Chapter 11 The Theory of Past Fate

In Lin Yu's memory, there was never a father, nor a mother.

She was raised by her uncle. As a child, she could only piece together a vague image of her mother from her uncle's fragmented words. Later, when she was a little older, she learned of Zhou Ke's existence. One day, she casually asked her brother what kind of person their mother was.

Upon hearing this question, Zhou Ke paused slightly, looked up at the pitch-black sky outside the window, and because of his sister, he once again recalled the woman who had briefly given him warmth in his life. Zhou Ke lowered his eyes, looked at his sister's round, curious eyes, and answered gently, "She is the best person in the world."

Unfortunately, good people don't live long, and kindness is not always appreciated.

Lin Yu never asked her father, her uncle never mentioned him, and Zhou Ke was also very tight-lipped about it.

That was a terrible person.

He would shift all the blame for his inability to have children onto a woman, letting her be criticized by a group of relatives, while he himself remained uninvolved.

He would also use his drunkenness as an excuse to hurl spittle at people's faces like cold pebbles.

In the fourth year of her marriage to Jiang Guohua, Lin Xiangyun still hadn't given birth to a child for the Jiang family. The Jiang family had long been quite critical of this, and their words were full of accusations and insults. In the past four years, Lin Xiangyun had tried everything, from folk remedies she didn't know where she got them from to bitter medicines that were too bitter to swallow, but she still couldn't get what she wanted.

In the end, when all else failed, Lin Yu's grandmother went to a neighboring village to find a local "half-blind man" who was skilled in divination and asked him for guidance.

As the name "Half-Blind" suggests, she lost sight in one eye when she was young. However, as she grew older, her skills in divination became more profound, and she was accurate nine out of ten times. As a result, her reputation grew, and even business owners from the city would drive there specifically to ask her for a word.

When Lin Yu's maternal grandmother went to find her, the elderly woman, who was over seventy years old, was thin and hunched over. She had a full head of white hair, and her hands were tightly gripping the peach wood cane in her hands. Her cloudy eyes stared fixedly into the void, and she remained silent for a long time.

Finally, she slowly spoke in a hoarse voice: "As the saying goes, good fortune comes with good offspring. Some people are destined to have many children, while others are destined to be childless. If you want to change this, find a man with a good destiny to dilute the bad luck in your family. Even if parents are destined to be childless, their children will still have sibling affection."

At first, Lin Yu's father did not believe such nonsense, but the reputation of the "half-blind man" spread far and wide, and even Lin Yu's grandmother had heard of him. After being persuaded by both sides, he simply gave up and did as she said, hoping that he could finally give birth to a child.

After making the decision, the couple went to the local welfare home.

Choosing Zhou Ke was a decision made after careful consideration.

Before the age of five, Zhou Ke lived in an orphanage. He was a healthy child, but for some reason, he was abandoned at the gate of the orphanage. When the director found him, he was only one month old. His loud cries alerted the security guard at the gate of the orphanage. Pushing open the heavy iron gate, he found an old bamboo basket in the corner of the iron gate, and inside lay a child.

At the end of the last century, technology was underdeveloped, there were no sophisticated monitoring devices, and convenient communication was lacking. The director couldn't find the child's parents and could only assume that the parents didn't want to raise the child anymore, or that they were unable to keep the child due to some rumors and had to leave the child in the orphanage.

The orphanage has just over twenty children, and they all rely on the director and two teachers for their support.

Occasionally, couples with fertility problems come to adopt young children, and each time one leaves, the burden on the orphanage is lightened.

It was through this fortuitous opportunity that Zhou Ke was adopted into the Jiang family.

Jiang Guohua was lazy by nature and spent his days drinking and playing cards. The burden of supporting the family fell entirely on Lin Xiangyun, so the Jiang family was never very wealthy.

If it were his own child, it would be understandable to keep him at home. But having an extra mouth to feed, especially a boy from another family, made Jiang Guohua furious. He made no attempt to hide his dislike for Zhou Ke. Occasionally, when Zhou Ke won money at the card table and was in a better mood, he would treat him kindly. But once he got drunk, he would resort to violence.

He berated Lin Xiangyun for not being able to produce an egg in four years of marriage, and for the family already struggling financially, now having to raise a little bastard.

