“Well, so is this true?” Zhuang Jiawen looked at his siblings and pressed, uncharacteristically interested in this little bit of gossip. He wanted to understand what happened then.
Zong Yanxi decided to satisfy his curiosity. She replied, “Yes, he was once in love with Mom.”
“Wow, he must be pretty persistent, huh? I heard from my parents that he has no children at all. Apparently, he didn’t marry his wife out of love,” Shen Xinyao said and snuck a furtive look at Bai Yinning. Although his looks had been tempered by age, it was evident that he had been a very handsome man in his heyday.
He had a very pleasant aura as well.
“Has his leg always been that way?” Zhuang Jiawen knew the least about him, and his questions were thus the most frivolous.
“Yes,” Shen Xinyao replied.
Zhuang Jiawen shot her a glance. “How do you know everything?”
“My parents told me about it,” she answered.
“Well, what else did your parents tell you? Tell me all about it,” Zhuang Jiawen said.
Shen Xinyao shook her head and said, “Nothing else.” She paused before adding, “He wasn’t a bad person.”
“Dear me, how do you know all these?” If they weren’t in a mourning hall, Zhuang Jiawen would have given her cheek a good pinch. She knew so many things, yet she had never told him about any of them.
Zhuang Jiawen shot her another look. “Is that what your parents think too?”
“No, it’s what I think.”
Shen Xinyao continued, “A man who’s so constant that he loves the same woman even after so many years? I doubt someone like that could be a horrible person.”
Zhuang Jiawen found himself unable to respond.
However, after a long silence, he said, “That doesn’t mean he is a good person.”
“What, do you hate him or something?” Shen Xinyao raised an eyebrow.
Zhuang Jiawen wasn’t like Zong Yanchen and Zong Yanxi—he had no understanding of Bai Yinning as a person. However, when he found out that Bai Yinning used to like his mother back in the day, and still continued to love her, he realized that this man had been his own father’s love rival.
If his mother had chosen to be together with Bai Yinning instead of his father, Zhuang Jiawen would never have been born.
He put himself in his father’s shoes, and therefore, he dislikes him.
Furthermore, he didn’t like him too from his own point of view.
However, he still had much admiration for the man.
Zhuang Jiawen knew there was no way he would be able to wait for one woman for so many years.
He admired Bai Yinning for his persistence. There were few people like him around.
Did his mother know about this man’s lifelong infatuation with her? If she found out that a man who loved her since her younger days continued to love her even today, would she feel for him too?
As he thought, Zhuang Jiawen’s gaze fell upon Lin Xinyan, who was standing by Zong Jinghao at the door. She looked rather solemn. He knew from years of looking at his parents that they were very much in love.
Even if his mother felt something for Bai Yinning, it would be a very small bit of affection compared to the love she felt for her husband.
He was selfish—he wanted his mother to love only his father.
Seeing his zoned-out expression, Shen Xinyao asked, “What are you thinking about? You look totally out of it.”
Zhuang Jiawen replied, “Nothing.”
However, he was thinking secretly that he wanted to meet up with this cripple if an opportunity arose.
Zong Yanxi saw right through him. “You just be good!”
“What do you mean?” Zhuang Jiawen pretended to look innocent.
“You know exactly what you’re thinking! What right do we have as the younger generation to interfere with the adults’ matters? Are you mistrustful of your father or your mother?” Zong Yanxi’s sharp words left him completely speechless.
Yes, he had to faith in his father.
Bai Yinning was so hopefully devoted to Lin Xinyan, but it was Zong Jinghao who had won her heart in the end. This meant that they probably loved each other very much.
Sigh.
Zhuang Jiawen looked up at Cheng Yuwen’s photograph, feeling rather depressed. He heard that his grandmother had died while saving him and his mother.
When you get to the other side, he thought, help me tell my grandmother that I made it safely into the world and that I’m all grown up now.
