Growing Fond of You, Mr Nian

Xu Zhengxuan nodded and said, “Professor Ma is a good man. Among all my friends, I only trust him. This is all Yi Jingxi’s fault. I don’t know why he hates our family, but I have had a clear conscience all my life. And you, you’re so young. You had a bright future, yet he destroyed it. Thankfully, Professor Ma helped you, and you’re back in school now. I’m relieved. You should work hard. Unlike you, I have nothing to hope for in this life.” After saying that, his face showed despair.

Luo Sang stared at him for a while, and then gathered her courage, gritted her teeth, and asked, “Dad, have you done… something bad before?”

Xu Zhengxuan was startled at first. A short while later, he understood Luo Sang’s meaning, and his face slowly darkened. “Sangsang, even you don’t believe me?”

“Earlier… I met one of my mother’s classmates. She told me that mom used to be your student, and that she had me before graduating from school. She also said that not long after you came back to An City, you were with another student of yours.”

“Nonsense!” Xu Zhengxuan was so angry that his face even turned red. “I was never with a woman other than your mother!”

“Is my mother really dead?” Luo Sang looked him in the eyes and said, “Look at me, can you swear? Mom’s friend said that the last time they met, she was in the hospital doing antenatal care. Mom was pregnant. Yesterday, I went back to where we lived. The security guys told me that two years ago, a boy around 18 years old came to find me. They said that he looked a lot like me. Is he my younger brother?”

Xu Zhengxuan’s eyes popped in shock, as if he had been suddenly drained of strength. “Did she really give birth to that boy?” he murmured.

“So what mom’s friend said is true.” Luo Sang abruptly stood up and gripped the microphone. “Mom didn’t die! Why did you lie to me?”

“Yes, I lied to you.” Xu Zhengxuan nodded. He eyes were red as he continued, “But it’s not like what you think. We were happy when we had you, but things changed after we came back to An City. Your mother is an orphan, and I’m from a scholarly family. Your grandma didn’t like your mother. There was a lot of conflict when they lived together. Your mother was bad-tempered, so they fought a lot.

“Back then, I was newly transferred to An City. I worked a lot, and I was tired every day. Therefore, I used my work as an excuse. I hid in the school from all the family problems. At that time, I was… immature. I didn’t know to handle these things. That year, the school arranged for me to make a short film. I selected a few students from my department. Chu Lei was one of them. Your mother thought there was something between her and me. I explained it to her, but she wouldn’t listen. At last, she just left you at home and started spending time in all kinds of entertainment places with all kinds of men. I was angry, so I brought Chu Lei to all sorts of places on purpose to get back at her. Later on, your mom got pregnant. She wanted to abort the baby and divorce me, but I wouldn’t agree to it. However, she was like a wild horse, and no one could change her mind. So, with no other choice, I locked her up.”

“How could you do that?” Luo Sang was shocked.

Xu Zhengxuan pulled his hair bitterly while saying, “I didn’t want to do that to her, but I didn’t want to divorce. I didn’t even know why my marriage had become like that. I kept her locked up for two months. She lost more and more weight; she was even going to lose that child. When I took her to the hospital for a checkup, she ran away. I never saw her again after that. I thought she had aborted the baby, but according to what you said, I think she gave birth to him.”