Chapter 204 - Two-Hundred and Four: Xiao He’s Story
From the very moment Chen Yao got out of the car, Yun Nan knew that this person must be her mother’s biological mother!
It was because they looked too similar. Yun Nan finally understood why Hai Hua had immediately thought of her aunt based on an embroidered portrait. It was because the figure in embroidery looked exactly like her aunt when she was young. Just as Hai Hua had recognized her aunt from the portrait, Yun Nan also recognized Chen Yao at a glance because she looked like her mother, just aged several years.
Yun Nan was in as much pain as Chen Yao was. The two shared a connection via an unfortunate woman named Xiao He. Chen Yao pulled Yun Nan close and sized her up before softly saying, “What’s your name, dear child?”
‘Yun Nan. My name is Yun Nan. My mother refused to take her adoptive parents’ surname, so she took my adoptive father’s surname, Mo. Her name was MO Xiao He,” Yun Nan answered.
Chen Yao’s eyes filled with tears. “Xiao He? Xiao He? Was her name really Xiao
Yun Nan nodded. Chen Yao sobbed, “Her birth name was Gu He. We welcomed her birth with exultant joy and thought it was a day worth celebrating, so we gave her the nickname ‘Xiao He,’ meaning ‘little celebration.’ I didn’t expect that she would actually remember.”
Yun Nan also burst out crying. The name Xiao He was probably the only memory her mother had left of her original family. Therefore, after she met her adoptive father, she changed her name to MO Xiao He. It was her husband’s surname with the name in her memory. ‘So, did she feel slightly comforted when others called her name? Yun Nan wondered.
Shi Nian stepped forward and gently patted Yun Nan’s shoulder, indicating for her not to be too sad. Hai Hua also held and helped keep Chen Yao on her feet as she said, “Auntie, Yun Nan said that when her mother was still alive, she had once drawn her a piece of jade. Try and recall. Did my cousin wear a jade pendant when she went missing?”
Gu Bei and Chen Yao nodded without hesitation. “Yes, yes, she did! We put a piece of jade on her when she was born. It was a protection charm; she never took it off. ”
Hai Hua nodded. “Auntie, why don’t you and Yun Nan each draw the shape of that piece of jade?”
Gu Bei instantly understood Hai Hua’s intention and nodded in approval. Yun Nan and Shi Nian also understood. Xiang Yang and Fang Xi quickly brought out pens and paper, and then Yun Nan and Chen Yao drew shapes on the paper with their backs to each other.
When Yun Nan handed the paper to Hai Hua, she nervously stated, “When I was a kid, my mother told me this was her only keepsake. Her adoptive parents snatched it away, saying they wanted it for their son’s betrothal gift in the future. My mother couldn’t find it when she escaped from that family. She said it was a pity she couldn’t take it with her, so she drew it out for me based on her memory.”
Chen Yao looked at the drawing and tearily covered her mouth. She passed the drawing to Gu Bei and said, “Dear, look! She truly is our Xiao He!”
Gu Bei took the sketch and burst into tears after a glance at it. Hai Hua handed Chen Yao’s drawing to Yun Nan. Yun Nan felt sad when she saw it; if only her mother was still alive! She had finally found her biological parents.
Chen Yao reached out and pulled Yun Nan into her arms. “Dear child, you’re her daughter, which means you’re our granddaughter! Oh, my poor, unfortunate child!”
Chen Yao and Yun Nan hugged each other and cried. Shi Nian couldn’t help but worry. He went to Hai Hua and uttered, “Hai Hua, please calm Madam Gu down. I fear her body can’t take it if she keeps on like this.”
Hai Hua was crying along with Chen Yao and Yun Nan. Even a person with a heart of stone wouldn’t be able to withstand such a scene. Gu Bei heard Shi Nian’s words and muttered, “Let her cry. Her heart had broken into pieces. It’s better to let her cry than keep it in her heart.”
Seeing Shi Nian’s worried face, Gu Bei was grateful and patted his shoulder. “Young man, I’ve brought a doctor with me. Don’t worry.”
Only then did Shi Nian heave a sigh of relief. After all, he didn’t feel completely reassured with only the small town’s doctor present. He could tell by how well-prepared the Gu family was that they were used to traveling around and searching for their daughter with medical help on hand, just in case. However, out of the many, many trips they must have made, only this one gave real results. However, this result was too cruel.
The world was impermanent. The joys and sorrows in the world don’t change as a result of anyone’s will. The mother and daughter who’d searched for each other for more than 40 years had no chance to see each other again in their lives. After all the ups and downs they’ve gone through, they could only look at each other across the skies, separated by death. Their love was forever frozen in time, unable to reach the other.
Chen Yao didn’t want to leave Yun Nan for even a moment. Yun Nan insisted on making a tableful of her father’s specialty dishes for Gu Bei and Chen Yao. They were also her mother’s favorite dishes. So Chen Yao followed her in and out of the kitchen, and her eyes could see only Yun Nan.
Gu Bei looked at her and sighed, “She transferred all her feelings for Xiao He to Yun Nan. It has been so hard for her all these years. It’s a miracle that she hasn’t already gone mad.”
Everyone couldn’t help but sizh..