Rong Zhaonan placed the kettle on the stove and said calmly, "Have you ever thought about finding your real relatives?"
He paused, looking at her calmly: "Or have they already contacted you to reunite you with your family?"
If someone from the Ning family in Hong Kong has been secretly contacting Ning Yuan, then it would explain why her knowledge and speech are different from ordinary people.
Although she hid it very well, others couldn't tell.
So why did the Ning family members overseas contact Ning Yuan? Did they intend to train her to do something in mainland China?
Rong Zhaonan's large hand, which was gripping the fire tongs and poking at the stove, involuntarily tightened, and his knuckles turned bluish-white.
He lowered his eyes, his gaze involuntarily turning cold and dark.
Ning Yuan never imagined that Rong Zhaonan, a former commander who had fought in many battles, had participated in numerous counter-espionage operations before retiring.
Her confession made him, who had already let his guard down, suspicious and wary again.
She sighed, "I wish they would contact me, but isn't this just wishful thinking?"
Only after the reform and opening up did flights and border crossings become available to allow people from the port city to travel between the port and the mainland.
Ning Yuan looked at Rong Zhaonan, her large, dark eyes filled with hesitation: "Rong Zhaonan..."
"What, is there something between us that we can't talk about?" Rong Zhaonan put down the fire tongs and looked at her calmly.
Ning Yuan said slowly, "Um... if you have the chance in the future, could you help me find someone from the Ning family in Hong Kong?"
Her primary purpose in approaching him and saving him was—
After he resumed work, he was the person most capable and likely to help her investigate the affairs of the Wai Ning family.
Rong Zhaonan was taken aback, and asked astutely, "Are you looking for your biological parents?"
Ning Yuan's long eyelashes trembled slightly, and she said with a hint of sadness, "Yes, I want to see what kind of people they are, even if they are just a poor collateral branch of the Ning family, or even if they are no longer alive."
Children with parents probably can't understand the longing of children who have been abandoned by their parents to see their biological parents again.
Just like in reports decades later, many baby girls abandoned by families that favored sons over daughters were adopted and raised by foreigners.
They can't even speak Chinese, yet they still want to go back to China to find their relatives. Actually... it's not necessarily because they want to know what their parents are like, but because they want to know why?
Why—why was I the one who was abandoned or sold by my parents?
Go find an answer that will make you give up and turn away from the past.
This is not controlled by rational intelligence—it's a psychological shadow.
Rong Zhaonan scrutinized Ning Yuan's face with his sharp gaze, finding not a trace of hypocrisy on her features.
However, one could sense the sadness and confusion she was trying so hard to hide in the way she stared blankly out the window.
A dark and complex look flashed in Rong Zhaonan's eyes: "Okay, I promise you."
If what she said is true, and no one from the Ning family overseas has contacted her, that would be for the best.
Ning Yuan couldn't help but tear up, and excitedly hugged him tightly: "Thank you! Thank you! Rong Zhaonan!"
Rong Zhaonan looked at the petite girl in front of him, who was hugging him. She was soft and warm, with big red eyes and the tip of her nose, making her look even more like a rabbit.
After her initial excitement subsided, Ning Yuan realized something was amiss and quickly let go of his hand, wiping her face with her sleeve: "I'm sorry, I got too excited."
He suddenly reached out and pulled the petite girl back into his arms, pressing the back of her head, and said calmly, "It's alright."
The warm, comforting embrace, along with his familiar, refreshing scent, ultimately prevented Ning Yuan from breaking free from his embrace.
She closed her eyes, choking back tears as she mumbled, "I will never, ever recognize her again."
To say that Ning Jinyun abused her wouldn't be considered too extreme; there was definitely beating and verbal abuse, but it didn't reach the level of physical abuse.
They didn't starve her, but she was always the one who didn't get any of the good food. She never wore a new piece of clothing from childhood to adulthood.
Furthermore, he was always verbally abusive and unpleasant, unpredictable in his moods, and frequently belittled her, calling her useless and unwanted.
This fostered her cautious and tolerant personality from her past life. If someone she was particularly close to suddenly gets angry, she will compromise.
Although she had considered severing ties with Ning Jinyun, the feeling that Ning Jinyun was treating her like a piece of merchandise still chilled her to the bone.
