Tian Rongyao looked sorrowful and suddenly collapsed, slumping down. The two brothers, Tian Zhiwei and Tian Zhibing, were so frightened that they rushed forward to help him up.
"Dad, what's wrong? Don't scare me." Tian Shuang was also frightened and went forward to check on Tian Rongyao.
Surrounded by concerned people, Tian Rongyao quickly regained his composure.
He reached out his trembling hand to Su Xiao, his expression excited, wanting to touch her but also afraid, "How is your mother?"
Su Xiao remained silent. She hadn't expected this person to be so agitated, and for a moment she didn't know whether she should tell him that her mother had passed away.
But faced with his expectant gaze, she hesitated again.
Su Xiao calmed herself down and looked at Tian's father, "Uncle, how can you be so sure that my mother is your sister just by looking at her name?"
Su Xiao's question stumped him. After a while, he finally calmed down and said somewhat absentmindedly and expectantly, "Tian Ni has a red birthmark behind her ear, about the size of a fingernail."
Su Xiao nodded calmly, "Yes, my mother does have a birthmark behind her ear, that makes sense."
Tian Rongyao took a deep breath and asked again, "Is your mother... alright?"
Seeing that his emotions had calmed down a bit, Su Xiao said truthfully, "My mother has been gone for almost three years."
"What? How could this be?" Tian Rongyao was incredulous and shocked.
Su Xiao sighed softly, "The factory workshop caught fire, and my mother didn't make it out."
Tian Rongyao's body seemed to suddenly lose its support, his entire back bending downwards. He covered his face in anguish, weeping and blaming himself, "How could this happen? I should have gone to find her sooner, I should have gone sooner..."
Tian Rongyao's words instantly brought Su Xiao's thoughts back to the past. In her memory, Tian's mother hadn't hidden her experiences. It was she who had agreed to exchange herself for food.
At that time, the Tian family was truly at their wits' end. They had no food and the whole family would die, not to mention that their youngest brother was sick.
Tian Ni was happy in the Su family and harbored no resentment. On the contrary, she missed her family very much.
The original owner had many memories of Su's mother nagging and worrying during his childhood.
However, as time went by, it was never mentioned again.
Su Xiao's silence and Tian Rongyao's loss of composure filled the entire Tian family living room with a somber atmosphere.
Tian Shuang couldn't stand it any longer and anxiously tugged at Su Xiao's sleeve, bringing Su Xiao back to his senses.
"Uncle, although my parents passed away suddenly, they were very happy together for decades. They were deeply in love and shared life and death..." Su Xiao thought of her parents in her memories, and her heart felt heavy with sorrow.
"What? Your father too?" Tian Rongyao's face was deeply lined with wrinkles, his expression conflicted, and he couldn't express his feelings in words.
"Yes, my dad rushed into the fire without regard for his own safety to protect my mom, but unfortunately..."
Tian Rongyao's face was moved, and he sighed deeply, still blaming himself, "It's no use saying anything now, she's gone, we can't make amends. Back then, Nizi sold herself, and her parents were heartbroken, but there was no other way, they were really at their wits' end. Her parents felt guilty about this their whole lives, and they were calling out for Nizi even on their deathbed."
"After you settled down, why didn't you go back to see her? My mother always thought about you and waited for many years, but then she stopped thinking about you..."
Suppressing his resentment, Su Xiaoqiang voiced his mother's long-held concerns.
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