Sweet Nostalgia of the 80s

Chapter 331: Chapter 329: The Past

Qin Jian had never thought to ask why.

But if his parents had intentionally kept it a secret, they wouldn’t have told him anything.

Since he could remember, his parents had actually been good to him, so for many years he hadn’t probed too deeply.

Today’s meeting, just because of one sentence from An Hao, suddenly brought this matter unexpectedly to the table.

Setting aside other things, the intense interest shown by the leaders, the couple, made it impossible for him not to take it seriously.

”My birthday is exactly a week after the Mid-Autumn Festival,” Qin Jian said.

”Oh―” Disappointment was clearly visible on Zhang Yun’s face; Ning Bo’s birthday happened to be on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Watching his wife’s hope rise and fall time after time, Ning Yibin felt heartache.

He gently patted Zhang Yun’s shoulder, ”That’s enough for now, let’s talk about this some other time; we’re close to stewing over it.”

Zhang Yun let out a deep sigh, bowed her head to eat her noodles, and in the moment she looked down, a tear fell.

The atmosphere at the dinner table became nearly oppressive, and Ning Yibin started chatting with Qin Jian about other topics to divert the conversation, ”Qin Jian, right? I’ve heard about your name and deeds long ago. You’ve done really well! I admire you!”

”Thank you for your admiration, leader. I’ve only done what I should,” Qin Jian always remained calm and composed.

”You’re a solid young man, very likable! I admire you! Keep up the good work, try to make more findings, and contribute more to the country!”

”Yes! Thank you for your guidance, leader!”

After finishing the noodles, Ning Yibin and Zhang Yun said their goodbyes to Qin Jian and An Hao and slowly strolled back home along the streets lined with French parasol trees.

Under the dim streetlights, Zhang Yun clung to Ning Yibin’s arm, her eyes looking ahead, her mind still pondering over things.

”What? Still thinking about Qin Jian?” Ning Yibin asked, looking at his wife.

”Old Ning, do you think the child could have been swapped at birth?” Zhang Yun was considering all possibilities.

”How is that possible? If he was born in the hospital, a mix-up could happen. But the year you gave birth, I was leading the troops in the countryside, and you came to visit me. The child was born in a local’s home. How could there be a mix-up?” Ning Yibin said.

Zhang Yun sighed, ”Giving birth that year nearly cost me my life; it took three days and nights for him to be born. But now...”

”Yes. But that family was very kind. Seeing you almost lost your life giving birth, they went out in the middle of the night to get a doctor for you. After the child was born, they even slaughtered their home-raised hens for you. They had three, and killed one each day! Your milk was not enough, so they searched the whole village for sheep’s milk,” Ning Yibin reminisced, still grateful for what that family had done.

”Yes. They were good to us!” Zhang Yun mused, ”And they were very good to the child. Later on, I even thought about having the child acknowledge them as godparents, intending to repay them whenever the opportunity arose, but since then we never returned. We also couldn’t find that family anymore.”

”Maybe they never expected us to repay them. Maybe they saw your situation was hard, and they felt sorry for the child,” Ning Yibin said with a pain in his chest, ”Who could have imagined our son would be born with congenital heart disease? I also wanted him to be a soldier... sigh...”