aunt
In the following days, the two stayed in a hotel. Qi Zui's condition gradually improved. Although he still didn't talk much, he was at least much better than when the accident first happened.
Because Lin Xi did not reveal her real name, she had no relatives or friends. From the time she was placed in the coffin to the burial, only Qi Zui and Wen Xubai took care of everything.
They chose a relatively unknown cemetery, but even so, it emptied almost all of Qi Zui's savings.
Wen Xubai had offered to help him place Qi's mother's tombstone in a better cemetery, but Qi Zui shook his head and refused.
He said, "You've already helped me so much."
Wen Xubai was speechless.
The two stood quietly in front of the tombstone, gazing together at the smiling face of the woman in the photograph on the monument.
The photo used is one of Lin Xi when she was young.
Qi Zui said that there were never many photos of his mother, most of which were destroyed in the explosion, leaving only this one.
As he spoke, he knelt down and gently wiped the dust from the edge of the monument with his white-gloved hands…
Wen Xubai looked at the photo, his feelings complicated. He remained silent for a long time before slowly bowing.
As soon as he looked up, he sensed that something was wrong.
Wen Xubai frowned slightly, his sharp gaze sweeping towards a large tree in the distance.
Today is a day off, so there are more people visiting the cemetery than on weekdays, besides the staff. Logically, with so many people coming and going, it's not unusual for a few glances to fall on the two attractive individuals.
But for some reason, Wen Xubai just felt that something was wrong.
Perhaps it was the constant tension of his life that made him particularly sensitive. When Wen Xubai suddenly focused his gaze, he actually saw a furtive figure.
The figure opposite seemed startled by his gaze, instinctively shrinking back towards the tree, but did not immediately hide.
Wen Xubai's brows furrowed even deeper.
Were they sent by the Wen family?
They all followed us here?
His fingers unconsciously tightened, and Wen Xubai looked up again, his eyes filled with a warning.
But the figure shrank back again, yet still made no move.
Wen Xubai: "?"
Would the Wen family really employ someone with such a weak sense of vigilance?
Qi Zui noticed his odd behavior and asked, "What's wrong?"
Wen Xubai looked away, but did not answer immediately.
He didn't know how to explain it to Qi Zui.
However, when Qi Zui saw him looking down, he misunderstood it as the sunlight being too bright and blinding him.
A pair of large hands reached down from above, completely blocking out the sunlight for him.
Wen Xubai was taken aback. He turned his head and met Qi Zui's deep eyes, which were still filled with sadness.
The man touched the tip of his nose sheepishly and said apologetically, "I'm sorry for making you stand here with me for so long..."
Wen Xubai burst out laughing.
He really wanted to crack open Qi Zui's head and see how he could still be thinking about others at a time like this.
So he didn't respond, but raised his hand and casually pointed behind him, saying, "Someone is watching us."
Who is it?
Those who have never experienced being watched do not understand the fear of being observed, and naturally cannot learn to hide their emotions. Qi Zui thought the other person was just looking around with ordinary curiosity, so he turned his head away and looked around for a while. When he did not see anything unusual, he turned back, looking a little strange.
Without refuting Wen Xubai's conjecture, Qi Zui asked with a puzzled look, "Why are they watching us?"
Although he asked that question, Qi Zui was thinking to himself: It must be because Chen Che is too good-looking.
For some reason, he suddenly felt a sudden dissatisfaction with the "voyeur" he had never even seen.
"Then let's go." Qi Zui bowed deeply to his mother's photo one last time. "Mom, I'll come see you again in a couple of days." He then took Wen Xubai's hand and, with a smile, said to Wen Xubai, who was stunned by his gaze. "Let's go."
This was the first time Qi had smiled in so many days since his mother passed away.
Wen Xubai was momentarily stunned by the smile, and after a moment of bewilderment, he couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth and nod, saying, "Okay."
