Chapter 159 Bloodline

"Mom, in this situation, the lower our profile, the better. There are so many people watching over the old man. Liangchen's wife is from a humble background. If she becomes a godparent to the Hu family, people will inevitably think too much, which is not good."

Shi Shulan lowered her voice, her eyes filled with anxiety. She glanced at the Lu family members entertaining guests not far away, and then thought of the turbulent situation in the past two years, which made her even more irritable.

How could I not have realized before that my mother was someone without a long-term vision? Couldn't she have seen clearly what had happened in the past two years?

What's more, although Jiang Haitang is not from a high-class family, she is very outstanding. Such a girl is the best choice for the current Lu family.

Jiang Yuzhen wanted to refute, but was interrupted by Shi Shulan: "Mom, don't worry about this. Today is not a good day to talk about this."

If someone heard the mother and daughter talking about this, who knows what rumors they would spread about family unrest, discord between sisters-in-law, and quarrels between brothers.

As soon as Shi Shulan finished speaking, there was a commotion at the door and everyone's eyes turned there.

I saw an old man with an upright figure but slightly weathered look walking slowly towards me with the support of a guard. It was Mr. Lu’s old comrade-in-arms, Jiang Guozhu.

Although the old man is nearly 70 years old, the heroic spirit between his eyebrows and eyes has not faded, and his washed-out but straight Zhongshan suit shows traces of time.

Mr. Lu was chatting and laughing with a few relatives, but when he saw Jiang Guozhu coming, his eyes immediately lit up. He hurriedly stood up, walked quickly to greet him, and a bright smile appeared on his face.

"Old buddy, you're here!" He held Jiang Guozhu's hand tightly, his tone full of surprise and concern. "You are not feeling well, and you came all the way here. I really feel sorry for you."

Jiang Guozhu smiled and patted the back of Mr. Lu's hand: "How can I not come to such a big event in your family?"

The two walked hand in hand to a small box nearby. Their intimate appearance seemed to have brought them back to the days when they fought side by side.

It turns out that the two old men joined the army together during the Anti-Japanese War and are still in high positions today, but their friendship remains unchanged.

Given Jiang Guozhu's current status and position, he generally does not attend various banquets.

The fact that he is here today shows that he has a special relationship with the Lu family.

The others were tactful and did not go up to disturb the two old men.

The two people were able to talk peacefully in the box.

Jiang Guozhu sat down on the chair and sighed slightly: "Congratulations, old friend. You have made all the arrangements now. You are the lucky one for the two of us."

He looked out the window, a barely perceptible trace of loneliness flashing in his eyes.

Mr. Lu held his old friend's hand and said earnestly, "Don't dwell on the past. If you really feel lonely, I'll send one of my children to keep you company. If the situation weren't so bad right now, I'd even adopt one for you."

"I'm fine, it's all in the past." Jiang Guozhu waved his hand. "I didn't ask you, where is Liangchen's wife from?"

Mr. Lu followed Jiang Guozhu's gaze and looked at Jiang Haitang who was busy in the hall, with a gratified smile on his face: "Both parents are from Jincheng."

As soon as he said this, he remembered that Jincheng was Jiang Guozhu's sad place, and he couldn't help but be slightly stunned.

However, he quickly adjusted himself and continued, "My daughter-in-law is also a miserable child. She lost her parents when she was young. However, her family has been farming for generations. They have clean political records and good family background."

After hearing this, Jiang Guozhu nodded slightly.

Jiang Guozhu, who had experienced the impact of the wave, deeply agreed with what Mr. Lu said.

"Your family can't enjoy so much now. You need to keep a low profile to protect your family."

He paused, thinking of his own solitary situation, and said with a wry smile, "Unlike me, now I am alone and those people don't even bother to look at me."

As people get older, they become more lonely and long for a child to accompany them. Unfortunately, his fate was full of misfortunes. He lost his parents when he was young, his wife when he was young, and his son when he was middle-aged. He lived a lonely life.

Old Master Lu sighed, "Who says it's not true? Two years ago, the daughter of the Zheng family fell in love with Liangchen, but our family didn't dare to agree to the marriage. Fortunately, Liangchen himself was not interested in the daughter of the Zheng family. I have always been worried that because of family matters, Liangchen's life would be delayed."

"Liangchen likes this girl, or..." Jiang Guozhu asked with some concern. He always felt that the Lu family might have other intentions in choosing such an orphan daughter-in-law.

Although I only took a quick look at the daughter-in-law of the Lu family, I felt that she looked familiar.

"He chose her himself. Although the girl doesn't come from a high-class family, she is very outstanding. She is an engineer at Jincheng Textile Factory at a young age. Hu Qidong praised her a lot, saying that she has made many contributions to the factory." Grandpa Lu's face was full of pride when he talked about Jiang Haitang.

"That's good. If you choose it yourself, you won't delay the girl, nor will you wrong the child."

