My Youth Began With Him

The search proved to be disappointing…

There were only a few items in the old box.

The old-style razor and flashlight were things that Uncle Jing used very often.

There was also an old cellphone, the oldest model. She couldn’t even turn it on.

Huo Mian secretly placed the cellphone into her bag. If she managed to take the chip out and take it to an expert, maybe she would be able to find out who Uncle Jing contacted before he died, seven years ago.

There was also half a pack of unsmoked cigarettes from a very old brand.

The cigarettes cost 5 yuan per pack, and a lighter laid next to it.

It seems like her mother still missed Uncle Jing; that’s why she saved all this stuff.

At the bottom of the box was a really funny book that Uncle Jing often read.

It wasn’t a classic, nor a martial arts fiction.

It was a Chinese fortune-telling book, old-time horoscopes of the sort.

Huo Mian flipped through it – there were chapters regarding bone fortune-telling, iron-board fortune-telling, and even the fortune of the 12 zodiacs.

These types of things had been extremely popular in the countryside because most villagers believed in the so-called ‘four pillars of destiny’.

Huo Mian remembered that Uncle Jing often read this book, and even had to flip through it before leaving home sometimes.

She didn’t think she would see any clues in the book, but when she stopped at the page with her birth month, a circle was drawn on the date she was born. September 19, 1992.

That wasn’t weird; after all, it was Huo Mian’s birthday, so it was natural for Uncle Jing to note it.

However, curiously, at the bottom of the book, one word was scribbled on the blank space – regret.

‘Regret’, that was all. The handwriting was messy, but it was obvious that Uncle Jing wrote it.

Back when they were organizing his possessions, no one read through the book, so no one saw this.

But what did Uncle Jing regret? Did he regret bringing her back, despite her not being Yang Meirong’s child? Or was there some other truth hidden behind this cryptic word?

Upon seeing this, Huo Mian became more confused than ever…

“Mian, the milk is ready.”

Huo Mian immediately closed the box upon hearing this.

“Thanks, Mom.” She took the milk and slowly sipped at it.

Yang Meirong glanced at Jing De’s possessions, and her expression became sorrowful…

“This man wasn’t born to enjoy life. Back then, we were poor, and he had to provide for our entire family. Now that we’re well-off, he’s not here anymore… how ironic,” Yang Meirong exclaimed.

“Mom… did Uncle Jing have any savings?”

“How would he have savings? He’s a driver that barely earned enough to provide for the family. Before he died, he told me that he wanted to partner up with others to do some business, but the accident happened before he could do anything… At the end of the day, he was just not born to become rich.”

Huo Mian looked down but didn’t say anything; she remembered Huo Siqian saying that Huo Zhenghai gave Jing De 200,000 yuan.

It seemed like Jing De never gave that money to her mother.

Therefore, the money’s whereabouts may have something to do with her identity.

Back then, Uncle Jing seemed to be in contact with someone behind her mother’s back…

She stayed with her mother for a long time and didn’t leave until Qin Chu picked her up.

She didn’t mention the cellphone and Uncle Jing’s belongings to Qin Chu, because from his phone conversations with Rick, Huo Mian found out that Qin Chu had been investigating this matter as well.

However, the process had been very weird, and people kept disappearing…

Therefore, Huo Mian didn’t want Qin Chu to put himself at risk for her sake…

“Honey, what are you thinking about?” Qin Chu saw that she was distracted, so he asked her gently.

“Nothing… I just miss Zhixin,” Huo Mian changed the subject.

“Didn’t Zhixin send you a WeChat message? He’s all settled in, and everything’s going well.”

“Yeah, he told me.” Huo Mian nodded.

The couple went to bed early that night.

– The next day at noon –

Huo Mian utilized her lunch break to go find Jiang Xiaowei at the bureau.

Although Jiang Xiaowei was pregnant, she didn’t become prissy; instead, she continued working at the municipal bureau.

Wei Liao was at his family company during the day, so they each had their own work to do.

Jiang Xiaowei was exhilarated to see Huo Mian and grabbed her hands. “We’re two peas in a pod! I was going to ask you to meet me for lunch. Let’s go, there’s a really good dim sum place downstairs.”

Before Huo Mian could respond, Jiang Xiaowei dragged Huo Mian to the restaurant downstairs.

“Xiaowei, I actually came here to ask you a favor.”

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[Disclaimer: the chapter was already longer than 800 words by a lot, so the embedded TL note didn’t increase the chapter cost. Posting it here because TL’s Thought section is experiencing bugs these days]