While keeping an eye on what was happening behind him, Wen Xubai was thinking about how to shake off the person, but his expression remained unchanged, and he could even chat and laugh with Qi Zui.
Unexpectedly, the person behind the tree, seeing that the two were about to leave, suddenly emerged from behind the tree.
Wen Xubai's heart tightened, and he was ready to defend or take action at any moment.
Because of the distance, he couldn't see the person's exact appearance or tell if it was a man or a woman; he could only see the person slowly approaching.
Just as he was thinking about whether to call someone to deal with the other party, the figure rushed in front of the two of them with an extremely panicked expression!
Qi instinctively reached out to stop him, but his outstretched hand froze in mid-air when he saw the person's face clearly.
The figure easily passed him, grabbed Wen Xubai's arm from behind, and looked expectant.
"You're Xiao Che, right?"
The woman looked to be in her forties or fifties, thin and frail. Her hand holding Wen Xubai's was dry and brittle, and her face showed obvious signs of fatigue and aging. Only her eyes were frighteningly bright.
Both of them were startled.
Wen Xubai had no idea that the person who had been watching him from behind was a middle-aged woman he didn't know at all.
Fearing it might be some new type of scam, Wen Xubai, adhering to the principle of not getting into trouble, politely declined, saying, "I'm sorry, you may have mistaken me for someone else."
Upon hearing this, a look of surprise flashed in the woman's eyes, followed by overwhelming disappointment.
Just as Wen Xubai pulled her hand away and was about to take another step, the woman grabbed him again, refusing to let go, and said, "Are you really not my nephew?"
Fearing he wouldn't believe her, she quickly added, "Chen Che, Chen Che! My nephew's name is Chen Che?!"
As she spoke, the woman frantically rummaged through the cloth bag slung over her arm for a long time before finally pulling out a yellowed photograph wrapped in plastic wrap and holding it up to the two of them.
The photo shows a little boy, with delicate features, sitting in a pile of building blocks, looking up and laughing happily.
Wen Xubai was stunned for a moment.
If the other person could call him by name, it might be because they overheard their conversation, but the fact that the other person had photos of him as a child is definitely not a coincidence.
After all, he himself probably doesn't even have any photos of himself as a child.
"You are...?" Wen Xubai asked in surprise.
Seeing this, the woman knew he recognized her, and immediately slapped her thigh with joy, saying with a beaming face, "I'm your aunt! Don't you remember me? I'm your aunt!"
aunt?
Wen Xubai thought about it carefully.
Actually, he couldn't remember many of his childhood memories, especially those before he was six. But in those hazy, confused recollections, he remembered that he did seem to have an aunt...
Just then, he saw that the other person's eyes suddenly reddened, and they had already taken out a tissue to wipe away tears. Wen Xubai was immediately at a loss and hurriedly said, "Oh, right, I remember now, I... I do have an aunt..."
Qi Zui, standing to the side, exclaimed in shock, "You really know him?"
Wen Xubai glared at him, and the other person immediately shut up.
But before he could respond, the woman spoke first.
Chen Fang quickly wiped away her tears and smiled, "It's alright, it's alright. It's normal that you don't remember me, after all, it's been eighteen years..."
Upon hearing this, the woman choked up.
Seeing that the other person was not young, Wen Xubai and the other person were afraid that she would cry herself to death, so they quickly helped Chen Fang to sit down on a bench in the cemetery passageway.
As soon as the crying stopped, Chen Fang saw this and immediately grabbed the two of them by the hand, making them sit down next to each other, saying, "It's okay, it's okay, you two sit down, you two sit down!"
No matter how much the two tried to stop them, the three of them kept giving way to each other...
The three of them finally sat side by side on a small bench, shoulder to shoulder.
Qi Zui whispered in Wen Xubai's ear, "Is this really your relative?"
Wen Xubai was taken aback and slowly lowered his eyes.