Jiang Guozhu nodded. He knew in his heart that Lu Liangchen had a bright future in the army, but he had to retire for the sake of his family and go to the northwest. This sacrifice was not small.

"As long as they are living well, I can rest assured." Mr. Lu said with emotion.

"Let Liangchen bring the new bride here for me to see, so that the old man can also have some good luck." Jiang Guozhu didn't know why, but he always felt that the girl's face was somewhat familiar, and an inexplicable emotion surged in his heart.

Just at this moment, Lu Liangchen and Jiang Haitang walked through the door. Old Master Lu immediately called out, "Liangchen, bring your wife in and offer a cup of tea to Grandpa Jiang."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Haitang smiled gently, picked up the teapot, and poured tea for Jiang Guozhu gracefully.

She held the tea bowl in both hands and said in a clear and pleasant voice: "Grandpa Jiang, have some tea."

However, just as Jiang Haitang handed over the tea bowl, Jiang Guozhu suddenly stood up as if struck by lightning, and accidentally knocked the tea bowl in Jiang Haitang's hand over on the table with a "bang". The warm tea spilled all over the table, and the sound of the cup falling to the ground was particularly harsh in the quiet box.

Mr. Lu was startled and asked hurriedly, "What's wrong?"

Jiang Guozhu's voice trembled uncontrollably: "Girl, can you let me see the back of your hand?"

His eyes were filled with anxiety and disbelief.

Jiang Haitang was stunned and looked at Lu Liangchen with confusion. Is there anything on the back of her hand that can be seen?

Lu Liangchen also looked confused, but seeing Grandpa Jiang's anxious look, he nodded at Jiang Haitang.

Jiang Haitang hesitated for a moment and slowly stretched out her hand.

The next moment, everyone was stunned. A bright red butterfly mark appeared on the back of her left hand. The butterfly looked lifelike, as if it would flap its wings and fly away at any time.

Jiang Haitang herself was also shocked. She clearly remembered that she didn't have this birthmark before. How could the birthmark suddenly appear when she was twenty years old?

Moreover, in her previous life, until her death, she had never seen this butterfly birthmark. What on earth was going on?

"Grandpa Jiang..." Jiang Haitang's voice also began to tremble.

She vaguely felt that this sudden birthmark might be inextricably linked to the old man in front of her.

Jiang Guozhu stared at her eyes intently, his breathing became rapid and heavy, and his hands trembled slightly.

But in the end, he just looked at Jiang Haitang deeply without saying a word.

Mr. Lu keenly noticed something unusual. He looked at Jiang Guozhu and then at Jiang Haitang, with countless questions in his mind.

But he still calmed down and said to Lu Liangchen: "Your Grandpa Jiang needs to rest for a while, you two should go out and greet the guests first."

After Jiang Haitang and Lu Liangchen left, Mr. Lu immediately closed the door and asked in a low voice, "Old Jiang, what's going on?"

Jiang Guozhu's lips trembled: "She...how old is she?"

"They are not yet 20 years old and cannot get a marriage certificate, so I thought of getting the two children engaged first." Mr. Lu replied.

Jiang Guozhu closed his eyes, a turbid tear sliding down from the corner of his eye: "Old Lu, my son and daughter-in-law have been sacrificed for nearly twenty years..."

Old Master Lu took a deep breath. He certainly remembered that twenty years ago, Jiang Guozhu's only son and daughter-in-law were brutally murdered by enemy spies while on a mission in the northwest. At that time, his daughter-in-law was still pregnant.

After saying that, Jiang Guozhu slowly pulled up his sleeves, revealing his wrinkled little arms. On his aged skin, there was a butterfly birthmark, the same as Jiang Haitang's.

"Old Jiang, this birthmark..." Mr. Lu said in shock. He clearly remembered that there was no such birthmark on Jiang Guozhu's arm before.

As Mr. Lu looked on in astonishment, the butterfly mark on Jiang Guozhu's arm began to fade slowly, and soon it disappeared without a trace, as if it was just an illusion.

"This birthmark..." Old Master Lu widened his eyes, his face full of disbelief.

Jiang Guozhu shook his head and said, "This is not a birthmark, but a blood mark of our Jiang family. I don't know why it appears, but if people with blood ties come into close contact, a butterfly mark will appear. The closer the bloodline, the darker the color."

"You mean... Haitang..." A bold guess arose in Mr. Lu's mind, but he couldn't believe it was true.

"My daughter-in-law was pregnant at the time. I always thought that they were killed before the child was born... But after meeting Haitang, I felt that she might be my granddaughter." Jiang Guozhu's voice was choked with sobs.

Although this guess was too unbelievable, Mr. Lu felt that everything was too coincidental and it might really be the case.

"If that's true, this is great news." Old Master Lu's eyes were red with excitement. "Guozhu, should we investigate what happened first, or should we tell Haitang directly?"

He wanted to call Jiang Haitang over immediately and ask her to call him grandpa, so that his old friend could feel the joy of being recognized by blood relatives.