Chapter 565 - 210: Brother and Sister’s Reunion
Chapter 565: Chapter 210: Brother and Sister’s Reunion
Xu Yanlin suggested, "Why don’t you wait here while I go in first?"
Xu Shiling kicked his nephew in the leg. "You’re a grown man now, you little rascal!"
After he spoke, Xu Shiling straightened his clothes, cleared his throat, and strode forward.
He took two steps, then turned back and forced a smile. "I don’t look scary, do I? I won’t frighten your aunt?"
Xu Yanlin gave him a mock-serious inspection.
Although the Xu family was now composed entirely of scholars, they had originally risen to prominence through military merit. The family’s old patriarch was said to have been a hulking man, and their builds only began to refine after several generations of new matriarchs joined the family.
These days, most of the men in the Xu family were tall and slender, with the upright posture of scholars. His youngest uncle, however, was something of a throwback.
He had a brawny, powerful build. He didn’t look like a civil official at all; he was the very image of a military general.
Yanlin recalled the grand court assembly when his uncle had returned to the capital to report on his duties. Standing in the ranks of the civil officials, he had been a full head taller than the rest. To use a perhaps unfitting phrase, he truly stood out like a crane among chickens.
An uncle like this, with a smile he had to work so hard to put on, didn’t look the least bit amiable. In fact, he looked utterly ferocious—like some evil spirit from folklore that lured away small children.
Xu Yanlin offered a well-meaning suggestion. "Uncle, maybe you should... try not smiling..."
Xu Shiling was about to lose his temper when a woman’s voice—strange yet familiar—drifted from the nearby door.
"Tell me, what’s so great about you being home on a day off? You want this, you want that... Did I give birth to a glutton or a little debt collector? It’s not like your father and I starve you. Your older sister and brother were never this greedy when they were young. Who on earth do you take after?"
Two figures, one tall and one short, emerged from the gate.
The shorter one was a young boy, though he wasn’t actually short, as he came up to the woman’s chest. He wore an ingratiating smile as he looked at the woman beside him.
The woman was dressed in a pale pinkish-purple padded jacket and a green mamian skirt. She wore only a single hairpin in her hair, but the simple adornment did nothing to diminish her breathtaking beauty.
"Wanting to eat well is one thing, but you just have to eat out. Do you think your mother is made of money? I can’t afford to feed you like this for every single meal."
"Mother, Mother, please stop! My cousin Yanlin is here."
"If he’s here, that means your mother has to treat both of you. That’s another expense... Just thinking about it gives me a headache..."
Xu Yanlin chuckled. "It’s my treat, Aunt. You can save your silver for yourself."
"Who needs your money? You barely have any..."
Her words trailed off as she noticed the man standing beside Xu Yanlin. He was middle-aged, perhaps in his forties, with red-rimmed eyes glistening with tears.
Xu Suying’s heart skipped a beat. She froze for a moment, and her eyes began to burn for no reason. She couldn’t help but clutch at her chest.
’I obviously don’t know this man, yet seeing him feels so... familiar. What’s even more baffling is that looking at him like this makes my heart ache terribly. A bitter sorrow is welling up inside me.’
’Is this just the lingering consciousness of this body acting up, or is something stirring in the depths of my own memory?’
Before she knew it, tears were streaming down Xu Suying’s face.
Xu Shiling rushed forward and pulled her into a hug, his hand, as large as a cattail fan, patting her on the back again and again.
"Little Sister, where have you been all these years? How could you be so cruel! We nearly turned the entire Wei Dynasty upside down for you! We searched for you for twenty years! Mother has cried for twenty years, she’s almost cried herself blind! How cruel you are, how could you bear not coming back to see us for so many years! Even if you’d just sent word to let us know you were alive, that would have been enough!"
His large hand thumped against Xu Suying’s back again and again, and she flinched with each heavy pat.
But in that moment, it was as if she couldn’t feel the pain. She just clutched tightly to the fabric on the man’s chest, her quiet sobs giving way to loud wails.
"Brother, I’ve lost my memories! I can’t remember anything! I don’t know where my home is, and I can’t remember any of you!"
"Nonsense! You just called me ’Brother’! How can you have amnesia? You obviously remember us! You’re so cruel! So cruel!"
Xu Shiling held his sister at arm’s length to get a good look at her face. "It’s been twenty years... twenty years! I’ve finally found you again. I thought I’d never see you again in this lifetime!"
This hulking man was normally an absolute authority whose word was law. Throughout all of Liangchun Prefecture, not a single person dared to cause trouble right under the Magistrate’s nose.
And yet, here he was, like a heartbroken child, his face streaked with tears, his heroic features contorted with grief.
Xu Shiling pulled Xu Suying into another crushing hug, thumping her on the back. "Come home! You have to come home!"