Rebirth: He Decides to Lie Flat-Chapter 125 - 122 The Truth of That Year (Second Update)

Chapter 125 -122: The Truth of That Year (Second Update)

Chapter 125 -122: The Truth of That Year (Second Update)

Truth be told, facing her big brother whom she hadn’t seen in over a decade and whose memory had grown fuzzy, Song Jiawen didn’t know what to say to him—especially since she was never much of a talker to begin with.

Yu Heng had a lot of questions he wanted to ask her, but he was wary of Jiang Yan by his side. Aside from mentioning their mother’s hurried arrival, he found himself at a loss for words.

The three sat at the table, the atmosphere eerily quiet.

Jiang Yan glanced at Song Jiawen, who was hanging her head low and showing no intention of speaking. He sighed lightly and said, “Alright, I’ll talk first.”

Yu Heng turned his head to look at Jiang Yan.

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“She was found by the Song Family’s daughter in an alley in Yunzhou when she was three years old—unconscious and bleeding from her head…”

Jiang Yan briefly recounted the process of how Song Xiwen found Jiajia, then her amnesia, and how she was adopted by the Song Family… Yes, he said adopted, not as a replacement for the Song Family’s own daughter, and he didn’t mention their act of seeing the missing person notice yet choosing to conceal it.

Despite Jiajia’s harsh words, if she really had to do something to Song Xiwen, even considering Haohao and Zhou Youming, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Not to mention Xie Yanhai and Shi Peirong.

She had already chosen to forgive Song Xiwen the moment she confessed to her.

In comparison to Song Xiwen, he and Jiajia both harbored a grudge against that girl from the Yu Family who had been around nine years old when she abandoned her.

They both desperately wanted to know—who was that girl?

Whether it was out of protection for the Yu Family or not, on their last visit to Jade City, they saw and heard nothing about the current state of the Yu Family members, the only information coming from the renown of the master Chinese painter Mu Chenyan.

When he heard the words “bleeding from her head,” Yu Heng’s heart clenched in pain. His little sister, who was so afraid of being hurt and so delicate, must have been in so much pain from her injuries.

Yet not a single member of their family was by her side…

He looked at Song Jiawen in front of him, always with her head bowed, her demeanor cold and detached, and found he couldn’t bring himself to ask, “How did the Song Family treat you?”

The lively, cheerful, innocent, and carefree little girl—if she had truly been happy in that family, if she had been nurtured and protected, she couldn’t possibly have grown up to have such a personality, could she?

Uncommunicative, unsmiling…

He wondered what their mother would think when she saw her.

“Professor Yu, could you please tell us how your sister went missing back then?”

Jiang Yan deliberately refrained from addressing her by name until she decided whether to acknowledge the Yu Family again or not.

At Jiang Yan’s words, Song Jiawen finally looked up to see Yu Heng.

“Xiaosi was three years old when our family returned from abroad to pay homage to our ancestors. She loved Jade City, so our grandmother decided we should stay a bit longer before going back. My mother has always been in contact with Beijing University, so as soon as we returned, the Fine Arts College of Beijing University reached out to her. Once the homage was over, she was invited by the Beijing Calligraphy and Chinese Painting Association to participate in an exhibition of Chinese painting and calligraphy.

We siblings had always been overseas and rarely attended such exhibitions, so my mother wanted us to broaden our horizons by taking us to Beijing.

The Mu Family, my mother’s maiden home in Beijing, is known as a Family of Scholars. The chairman of the Beijing Calligraphy Association has always been from the Mu Family, so naturally, we stayed with the Mu Family once we arrived in Beijing.”

But as the exhibition drew near, Xiaosi caught a cold. My mom had my dad take us to the exhibition first while she stayed at home to soothe Xiaosi. However, the association particularly invited my mom, and it wouldn’t be appropriate for her not to go. My aunt suggested that she stay home to watch over things and told my mom to go without worries. My uncle also said he was home, and since Xiaosi loved following him around, she should go with a peace of mind.

