DASFAM_101

"……"

Zhang Changxu met Zhang Changning's complicated gaze, falling silent, unable to deny the truth that the black words on white paper had brought.

Bai Xu still cared about his friend's feelings, "Changning?"

Zhang Changning looked at Bai Xu, forcing out an extremely reluctant smile.

He felt the worried gazes of his parents on the sofa, but avoided them, not daring to look again, "Actually, you didn't need to deliberately hide it from me, I knew…"

He choked back the bitter ache surging up, "I've always known, I'm not really a child of the Zhang family."

What twins could there possibly be?

He was nothing more than an extremely fortunate orphan.

Zhang Du and Shen Mian both showed astonishment, even the usually composed Zhang Changxu was stunned, "What did you say?"

Bai Xu had already learned the truth, and could only speak in his place, "Changning has always retained memories of his origins, and knew the Zhang family had been secretly searching for the child all these years."

"……"

"Your whole family hid it out of kindness, so he pretended he had never known."

Zhang Du took a deep breath, "You were that young at the time? You, you how could…"

Fragments of memory resurfaced in Zhang Changning's mind, and the hands hanging at his sides unconsciously clenched into fists, then loosened again.

He tried his best not to show his sadness and helplessness in front of the Zhang family, continuing to explain with a smile, "Maybe it's because the days at the welfare institute were too hard, that's why that memory remained so especially clear."

"Dad, Mom, and Second Brother…"

Zhang Changning's gaze swept across these faces one by one, "All these years, I knew you treated me as your own son, your own younger brother, taking care of me in every possible way."

"But I kept thinking, where was the child who was truly lost? If he was still alive, was he the one suffering all this time?"

Zhang Changning felt like he was a thief, who had luckily occupied someone else's parents, elder brother, family, and identity, yet he also told himself clearly—

As long as the real young master Zhang could come back, he would surely return everything he possessed in full.

"You've all been too good to me. Actually, I hope more than anyone that your wish can come true, so you didn't need to hide it from me."

Zhang Changning paused, then looked again at Bai Xu, "I just didn't expect it would actually be you, Bai Xu."

The child the Zhang family had searched for over twenty years had been so far away, yet so close at hand all along.

"Bai Xu, do you know? When I first met you, I actually felt that you and Second Brother had some indescribable resemblance. Now I think I understand—"

"How could real brothers not resemble each other?"

Only he, from childhood to now, had always been teased by others saying: "You don't look like your parents or your two older brothers at all?"

Shen Mian's gaze shifted back and forth between Bai Xu's and Zhang Changning's faces, her emotions complicated and aching.

To her, both palm and back of the hand were flesh.

Zhang Changning was the child the couple had raised with their own hands; even though he wasn't biological, he had already been loved to the bone, treated as their own—while Bai Xu, lost and now found again, was even more a knot of guilt in her heart!

All these years, she had never given up the thought of searching, and together with her husband had run across nearly the whole of China, even setting foot overseas.

Before the paternity test results came back, she had already learned of what Bai Xu had endured at the Bai family these past years, and this remorse and heartache as a mother had erupted directly upon confirming the test report.

If Bai Xu was willing, she would spend the rest of her life making up for these missing twenty-some years.

But Shen Mian knew that nothing could be forced; she didn't dare hope that Bai Xu would acknowledge her as his mother, only wishing that he could be safe and well.

Zhang Du sensed his wife's surging unease, his voice tightening as well, "Bai, Bai Xu, back then the confinement nanny colluded with the human traffickers, which is why you drifted outside for all these years."

From the initial plan of kidnapping for ransom, to later changing their minds and switching to selling him off instead, it was because too much happened in between that made the later search so much more difficult.

"Of course, this is a mistake we as parents caused through our own negligence. Our family doesn't ask for your forgiveness, we just want to know, do you still have any memory of what happened when you were little?"

He'd heard that Bai Xu was only adopted by the Bai family when he was seven or eight years old, so what about before that? What kind of life had he lived?

"……"

Faced with Zhang Du's carefully cautious question, Bai Xu didn't know how to answer.

He and Shang Yanxiao exchanged a knowing glance, both hearts full of regret on behalf of the original host of this body.

The child the Zhang family was truly looking for had never been him!

But now that things had come to this, all he could do was live on properly, carrying the share that should have belonged to the original host.

Shang Yanxiao knew a little about "Bai Xu's" matters, "Before the age of three or four he was an abandoned infant, picked up by an old woman who collected scraps for a living, who then went through the adoption process."

Zhang Du pressed further, "Where was this?"

Bai Xu answered briefly, "Chuan City."

Hearing this, Zhang Du's eyes suddenly lit up, "That's right! The police said that according to the trafficker's confession, the last place of sale was Chuan City!"

Only, in those years surveillance coverage wasn't yet complete, and Chuan City was a hundred thousand li away from the capital, which was why the leads on the child had grown ever more remote.

Shang Yanxiao analyzed, "I'd guess the original 'buyer' ran into some kind of trouble, and so left him by the roadside."

Bai Xu could only speak using what little remained of the original host's memory, "Grandma said that when she found me, there was a small box beside me; containing some worthless pacifiers, worn-out clothes—and the only thing that looked like decent material was a small square blanket."

As a child, the original host would only stop crying if his hands were gripping the little blanket while he slept, a habit that continued until he was seven, until the blanket was accidentally lost.

The old woman hadn't understood it, but thinking back on it now, Bai Xu realized it must have been an infant's usual comfort blanket.

"……"

As Bai Xu spoke, he dug up another fragment of memory that didn't belong to him, "Right, there were English letters in the bottom right corner of that blanket, spelling Ning."

