Chapter 473: 444 Qing Luo’s body remains unfound
"I am your real younger brother, aren’t I?"
Faced with Tianyou’s question, Lili looked bewildered.
However, she wasn’t the only one who was perplexed; Lerong and Jiayu were too.
"Your sister doesn’t like our mom, so naturally, she wouldn’t treat you as her real brother. Xiao You, let’s go home."
Lerong urged with a sentence.
Lili’s eyes narrowed, "Xiao You."
Tianyou, pushed forward by Lerong, took two steps before stopping stubbornly as Lili called out to him.
Lerong’s eyebrows furrowed once more.
Lili walked up to Tianyou and crouched down,
"You are my real brother, so you have a dad, a mom, and another sister, but Xiaocao... Wen Xun has always only had me."
"..."
Tianyou gazed steadily at her.
Lili smiled slightly, reaching out to smooth his shirt collar, smoothing out the wrinkles at the neckline,
"You might not understand now, but someday, I hope you can understand that although blood relations are intimate, some emotions transcend blood ties."
"Sister Lili, you never liked me, did you?"
Tianyou pursed his thin lips, his fourteen-year-old face still bearing traces of youthful charm.
He had well inherited the facial advantages of his father and Lerong. As he grew older, these features would become more pronounced.
"You don’t like my mom, you don’t like my second sister, and you don’t like me."
Lili gently shook her head,
"The relations between people cannot be solely determined by the words like and dislike. Xiao You, I admit, I’ve always been averse to the family you were born into and grew up in. The family you live in is not what I desired."
"Because of that, even though you and I are related by blood, I didn’t pay much attention to you. I always thought, you have everything, why would you lack a senseless sister like me..."
"I lack it!"
Tianyou shouted at her!
Then mist started filling his dark, grape-like eyes.
"..."
"Sister Lili, do you really not know how much I like you?"
Tianyou furrowed his brows as if he were trapped.
After speaking, he walked over and got into the car first.
Lili crouched there, motionless for a long time. When Lerong passed by her, she deliberately bumped into her!
That bump made Lili instantly go on guard, not knowing when Wen Nian had also stood behind her, protecting her.
She turned around and watched Lerong walking away hurriedly, her pupils shrinking tighter and tighter until they were just small dots.
Jiayu took a deep breath; Lerong dared to make such a public gesture... It showed how excessive she had been in his unseen moments.
He sighed lightly,
"Xiao Li, Ah Nian, Dad is going back first."
"... Okay. Dad, take care."
Lili said.
Wen Nian patted her shoulder, "I’ll escort Dad."
He closely followed Jiayu, whose steps were slow as if waiting for him to catch up.
"Dad..."
"Ah Nian, don’t come back home with Lili for a while."
"..."
"I have some family matters to deal with. It might take some time, but once it’s sorted, I’ll invite you over and personally cook a meal for you, Mr. President... You won’t mind, right?"
Wen Nian chuckled,
"I still remember when we were in Ruicheng, you came home to cook for Lili, and Lili dragged me along to join... Your cooking was so delicious, how could I possibly mind?"
"Hahaha... Still remember that!"
Jiayu patted his shoulder, very satisfied with Wen Nian.
After getting into the car, he waved his hand to send Wen Nian back.
The driver started the car...
Yet the atmosphere inside the car was unsettlingly quiet.
Song Tianyou sat by the right window in the backseat, looking out with a deep melancholy...
"How come I never knew you liked Song Lili so much?"
Miu Lerong held it in for a long time before finally asking Song Tianyou.
"What do you know about me?"
Song Tianyou turned his head to look at her, countering.
"What do you mean what do I know about you? You’re my son, what is there about you that I don’t know! I’ve raised you all these years..."
Miu Lerong immediately responded with the usual clichés.
But Song Tianyou had already turned his head away again, his eyes laden with the heavy colors of adolescent melancholy.
No one could guess the thoughts of the youth.
As Miu Lerong scolded Song Tianyou, she didn’t realize Song Jiayu, with his eyes closed, was envisioning the scene of her accidentally bumping into Lili...
Upon returning to the Song Family, Miu Lerong had just gotten out of the car when she received a call from the Miu Family.
"Dad! Yes, I just got home, how is it going? Xiangqiao, she—"
She hadn’t finished her sentence when she abruptly stopped, listening to the helpless sighs on the other end of the line...
"If you don’t help her, she might really get killed because of Zhuo Ting! She is your granddaughter, you..."
"Zhuo Ting has been released without charges."
"What did you say?"
"Lerong, let me be honest with you, Xiangqiao can’t come out. I don’t know how you offended the President or why Xiangqiao desperately clung to the Vice President in the first place. Is Zhuo Ting the kind of old fool Xiangqiao could control?"
"If Zhuo Ting could be released, why can’t Xiangqiao?"
"Zhuo Ting’s release wasn’t because the charges were unfounded, but because he found a scapegoat. If Wen Nian were to dig up his past indiscretions, it would be the end for him."
"That’s impossible! How could Zhuo Ting let Song Xiangqiao be the scapegoat? And Wen Nian is no fool!"
"You should find some time to ask your daughter what exactly she’s been doing under the assumption that she knows best."
"...Dad? Dad!"
Miu Lerong, looking at the phone that had already been hung up, was pale-faced. Song Jiayu asked Song Tianyou to go inside first while he waited in the porch for Miu Lerong.
"Jiayu! Xiangqiao this time really..."
"Miu Lerong."
"What’s wrong, Jiayu, why so serious?"
"Let’s get a divorce."
"..."
------------
The family banquet ended, and Wen Nian helped his wife into the car to return to the President Mansion.
On the third floor of Wen Mansion, Wen Liangyu and Wen Chou stood by the window, watching them leave.
The civil war within the country had turned, with the government army mercilessly striking against the rebel army. The conflict was fierce, but the outcome was clear.
The battle at the Chuhai Mountains ended with a victory for the government army.
Yet Chiluo’s body was never found... it became a constant agony for Chiluo, a seed of unrest within the fleeing rebel forces.
The Chuhai Waterfall was majestic day after day.
But the cave behind the waterfall remained unknown to all.
"Hmph hmph..."
A girl about ten years old dragged a bag of fruits and chestnuts through a small hole into the cave.
There was a soft pad made of bulrush mat and flowers in the cave.
"It’s time to eat!"
The girl’s ethereal voice reverberated inside the cave like a celestial chant.
The person leaning on the soft pad opened his deep blue eyes, his messy silver-white curly hair on display, and his muscular upper body covered in scars coldly fixed his gaze on the approaching ugly girl.