"Xiao Jing... is she unhappy?" Qin Qiaolian's voice trembled as she asked this question.
Upon hearing this, Sikong Jingyu slowly raised his head, smiled slightly, and looked at Qin Qiaolian. The glimmer in his eyes seemed somewhat fragile in the morning sunlight.
“...and happy.” Sikong Jingyu said gently.
Although his grandmother was sometimes too strict with him, she never lacked the love and companionship he needed, and even tried to make up for the lack of paternal and maternal love he had experienced since childhood.
For a long time when he was a child, Sikong Jingyu didn't understand why his grandmother was so strict with him even though the family had everything.
Until he saw his grandmother scold him and then hide in her room to cry secretly. After hitting him, she secretly came to apply medicine to him, tears streaming down her face as she did so.
It wasn't until he first came into contact with the family business and saw the greedy ambitions of those parasites in the group that Sikong Jingyu realized that his grandmother also had her own helplessness and bitterness. In order to protect the Sikong Group, he had to become strong!
As a child, Sikong Jingyu was not competitive, nor did he want to compete with others. But he had no choice. He was the heir to the Sikong Group. He was young and inexperienced, and all the directors were vying for his position. If he wasn't strong, how could he protect this huge Sikong Group?
His grandmother told him from a young age that this was a responsibility he had to shoulder!
Sikong Jingyu smiled faintly, a smile tinged with bitterness, but she quickly masked the bitterness on her lips.
"Grandma is very good to me. I just envy Wanwan. She has a father who loves her, a mother who dotes on her, a grandmother who spoils her, and a younger brother who protects her wholeheartedly. She grew up freely in these mountains. Her childhood must have been very happy!" As she said this, Sikong Jingyu's eyes were full of envy and loneliness.
Qin Qiaolian felt heartbroken upon hearing Sikong Jingyu's words. She reached out and took Sikong Jingyu's hand, comforting him, "Don't be afraid. We will cherish and protect you just the same from now on. You are also our family. In the past... we were afraid you wouldn't recognize us, which is why we never dared to bother you."
Sikong Jingyu's eyes welled up with tears. Is this what motherly love is?
The maternal love he never experienced?
But if Qin Qiaolian knew that Shi Wan and he were already divorced, would Qin Qiaolian still consider him family?
Will they still protect him and be kind to him?
If it weren't so late, given Sikong Jingyu's past personality, would he have opened his heart to accept their kindness? Would he have been willing to accept them?
He won't.
Thinking of this, Sikong Jingyu's smile became somewhat desolate. This must be the tragedy of being born into a wealthy family.
"Thank you," Sikong Jingyu said sincerely.
Regardless of what the future holds, he is grateful for Qin Qiaolian's sincere treatment at this moment.
"We're family, no need to thank me." Qin Qiaolian gripped Sikong Jingyu's hand even tighter, as if she wanted to transfer all her strength to him.
Sikong Jingyu's lips curled up slightly, his smile warm.
Sikong Jingyu was also somewhat surprised and puzzled. Why was he willing to confide in Qin Qiaolian today, something he had never revealed to outsiders?
"You haven't seen Wanwan's childhood photos yet. Would you like to take a look?" Qin Qiaolian started to chat.
"Yes," Sikong Jingyu answered readily.
"Wait here, I'll go get the photo album right away." Qin Qiaolian said, then stood up and went into the bedroom.
Not long after, she came out with a photo album. Sikong Jingyu put down his chopsticks and opened the album.
The album begins with her picture; in the photo, Shi Wan's eyes radiate a bright and generous smile.
It turns out that Shi Wan's casual way of dressing now is a result of her childhood. In the photo, Shi Wan dressed quite casually when she was young. It was probably a photo of Shi Wan when she was seven or eight years old during the Chinese New Year. She was wearing a full set of big floral-patterned jackets from Northeast China.
Fortunately, she had fair skin, delicate and petite features, and a bright, lively appearance. She wore two pigtails, and her eyes revealed a childlike innocence. Her smile, revealing a few missing teeth, was radiant and pure, making her a pleasant sight to behold.
In fact, on the night Sikong Jingyu returned to China, if Shi Wan's appearance hadn't pleased him, he wouldn't have made an exception and accepted the glass of wine she offered.
However, after drinking that glass of wine, they ended up sleeping together. Sikong Jingyu refused to believe that he had misjudged Shi Wan, so every time they met afterward, he spoke to her in a sarcastic and insinuating tone.
Shi Wan was beautiful from a young age, and she became more and more beautiful as she grew up. She was calm and reserved, but she rarely smiled whenever you met her. However, when she did smile, you couldn't take your eyes off her.
But in all her photos, she has a bright smile and radiant eyes.
Every single one.
If only she could smile at him like that in the photo.
Sikong Jingyu looked at the photo with a gentle expression and a faint smile on her lips. Qin Qiaolian took in the whole scene.
"This girl has loved to laugh since she was little. She always smiles at everyone she meets, and there's almost never a time when she doesn't smile," Qin Qiaolian said.
Qin Qiaolian's unintentional words made Sikong Jingyu's heart skip a beat. It turned out that Shi Wan did not rarely smile; she just rarely smiled when facing him, or perhaps, she couldn't smile at all.
He is that... almost!
Sikong Jingyu gave a bitter laugh.
As Sikong Jingyu flipped through the pages, he discovered that there were photos of him in the family album, including photos from when he was abroad. Sikong Jingyu remembered that these photos were sent to his grandmother by him.
Sikong Jingyu paused for a moment. The Shi family put his photo in their family album, so they also consider him family, right?
At this moment, Sikong Jingyu's guilt reached its peak.
...But what had he done in the past?
If the Shi family knew that he and Shi Wan had divorced, would they remove his photo from the album and throw it away, thus removing him from the album?
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