Rong Zhaonan smelled the warm fragrance of the girl's hair in his arms, his eyes dark and unfathomable, like flames leaping and icy seawater.
His thoughts are impossible to guess.
He suddenly lowered his head and gently pressed his thin lips to the top of her head: "Then I won't admit it."
Ning Yuan suddenly felt a strange sensation on the top of her head. She froze, realizing it was...
She forgot all about her tears, instinctively shoving him away and covering her head: "You...you..."
What...what did he do? Did he just kiss the top of her head?
Rong Zhaonan was pushed away, and he calmly stared at her: "What's wrong?"
Ning Yuan stared at him for a long time, her face turning red and white in turns, but she didn't have the nerve to ask him if he had secretly kissed her just now, or what he was trying to do.
Maybe...maybe it's just my imagination? He's not a pervert, why would he do something like that?
His future wife isn't her type, and he's not a playboy who flirts around.
It's probably, maybe, or at most, her imagination!
"It's nothing, I'm going to take a shower." Ning Yuan turned her flushed face away, hurriedly grabbed her washbasin and towel, and left the house in a panic.
In the future, she must never get too close to him just because she's feeling down. He'll be someone else's man sooner or later. She's been hurt by mistresses and scumbags before, and she must never become a mistress herself!
Rong Zhaonan watched her fleeing figure, a faint smile curving his lips.
If this is really a petty spy, then he's utterly useless; he just ran away in the face of his 'test'.
Perhaps those strange things about her really have nothing to do with the Ning family.
However, she was quite resistant to him... This discovery made Rong Zhaonan's eyes turn cold.
Since she and Li Yan have broken up, why is she resisting him? Is it because she doesn't like him?
He felt that there could be more of these "testing" methods in the future.
Let's see how long this cowardly 'little spy' can run.
...
Ning Yuan acted quickly, and the next day she went to see the old Party Secretary and told him her plans.
The old Party Secretary was also very happy. Ning Yuan had good grades and was admitted to university and junior college. She was the first college student from the village!
That's an honor!
He readily agreed to Ning Yuan's request to take Tang Lao and Xia Apo away.
Although neither of them has received any official notice of reinstatement or exoneration, the red-armbanded officials have stopped regularly checking on their rehabilitation progress.
At most, it will just fizzle out. What right does he have to refuse to let them go? He can just turn a blind eye and let Old Man Tang and the landlady leave.
Anyway, the two old people are useless except for defecating every day, and they are always sick.
So at four o'clock in the morning on Saturday, when everyone was sound asleep.
Rong Zhaonan then drove the oxcart, carrying his entire family with him, and left the village.
Chen Chen, along with his two old comrades-in-arms, Lao Ye and Lao Xu, met them on the way, and they arrived in the county to move and settle down at dawn.
Ning Yuan started a new life with Old Man Tang, Old Lady Xia, and Rong Zhaonan.
A few days later, Ning Jinyun indeed led Ning Zhuliu and Ning Weibing to Sitang Village.
However, the place was deserted, and no one in the village knew where Ning Yuan and Rong Zhaonan had gone.
The only people who knew were Manhua and the old Party Secretary; even Auntie, Huazi, and the old Party Secretary hadn't told them.
"Where is she! Where is my daughter!" Ning Jinyun was so angry that her head throbbed, and she yelled at the old Party Secretary.
The old Party Secretary coldly puffed on his water pipe: "The southern Xinjiang province needs people to help repair irrigation canals and work as surveyors; they've probably gone to climb onto the train."
This is true. Many people wanted to go, but the commune only allocated a limited number of spots, so many people hopped on the train and went anyway.
Let them investigate. It's a matter of "the dead having no way to prove it."
Ning Jinyun rolled her eyes, almost spitting blood in anger.
Her son's good job and marriage still depend on Director Ge!
Ning Yuan, that ungrateful brat, actually ran away.
Ning Weibing was furious; he was about to be promoted, and then there was the workshop director's daughter...
He rushed over and shoved the old Party Secretary hard: "You son of a bitch, you old geezer, you must be lying to us! They're gone, how could you, as the Party Secretary, not know!"
But the next moment, he was punched to the ground by the furious Hua Zi: "You dare touch my father? You want to die!"
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