Xiao Bolin took a sip of water and continued, "It must have been fate! My older brother and I were in a meeting on the day that child married Mo Ting, so we couldn't attend the wedding. My sister-in-law's mother wasn't feeling well, so she went to take care of her. Xiao Shan went to the hospital to accompany Lu Qing during her childbirth, and you hadn't returned from the retirement home yet. None of our family members saw Xiao Xue's face, nor did we encounter Ding Yu's family at the wedding."
“Dad, I investigated Dingyu’s information a while ago and found out where he is. I went to see him by myself. Dingyu said that he changed his surname to Xiao because his mother’s surname is Xiao, and he only has his mother’s surname because he is Xiao Baiyu’s son.”
Xiao Bolin felt that what he said next was somewhat cruel, or perhaps to the old man. But then he remembered the letter Dingyu had left for him yesterday, brought to him by someone from Zhilun's side. The letter contained the contents of today's newspaper and asked him to convey Xiao Dingyu's message: that the old man should not disturb their family, including Xiao Xue in Beijing.
Xiao Bolin's expression suddenly turned serious. "Father, I'm just being frank. Please don't get upset if anything I say sounds bad. Dingyu asked you not to disturb his family's life, including Xiaoxue, who has already married into the Gu family."
"Dingyu said he would never forgive you. The bond between him and your maternal grandfather was severed the moment his mother died. He said don't try to persuade him with kinship. If you cared about kinship, you wouldn't have treated his mother that way. You wouldn't have preferred to believe that woman rather than your own daughter."
After speaking, Xiao Bolin fell silent. Deep down, he felt the same way as Xiao Dingyu. The old man forced his eldest sister, Xiao Baiyu, to marry Wei Xiongjie, then forced her to endure in silence, and didn't trust her and Zhilun. In the end, he drove his eldest sister to suicide to stop this farce.
Xiao Bolin harbored resentment and hatred towards the old man. His eldest sister, Xiao Baiyu, was about ten years older than him. She had raised him since childhood, caring for him like a sister and a mother. Xiao Bolin never imagined that when he joined the army, his sister would be forced to marry someone she didn't love. Later, when his sister returned home after suffering injustice, she was already gone.
Their own father kept the situation from them, the brothers, and their sister, to reassure them, never wrote to them about the truth. The brothers only found out about the situation from Wei Zhilun.
Before her death, his sister Xiao Baiyu left him a letter, in which she asked him to take good care of his nephew. She also told him not to act impulsively because of her, as he had a wife and children of his own, as well as the child she left behind, to take care of.
How could Xiao Bolin not hate? He wished he could kill Wei Xiongjie, and he wished he could sever ties with the old man even more. But his sister Xiao Baiyu's letter mentioned that he should protect the Xiao family, because this was the family their mother could never let go of, even in her death.
After hearing Xiao Bolin's words, Old Master Xiao stood there stunned, visibly aging several years. He covered his eyes, tears streaming down his face through his fingers. He was filled with regret, wishing he could kill his past self. He had driven his daughter to her death and caused his grandson to wander for over twenty years.
Grandpa Xiao released his hand, looked at Xiao Bolin with red eyes and said, "Binlin, you hate me too, don't you! That child hates me too. Hates me for my inaction back then, hates me for being blind and misjudging people, hates me for driving Baiyu to her death, hates me for causing Baiyu's child to wander outside."
"How could I have been so blind? Zhilun was such a good kid. I didn't want Baiyu to marry him because he wasn't born to Lao Wei's legally wedded wife, fearing it would tarnish the Xiao family's reputation."
Xiao Bolin didn't want to hear what the old man was saying. His eldest sister was gone; what was the point of talking about it? She wouldn't come back anyway. "Dad, it's good that you know all this. Look at Zhilun; he's still all alone. Dingyu has recognized Zhilun as his father, and I think that's a good thing."
"Dingyu wanted to use this method to fulfill Zhilun and his eldest sister's wishes. In the future, when people mentioned Xiao Dingyu's parents, they would say Zhilun and his eldest sister. When Dingyu's grandchildren and great-grandchildren mentioned their grandparents, they would say Zhilun and his eldest sister."
“Father, I have things to do. You should rest at home and don’t think about looking for Dingyu. Some things have already happened, and that’s that. Seeing you will remind Dingyu of everything that happened back then. Just consider it an atonement and don’t make things difficult for him.”
After Xiao Bolin left, only the old master Xiao remained seated in the living room. His mind kept replaying Xiao Baiyu and Xiao Dingyu. Finally, a sob echoed throughout the Xiao family's living room.
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