It just so happened that Xiaosi needed to take her medicine, and my mom only left after coaxing her to sleep. But when the exhibition was over and we returned to the Mu Family’s house, we found that Xiaosi was gone.

After Xiaosi had fallen asleep, the neighbor next door invited my aunt to play mahjong. Thinking that Xiaosi wouldn’t wake up anytime soon and that my uncle was also home, she went.

Little did she know, not long after she left, my uncle received a phone call and went out too, saying a friend asked him to pick something up. He thought it wouldn’t take long and that Xiaosi wouldn’t wake up, so he left.

However, by the time my uncle returned with the item, Xiaosi was missing. At first, he thought she had woken up and been taken by my aunt to watch the card game next door, so he didn’t worry about it. But when my aunt returned alone, that’s when they both realized something was wrong.

By that time, half an hour had already passed since Xiaosi’s disappearance, but these two idiots still hadn’t grasped the severity of the situation and were secretly searching nearby. It wasn’t until we came back in the afternoon that they finally hurried to report to the police and mobilized everyone in the city to search for her.

But…

Never mind an entire afternoon, even half an hour is enough time for a child to be taken out of the city.

Because of this incident, my mom had a huge argument with the Mu Family. When my grandfather tried to say a word in defense of my uncle, my mom has not visited him since then, nor has she answered a single phone call. It’s like she has completely cut ties with her maternal family.”

Yu Heng finished, but he noticed Song Jiawen frowning, seemingly still puzzled.

Not understanding, he asked, “What’s the matter…?”

Jiang Yan posed the question on behalf of Song Jiawen, “Apart from your uncle and aunt, was there no one else at home while your sister slept? For example, a little girl about eight or nine years old?”

Yu Heng exclaimed “Ah” in surprise, then after a moment remembered who Jiang Yan was talking about. “You mean Yu Xin? My cousin, my second uncle’s daughter? Because my second uncle and second aunt didn’t care for her properly, always leaving her unattended, my parents took pity and brought her to live with us. She’s six years older than Xiaosi, and indeed she was nine that year.

She caught a cold the same day as Xiaosi. While my mom was coaxing Xiaosi to sleep, she too fell asleep in her room. From the time my uncle left until he returned, she didn’t wake up…”

As he spoke, Yu Heng’s face changed. He looked at Song Jiawen, “Jiajia, do you remember something? Something to do with Yu Xin?”

Jiang Yan spoke again on her behalf, “What she remembers isn’t very clear. It seems that while she was sleeping groggily, she was picked up by a little girl who called herself ‘sister.’ Then she woke up calling for ‘sister,’ but that girl ran away swiftly, and right after, someone took her.”

Yu Heng’s mouth fell open, his complexion turning instantly ashen…

The truth became clear, and Jiang Yan let out a sigh, only to follow it with a snort of derision, “Your parents really are kind-hearted, raising someone else’s daughter and then losing their own. What a pair of benevolent people indeed. Don’t tell me that after Jiajia went missing, your family continued to take care of Yu Xin?”

Yu Heng reflexively shook his head, “No, not at all. After Jiajia went missing, my mom didn’t even have the energy to take care of us, let alone her. But Yu Xin had become accustomed to living with us. After staying with her own family for a few days, she would run back here, refusing to leave no matter what. My dad just couldn’t bear…”

Jiang Yan was so furious he nearly flipped the table, “Couldn’t bear? So in the end, you did continue to take care of her?”

She was indeed in their house, but his mom never cared for Yu Xin, because having lost her own daughter, she refused to give even a little bit of attention to someone else’s child.

She believed it to be unfair to Jiajia, all the love and patience she had should be reserved for her own precious child.

Yet these words felt impossible to utter in light of the fact that Yu Xin was still living in their house.

Just then, the chimes hanging on the quaint wooden door of the café rang as a middle-aged woman, travel-worn, walked in from the outside…