Eighties Sweetheart Wife
Chapter 129 Just Want to Tell You a Secret_1

Chapter 129: Chapter 129 Just Want to Tell You a Secret_1

All this information was too confusing, and Song Yunuan was bewildered.

Xia Guilan didn’t have the time to ask what was happening; she hurried to the kang, where Grandma Xia, lying on it, struggled to turn her head.

Song Yunuan was taken aback, Grandma Xia’s complexion was waxen, her eyes cloudy and unfocused, as if she were truly at death’s door.

Seeing so many people standing in the room, Grandma Xia looked over at each one before her gaze settled on Song Yunuan, and she managed a feeble smile.

Old Mrs. Song was now sitting by the kang, and even took a pulse, breathing a sigh of relief; as long as the person was alive, that was enough.

She hoped that nothing would happen to actually scare Little Nuan.

In fact, she was quite reluctant to let Little Nuan come at all.

But she couldn’t show it.

Old Mrs. Song asked, "Mother-in-law, what happened to you? Did you have an argument with your daughter-in-law? For the sake of your son and granddaughter, don’t stoop to her level. Life must go on, and it gets better with age."

Grandma Xia weakly waved her hand.

Xia Guilan asked Xia Xinshan sharply, "Tell me, what exactly happened?"

Finally, Xia Xinshan spoke up.

It turned out that Whang Xiaoman had a lover in her younger years, but her mother married her off to Xia Xinshan for a betrothal gift.

Her lover had also gotten married.

Last year his wife died, and he came back looking for Whang Xiaoman.

That was just last month.

They had been arguing about divorce for two months now.

This time, they had no choice but to divorce.

Because Whang Xiaoman threatened Xia Xinshan that if they didn’t divorce, it was fine, but she had prepared rat poison, and any day she could poison them all to death.

They divorced this morning, and in the afternoon a bunch of people came to take away anything they could.

Song Yunuan glanced at the dilapidated house; there really wasn’t much to take.

It was extremely poor.

But they must have taken the money from Grandma’s hands.

It seemed like all the grain in the house was gone too.

When Whang Xiaoman came with people, Xia Xinshan was working in the fields, and only Grandma Xia and Xique were at home.

Grandma Xia wouldn’t let her take things, and then they started arguing and eventually came to blows.

How could Grandma Xia stand up to Whang Xiaoman?

So, she was so enraged that she fainted.

Xia Guilan was so angry her face turned ashen, and she cursed, "The Whang family has gone too far, bullying us like this. Did they also take the money I gave you? I’m going to their place right now. I refuse to believe that there’s nowhere that will let us argue our case. Even if a divorce means dividing property, it should be done face to face, clearly. This is just outright robbery."

Song Yunuan felt something was off, "Let’s take Grandma to the hospital first."

Grandma Xia gave a bitter smile, but shook her head firmly, "No, I really feel like I’m at the end. I’m holding onto this last breath to tell you all a secret."

Old Mrs. Song suddenly widened her eyes.

Song Yunuan stared intently at Grandma Xia.

There was no dramatic turn to the story.

Xia Guilan propped up Grandma Xia, complaining, "You’re delirious from anger, talking about secrets. What kind of secrets could our family possibly have?"

To their surprise, Grandma Xia pulled out a black-and-white photo and a letter from her chest.

Xia Guilan took them, stunned. She had never seen this photograph before.

A family of five.

The girl who was about three or four years old had to be her. She and another boy stood in front of a couple.

The man had a strange, stern yet handsome face, definitely not her deceased father.

The woman had to be her mother, recognizable at a glance.

In the woman’s arms was a boy around one year old, who at first glance, looked very much like Asheng.

Xia Xinshan was also stunned.

His already dull mind was buzzing.

This was in fact a story of a divorce without separation, which later turned into an expulsion.

Xia Guilan and Xia Xinshan’s biological father is not Grandpa Xia,

but a man working in the agricultural department far away in Beidu; his name is Xia Bowen.

Grandma Xia, named Zhu Feng, is sixty years old this year, born in 1920, and resides in a small mountain village in Mhing Town. At sixteen, she married a man from the same village named Second Child Xia, who left with a troop a month after their wedding and took the new name Xia Bowen.

Two years later, he returned, held a local position, and had two sons and a daughter with Zhu Feng.

The eldest daughter is Xia Guilan, born in 1943, and the youngest, born in 1945, is named Xia Xindong.

Actually, it was just the life of an ordinary couple.

Zhu Feng was illiterate but gentle and virtuous.

In 1946, Xia Bowen left again.

When he returned, he brought back a beautiful and tall woman, his colleague. He said they were a perfect match, that they also shared ideals and dreams.

And that he had no common language with Zhu Feng.

Then it was a matter of life and death to divorce.

At that time, Zhu Feng was at home serving her in-laws and taking care of her brother-in-law.

The final result was to divorce without leaving the family.

Zhu Feng endured it for the sake of the children.

She took good care of her in-laws, and after sending them off wearing mourning clothes, the villagers all praised her.

Xia Xindong went missing when he was five years old.

She wrote letters to Xia Bowen, but it was like casting stones into the sea.

She looked for her little son everywhere, but all in vain.

Upon returning to the village, she found her daughter and son nearly starved to death.

Later, she was driven out of the village.

It was her brother-in-law’s family that drove her out.

After that, while searching for her child and wandering, she ended up in Willow Tree Village, Nanshan County Town, when the household registration system became strict and wandering was not allowed. With no other options, she married Xia Zhong, a man without children or a wife.

The man had a bad temper, but a good heart.

For the second half of her life, Zhu Feng was rather content.

As for being poor, except for a few families, all households were pretty much in the same boat at that time.

Old Mrs. Song was flabbergasted, "Oh my goodness, so my eldest daughter-in-law is actually the child of a high-ranking official?"

But something doesn’t seem right.

At this moment, Xia Guilan and Xia Xinshan, who had been listening in a daze, were sitting beside Grandma Xia, looking at her incredulously.

Xia Guilan’s lips trembled, "Then... Mom, why have you... never mentioned this before, is... is it true?"

And why doesn’t she have any memory of it?

Considering her age, she wasn’t someone with a particularly good memory; what could a three-year-old child remember? By the time her biological father returned, he probably hadn’t even seen her before divorcing and leaving.

Old Mrs. Song said nothing.

Her heart was also filled with irritable hatred.

When reminded of the past and because of her hatred, Grandma Xia seemed much more spirited.

"I have no reason to lie to you. When I got divorced, that woman made me swear never to mention Xia Bowen to the children again, to act as if their biological father was dead—otherwise..."

Grandma Xia cried, "She held a knife to my throat, I... how could I not listen?"

"She came from a good background, she had power, and she had Second Child Xia’s support; all I could do was to take a vow of silence."

Song Yunuan glanced at Grandma Xia and moved her gaze away discreetly.

This time she finally straightened out things she didn’t fully understand before.

The room became suddenly quiet at that moment.

Old Mrs. Song couldn’t hold back anymore, "Didn’t you take an oath? Why are you speaking out now?"

Are you expecting everyone to take on the risk with you?

Or do you want the children to recognize their ancestry?

Oh my heavens, it can’t really be like this, can it?