When the belt was pulled off, Lin Xiangyun hugged Zhou Ke tightly in her arms to prevent Jiang Guohua from hurting him.

Protecting one's own child is every mother's instinct. Even though Zhou Ke wasn't her child, she still protected him and loved him.

Fortunately, six months after Zhou Ke arrived at the Jiang family, Lin Xiangyun finally became pregnant, and only then did Jiang Guohua finally show him a little kindness.

He stroked Lin Xiangyun's belly and sighed with relief, "Our Jiang family has finally found its right empress."

As the months went by, Lin Xiangyun's belly became more and more obvious. She looked at Zhou Ke, who was hunched over his desk doing his homework, and lovingly patted his head, saying, "When your little brother grows up, you'll have company at home."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ke slowly raised his face. The dim light fell on his face as he looked at Lin Xiangyun. She was wearing a gray knitted dress, a faint smile on her lips, her palms stroking her swollen belly repeatedly. Her expression was happy and serene, and she had every reason to feel happy. After all, Jiang Guohua had indeed behaved himself a lot in the past six months. He no longer hit people, and he even went to the card table less often. As a result, he found Zhou Ke much more agreeable.

Zhou Ke's eyes flickered, light and shadow falling on his brow bone. His fine eyelashes cast a faint shadow on his lower eyelids. He quietly clenched his fist, letting the pencil dig into his palm. His gaze lingered on Lin Xiangyun's protruding belly. Suddenly, he looked up at Lin Xiangyun with a puzzled expression and asked innocently, "Why is it a younger brother and not a younger sister?"

Meeting Zhou Ke's clear eyes, Lin Xiangyun lowered her voice and told him, word by word, "It must be your younger brother. Remember, you can't say it's your younger sister. If anyone asks in the future, you must say it's your younger brother, understand?"

Zhou Ke blinked. He didn't understand why Lin Xiangyun said that, and he had a strong feeling that she was carrying a younger sister.

Perhaps because he was still young, he always wanted to get to the bottom of things he didn't understand. He looked up at Lin Xiangyun and asked her why.

A soft, warm light shone down from above, enveloping the two in a faint glow. Lin Xiangyun sighed, gently stroking Zhou Ke's cheek with her palm, her tone solemn yet gentle: "You're still young, and there are many things you don't understand. You probably don't even know the saying 'trouble comes from the mouth.'"

Seeing Zhou Ke's blank expression, Lin Xiangyun used an analogy to explain, "It's like the sky is full of clouds, and everyone is hoping that the clouds will clear and the sky will be clear. But you're the only one who says, 'No, it's going to rain.' Even if the weather forecast is for rain, when the rain actually falls, everyone will criticize you and call you a jinx. Do you understand?"

Don't go against the crow's path before the outcome is clear.

This was the first time Lin Xiangyun had taught him how to conduct himself in the world as a mother, but Zhou Ke was only six years old that year, and he nodded as if he understood but not quite.

Lin Xiangyun smiled with relief. She moved her stool forward and sat down, then took Zhou Ke's hand and slowly placed it on her stomach. She then lectured him, "Whether it's a younger brother or sister, you have to love them well after they are born, okay?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ke nodded solemnly.

He always remembered Lin Xiangyun's words: if it were his younger brother, he would take out all his pocket money to buy him toys and play with him. If it were his younger sister, he thought he would probably be willing to become a cloud and slowly disperse when she was down, revealing the melting light hidden behind the clouds and bringing her a shower of rain.

On the day Lin Xiangyun gave birth, Zhou Ke stood outside the delivery room with the Jiang family to wait. Jiang Guohua paced anxiously outside, his eyes constantly glancing at the heavy door of the delivery room as he walked, muttering prayers for his son to be born safely.

I don't know how much time passed, until a loud cry suddenly pierced the air.

At that moment, time seemed to stand still. The nurses stopped walking, the clock on the wall stopped ticking, and everyone's face showed excitement. Lin Yu's grandmother was overjoyed and cried tears of joy. She clasped her hands together, laughing and crying as she prayed to the Bodhisattva for protection. The Jiang family has an heir.

Zhou Ke stood quietly, watching the family's joyful scene, his heart filled with only worry for Lin Xiangyun.