Chapter 96: How Should I Address You?

“I want to make some cured meat and send a bit to Auntie and the others. What do you think?” Lin Jingyue said as she took out several bags of salt.

She had already prepared everything for the curing process. Jiang Xun smiled helplessly. “They'll definitely be delighted.”

His mother would probably jump with joy at such thoughtfulness from her future daughter-in-law.

With Jiang Xun’s reassurance, Lin Jingyue felt at ease.

The three of them worked together swiftly, finishing everything before nightfall and hanging the meat inside the mountain cave.

The cave was well hidden. Lin Jingyue wasn’t worried about anyone discovering it; if someone did, even after she’d taken precautions, it would mean she—and, more importantly, Jiang Xun—had wasted their efforts.

By the time the three returned to the educated youth camp, night had fully fallen.

The next morning, after their exercise and breakfast, Jiang Xun rode his bicycle with Lin Jingyue to the city.

They went straight to the recycling station, but neither Old Huo nor Song Shiyun was there.

It struck them both as odd.

Jiang Xun then took Lin Jingyue to the Public Security Bureau, where they met Zhou Mingxue’s father.

“Uncle Zhou, this is my fiancée Lin Jingyue. Jingyue, this is Uncle Zhou,” Jiang Xun introduced them.

“Hello, Uncle Zhou.” Lin Jingyue greeted him with poise.

A flash of appreciation shone in Zhou’s eyes; Jiang Xun’s taste really was exceptional.

“No need to be formal. I’ve often heard Mingxue mention you—she was talking about you just last night, as a matter of fact. One day you must let Jiang Xun bring you to our home,” Zhou said warmly.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Lin Jingyue would likely become the Jiang family’s daughter-in-law. He had once served under Old Master Jiang, so he considered himself a subordinate of the Jiang family.

“Of course, Uncle Zhou. I’d be honored to accept your invitation,” she replied.

After a few polite exchanges, Jiang Xun stated his purpose. “Uncle Zhou, do you know where Song Shiyun has gone? I need to speak with him.”

He and Song Shiyun had known each other since childhood, though they’d never quite gotten along. That fellow was cunning, and Jiang Xun had suffered at his hands more than once as a boy. With experience, however, he’d managed to turn the tables a few times. They were, in a way, mutual rivals.

“He was called out on a mission in the middle of the night. He won’t be back for at least ten days, maybe half a month.”

How unlucky.

Jiang Xun and Lin Jingyue exchanged a glance, both frowning.

“Is something wrong? Would you like my help?” Zhou asked.

“There’s no need, Uncle Zhou. It’s just a personal matter,” Jiang Xun replied.

They bid Zhou farewell and left.

On the way, Jiang Xun pushed his bicycle as they spoke in hushed tones.

“With Master gone and now Song Shiyun away as well, doesn’t it seem like too much of a coincidence?” Lin Jingyue sighed.

It felt as if something crucial was about to be revealed, yet remained frustratingly out of reach.

“It’s probably just coincidence,” Jiang Xun mused. “Given Old Huo’s status in the capital, even in retirement, he’s not someone Song Qinglan could manipulate—nor could Song Shiyun. Whether the rift between Song Shiyun’s father and Song Qinglan is genuine or an act, Song Shiyun won’t be affected. He’s with the military, beyond Song Qinglan’s reach.”

Lin Jingyue, reassured by his analysis, calmed down.

With no luck finding Song Shiyun, Jiang Xun arranged for someone else to keep an eye on Wu Zhenhua, and the two of them cycled back to Qingshan Brigade.

Just when Lin Jingyue thought the day would yield nothing new, she spotted a small car in the Qingshan Brigade.

Nearly everyone in the brigade was gathered around it.

“Comrade Lin is here!”

Someone called out, and all eyes turned toward her.

Lin Jingyue jumped off the back of Jiang Xun’s bicycle. As the crowd parted, her gaze immediately locked with that of the woman standing beside the car.

She kept her expression neutral, but her heart tightened.

That woman...

“Song Qinglan!” Jiang Xun narrowed his eyes, standing beside Lin Jingyue with the bicycle, his gaze fixed on Song Qinglan.

