Pampered by My Ex's Cousin-Chapter 644 - 636 Heavy Fatherly Love (Part Five)

It was a head flower that had just become popular at the time, and the area hadn’t yet developed much; it was quite remote. There were no stores nearby that sold this head flower, and one had to go to the city to buy it.

Other families had already started their New Year’s Eve dinner, and the continuous sound of firecrackers could be heard outside. She and her mother were anxiously waiting at home for her father to return for the New Year’s Eve dinner.

It wasn’t until nightfall that her father finally rushed back on his bicycle, equipped with a carrying pole, and joyfully told her that he had managed to get the red flower for her.

At that time, she didn’t know how far or how long it took to cycle from their home to the city. Now, understanding how to calculate such things, she realized that it would take at least an hour and a half to reach the city center by bicycle, and three hours for a round trip.

The more she thought about this, the more vivid the memory became.

At that moment, her heart felt somewhat heavy.

Because, right then, she suddenly felt the profound weight of the fatherly love her adoptive father had for her.

Indeed, from her earliest memories, he would hold her hand and often sit her on the pole at the front of his bicycle, taking her out for rides.

Back then, happiness was so simple.

As Ji Anning reminisced, she flipped through the old photographs in the box, showing her from infancy until she was six years old,

Several photos had writing on the back, marking her birthdays, indicating her ages; her father had served in the military and had also taught, so his handwriting was very neat.

By the end, her eyes had blurred with tears, and when she looked up at her mother, she saw that she too was looking back at her, with an indifferent expression.

She could even discern a look of hatred in her mother’s eyes.

Ji Anning frowned in confusion, "Mom... what’s wrong?"

Unease began to stir within her.

Her mother spoke, her tone as frosty as her gaze, "Do you know how selfish he was? For your sake, he actually deprived me of my right to be a mother."

As she spoke, she clenched her fist over her chest, looking to be in pain, "For you, he was willing to forsake his own biological child for a lifetime. But how could he be so cruel to me? What did I do wrong? Why did I have to be the sacrifice for his immoral love?"

By the end, her emotions became increasingly agitated.

Ji Anning stared back, her eyes wide with shock and brimming with tears, she shook her head and stuttered, "Mom... I don’t understand what you’re saying."

But indeed, she had not guessed wrong. There was something troubling her mother, or else she wouldn’t have been so calm about her father’s death.

Yet, she really couldn’t comprehend what her elderly mother was saying. What did she mean by not wanting her biological child for a lifetime, or being the sacrifice for an immoral love?

In those fragments of memory, her father and mother seemed to be as cordial as guests to each other, and her father was very kind to her mother.

Without addressing Ji Anning’s confusion, her mother coldly told her, "You should leave. Don’t come to find me anymore. Whether I live or die, you need not concern yourself."

After saying this, she turned her head away and waved her hand at Ji Anning.

She seemed not to want to see her anymore at all.

Her tone was not one of mere words said in anger; she truly had made up her mind, truly no longer wanting to see her again. Ji Anning became anxious, reaching out and grabbing her mother’s hand, "Mom..."

"If you have any gratitude for me raising you from the time you were in diapers until you were six, then heed my words and take good care of yourself." Her mother heartlessly pulled her hand away from Ji Anning’s grip.

She then immediately stood up and went to her room.

All night long, Ji Anning pondered her mother’s words.