The moment these words left his mouth, the expressions of the Zhang family members present changed once again.

"That's it, that's it!"

Tears welling in her eyes, Shen Mian couldn't help but turn to look at Zhang Changxu, "Changxu, do you still remember? The pattern on that little blanket was one you personally picked out for your younger brother when you were small, and the lettering was embroidered by Grandmother!"

Zhang Changxu naturally remembered, but his thoughts were entirely fixed on Zhang Changning.

Zhang Changning met the gaze his friend Bai Xu sent his way, and the two of them seemed to think of the same thing at the same moment.

Zhang Changning asked, "Bai Xu, so that's what your WeChat profile picture and your studio's name mean?"

"……"

Faced with his friend's question, Bai Xu likewise only now truly understood it himself, "Mm."

The original host must have known about his own origins long ago, and had taken the letters on that comfort blanket as the only clue to his identity, and so had kept it firmly in mind.

After the grandmother who had picked up and adopted the original host passed away, since no other relatives were willing to come forward and continue caring for him—

The original host was still taken in through the intervention of the relevant authorities and sent back to the welfare institute, and it was at that time that the comfort blanket was lost. Not long after, he was brought back to the Bai family by Old Master Bai and became the Bai family's young master in name only.

Even so, the original host had still kept the word "Ning" firmly in mind, and it had become his only WeChat nickname and profile picture for all these years.

A year had passed, and Bai Xu hadn't changed the original host's WeChat without permission, but had instead created a separate new account to use himself.

It was only when the pottery studio occasionally had business that needed handling that he would continue to use the original host's name, carrying on in his stead that work he had loved.

With this round of confirmations piling up, even Zhang Du, who was usually considered steady and composed, grew excited along with the others, "There's no mistake, everything matches."

Not only did the most authoritative evidence, the paternity test, match, but even the personal item from back then matched too!

How could Shen Mian not be excited as well? It was only that she was afraid of frightening the two children that she forcibly suppressed her true emotions.

Shen Mian, without drawing attention to it, took hold of her husband's wrist, speaking both to her husband, and also to Bai Xu and Zhang Changning.

"Old Zhang, the children are both grown now, this matter must be quite abrupt for them too, let's hear what they think."

No matter what, the two of them as parents still had to respect the two children's wishes.

Zhang Changning recalled the days at the welfare institute from before, and a strong wave of panic surged up from deep within him, but as he looked at Bai Xu on the hospital bed, he likewise felt an indescribable guilt and apology.

He pressed his lips together, masking himself with an upturned curve, "Of course it's a good thing. Bai Xu and I already got along well, so if he's willing to come back, wouldn't that be perfect for us to spend all day hanging out together?"

"And Mom, Dad, you know, right? The studio I invested in and hold shares in, the host is Bai Xu!"

"……"

Zhang Changxu stared at the smile on the face before him, feeling an indescribable ache he couldn't quite name.

Following Zhang Changning's gaze toward Bai Xu, he calmly voiced his own view, "Bai Xu, this matter still has to be decided by you yourself. No matter what, we won't force you."

Zhang Du picked up, "Right, it was our family's negligence back then that caused your unsettled life all these years, we're truly very sorry, but please believe that we've always wanted to find you and bring you back."

"Now you have your own partner, your own family."

Having said this much, Zhang Du deliberately glanced at Shang Yanxiao, this was a child he'd watched grow up since young, someone he trusted.

"But we still want to do everything in our power to make up for what we owe you these years. We hope you can give our family a chance!"

Shen Mian added, "Yes, we, we both respect whatever you choose."

"……"

Bai Xu didn't rush to answer.

He could see that the Zhang family were all reasonable, understanding people, and the original host's deepest wish had once been to return to this family that truly belonged to him.

Since he had taken the other's place living in this world, then he had to take the other's place in carrying on living his life well.

Thinking this far, Bai Xu instinctively looked toward his lover.

Shang Yanxiao met his silent, questioning gaze, and gave a knowing signal of understanding, "I support your decision."

After all, the third branch of the Shang family and the Zhang family had always been on close terms, each side knowing the other through and through.

He firmly believed that even if Bai Xu acknowledged this pair of parents, the Zhang couple would never, in the future, do something like forcibly tearing apart a pair of lovers.

Bai Xu had made up his mind, "I know that what happened back then was not what you wished for. If the Zhang family is willing to take me back as your child, then naturally I'm willing too."

The eyes of the Zhang couple suddenly lit up.

Bai Xu looked toward Zhang Changxu and Zhang Changning, standing directly across from the hospital bed, and thinking of these two secretive, tight-lipped men, a thought that could be called rather "clumsy" arose in him naturally.

Bai Xu shifted the direction of his words, "However, I have just one condition."

Zhang Du said, "Name it! Whatever the condition, we agree to it."

Bai Xu struck while the iron was hot, but still tried to choose a gentle tone to speak in, "All these years, Changning has been staying in 'my' position, getting along with all of you under 'my' name. Now, the two of us should both return to our proper positions."

Shang Yanxiao realized his lover's true intention in an instant, pressing down the corner of his mouth.

"……"

Zhang Changning's face turned ashen, as if he were waiting for the blow about to fall on his friend.

Zhang Changxu, worried out of caution, instinctively wanted to defend Zhang Changning, "Bai Xu, you…"

"I'm not finished yet."

Bai Xu cut in crisply and decisively, determined to deliver them a strong dose of medicine in his own way, "Only if the Zhang family and Changning dissolve the adoption relationship will I come back."

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