He’d met Song Qinglan before but never paid much attention. Now, seeing her suddenly, he realized her eyes resembled Jingyue’s—strikingly so.

It was almost as if...

His heart caught, and he glanced sidelong at Jingyue, noticing her pupils contract. He sighed inwardly.

Things... were taking an unexpected turn.

“Comrade Lin, she’s here to see you,” the brigade leader said, visibly relieved at the sight of Lin Jingyue and Jiang Xun.

Lin Jingyue clenched her fist once, her expression smoothing out. She looked at Song Qinglan. “Madam, let’s go to the youth camp to talk.”

Song Qinglan withdrew her gaze at last and nodded.

No one noticed her eyes redden for a brief moment.

Inside Lin Jingyue’s room at the youth camp, she and Jiang Xun sat on the kang, while Song Qinglan took a seat on a nearby chair.

The moment the door closed, Song Qinglan’s eyes reddened, and tears rolled down her cheeks.

“To think you live in such a tiny room…”

Her words were heavy, laden with emotion, hoarse and sorrowful.

Lin Jingyue’s heart faltered. She averted her gaze. “Should I call you Miss Xu or Miss Song?”

She had never been one for sentimentality.

“Child…”

“Stop!” Lin Jingyue whirled around, a mocking smile on her lips. “Don’t tell me the reason you sent me all those things, treated me so well, is because I’m actually your daughter.”

She stared intently at Song Qinglan, feeling as if a bucket of melodrama had just been dumped on her head.

Jiang Xun squeezed her hand, offering silent comfort.

Song Qinglan, witnessing this, felt a pang of displeasure but said nothing. She looked at Lin Jingyue with heartfelt sorrow. “No, you’re mistaken. You’re not my daughter. You are your mother’s child, her own flesh and blood—there’s no doubt about it.”

“Then you…”

“I am your biological aunt,” Song Qinglan replied, eyes brimming with complex emotion.

Lin Jingyue was stunned. “W-what?”

Her dazed expression made Song Qinglan’s heart ache with bittersweet longing. “You look so much like your mother. So very much.”

“No, you—you and my mother are…”

“We’re twins. True sisters,” Song Qinglan said, her expression wavering between a smile and tears.

“There’s a long story behind all this…”

“Then make it short.”

Song Qinglan was momentarily speechless. “Even your temperament is like your mother’s.”

She sighed and began recounting the past.

Madam Song, it turned out, had given birth to twins. That year, in a dilapidated temple near An City, she went into labor, coincidentally at the same time as Old Lady Wu, who also gave birth there.

Madam Song, at the cost of her own strength, delivered two daughters, but Old Lady Wu’s child died at birth.

Madam Song needed to go to the capital to find her family. Bringing one son and one daughter was already her limit; she simply couldn’t care for a second daughter. With no other choice, she entrusted Wu Huixian to the Wu family, giving them half her savings as well.

The Wu family agreed to care for Wu Huixian until Madam Song returned.

But Madam Song’s departure stretched into years without a word. She vanished from their lives.

At the time, Old Master Wu was still alive, and he couldn’t bear to abandon the child. Thus, Wu Huixian grew up in the Wu family.

After Madam Song was divorced, she returned to An City and passed away a year later. Song Qinglan was eventually adopted by the Xu family.

She grew up amid scolding and beatings.

At seventeen, by coincidence, she met Old Master Song, who was visiting relatives in An City.

Noticing a resemblance between herself and Old Master Song, and overhearing that she wasn’t the Xu family’s child, she began to investigate.

Her digging soon uncovered the truth.

“The reason I was adopted by the Xu family was due to my stepmother’s arrangements. The old man should have taken me back,” Song Qinglan’s face twisted with bitter irony and resentment.

PS: Lin Jingyue: That scared me—I thought you were my mother!

Song Qinglan: An aunt is a mother, too!

[Aside] I’m a straightforward writer; I won’t wait until later to reveal things! Haha, no one expected that Song Qinglan’s kindness to Jingyue was entirely genuine!