104: In Another Life (1)

In Another Life (1)

After they dropped Xi Qian at her home, Lu Qingfeng accompanied Su Xiaofei for a short walk in the garden of Yun Mansion. Yun Qingrong had already been notified of their arrival, so it didn't matter if Su Xiaofei stayed a little late with Lu Qingfeng to talk.1

"Aren't you going to tell me something?" Lu Qingfeng questioned, testing the waters to see if Su Xiaofei would reveal some of her thoughts to him.

Since he was also reborn like her, he knew of her real relationship with Qiao Fengying and Qiao Yuhan, and why she was acting like this tonight.

"Nothing. Just some thoughts that have yet to settle in my mind." She shrugged as she took a seat on the wooden swing she and Lu Qingfeng used to play with when they were younger.

The wooden swing was tied to a high branch of a tree in their garden and this was where Su Xiaofei used to sit when she was trying to clear her thoughts when she was still living here with her mother in her past life.

"Actually, I was thinking of the story of the abandoned teddy bear we used to hear when we were younger." She laughed, but it didn't reach her eyes at all.

How can Lu Qingfeng not know what she was talking about? Su Xiaofei was referring to the story of a teddy bear that was left by its kid owner at the park one afternoon.

The teddy bear tried to find her way back home, only to find the little girl playing with another beautiful doll. The teddy bear thought the girl had betrayed him, but he didn't know that his owner had never stopped thinking about him and had tried to find him for a long time.

Was this what Su Xiaofei was feeling right now? Did she think that Qiao Fengying had also forgotten about her when he married Li Shulan and had another child with her?

Obviously, he heard what Qiao Fengying had said earlier about his daughter and he knew that Su Xiaofei was aware that the old man was talking about her. For someone who had been deprived of a paternal love from her adopted father, it might have come as a shock to Su Xiaofei to discover that her real father hadn't forgotten her, that he still thought of her despite the years that have passed between them.

"But didn't that story still get a happy ending because the girl was able to find him after years of separation? It's not as bad as the story I have in mind." He said as he leaned against the trunk of the huge tree while Su Xiaofei slowly moved the swing.

"What story?" She inquired. Lu Qingfeng used to tell her some interesting stories when they were younger, and she wondered where he read all those stories when he was always holding books intended for higher grades.

"I haven't told you this story. There was a young, weak boy who was hated by his mother. He's the eldest son of his father, but because of his body's weak constitution, his half-brother from another woman became the heir of their family. He was sent to the countryside, forgotten by his parents and there, he befriended an interesting girl."

Su Xiaofei shifted on her seat and looked at him with interest.

"The girl had a straightforward personality, she didn't sugarcoat her words, so people would either love her or hate her, but most of them hate her. Not everyone was happy whenever their weaknesses or their flaws were pointed out. The young boy befriended the girl despite their age differences and social standing. The boy came from a wealthy family, while the girl was a commoner raised by a drunkard father."

"Then what happened?" Su Xiaofei asked. This story was way different from the other stories he had told her previously. It sounded like some kind of cheesy romance story, but it didn't stop her from being curious.

"The girl developed a kind of eye disease that slowly took away her sight until she couldn't see anything anymore. At the same time, it was discovered that she was the missing daughter of a rich young miss at the capital. That rich young miss got pregnant out of wedlock, but her lover had hidden the child away because he was already betrothed to another woman. The child that was missing turned out to be the young girl."

"Then the young girl must be lucky. She would have a better chance to get her eyes treated now that she found out that her mother was rich, right?" Su Xiaofei commented.

Lu Qingfeng looked at her face, trying to gauge her reaction before continuing with his story.

"En, that was the case. The girl bid goodbye to the young boy, promising that she would return as soon as her eyes were treated. She was supposed to get an organ transplant to replace her bad eyes, but years had passed, the young boy became an adult, but the girl never returned to their village. He had waited for her for a long time, but all the calls and messages he'd sent to her were left unanswered."

Su Xiaofei frowned at that. She had a bad feeling that something bad happened to the young girl, hence, she wasn't able to fulfill her promise to the young boy.

"Did the young girl die?" She asked, curious to know what happened next.

"No, she didn't. In fact, the operation was successful. The cornea that was transplanted was able to restore her sight in a few months, but the operation had caused some complications."

Su Xiaofei hummed. What could have possibly happened during the surgery?

"What kind of complications?" She questioned Lu Qingfeng.

"Her doctors were also baffled about it, and they couldn't explain why, but the girl had somewhat forgotten what the boy looked like." Lu Qingfeng with a hint of sorrow on his usually cold tone. 

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