Chapter 1288: Chapter 1279: Downturn (Part 3)
Back then, Xia Siyu was just a sophomore in college. Although her mother had given her the best education since she was young, she could sense that despite the feelings between her parents, there were also reasons that compelled them to separate. The concept of the “Xia Family” was very foreign to her. She even wondered at times if her mom was actually the other woman.
After all, although she lived in the remote area of Sicily, although on the edge of the Chinese District, she usually didn’t attend classes with kids from the Chinese District but went to a private high school in town.
But in Italy, this was quite common. The local customs were open, and many people from Northern Europe would come here for vacations, leaving once summer was over, leaving behind many single mothers.
The local community did not discriminate against single mothers, treating their children equally. But she was caught between the Chinese and White Districts, receiving education from both sides. The Westerners didn’t mind unwed pregnancies, everyone was the same. However, in China, this meant being an illegitimate child. An outside woman, something that couldn’t be shown publicly.
Such questions were naturally difficult for her to ask her mom. When she grew older, and her dad flew from China to see them, she quietly inquired about her “identity.” Her dad had laughed at her: “Why would you think that? Of course, your mom and I are legally registered. You’re my precious daughter, just like a good child of mine, just like your brothers and sisters.”
“Who’s like them?” Xia Siyu’s face immediately turned cold. She didn’t know that she was not an only child when she was young; she envied others who had several siblings and even wished her parents would have another child. But later, she vaguely realized that when her dad returned to China, he was actually going back to another family, and in that family, he had another family.
That family was not the same as hers.
When they returned to China later on, it was still the same. Originally, on the day they planned to return, Xia Youbiao was supposed to take his wife and daughter back to the Xia Family’s old residence.
Who knew that as soon as the plane landed and the phone was turned on, Xia Youbiao’s phone began ringing incessantly as if it were being bombarded. He answered the call with an expression that was somewhat gloomy and a bit angry. In the end, when taking them and their mom out of the airport, when the driver asked where to go, he thought for a while and said, “Four Seasons Hotel.”
A hotel was not a home, and Xia Siyu immediately saw her mother’s expression change.
She already had no good feelings for that so-called “home,” and now, even more disgusted, her feelings turned instantly dark towards that “home.”
After sending them to the hotel, Xia Youbiao hurried back. Of course, he had prepared beforehand, quickly buying an apartment for her and her mom to live in, where they stayed for three years.
Until that day.
She will always remember that New Year’s Eve. Clearly, the family had agreed to reunite, but when they got out of the car, she and her mom were turned away. Actually, they could have stayed in the car, where there were snacks. Even though it was snowing, they were not freezing or starving, and it wasn’t that miserable.
But, despite only being separated by one gate, she and her mom were not allowed to step beyond the courtyard walls. Inside, the lights were bright, festively decorated, and she could faintly hear the laughter of a girl her age — Xia Sicai’s. And she called not only “Dad” but also “Mom.”
Xia Sicai’s “Mom” certainly wasn’t Wen Qunxiao but her own mother, Ms. Tong.