Aunt Lin was talking to someone beside her when a shadow suddenly appeared before her eyes. She looked straight ahead and saw that it was Xia Xi's boyfriend who was blocking her path. "It's you, why didn't you go in for dinner?"
Xu Yanfeng didn't expect that this aunt still remembered him.
"I didn't go because I had something to do." Xu Yanfeng passed it over vaguely. He glanced at the old woman next to Aunt Lin and recognized her as the one who tied the white line for him. He nodded slightly in greeting and turned his gaze back to Aunt Lin's face. "Are you free now? I want to talk to you."
Aunt Lin was stunned, not knowing what this imposing young man wanted to talk to her about.
Xu Yanfeng said: "It's related to Xia Xi, it won't take up too much of your time."
"Well, okay then." Aunt Lin said to the old woman next to her and asked her to go back first.
It was cold outside, so Xu Yanfeng invited Aunt Lin to sit in the coffee shop across the street.
Aunt Lin doesn't drink coffee, so Xu Yanfeng ordered her a cup of tea.
"What do you want to ask?" Aunt Lin spoke first, holding the cup.
She always felt that something was not right between the man in front of her and Xia Xi. Xia Xi had given birth to a child out of wedlock, and she had never heard that she was married. This was the rumor, and she didn't know whether it was true or not.
The Xia family hasn't lived in Ganlin for a long time, and there are all kinds of rumors.
Xu Yanfeng withdrew his gaze from the window, took a sip of the bitter coffee, and said, "Can you tell me about the changes that happened to the Xia family back then?"
Aunt Lin looked at him suspiciously: "You don't know?"
He is Xia Xi's boyfriend, how could he not know about her family affairs?
Aunt Lin is not a talkative person, she is worried that what she says will affect Xia Xi.
Xu Yanfeng noticed that she was on guard, his eyes softened, and he talked step by step: "I don't know the details, I want to know more. You have watched Xia Xi grow up, you should know her temperament well, she handles everything on her own." He played the emotional card, speaking half-truths.
His words were sincere, and Aunt Lin felt relieved. "Actually, I don't know much. It's the same as what everyone else knows."
Xu Yanfeng: "You say."
"Xia Xi's father is a scoundrel. A worker was injured in his factory, and he didn't want to take responsibility so he ran away, leaving his family to deal with the situation. He even sold his restaurant. The police were chasing him, and he hit and killed someone while fleeing. The workers' families, along with the deceased's family, were constantly making a scene at his home. Xiaoxuan, who has a congenital heart disease, couldn't handle the shock, so she was hospitalized shortly after and had a major surgery. What a sin!"
Xu Yanfeng's eyelids twitched: "Do you remember when this happened?"
"I remember it, I remember it most clearly." Aunt Lin had worked at the Pei Shan Hotel for over a decade. How could she have forgotten when the hotel was sold? "Six... no, seven years ago, early March. Let me think... it should have been March 5th, the day of the Waking of Insects. I was at work when a group of people suddenly came into the hotel. Their leader was a nouveau riche named Wu. They said Xia Xi's father had sold the hotel to him, and that the old lady had a week to get settled and ready for the handover."
Early March...
Xu Yanfeng was stunned. He and Xia Xi separated in mid-March of that year. When they were still together, something happened in her family. Why had she never mentioned it in front of him?
There was a string beating in his head, and Xu Yanfeng asked anxiously: "What happened next?"
"Later, Xia Xi's father was arrested. As luck would have it, he died in prison not long after. I don't know if he was ill or had some other reason. If he hadn't died, who knows how he would have burdened his family after he got out."
Xu Yanfeng didn't care about Xia Xi's father: "I'm talking about what happened to the Xia family later."
"No one knows the specific situation of her family. It must be very difficult. Xia Yue even came out to borrow money." Aunt Lin recalled the past and sighed, "We old employees gave her money, but she was embarrassed to accept it. It's probably too little. Those workers who were seriously injured and disabled, and those who were killed in the accident will cost a lot of money. Xiaoxuan's surgery is also a huge expense."
Xu Yanfeng held his breath, he knew nothing.
Several images flashed through his mind quickly. That was before he and Xia Xi separated - she was always absent-minded and distracted. She attributed the reason to a cold, and he believed it. But when he asked her later if her cold was better, she acted as if she had forgotten she had mentioned a cold.
At that time, something was happening at home, so she was certainly not in the mood for a date.
He clearly noticed her abnormality, but he didn't investigate further and was fooled by her.
Xu Yanfeng's mind was in a mess after receiving so much information at once. He urgently needed to sort it out, but one thing puzzled him: "How could she have fallen to the point of borrowing money? Peishan Hotel has been open for so many years, and I heard that business has always been good. Her family should have quite a bit of savings."
"I don't know about that."
So Aunt Lin made it clear from the beginning that she didn't know much. There were many details that no one knew except the Xia family themselves, and most people only knew the surface.
After so many years, even the appearance has become blurred, and the rumors have become distorted as they are passed around.
The cup of tea in front of Aunt Lin cost more than thirty yuan, but she didn't waste it and drank it all in one sip. When she told him this, she felt depressed and sighed, "The restaurant is gone, the house is sold, and the family moved away. I haven't seen them for a long time. If the old lady hadn't passed away, they wouldn't have come back. I think Xixi is doing well now, but she must have had a hard time with such a large family. Auntie doesn't know how you two are doing. In any case, if you can help, please help their family. Xia Yue should be able to come out this year, but it's a pity that she didn't get to see the old lady for the last time. Alas, things are unpredictable."
"Xia Yue?"
Xu Yanfeng didn’t understand the last sentence. Where did Xia Yue come from?
Aunt Lin looked up at him. Doesn’t he even know this?
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