His childhood memories of his "aunt" were always vague, and he even wondered if it was just a figment of his imagination because he missed his family so much.
Now he discovered that he really did have relatives alive, even sitting right next to him... His feelings suddenly became complicated...
As he was trying to figure out how to explain, Chen Fang had already grabbed his hand, her calloused fingertips scraping against his smooth skin—it was a little rough, but very warm.
The woman's eyes never left Wen Xubai's face, and she couldn't help but mutter, "You've grown so much... Auntie is so sorry, I haven't taken good care of you..."
"Back then, they said... a very wealthy family wanted to adopt you. Your aunt thought that it would be better for you to stay with them than to suffer with us. Besides... your aunt had just gotten divorced and had her own children to raise. Your aunt really had no other choice..."
Chen Fang kept stroking Wen Xubai's hand, tears streaming down her face like beads as she spoke. She didn't even dare to look into Wen Xubai's eyes, only wiping away her tears.
Upon hearing this, Wen Xubai understood. Calculating the timeline, Chen Fang was only in her early twenties at the time of the car accident. She must have just divorced, had a child, and was busy arranging her brother and sister-in-law's funerals. She must have been extremely poor and destitute.
Moreover, he himself understood that even if Chen Fang didn't allow the person the Wen family had their eye on, they would naturally have ways to make her let go.
Wen Xubai understood, and his mood didn't fluctuate much. He simply listened to what the other person had to say, nodded, and said, "It's alright. Everyone had their own difficulties back then. I don't blame you."
Hearing this, Chen Fang finally breathed a sigh of relief, but then, as if suddenly remembering something, she asked him, "Hey? Have you come to see your parents?"
Wen Xubai was taken aback, and said in astonishment, "I..."
"How long has it been since you last visited your biological parents?!" Feng Li's voice suddenly exploded in his mind.
Wen Xubai then suddenly remembered that his parents were also buried in this cemetery.
Before he could react, Wen Xubai suddenly felt a tightness in his wrist, and then Chen Fang pulled him along to a joint burial tomb. Qi Zui realized what was happening and quickly followed behind him. The two exchanged a quick glance.
Upon arriving at the location, Chen Fang lit three incense sticks, bowed three times, and said in her local dialect, "Brother and sister-in-law, thanks to your blessings, I've finally seen Xiao Che again! He's doing well, healthy, tall and handsome, and has made friends. I brought him back to see you..."
After saying that, Chen Fang put the incense sticks into the ash bin in front of her, lit six more incense sticks, and handed them to Wen Xubai and Qi Zui respectively, calling out with a joyful expression, "Come on, come on, come and greet your parents."
As if his feet were out of his control, Wen Xubai felt like he was dreaming even when he stood in front of the tombstone.
Qi was completely surprised to find him there as well. Standing next to him, the two of them looked just like a couple in ancient times getting married, each holding three cigarettes and preparing to offer them to their "parents".
Wen Xubai clearly noticed the strange positioning as well. The two exchanged a glance, both feeling somewhat awkward. However, Chen Fang was still urging them from behind, so they had no choice but to resign themselves to their fate, lower their heads, and respectfully bow three times together.
The cemetery was very clean, and the tombstones were shiny and free of any dust. Unlike the surrounding graves where various offerings and ashes were scattered all over the ground, the offerings in front of Wen Xubai's parents' graves were neatly arranged, indicating that someone regularly came to clean them.
Wen Xubai finished putting the cigarette in his hand and caught a glimpse of Chen Fang secretly wiping away tears again. He suddenly felt a strange unease in his heart.
Does he really... still have family...?
Seeing him looking at her, Chen Fang quickly forced a smile. Her thin frame, a full head shorter than Wen Xubai's, approached him, gently embracing him and patting his back. Like soothing a child, her eyes brimming with tears, she said, "Auntie, in this life, I have no wish. Just to see you and Xiao Yi grow up healthy and happy, I can die in peace..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
