Chapter 17.2 - Secret Affair (2/2)

At the Song house.

After Jinzhi made dinner and untied her apron, her father still hadn’t come back, so she decided to go outside and look around.

The Song house was situated on the last street in the northeast corner of the village. There were four houses in a row. Her house was the second one from the right. When she went outside, her neighbors were already eating dinner in their courtyards. She smiled and waved to them before walking to the roadside and looking down the path into the village.

Unfortunately, the woods on the South Bank and East Pond were too lush, blocking her line of sight.

Was Daddy at Second Uncle’s house?

Jinzhi thought for a while before walking towards the thatched hut at the foot of the mountain facing north.

That was Second Uncle’s house.

Jinzhi liked Second Uncle very much. She still remembered that Second Uncle often played with her when she was a child. He was very strong; he could lift her up high. Second Uncle was also skilled at setting up traps. After he earned money from selling the animals that had been caught in the trap, he would buy her pretty cloths so she could sew dresses to wear. Unfortunately, Grandma didn’t like Second Uncle because Second Uncle wasn’t her own son. When he was still a baby, he had been picked up by Grandpa from the roadside while Grandpa was collecting dung during the winter. Later, Grandma said that Second Uncle was cursed, causing the death of all three of his fiancées. Second Uncle knew that Grandma didn’t like him. When Grandpa was still alive, he couldn’t bear to mention moving out because it would hurt Grandpa’s heart. After Grandpa passed away, he moved to the thatched hut and had been living alone ever since. After Grandma passed away, Daddy persuaded Second Uncle to move back and live with them, but Second Uncle rejected him, saying that he was used to living alone and that it was more comfortable that way.

Lost in her thoughts, she had arrived at the thatched house before she realized it.

The door was locked, and Second Uncle wasn’t at home.

Jinzhi walked back home in disappointment. Where have Daddy and Second Uncle gone so late?

She was about to reach the intersection when she heard a dog barking from the woods, followed by a loud shout. Jinzhi didn’t care about it. But just as she was about to turn towards the direction of her house, a loud voice yelled, “It’s not good! Old Man Song had fallen to death!”

Old Man Song?

Which Old Man Song?

Jinzhi thought blankly. Tears were already streaming down her cheeks as she bit her lip tightly and staggered to the south.

No, Daddy simply went to the fields to look at the wheat field. He had said that he would be back in a short while. Those people must have identified the wrong person…

~

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“Jinzhi, Jinzhi, quickly wake up. This poor child…”

When Tang Huan regained consciousness, before she could even open her eyes, she almost fainted from the chaotic sounds around her.

She rubbed her forehead and slowly opened her eyes.

Above her head was a haggard-looking old woman, and further up was a circle of men and women in plain clothes, and higher still were lush branches and green leaves, and further up again was the gray sky.

“Woken up! The girl had finally woken up!” someone shouted.

“Jinzhi, don’t be afraid. You still have your second uncle! And you have me, your aunt, as well! Let’s not be afraid, okay?” The old woman who was hugging her wiped her own tears and gently patted her.

Second uncle? Aunt?

A large amount of information flooded into her mind, and Tang Huan closed her eyes again.

This time, her name was Jinzhi, and she had hair.

Her father, who had always regarded her as his precious treasure, had died. It was said that he accidentally hit his head on a stone and bled to death.

Warm tears slid down from the corner of her eyes.

Tang Huan touched her tears in confusion. Strange. After inheriting the memories, although she felt a little sorry for the previous Jinzhi, she had never thought of crying. Jinzhi was Jinzhi, just an illusion in Song Mo’s dream, same as the little nun. Their existence was only to give her an identity to seduce Song Mo. Why did she shed tears for these fake people?

By the way, Song Mo… was her nominal second uncle?

He was…almost thirty, right?

Such an old man!

Tang Huan opened her eyes in shock, wanting to look at her good second uncle. There was Uncle Song in her memory, but she still wanted to see him with her own eyes.

Seeing she was looking around with widened eyes, Aunt Zhang comforted her, “Jinzhi, you’re looking for your second uncle, right? Don’t worry, don’t worry. Someone has already gone looking for him. He will be here soon. Jinzhi, don’t scare me like this anymore. If you keep doing this (referring to Jinzhi crying to the point of fainting), your father will not be able to die peacefully!”

Her tears fell on Tang Huan’s face, and Tang Huan suddenly remembered. Yes, Jinzhi was not her, but she was now Jinzhi. Her father had died, so how could she not be sad? This time was different from the last. The forest ranger Song Mo didn’t know the little nun, so she dared to act weak or bad in front of him. However, this time they were uncles and nieces who had been living together for ten years. Even after Song Mo moved out for five years, the two of them still saw each other almost every day. If she suddenly changed her temperament, Song Mo would certainly be suspicious.

After she thought about this, Tang Huan pushed Aunt Zhang away, threw herself onto the corpse beside her, buried her head, and cried out loud.

Initially, she wanted to pretend to cry, but as soon as she touched Father Song’s body, tears flowed uncontrollably, and her heart was filled with even more unspeakable grief. Even the images of Song Mo in her mind were all changed to Father Song. Scenes of him smiling and stroking her head, telling her stories, and all other memories from childhood to adulthood, like they were all her personal experience.

Tang Huan gave up fighting her instincts. Since this body wanted to cry, she would cry.

“Daddy…”

“Big Brother!”

In the midst of the sighs, a strong male voice sounded. Tang Huan raised her head and saw the villagers spontaneously giving way to a man in coarse clothes who was rushing this way. As he got closer, he slowed down in disbelief, then stepped forward and knelt opposite her, his gaze sorrowfully looking at Father Song’s face.

Tang Huan stared at Song Mo in a daze. The man in front of her, who was nearly thirty years old, didn’t look old. Compared to the forest ranger, his skin was darker and his face was a little colder, giving the impression of a more calm and restrained temperament.

Did he really remember nothing?

Tang Huan slowly opened her mouth, “Uncle?”

Song Mo held back the sadness in his eyes and moved his gaze away from his elder brother’s face. When he saw his niece looking at him with watery eyes, her eyes helpless and pitiful, he suppressed the grief in his heart and wiped her tears. “Jinzhi, don’t be afraid. You still have Uncle…”

Tang Huan sobbed and lowered her head.

Uncle, with you by my side, I’m not afraid at all.

The author has something to say: Ahem, this chapter is mainly to explain the background of the characters~

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