Chapter 70 Meeting Mom, Grandpa, and Grandma
“Mom.” Xu Zhili slowly raised her head, tears still lingering on her tender little face.
Her large, almond-shaped eyes, which were originally filled with deep affection for her mother, suddenly seemed to ignite with a cold flame, exuding a chilling aura.
She gritted her teeth and said, word by word, "These years... you've suffered. That heartless beast, Lin Jianguo, how dare he, how dare he treat you like this!"
Whether it was the difficult times filled with despair and cruelty in the apocalypse, or this era, that person always seemed to have a cold and ruthless appearance, like solid ice, without the slightest warmth.
Beast!
The cruelty of the apocalypse was completely ignited by his love for his mother, turning into a deep-seated hatred.
Xu Nuoyan's body stiffened for a moment, and intense pain, humiliation, and deep hatred flashed in his eyes.
She held her daughter tightly in her arms, her voice low and hoarse as if sandpaper were being rubbed, filled with endless weariness after being repeatedly tormented by fate.
"It's all my fault, Mom... I was so blind back then, I was completely swayed by his sweet words, my heart was blinded by greed. He already had a family back in his hometown, he even had a wedding banquet and a daughter. He kept it all from me for so many years, so well, I didn't even notice!"
She looked around the dark, damp, and foul-smelling cowshed, overwhelmed by a mixture of endless sorrow and hatred.
As Xu Zhili listened, her nails dug deep into her palms, almost drawing blood.
She raised her head, her eyes filled with vulnerability replaced by an almost insane, ruthless coldness, but this ruthlessness was directed only at the person who had hurt her mother.
She looked into Xu Nuoyan's eyes, each word like a vow chilled to the bone:
"Mom, don't be afraid. In this life, we have been reborn. He owes you and he owes us. I will make him pay back a hundredfold, a thousandfold. I will ruin his reputation and make him wish he were dead."
I'll crush him into the mud and make him taste all the suffering you've endured! I swear, from this day forward, as long as I have a breath left, I will never let you suffer even the slightest injustice again!
Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried a chilling decisiveness and power.
At this moment, the madman is a sharp blade protecting his loved ones.
Xu Nuoyan looked into her daughter's eyes and saw that familiar yet unfamiliar fierce light that shone in her eyes to protect her, and her heart was filled with mixed emotions.
There was heartache and worry, but even more so, there was reliance and strength.
She nodded vigorously, tears welling up again, but this time with a glimmer of hope: "Okay! Good child, with you by my side, I'm not afraid of anything anymore. Together, we'll start a new life and live a life that will make him proud."
She cupped her daughter's face in her hands, wiping away the tears with her rough thumb, her eyes gentle yet resolute: "But right now... I don't know how much longer we have to endure this..."
Xu Zhili affectionately rubbed her cheek against her mother's palm, the cold killing intent slowly receding and being replaced by her longing for her mother.
She calmed down, her eyes gleaming with the sharp light unique to post-apocalyptic survivors, the kind that seeks life in the face of adversity.
"Mom, don't be afraid."
She spoke softly, with a soothing magic, "Since God has allowed us to be reborn in this era, there must be a reason. But no matter how bitter it is, it's not as bad as the uncertainty of the end times. We have hands and feet, and we also have..."
She patted the cloth bag, revealing a mischievous, childlike smile that she only showed in front of her mother. "With a little trick, we can always find a way to make our lives better little by little."
Xu Zhili's words carried a deeper meaning, which Xu Nuoyan understood immediately—it referred to space.
Xu Zhili was unaware that her mother also possessed a system.
Xu Zhili's eyes turned cold: "As for Lin Jianguo... we'll settle this blood debt slowly. Right now, the most important thing is to let you suffer less here, recover your health, and once the storm has passed and we've established ourselves, his good days will be over."
The last few words, though light and airy, carried a chilling edge.
Looking at her daughter, Xu Nuoyan's heart, which had been almost numb from suffering, was revitalized by her daughter's words and eyes.
She squeezed her daughter's hand tightly, as if grasping the most precious glimmer of light in the darkness: "Okay! I'll listen to you, my darling. With our hearts united, we can overcome anything. Mom will get through this with you!"
Xu Nuoyan took Xu Zhili's hand and led her to two elderly people huddled on a haystack in the corner of the cowshed. Her voice carried a gentle solemnity: "Dad, Mom, look, who's back?"
The light illuminated the two elderly people.
My maternal grandfather, Xu Guodong, once stood tall, but now he is hunched over, like an old pine tree ravaged by wind and snow. His hair is almost completely white, and deep wrinkles, like knife cuts, cover his once refined but now haggard face.
Grandma Zhou Xiulan, whose originally plump and kind face had become thin with high cheekbones, had an unbelievable gleam in her cloudy eyes the moment she saw Xu Zhili.
Xu Zhili felt as if her heart had been gripped tightly by an icy hand, and a bitter and sharp pain instantly spread through her.
Every time I went to my maternal grandmother's house, a flood of vague yet warm memories would come rushing back—my grandmother would always smile and give me the sweetest pastries, and my grandfather would hold my little hand in his broad palm and teach me to write… Those warm fragments of “home” that were treasured deep in my heart now formed a stark contrast with the withered figure before me.
Her throat bobbed as she forcefully suppressed the surging tears and the almost destructive rage rising within her from the suffering of her loved ones.
She tried to make her voice sound steady and affectionate, with a slight, almost imperceptible tremor: "Grandpa, Grandma... Lili... is back."
At this moment, she is not a jinx, but simply a child who has been away from home for too long and is finally returning home.
"My...my sweet little pear!"
Grandma Zhou Xiulan's voice suddenly rose, filled with sobs and the ecstatic joy of finding what she had lost.
She struggled to sit up, and withered her calloused, deformed knuckles outstretched, trembling hands to touch Xu Zhili's cold cheeks.
The rough texture carries a real warmth, and the careful caress feels like touching a rare treasure that has been lost and found again.
“You’ve grown so much…so much…my dearest grandma…” Cloudy tears streamed down her sunken eyes.
Grandpa Xu Guodong didn't move, but blinked hard, trying to force back the tears in his eyes.
He nodded slightly, his voice low and hoarse, yet filled with a heavy sense of relief and emotion: "Good...good...it's good that you're back. Lili...you've grown up, you're a young lady now."
Despite being in this foul-smelling cowshed, and despite being physically weakened by suffering, the old woman managed to force a rare, tearful smile upon seeing her granddaughter standing safely before her.
I'm so glad that their whole family is here.
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