Chapter 391 - 393: Half-Brother with Different Fathers
Yu Zhen didn’t understand Xue Baozhu’s excitement, but she still went over. Gao Jiaxing and Liu Yuanchao’s group were just about to leave when Yu Zhen hurriedly came looking for Gao Jiaxing.
"Dr. Xue wants to see me?" Gao Jiaxing said, instinctively glancing towards Liu Yuanchao.
Liu Yuanchao said, "Perhaps she wants to inquire about Mr. Xue’s condition. You should go and see."
Gao Jiaxing nodded and followed Yu Zhen back to the Yu Family, not expecting that once he arrived, he would see Xue Baozhu with tears brimming in her eyes.
Not to mention Gao Jiaxing, even Yu Zhen was startled.
"Mom, what’s wrong?" Yu Zhen said.
Xue Baozhu’s gaze turned towards Gao Jiaxing, her eyes filled with affection and her expression excited, yet also full of guilt. However, hearing Yu Zhen’s question, Xue Baozhu immediately restrained herself a bit.
Gao Jiaxing said, "Dr. Xue, do you want to ask about Mr. Xue’s condition?"
Xue Baozhu was taken aback, and Gao Jiaxing smiled and said, "Mr. Xue misses Dr. Xue a lot. Dr. Xue, you should visit when you have time." With that, Gao Jiaxing added, "If Dr. Xue has nothing else, I will leave now; my teammates are waiting for me."
Gao Jiaxing and Mr. Xue weren’t very close; he just felt sorry for the lonely old man. Moreover, since learning from Mr. Xue that Xue Baozhu had abandoned her child, Gao Jiaxing didn’t have a very good impression of her, nor did he have much to talk about with her.
Xue Baozhu opened her mouth as if wanting to say something, but at that moment, she didn’t know what to say. She could only gaze intently at Gao Jiaxing’s face. Gao Jiaxing looked a lot like Gao Guoqiang, not so much like Zheng Xianghong; however, Xue Baozhu felt that no matter how she looked at Gao Jiaxing, he seemed to be how her child would look.
After all, more than twenty years had passed, and things had changed significantly. How could Xue Baozhu still remember so clearly?
Gao Jiaxing, seeing that Xue Baozhu had nothing to say and thinking of Liu Yuanchao waiting, expressed his intention to leave. Xue Baozhu asked, "Have you been well these years?"
Gao Jiaxing was taken aback, then nodded somewhat bewilderedly; of course, he had been living well.
Xue Baozhu wanted to ask more, but at that moment, Yu Zhen said, "Mom, you miss Grandpa so much; I will go back with you."
With that, Gao Jiaxing gave Xue Baozhu a military salute and left.
Xue Baozhu stared blankly as Gao Jiaxing walked away, his tall figure and straight posture reminding her so much of that man from years past.
"Mom," Yu Zhen called out several times before Xue Baozhu came back to her senses.
"Mom, what’s wrong with you? You looked odd when you were looking at Platoon Leader Gao," Yu Zhen said.
Xue Baozhu, no longer seeing the back of Platoon Leader Gao, finally withdrew her gaze and sighed heavily while looking at Yu Zhen.
"Mom, if you are hiding something from me, I’ll go ask Dad," Yu Zhen, seeing her mother’s teary eyes, urgently demanded.
Xue Baozhu’s lips trembled, and suddenly she covered her face with her hands, sitting down and weeping bitterly.
Yu Zhen was scared by Xue Baozhu’s demeanor, but at this moment, Xue Baozhu couldn’t hide the sadness in her heart. All these years, she’d nearly forgotten, only occasionally remembering and thinking she would never have the chance to see him again. Yet, she never expected her son to appear; she didn’t have the courage to acknowledge him.
"Mom, if you won’t tell me, I’ll go ask Dad," Yu Zhen stood up, ready to head outside.
Xue Baozhu quickly grabbed her and said, "You can’t go find your Dad."
"Mom!" Yu Zhen stamped her foot.
Xue Baozhu took her daughter and sat down beside her, letting out a low sigh before she slowly began speaking of the past.
