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Chapter 35: Meet Pei Lao
Chapter 35
An ZhiAng was just about to hear what Pei Jing had to say when he suddenly stopped mid-sentence. Considering his mention of An ZhiXia growing up, Pei Jing could guess a little of what had happened.
"You and your dad went to pick up your little sister 22 days ago on August 19th, right?" Pei Jing asked again.
"Yes, that's right, it was that day. My dad said we had to thoroughly investigate before going to get her, and as a result foolishly delayed for several days. If we had just gone to pick her up as soon as we got the notice from my uncle, we could have brought my little sister back 3 days sooner," An ZhiAng started chattering again.
But Pei Jing didn't say anything.
It matched up, matching his own investigation completely.
On August 15th, Mid-Autumn Festival day, Mr. and Mrs. Gao, An ZhiXia's birth parents at the time, had drugged the young An ZhiXia and sold her into the mountains.
He had just returned from the army that day, originally wanting to hurry home to spend Mid-Autumn festival with his family. But as soon as he got off the train he encountered human traffickers working together as a gang.
He followed them all the way back to their lair, but on his way back to report he encountered a wolf pack in the mountains. After a fierce battle he was victorious but severely injured, and eventually passed out on the mountain from exhaustion.
An ZhiXia had found the Zhou family to stay with on the evening of August 16th. On August 15th when she was sold, she had woken up in the night and escaped into the mountains, just happening to come across him while he was critically injured.
In addition, her condition at that time was clearly very abnormal, so...
What confused Pei Jing was that when his comrades found him, they said there was no one else there.
Also, although his clothes were disheveled, his pants were still on him.
That meant that after sleeping with him, An ZhiXia had woken up and helped him put his pants back on before running off, completely disregarding that he was still unconscious at the time.
Tsk tsk, what a heartless woman!
He had never doubted that it was a dream, because when he woke up the stickiness down there, and the lingering pain of being injured, felt distinctly different.
His first time in life was not beautiful at all.
He was severely injured and unable to move, while she had no experience at all but still forcibly penetrated him. He didn't know how she felt, but for him it was truly agonizing, yet also faintly stimulated in a different way.
That face covered in blood also gave him recurring nightmares for several days after he woke up, even leaving him with some trauma.
That feeling of psychological rejection yet physical stimulation made him feel for a time like something was wrong with him.
So after he recovered a little, he started investigating what had happened that day.
Even more unexpectedly, this investigation led back to An ZhiXia, the little daughter the An family had just gotten back.
The time, place, and people all matched up perfectly, it was undoubtedly her.
Fortunately at first glance she didn't look too ugly, which gave him some comfort at least.
It was just that their difference in seniority...really gave him a headache.
He didn't know if the old man would find out about this and be so angry he'd directly break Pei Jing's legs.
After An ZhiAng talked for a long time, he saw Pei Jing wasn't responding anymore. "Little uncle, I'm going to find my sister, feel free to make yourself at home."
"Then I'll go with you," Pei Jing said.
An ZhiAng hesitated before replying, "But I think my sister is scared of you."
"What, am I going to eat her? Or are our two families' relationships so bad now we can't even see each other?" Pei Jing raised his eyebrows and said, it was normal for her to be scared, it would be strange if she wasn't scared.
This showed that the girl also recognized him.
Pei Jing gritted his teeth, "Let's go, don't forget, my family is not far from your grandfather's, just a few houses away."
There were only a few households between the two families, and the house Pei Jing lived in was even given by Old Master An in the first place.
Old Man Pei had originally refused to accept it, but Old Master An said he was giving him the house because he regarded Pei Jing as a son.
And it was true, when Old Man Pei was fighting in wars back then, he had gotten no small amount of money from Old Master An, except he used it all on the battlefield rather than enjoying it himself.
This house was different. Over these years of interaction, their relationship had gone from Old Master An getting a headache just seeing Pei Jing, to regarding him almost like a son.
Old Man Pei's parents had died early, and he had come out to make a living on his own at a young age. When Old Master An said this, he also truly regarded Old Master An as his elder.
Although they were not allowed to worship gods and burn incense on festivals, ancestral worship was a custom that everyone still upheld. If they couldn't do it openly, they would do it secretly.
Even now, every year Old Man Pei would still burn spirit money for Old Master An.
In fact, even if he didn't want the house, he wouldn't have been able to keep it. According to the country's policies, it would have been taken back and given to someone else. It was better for it to be given to the Pei family - at least they took good care of it, so Old Master An's intentions were not wasted.
Later on, Old Master An's predictions did indeed come true.
Although the An family had already dealt with the old estate, they still had several smaller courtyards and shops left. Other than where they lived now, those had all been handed over too.
Old Master An was also an old revolutionary who had made contributions to the country, and was now over 70 years old and retired at home. He and Old Madam had caregivers to look after them daily, so their lives were quite comfortable.
When An ZhiXia came over, Old Master An was playing chess in the yard with Old Man Pei. The two old men were chattering away like children, not as dignified as when they were in front of An JingZhi.
Seeing An ZhiXia come over, Old Master An didn't even lift his head to greet her and told her to come stand next to him to meet the guest.
Old Man Pei was a few years older than Old Master An, his hair was all white, and after making a move on the chessboard he glanced up at An ZhiXia. "This is An ZhiXia right? What a clever looking little girl, very much like her mother."
"That's right, but her eyes are like her grandmother's. This girl got the best traits from both of them." Old Master An then said to An ZhiXia, "An ZhiXia, this is your Pei Grandpa. Our two families have a deep relationship - when your grandfather was still alive he treated your Pei Grandpa better than he treated me, his own son!"
Mentioning Old Master made Old Master An feel complicated emotions.
Ever since Old Master passed away, he had become the oldest in the family, and no one managed him anymore.
The independence he had longed for most now instead seemed somewhat bleak.
"Hello Grandpa Pei," An ZhiXia sweetly called out, "In this time I've already heard my fourth brother mention you countless times. Although this is the first time meeting you in person, I feel like I know you well from all I've heard!"
"Oh? What bad things does that brat say about me?" An ZhiAng was the most mischievous of the young generation in the family. Over the years he had not only been disciplined by Old Master An and An JingZhi, but also gotten no small amount of instruction from Old Man Pei.
"Fourth brother would never dare say bad things about you. He only talked about the glorious deeds of you and Grandpa in your youth." An ZhiAng had said a lot, but An ZhiXia had guided much of what he talked about.
Given the relationship between the An and Pei families, they would definitely have a lot of contact in the future. It was better for her to hear more from An ZhiAng's mouth ahead of time, to avoid exposing gaps in her knowledge elsewhere.
Speaking of the decline of the An family in her previous life, it was such an urgent and thoughtless matter. At that time Old Man Pei had done a lot of mediation, even almost losing himself in the process. He had given his all in good faith.