Chapter 296

"Going to the city?" Zhou Granny was clearly somewhat interested. She lowered her eyes to think for a moment, then raised her head and said, "I won't go. Granny is getting old, and my legs haven't been working well these past two years. If I went, I would need someone to wait on me, and you all are so busy. I won't go and cause trouble for you."

"It's no trouble at all," Zhi Xia said, glancing at An Jingzhi. An Jingzhi, who had been lost in thought, hurriedly nodded his head, "That's right, Mother. We'll come get you in a bit. Go and stay for a while. Gao Meiyun's mother has been missing you a lot too."

"Then... then I'll go stay for two days?" Zhou Granny didn't dare make the decision on her own, and looked inquiringly at her daughter-in-law by her side.

Older Uncle Zhou quickly said, "Go on. Your son-in-law has already said you can go. Stay for two days and I'll come get you to bring you back."

"Oh, oh," Zhou Granny happily responded. "Anyway there isn't much to do around the house right now, so I'll go stay for two days."

When you get older, you always worry about being a bother to the younger generation. And her daughter had married well, so Zhou Granny was afraid her daughter would suffer hardship and hadn't dared cause her any trouble these past few years.

In any case, she would accept whatever her daughter gave her, and wouldn't ask for anything she didn't.

Fortunately, although her son-in-law An Jingzhi was rather arrogant, he was generous. Over the years every holiday he had given very generous gifts.

On the road to An Le Village, An Jingzhi kept glancing at Zhi Xia.

At first, Zhi Xia pretended not to notice. But eventually she couldn't stand him looking at her strangely anymore and asked, "Do you have something to say?"

An Jingzhi lightly coughed and said, "It's nothing really. I just wanted to ask, Zhi Xia, all these years you've been quite friendly with others. Your attitude towards your mother has also improved somewhat. Although your father was muddled for a time, these past few years he's treated you pretty decently, no? Can you not let go of the unpleasantness from back then?"

"Then let me ask you a question," Zhi Xia said, looking at him.

"Go ahead," said An Jingzhi. He wasn't exactly young anymore. His sons all had their own careers, and while they weren't tremendously successful, they were still better off than average families.

Logically speaking, he should be content. But the only knot in his heart was still Zhi Xia. He could see that behind Zhi Xia's lack of resentment on the surface, she still felt distant from him and Zhou Nan deep down.

Of course, Zhou Nan's position was much better than his as her father. In her heart there was no place for him at all. "If Gao Meiyun were still alive, would you still care today about what my attitude is towards you?" Zhi Xia asked him.

An Jingzhi suddenly fell silent, and seriously considered the question.

After a while, he said, "There are no 'ifs' in this world, and I can't judge what it would be like if she were alive. But Zhi Xia, she has already passed away. We publicly severed ties with her in the family registry years ago. You are now the An family's only daughter. Over the years your mother and I have never brought her up again, focusing all of our care on you instead. Dwelling on things and seeking vexation for oneself isn't right, is it?"

"You're absolutely right," Zhi Xia responded, equally seriously. At the very least, he hadn't chosen to deceive himself.

But her gaze made An Jingzhi unable to look her in the eye.

She had long stopped caring about past events, truly allowing bygones to be bygones.

And so she no longer cared about them either.

Zhi Xia felt that the way things were now was perfectly fine.

What was laughable what that they missed Gao Meiyun, yet also wanted her genuine feelings.

But in this world, could there really be such wonderfully perfect things?

An Jingzhi also understood her meaning, and helplessly sighed.

They both knew that they would never be able to have the kind of close parent-child intimacy of ordinary families. If they could maintain the current harmony, that was already the best outcome.

But the human heart was fickle. Sometimes they still inevitably harbored hopes and desires.

An Le Village.

As soon as they entered the village they attracted pointing and discussion.

"Hey, where are you folks from? What are you doing coming to our village?"

Neither Zhi Xia nor An Jingzhi recognized the speaker, so they casually responded, "We've come to visit the village chief's home."

"So you're relatives of the village chief's family. No wonder you're dressed so nicely."

"Look at that woman, she's so gorgeous she looks like a fairy!" "Isn't that coat she's wearing mink? I've only seen them at department stores in the city. They cost several hundred yuan a piece!"

"Wow, they must be rich!"

They would probably never guess that the woman they were currently gossiping about was none other than the insignificant blade of grass Gao Xiaocao who had grown up in this very village.

When talking about Gao Dazhuang's little daughter in the past, who didn't sigh and cluck their tongue in pity?

But that was the extent of it. In this remote village where fists spoke louder than words, those who dared offend Gao Dazhuang to help her seemed to truly not exist.

At least, there wasn't a single specific person she could clearly remember after so many years that had been able to help her. She still felt like both the village and everything in it were incredibly unfamiliar.

Zhi Xia had long forgotten where the village chief's house was located, but An Jingzhi knew. She silently followed along behind An Jingzhi.

The front gate of the village chief's house stood open. His entire family was in the courtyard, along with some other villagers.

The village chief was an old man with a goatee. He had seen An Jingzhi a few years ago because of the Gao family's matters, and still remembered him even now.

"Principal An, you've brought..." Faced with someone like An Jingzhi, a figure from the city, the village chief didn't dare look down on him. He was also rather unwelcome due to the previous incident, afraid that An Jingzhi's arrival meant the Gao family was causing trouble again.

"I've come today to investigate some matters. Might we speak alone?" An Jingzhi said frankly.

The others knew how to read the mood and quickly got up to take their leave.

The village chief welcomed them into the house. From time to time he glanced at Zhi Xia, feeling she was both somehow familiar yet also a complete stranger. But he didn't dare guess that she was actually Gao Xiaocao.

"Chief Gao, you know that Gao Second Sister tested into university, correct? My main purpose in coming today is to investigate how Gao Second Sister, as Gao Dazhuang's daughter, was able to pass political examination," An Jingzhi said sharply, not bothering to take the small village chief seriously at all. "The parents of this Gao Qingcheng are convicted criminals still in prison. That's not something that can just be washed away by changing her name to Gao Qingcheng."

Chief Gao instantly broke out into a cold sweat, though he had prepared excuses long ago in case things were exposed. But now that the truth was laid bare, he still couldn't avoid feeling panicked and afraid.

It was his own fault for greedily giving in to feelings of clan loyalty in a moment of weakness.

After taking care of things, he had felt regret many times since. But by then it was already too late. He had never expected that Gao Second Sister would truly test into university.

After laboriously swallowing, Chief Gao said, "Principal An, I don't have the authority as a small village chief to fake those records. As you know. And strictly speaking, this Gao Qingcheng can no longer be considered Gao Dazhuan's daughter. Over two years ago she was adopted by another clan member with no daughters, and her household registration and name were changed. So there were no issues during political examination."

He wasn't hiding anything whatsoever. Even if he had to take responsibility, it should be Gao Second Sister and the family that had adopted her. When people want to adopt children and change their household registration, he had no reason to refuse them. All he had provided was a certification to allow them to smoothly complete the adoption.