Chapter 769 Never Forgot
Zhai Kuijun looked a little lost. He continued to stare at his son with a blank expression before he asked, "You remember her?"Zhai Yanjun nodded, "I never forgot."
"But you said you didn't remember..." Zhai Kuijun didn't continue as everything became clear to him. From the moment, his son started changing, he had stopped talking about his Aunt Yue Yue, and whenever someone even asked, he'd say he didn't remember her. But it seemed he never forgot.
Even as a kid, he knew he had to protect himself, and to protect himself from his mother, he chose to lie and pretend that the Aunt whom he loved so much wasn't even in his memory anymore. In fact, most people even thought that Zhai Yanjun had no memories of his early childhood at all.
"Do you blame me for lying?" asked Zhai Yanjun.
Zhai Kuijun shook his head, "Not at all. Why would I blame you? I don't think even Little Yue would have blamed you if she was to know about it."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Yes, she won't," agreed Zhai Yanjun with a soft smile that he hid very well but couldn't hide the sweetness in his voice. He already knew how his aunt was, how could a sweet person like her blame him for anything? He was afraid that that sweet lady might not even blame his own mother for whatever she did to her.
And that's why it hurt him more.
He knew how good his aunt was but he couldn't understand why his mother seemed to hate her so much? He couldn't understand it at all. And today, he was even more baffled when he saw how his grandmother stood up for his mother even though his grandmother is actually his aunt's biological mother!
This was all so messed up, that he wasn't able to stop himself from being curious. He wanted someone to give him answers. He knew he couldn't just ask his Aunt Yue for answers straightforwardly, it'd hurt her and he didn't want to hurt her at all. All she gave him was love whether it was when he was a little boy or now when he was all grown up. How could he bring himself to hurt her at all?
She was someone who always gave him the warmth that he lacked and always welcomed him with open arms. Meeting her all over again was like he finally found his home. A home that wasn't filled with his mother's nonstop tantrums and screaming. A home where his father wasn't always depressed and silent.
The home that his Aunt Yue gave him was only filled with love, care, and laughter. Oh, and some silly bantering with Hyson. But whichever flavor it was, he loved all of it.
"What do you remember about your Aunt?" asked Zhai Kuijun.
"I remember that she loved me very much," answered Zhai Yanjun. "She'd play with me, cook my favorite food for me, take me out, make clothes for me, and even sing me lullabies in her sweetest voice. In fact, wherever I was supposed to see my own mother, I only found her standing there smiling at me and encouraging me." When Zhai Yanjun talked about the lullabies she used to sing to him, he felt his heart ache at the reminder that he'd never be able to hear them anymore. So what if he found his Aunt again? He'd never be able to hear her voice again.
But Zhai Yanjun, at the moment, didn't even realize how lucky he was. At least, he still had a memory of how his Aunt's voice sounded. Her own son only got to hear his mother's voice through an old recording. And even now, he kept that recording on his phone and listen to it whenever he found the chance. As if he'd never get tired of hearing his mother's voice. Or perhaps, Hyson just wanted to make up for the silence that had shrouded his childhood by deceiving himself with that recording.
Zhai Kuijun hummed, "Indeed, she really loved you." He shook his head, "She even forgot her friend, me, after you were born. She'd always find a way to run back from her college and come to find you. And yes, she loved designing clothes for you as well. In a way, she definitely treated you as her personal child model."
Zhai Yanjun smiled softly when he heard that from his father.
With a sigh, Zhai Kuijun asked, "What do you want to know about her? I'll tell you whatever I know for now."
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmZhai Yanjun turned serious and asked, "Then let's start with, why does it seem like grandmother hates Aunt Yue? Isn't she the one who gave birth to her?"
"She indeed Yue'er's birth mother but she had always been biased," stated Zhai Kuijun straightforwardly.
"But why?" asked Zhai Yanjun. He couldn't understand it at all.
"Do you know that your mother hates Old Madam Yue?" asked Zhai Kuijun and Zhai Yanjun nodded his head in response. "Do you know why?"
"I heard her accusing grandmother repeatedly that she was the reason why my real grandmother died. She called grandmother Yue a mistress."
"But that's not true," answered Zhai Kuijun. "The one who brought Old Madam Yue into Old Master Yue's life was in fact, the late Madam Yue." Zhai Yanjun raised his brow at his father's revelation. "Late Madam Yue had cancer and she started fighting it from the moment Yue Lan was born. To take care of young Yue Lan, the late Madam Yue brought her distant cousin into the family. And the person is the current Old Madam Yue, Yue Yue's mother."
"Then was grandmother really a mistress?"
Zhai Kuijun shook his head, "Nope. She was just indebted to Madam Deng, the late matriarch of the Yue family. Old Madam Yue's family wasn't as well off as Madam Deng's even though they were cousins. But Madam Deng's parents helped Old Madam Yue's family and that's how they technically bought the loyalty of Old Madam Yue and her parents. So, when her dying cousin held her hands and asked her to marry her husband, Old Madam Yue had no way to back out."