you mean my daughter got into a fight?" Li Yue Niang demanded angrily, glaring down at Xue Ning.
"Don't worry Mom, I won!" Xue Ning exclaimed. "This boy is an idiot!"
Said boy cried. His parents got angrier. They were forced to apologise and she was sent home for the day. As her mother brought her home, Xue Ning asked.
"Mom, are you and Dad really siblings?"
"Of course your father and I are not siblings. What kind of nonsense is this?" Yue Niang shook her head. "This school is full of idiots. Don't be infected."
"Then why do you and Dad have the same surname?" Xue Ning asked, tiny legs toddling after her Mom. She kicked at a pebble on the floor and watched it roll away.
"My dear, a lot of people have the same surname. Three of your classmates have the surname Lin. Are they all siblings?" Her mother pointed out sharply.
"...No." Xue Ning mumbled, feeling ashamed at her mother's words. It was so obvious, but she didn't realise it! If she had known, she could have yelled it at her classmates instead of punching him.
"See? Next time, use your head first instead of your fists." Her mother scolded, but she also patted her on the head.
"So your surname is really Li?" Xue Ning asked, just to make sure.
"Yes." Li Yue Niang said, tucking her daughter close to her side as they walked home. "That's exactly right." )
"She told me it was Li, the same as my father!"
"She lied." Lady Yu said flatly. "Your mother's real surname is Nangong. She is Nangong Yue Niang, first born of the illustrious Nangong family. They were relative nobility, and they had titles and triad connections that Sun Haowei wanted."
"Nobility? So Xue Ning you're a lady?"
"Nonsense," Xue Ning shuddered at the very thought.
Lady Yu continued as though she wasn't interrupted. "Meanwhile they wanted Sun Haowei's obscene wealth. Hence her parents, your grandparents, engaged her to Sun Haowei. It helped that the both of them were good enough friends."
"Holy fuck," was Jingwei's eloquent reply. "Then how did my Mom end up marrying him? Don't tell me she seduced him?"
"No she didn't. My lady Yue Niang didn't want to marry Sun Haowei, despite being good friends. Your father assumed she was just complaining for the sake of it. He never expected her to fall in love with your father and run off with him!"
"Oh my god. So the person that my parents pissed off was Sun Haowei? Because my mom broke off the engagement and decided to flee with my dad?" Xue Ning rubbed her temples. Her mom definitely left out that piece of juicy information in the retelling!
"Who was Xue Ning's dad? Was he some rich man's son too?" Jingwei wondered. "He had to be someone special right? Uncle does have the dignity of a lord."
"No. Li Tai Cheng was just Sun Haowei's bodyguard. I think that just added insult to injury." Lady Yu confessed. "It was one thing to lose his fiancee to a man, it was another thing to lose her to an ordinary man that worked for him."
Jingwei scoffed. "Yeah. If I were a woman, I'd pick Li Tai Cheng, no questions asked. Auntie made a good choice."
His father was uncaring, had a bad temper, and loved to insult his sons. While Li Tai Cheng could kill a man in the blink of an eye, he was also a better man to build a family with.
Living with him for a few days was already enough to make that clear to Jingwei!
"Can't argue with that," Xue Ning winced. "Your father is an asshole. Why did your Mom marry him?"
"That's a good question. I ask myself that every day." Jingwei said. "Lady Yu, can you give me the real story? Don't tell me something ridiculous like they fell in love and all, I'm not a kid anymore!"
Lady Yu made a tutting sound in disapproval. "While your Mother and Father did not marry out of love, they grew to appreciate each other in the end. Why else would your father be so devastated when she died?"
"Yes, but why did she marry him?"
"Well. He was single and lonely. She was single and lonely. They both missed the same people, but they never mentioned it," Lady Yu said. "And sometimes, that is enough."
"That's… so sad." Jingwei said, crestfallen. His parents both weren't each other's first choice. They just got together because they were both abandoned and leftover.
"It is what it is." Lady Yu said, sympathetic.
Xue Ning hissed. Fuck. No wonder Sun Haowei kept looking at her strangely when she appeared in front of him. She was the child of his most hated couple!
"Where's my mom now?" Xue Ning demanded, her face flushed in anger. "How dare she keep this from me! I asked her if she was hiding anything and she swore that was it!"
"She's on the grounds, somewhere." Lady Yu shrugged, not looking too bothered. "She did say that she wanted to kill Sun Haowei for not having a tablet for his wife."
"And you let her go? Just like that?" Jingwei exclaimed, his brain filled with visions of Xue Ning's mother pulling the plug of his father's life support.
"Captain Mu is here. He'll stop her."
======
On the grounds…
"Get out of the way if you don't want to get hurt."
"You assume that you can hurt me!"
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