Hearing that familiar, affectionate voice from her memories, Su Man’s nose stung, and tears immediately spilled from her eyes.
Her voice trembled with tears, as though all the grievances she had been holding inside had finally found an outlet.
“Unc… Uncle…”
Only then did Xu Jianguo get a clear look at his niece.
In his memories, she was still the adorable, chubby little girl she had once been. In the blink of an eye, she had grown into a graceful young woman. Her eyes and brows were full of her mother’s features, but she was far too thin now, almost as if she were malnourished.
Xu Jianguo frowned. Didn’t he send her a living allowance every month? How had she become so thin and frail?
He genuinely loved this niece of his.
After his younger sister and brother-in-law passed away, however, Su Man had been taken in by her aunt’s family. At first, they had kept in touch, but gradually she stopped replying to his letters. Later, she had even told him not to contact her so often, apparently worried that her aunt would misunderstand and think she was too attached to her uncle.
There was nothing he could do but send her a monthly allowance, afraid that she was having a hard time.
Now, seeing Su Man’s reddened eyes and the tears streaming endlessly down her face, Xu Jianguo immediately panicked and hurried to comfort her.
“Manman, what’s wrong? Did someone bully you? Why didn’t you tell your uncle sooner?”
The moment Xu Jianguo asked, Su Man’s tears flowed even harder.
In her previous life, she had believed everything the Yang family told her. She had thought her uncle considered her a burden, so she had never been willing to trouble his family.
She had never known that her uncle sent her an allowance every single month.
Back then, she had even been puzzled. The Yang family was notorious throughout the village for being lazy and greedy. How could Auntie’s family afford to live so comfortably?
They ate white rice at every meal and even bought meat and new clothes every few days.
Only at the very end did she discover the truth: her uncle had never forgotten her. He had continued sending her money and ration coupons all those years.
Perhaps he had never imagined that the Yang family could be so heartless. Not only did they refuse to give her enough food and warm clothing, they often withheld even the little food that was supposed to be hers.
An overwhelming wave of hatred surged through her.
It was all because she had been stupid. She had been deceived and manipulated by the Yang family, and in the process, she had failed her uncle’s sincere efforts to care for her.
Seeing his niece crying as though her heart were breaking, Xu Jianguo sensed that something was wrong and made an immediate decision.
“Come on, Manman. Let’s go home first. Once we’re home, you can tell your uncle everything, slowly.”
After they returned home, Xu Jianguo first poured Su Man a cup of brown sugar water before explaining,
“Your cousin Xu Nan doesn’t come home often because he’s stationed with the army, and your aunt is away on a business trip. It’ll be some time before she comes back. If they knew you were here, they’d definitely be happy too!”
Faced with her uncle’s warmth, Su Man lowered her head in shame and said guiltily,
“I’m sorry, Uncle. All these years, I thought you were afraid I would become a burden to your family, so I didn’t dare contact you.”
Xu Jianguo immediately grew anxious.
“What kind of thing is that to say? You’re my own niece. How could I ever think you were a burden? We were just worried about you. We were afraid that if we went to see you, they might get ideas and make things difficult for you!”
“Manman, what exactly happened to you? Have you been doing all right these past few years?”
Looking into her uncle’s eyes, filled with concern, Su Man could no longer hold herself back. She threw herself into his arms and burst into tears.
Xu Jianguo was startled, but he still wrapped his arms around her and waited patiently for her to release all the emotions she had been holding inside.
After crying for a while, Su Man finally calmed down. Slowly, she began recounting everything she had gone through over the years.
Xu Jianguo’s veins bulged with fury as he listened.
Especially when he learned that Su Man had been assaulted, that the man had come looking for her afterward only to have someone else impersonate her, and that she had become pregnant with that man’s child.
When he heard that the heartless Yang family had wanted to trick her into having an abortion and then sell her to the village’s mentally impaired bachelor, his eyes turned bloodshot. He clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and shot to his feet.
“Those animals!”
This battle-hardened soldier, a man who had always lived by the creed that a true soldier could bleed but never shed tears, could not hold himself together after learning what his niece had endured.
A single tear slipped from the corner of his eye before he quickly wiped it away.
An overwhelming sense of guilt filled his heart.
He had failed as her uncle. He hadn’t even known what kind of life Su Man was living, and because of that, he had allowed a bunch of vicious people to torment her to this extent.
He had failed the final request his younger sister had entrusted to him before her death.
“Manman, it’s all your uncle’s fault. If I had gone to see you sooner, you wouldn’t have ended up living like this!”
Su Man immediately shook her head.
“How could this be your fault, Uncle? The Yang family are the ones who are heartless. And I’m also to blame for trusting the wrong people and never keeping in touch with you!”
Seeing her blame herself, Xu Jianguo felt even more heartbroken and immediately changed the subject.
“Manman, don’t worry. I absolutely won’t let those people who bullied you get away with it!”
Su Man shook her head and said firmly,
“Uncle, this is a sensitive period. Everything you do will be watched by people with ulterior motives. If you get dragged into this now, it simply isn’t worth it. I’ll find the right opportunity to settle my score with them myself.”
“I came here because I want to ask you to help me find out who that man is!”
Xu Jianguo couldn’t help asking worriedly,
“Manman, what about the baby…”
Su Man looked up at him, her eyes resolute.
“I’m definitely keeping the baby! But Yang Xixi has already taken my place, and I don’t know how far things have progressed between them. I don’t even know what that man thinks.”
“If he has decided to accept Yang Xixi, then the child will only have a mother. But I absolutely will not allow her to step on me to climb higher. I’ll report the truth to the authorities. I want everyone to know what happened!”
“Right now, the most important thing is to find out who that man is. Only then can we figure out what to do next!”
As for that man—if he still chose Yang Xixi, then he would have to bear the consequences as well.
Xu Jianguo looked at his niece and saw that she clearly already had a plan in mind. He sighed, but still wanted to respect her wishes.
Whatever she wanted to do, with her uncle here, she would always have a way out.
He nodded.
“Good. Your uncle will get right on it!”
Su Man settled down at the Xu family home.
In such a safe environment, the taut string inside her that had remained wound tight ever since her rebirth finally began to relax.
A few days later, Uncle Xu returned with the results of his investigation. His expression was complicated as he walked in.
“Manman, I’ve got the results!”
Su Man’s expression stilled for a moment before she calmly asked,
“Who is he?”
“Based on the clues you gave me, there’s only one person who fits all the conditions. It’s that boy from the Sheng family—Sheng Xiao.”
Xu Jianguo couldn’t help feeling sorry for Su Man.
The Sheng family was a bona fide third-generation Red family. The old master was a battle-hardened veteran of the Revolution, a man forged from iron and steel. Although the political climate was turbulent and dangerous now, the Sheng family had deep roots. No one would dare lay a hand on them.
And whether one looked at his family background or his own abilities, Sheng Xiao was an exceptional man.
Xu Jianguo had met the young man before. Not only was he strikingly handsome, but his abilities were outstanding as well. At such a young age, he was already one of the military region’s key talents, with a future of boundless promise.
This should have been a destined match for Manman.
Yet someone had interfered and turned it into the mess it was today.
Those damned Yangs!