The 1970s: Married First, Fell in Love Later-Chapter 225 - 224: Then Who Is My Dad?

"I’m not going back! Brother, why are you just like Sis, always telling me to go back? Can’t I just stay here? If I can’t find a job, I’ll do your chores and watch the kid for you."

Xue Xingzhou chuckled. "Do you even know how to cook? You’re still a kid yourself. How are you going to watch my child?"

Xue Xingjun bit his lip, unconvinced. "I’m not a kid! I’m fifteen. I’ll be an adult soon. If I don’t know how to cook, I can learn. How hard can it be? I’ll pick it up in no time. And I can play with Little Tuntun."

Xue Xingzhou nodded. "Alright. Since you’re so determined, you can stay. But I’m warning you now, if your mom and dad don’t agree and come to Beijing City to find you, I can’t do anything about it."

Xue Xingjun blinked. "They probably won’t, right?" He didn’t sound very confident saying it. He had brought up the idea of going to Beijing City with his parents before, and they had both been against it. Now that they knew he was here, there was no telling what they’d do.

"Ugh, if I’d known, I wouldn’t have told them I was in Beijing City just now."

"I see your sister hasn’t been hitting you enough," Xue Xingzhou said with a sigh.

Xue Xingjun looked at Xue Xingzhou with a pitiful expression. "Brother, as long as you let me stay, I’ll do whatever you ask. But please don’t make me go back. Even if Dad and the others come looking for me, you’ll say the same thing, won’t you?"

Xue Xingzhou shot him an annoyed glance. "Just get changed first. Aren’t you cold? We’ll talk about this later."

With that, he walked out.

Only then did Xue Xingjun realize he had taken off his old clothes but hadn’t put on the new ones yet.

His face flushed red in an instant, and he quickly grabbed the new clothes and put them on.

「Yangjia Gou.」

Xue Xingjun had been missing for several days, and the Xue family was in chaos. Everyone in the village knew and was helping to search.

Just then, the brigade leader saw the contents of a telegram and hurried over to the Xue family’s home.

"Xue Changlin, your son has been found! Xingzhou just sent a telegram. He said the boy ran off to Beijing City to find them, and they’ve already picked him up."

Liu Hongxing froze when she heard this, then lunged toward the brigade leader, grabbing his arm tightly.

"Is it true? Did my son really run off to Beijing City?"

The brigade leader glanced at Liu Hongxing’s red, swollen eyes and didn’t hold her breach of etiquette against her.

"Yes, this is the telegram from Xingzhou."

Liu Hongxing glanced at it before finally letting go of the brigade leader, muttering, "As long as he’s not lost, as long as he’s not lost."

Xue Changlin frowned. "That boy is such a handful. I suspected he might have gone to Beijing City to find his brother and sister."

The brigade leader nodded. "It’s good that the boy isn’t lost. Making it to Beijing City on his own shows he’s capable. Well, now you can rest easy. I’ll be heading back."

Xue Changlin nodded.

As soon as the brigade leader left, Xue Changlin said, "I’m going to write a letter to Yue’er and have her send Xingjun back. Isn’t he just causing trouble for her and the others by going to Beijing City?"

Liu Hongxing wasn’t anxious anymore. "Since he’s already there, let him stay in Beijing City for a while. If we bring him back, what if he runs away again? Besides, what trouble could he possibly cause them?"

Xue Changlin glanced at her. "Yue’er and Xingzhou both have school. How will they have time to look after him? How is that not causing trouble?"

Liu Hongxing said, "Xingjun is practically an adult. What trouble could he get into?"

’Liu Hongxing suddenly remembered that Xue Yue’s husband had mentioned something about opening a clothing store in Beijing City. If Xingjun helped out at the store, he could probably earn some money. Wouldn’t that be better than staying in this village?’

But Xue Changlin’s attitude was firm. "I’m writing that letter right now. He has to get his butt back here. What’s he doing in Beijing City? Is that any place for him?"

Liu Hongxing grew annoyed as well. "Why can’t my son go to Beijing City? When we have money, we’ll go too, so what? Is there some rule about who’s allowed to go to Beijing City?"

Xue Changlin shook his arm free and turned to walk back. "None of you are allowed to go."

Liu Hongxing found him completely baffling.

"Hmph, I don’t know what’s gotten into him. What’s wrong with my son going to Beijing City? He’s going, and maybe he’ll even make a fortune."

Liu Hongxing was already lost in her daydreams.

Meanwhile, Xue Xingjun had run into a big problem.

Someone had suddenly shown up at the house.

Xue Xingjun asked him, "Who are you looking for?"

Zheng Guofeng looked at him. "And who are you?"

Xue Xingjun said proudly, "I’m Xue Xingzhou’s younger brother. Xue Xingzhou is my big brother."

Zheng Guofeng’s brow furrowed. "You’re Xingzhou’s younger brother?"

"That’s right. You still haven’t said who you are," Xue Xingjun said, watching him warily.

Zheng Guofeng hesitated for a second. "I’m Xue Xingzhou’s father."

"You said you’re whose father? Hey, Mister, I think you’ve got the wrong place," Xue Xingjun retorted.

Just then, Zhang Qian came out of the house. Seeing Zheng Guofeng, she called out, "Dad, you’re back from work."

Zheng Guofeng nodded.

"Where’s Xingzhou?"

Zhang Qian pointed inside. "Tun Tun pooped. He’s changing his clothes."

Then she looked at Xue Xingjun. "Dad, this is Xingzhou’s younger brother, Xue Xingjun."

By now, Xue Xingjun didn’t know whether to believe his own ears. He had met Zhang Qian’s parents before, and while his memory might be a bit hazy, he was sure her father didn’t look like this man.

"Sister-in-law, you’re saying he’s... Dad? Then who is *my* dad?"

’Zhang Qian suddenly remembered that the boy probably didn’t know Xue Xingzhou wasn’t his biological brother. He came all this way to find his brother. Will he be devastated if he suddenly finds out?’

"Uh... well... Xingjun, it’s... um..."

Zhang Qian thought for a moment but couldn’t come up with the right words to explain it to Xue Xingjun.

Zheng Guofeng knew that Xue Yue’s father had remarried and that having more children was normal. Still, meeting Xue Xingjun for the first time felt a little awkward, so he took his briefcase and went back inside.

Xue Xingjun just stood there in the yard, stunned.

"My brother has two dads? Then how many dads do I have?"

Zhang Qian pressed her lips together and quickly went inside.

"You need to go explain things to Xingjun. He ran into our dad in the yard, and the situation’s a bit complicated." 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

A flicker of emotion crossed Xue Xingzhou’s eyes. He washed his hands and then walked out the door.

The moment he stepped outside, he saw Xue Xingjun still standing there.

"What are you doing just standing there? Get inside."

Once Xue Xingjun was back in the house, Xue Xingzhou gave him a rough explanation of his family history.

Xue Xingjun’s eyes were now red-rimmed.

"So you’re not my real brother? Then I... You all lied to me! You all treat me like a kid! I don’t like you guys anymore! I’m going to find my sister."

With that, he pushed the door open and started to leave.

Xue Xingzhou tried to grab him but couldn’t stop him. He could only follow behind, watching as he ran all the way to Xue Yue’s house.

Xue Xingzhou thought, ’So he can find his way now.’

Xue Yue watched as Xue Xingjun ran in crying and came straight for her.

Xue Yue asked anxiously, "What happened? Why are you crying?"

Xue Xingjun looked at her. "Are you my sister? My *real* sister?"

The moment Xue Yue heard this, she understood.

Then she saw her brother follow him inside.