silence.
The Bai family members remained silent, as did the base commander.
Leng Yebai seemed to realize something, a hint of melancholy flashed in his eyes, but he quickly concealed it.
"Can I see her picture?" Leng Yebai asked, emphasizing each word.
"Okay... sure."
The base commander hurriedly pulled an old pocket watch from his pocket and carefully placed it in Leng Yebai's hands.
Leng Yebai felt something warm being placed in his hand. Looking down, he saw a pocket watch with its lacquer worn off.
The pocket watch looked old and still carried the warmth of the middle-aged man's body; the ticking of the hands inside was no longer audible.
Leng Yebai gently pressed the button to open the pocket watch, but the pocket watch did not pop open and did not react at all.
Leng Yebai then noticed that the buttons on the pocket watch had been pressed countless times, and the raised buttons on them had lost all their elasticity.
Leng Yebai could only carefully pry open the pocket watch with his hands.
Leng Yebai quietly looked at the thumb-sized pocket watch, which contained a small photograph.
Time has left its mark on this photograph; the man in it looks a lot like him, but it's not him.
Beside the man sat a gentle woman, whose pink cheongsam accentuated her intellectual beauty.
You wouldn't guess she's a mother; she looks more like an elegant young lady from a wealthy family.
Leng Yebai looked into her arms, where she was holding a baby; the photo looked somewhat blurry.
He recognized the baby at a glance; it was himself as a child.
The orphanage doesn't offer much in the way of childhood fun, but they still take photos of the children every year.
The purpose of taking the photos is to show them to the couples who come to adopt, so that they can choose their future child.
Leng Yebai has an outstanding appearance, and countless couples have been attracted to him, but they all gave up after seeing his behavior and demeanor, which were inconsistent with his age.
It seems we've encountered a child with autism.
Leng Yebai had seen a photo of himself on the day he was abandoned at the orphanage. He was only covered by a bed sheet, his complexion was not good, but his features were exactly the same as the baby in the photo.
The only difference was that the baby held by the woman in the pink cheongsam had a rosy complexion and looked very well cared for.
When he was thrown at the gate of the orphanage that day, he almost froze and starved to death. His face was pale and his cries were very weak.
Leng Yebai gently rubbed the photo with his fingers.
A photograph from twenty-six years ago stirred up a flood of emotions within him.
They seemed to treat the baby well; they didn't look like they were deliberately abandoning him at the orphanage.
If he had lived in a family like that, would he have been less lonely as a child?
Leng Yebai stared at the photo for a very long time, until his eyes started to sting.
"How did she die?"
Leng Yebai closed the pocket watch and placed it in the base commander's hand.
"Overwork has taken its toll on my health." The base commander only said four words.
Judging from the photos, you can tell that this family lives a very comfortable life; she is definitely not an ordinary family's daughter.
The woman in the pink cheongsam had fair, white fingers and didn't look like someone who would do manual labor.
How could the phrase "overworked to the point of illness" possibly describe a woman like this?
It's likely that the illness stemmed from the emotional distress caused by losing her child.
Leng Yebai didn't say anything more, withdrew his gaze from the pocket watch, and simply sat down next to Bai Xizhu, continuing to play with Bai Xizhu's fingers.
This time, Bai Xizhu felt Leng Yebai's fingers trembling slightly.
Another silence followed.
"What else do you want to know?"
The base commander gripped the pocket watch tightly, his body slightly slumped. The seemingly invincible base commander was helpless at this moment.
He saw Leng Yebai's reaction to looking at the photos, and his heart became even more certain that Leng Yebai was his son.
But will he admit it?
What right does he have to force him to acknowledge himself?
If you give birth but don't raise your child, you can return a severed finger.
His mother endured ten months of pregnancy and the hardships of giving birth to him, while he made no effort whatsoever and even lost his child because of his so-called brother.
The base commander's mouth moved as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't say anything more.
"I don't want to know anything." Leng Yebai raised his head and glanced at the base commander, his eyes filled with indifference.
He already knows everything he wanted to know.
I've watched everything I wanted to see.
There are regrets, but it's still much better than not knowing anything at all before.
The base commander rubbed his fingers against his pocket watch, recalling past events.
His gentle wife was depressed every day because of the loss of their child. She searched for the child every day, but could never find him.
What impressed him most was his child's birthday every year.
His wife said that his son probably didn't know his own birthday, and no one had told him, which must have made him very sad...
So they celebrate their child's birthday every year, even if he's the only one left, he still celebrates the child's birthday.
Because no one else knew the child's birthday except them.
"Your birthday is..."
The base commander had barely opened his mouth when Leng Yebai interrupted him.
"I didn't know you before, how could you possibly know my birthday? I don't even know my own birthday."
Leng Yebai's voice carried a hint of mania.
The base commander's voice trailed off, and his eyes dimmed slightly.
In the end, he still didn't want to admit it.
Bai Xizhu reached out and gently patted Leng Yebai's shoulder to comfort him.
Leng Yebai is not a sentimental person. If his biological parents lost him due to an accident and searched for him for so many years, he would at most say a few unpleasant words with a cold exterior but a warm heart, but in the end he would still acknowledge him.
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