Back then, not long after the child was born, her husband had died in battle. Xue Baozhu’s heart was filled with sorrow, all hope had turned to ashes.
As a woman, suddenly facing such terrible news, such a blow, she didn’t know how to cope, how a young woman like her was going to survive. Plus, she was still young, she didn’t want to spend her life living just for her child.
At this time, there was someone who could marry her, protect her, and provide a stable dependence. Xue Baozhu was also reluctant to leave her son, but she couldn’t bring her son into a new marriage, so she had no choice but to leave him with Zheng Xianghong.
But also out of fear that Zheng Xianghong would make a fuss, Xue Baozhu heartlessly left the child at Zheng Xianghong’s doorstep and walked away.
In her eyes, Zheng Xianghong was the child’s aunt, and she would raise the child.
However, she didn’t know that Zheng Xianghong despised her deeply. But Xue Baozhu’s gamble was correct; how could Zheng Xianghong abandon her own flesh and blood nephew?
"Mom, are you saying Platoon Leader Gao is my elder brother?" Yu Zhen’s eyes widened, "That can’t be right, Mom. Didn’t you marry Dad a long time ago? And Platoon Leader Gao is about the same age as Xuebing."
"Yes, definitely yes, they look so alike." Now Xue Baozhu wasn’t thinking about how old Gao Jiaxing was. It was because Gao Jiaxing was a soldier and his silhouette was so reminiscent of Zheng Xiangwei back then, she had convinced herself in her heart that Gao Jiaxing was the son she had abandoned.
Yu Zhen was dumbfounded by Xue Baozhu’s news, learning for the first time that her mother had been married to someone else before her father, and not only did she have a half-brother who shared the same father but also a half-brother from a different father.
If Gao Jiaxing was her brother, then Xia Xiao would be her sister-in-law. Suddenly, Yu Zhen’s heart was filled with an unpleasant feeling.
"Back then, his father and your father were both pursuing me. But because your father, although he had lost his wife in childbirth, already had a child, I chose his father. But I never expected that he would die on the battlefield."
As soon as Xue Baozhu’s words fell, Yu Zhen said, "So, Mom, you married Dad afterwards."
Xue Baozhu nodded. Yu Weiming had always treated her well over the years. Xue Baozhu had once loved Zheng Xiangwei, but with his death and her subsequent marriage to Yu Weiming, Xue Baozhu, now middle-aged, found her heart leaning more towards Yu Weiming.
However, now that the child from back then had reappeared, Xue Baozhu’s heart couldn’t find peace.
Yu Zhen looked at Xue Baozhu with a conflicted expression and said, "Then why didn’t you acknowledge him just now, Mom?"
"He would hate me," Xue Baozhu said mournfully, thinking of Gao Jiaxing. To have such a fine and outstanding son, resembling his father from those years, brought a feeling of comfort to Xue Baozhu’s heart.
It seemed that over the years, Zheng Xianghong had not only raised him well but had done so with exceptional brilliance.
Sighing, Yu Zhen felt that the situation was very difficult to handle.
"Mom, did Dad know about you... back then..." Yu Zhen hesitated, unsure of how to ask. She thought that if her mother had brought Gao Jiaxing into the marriage, he would have grown up in the military, likely even more formidable than he was now, and their relationship would have been closer.
Having a half-brother from the same father was already distant enough, and now there was another half-brother from a different father.
Xue Baozhu nodded, "I considered bringing the child with me when marrying your father but..."
Xue Baozhu didn’t continue. There was no man who wouldn’t mind, especially since the two men didn’t get along well.
"Mom, you were too heartless. If it were me, I would surely hate you," Yu Zhen said with a troubled face. "Dad already had a son at that time; what difference would it have made if you had brought another son into the marriage?"
Xue Baozhu sighed, "Your father and he never got along well. It was better to leave him with Zheng Xianghong. After I changed my name and married your father, I bore you and then went to study medicine."
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"Rebirth in 1980"Watch Jiang Yuehua’s steady, accurate, and ruthless journey to beat down scum and charm her way to a comeback!