Chapter 258
"Explain?" Ke Yan laughed out of sheer anger. "What the hell gives you the right to demand an explanation from me?"
When he was fifteen, his parents divorced. His father married his mistress, and his mother passed away from illness. He took over his mother's family business.
Ke Man was ten years younger than him. Back then, she was just a kindergartener. He raised her with his own hands. He would rather suffer himself than let his sister suffer the slightest grievance.
As Ke Man grew up, she was pursued by an increasing number of men.
Despite his reluctance to let her go, he carefully selected and asked around everywhere, finally choosing a brother-in-law who was perfect in every way, and arranged the marriage for Ke Man and that man.
However, on the night of her engagement, Ke Man disappeared. To be precise, she didn't just disappear; she ran away from her wedding. She left home, left Los Angeles, and returned to her mother's homeland, Haicheng.
By the time he found her in Haicheng, Ke Man told him that she had chosen a husband for herself—the CEO of Haicheng's Ji Group, Ji Zhiyuan.
He strongly opposed it, but his sister disregarded everything and got the marriage certificate. It was only at the wedding that he met this brother-in-law for the first time.
The Ji family's status was too high, and Ji Zhiyuan's appearance was too outstanding, making it hard for people to trust him.
Sure enough—
After marriage, Ji Zhiyuan subjected Ke Man to long-term emotional abuse, and it was rumored he still had a first love on the outside.
His perfectly fine sister, married into the Ji family, had been tortured into what state?
"Let me tell you, you have no right to know anything about my sister!" Ke Yan's anger boiled over. "Get out of the way, I'm taking my sister home!"
He shoved Ji Zhiyuan aside.
Suddenly, a little girl appeared, spreading her arms wide and standing in front of Ji Zhiyuan. "You're not allowed to bully my daddy!"
Ji Zhiyuan's heart softened.
He had neglected Duoduo for nearly five years and had only started to love her properly in the last six months, but she had always loved him earnestly.
His Duoduo, he owed her too much.
Meanwhile, Ke Yan stood frozen in place.
This girl looked almost exactly like Ke Man did when she was little—the same eyes, the same nose, the same mouth. Even her angry expression was carved from the exact same mold.
Was this the child his sister had narrowly escaped death to give birth to?
He despised Ji Zhiyuan, so over the years, he had never actively looked into anything regarding Duoduo. This was the first time he, her biological uncle, had ever seen Duoduo.
Ke Yan's lips pressed into a tight, straight line.
Without a word, he entered the hospital room, sat beside Ke Man, and whispered something.
Duoduo asked in a low voice, "Daddy, who is that man? Why is he so weird, and what is his relationship with Aunt Wen?"
Ji Zhiyuan paused. "Don't call him that."
Duoduo nodded immediately. "Right, he's a bad guy. He actually bullied my daddy."
"He's not a bad guy," Ji Zhiyuan said, his voice hoarse. "He just loves your mommy too much. He's your mommy's biological brother. He's your uncle."
"What..." Duoduo's eyes widened. "I actually have an uncle? Why did Daddy never tell me?"
Ji Zhiyuan didn't know how to answer.
Back then, when Ke Man suffered a massive hemorrhage during childbirth and was pronounced dead, Ke Yan beat him ruthlessly and took Ke Man's body away for burial. Since then, the two sides had no further contact.
Ke Yan refused to acknowledge this niece.
And naturally, Duoduo didn't need an extra uncle.
Rong Yu rubbed Duoduo's little head. "Go inside and pour your uncle a glass of water."
Duoduo was still in a daze, but obediently walked inside.
Rong Yu looked at Ji Zhiyuan. "Regardless of the truth back then, you were indeed too derelict in your duties as a husband. During the late stages of Duoduo's mother's pregnancy, Lan Yue happened to be born. You must have spent a lot of effort on Lan Yue, neglecting your pregnant wife. You can't blame Duoduo's uncle for being so furious."
Ji Zhiyuan said, "At that time, Lan Rouxue and I didn't engage in any behavior that crossed the line. I absolutely did not forsake my marriage or betray my wife, I..."
"You don't need to explain these things to me," Rong Yu interrupted him. "If you only want to give Duoduo a complete family, I don't recommend you have any emotional entanglement with Duoduo's mother. If you hope to start over, then however long you neglected her back then, you must spend double or even triple the time loving her to have the right to stand by her side. Think it over carefully."
She turned her head to look into the hospital room.
Little Duoduo poured a glass of water and handed it to Ke Yan. "Uncle, drink some water."
Ke Yan had originally kept his face taut, but this single word "Uncle" directly broke his defenses. His throat trembled, and his eyes instantly turned red.
"Huh, are you going to cry?" Duoduo tilted her head to look at him. "You're such a fierce person, can someone bully you too? Look at me, I'm so little, only five years old. I was kidnapped today and fell into the sea and almost died, but I didn't even cry..."
At this point, she stuck her tongue out guiltily.
She had only cried for a little while, so it could probably be ignored.
Ke Yan's heart instantly melted. He raised his hand, lowered it, raised it again, and finally placed it on top of Duoduo's head, rubbing it gently. He sighed, "How are you so cute?"
Duoduo wasn't quite used to having her head patted by strangers. She quickly dodged and changed the subject, "What is your relationship with Aunt Wen?"
Ke Yan looked at his empty palm and smiled bitterly. "I'm her biological brother."
Duoduo froze. "Do you have a lot of sisters?"
Ke Yan looked at her. "Just this one."
Duoduo felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
Just now, Daddy had said that this person was her mother's biological brother.
And this person only had Aunt Wen as his sister.
So—
Duoduo's pupils shrank sharply. She whipped her head to look at the person lying on the bed and spoke in disbelief, "Aunt Wen is my mommy?"
Ke Yan's heart suddenly constricted.
His voice was hoarse. "Yes, she is your mommy. Your biological mommy."
"Mommy, mommy... So Aunt Wen really is my mommy..."
Duoduo covered her lips.
Ke Yan thought she would ask why, or thought she would cry.
Instead, he saw the little girl run out of the hospital room, shouting loudly, "Daddy, Auntie, I have a mommy! This is great! I have a mommy! It turns out I also have a mommy, I must be the happiest kid in the world..."
Rong Yu gently wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye.
She thought of her own mother, an outstanding military doctor who was blown up by a shell while trying to save an injured soldier.
She missed her mommy too.
A tissue was suddenly handed to her from the side. She looked up and saw Sheng Qingyan.
From beginning to end, he had stayed by her side. Those glassy eyes of his seemed to only be able to see her.
"Tomorrow, we go to the capital," she said. "Maybe we can get back your lost soul and spirit."
When science didn't work, they could only try the metaphysical. Perhaps, after seeing his remains from his previous life, his soul might return to his body.