Xia Qingtian nodded when she heard Xia Honglang's question and said, "I want to go."
"Alright, then I'll have someone prepare a congratulatory gift." Xia Honglang responded readily, or rather, he seemed relieved.
Seeing him like this, Xia Qingtian found it strange.
Just this one matter shouldn't make the entire Xia family seem so peculiar, especially Xia Shang. His expression had been very serious from the beginning, with a subtle, sinister air.
Although his usual expression was also strange, this time it was outrageously so.
"The second matter concerns Xia Shang," Xia Honglang said. "Xia Shang's biological parents have contacted him through the 'Best Intern' program."
"What?" Xia Qingtian and Xia Qingyu's eyes widened simultaneously. "Xia Shang's biological parents!"
"Mmm." Xia Honglang and Aunt Liu nodded in unison. "They sent over Xia Shang's birth certificate and photos from when he was a child. It seems to be genuine."
"So that's why Uncle Xia..." Xia Qingtian and Xia Qingyu looked at Xia Shang, finally understanding why he was acting this way.
"Xia Shang's biological parents seem to have been in Kyoto all along. Their elderly parent is apparently not well and is currently hospitalized. Doctors say it might be within this month. The elder's greatest wish is to find their lost grandson. They hope Xia Shang can go to Kyoto, at least to see the elder one last time."
"If you are going to attend your maternal grandfather's birthday banquet, you might as well accompany Xia Shang to see them. With you there, I can feel a little more at ease," Xia Honglang sighed. "Things have indeed happened rather suddenly."
"Then did Erya come here because of this?" Xia Qingtian looked at Erya.
"No, I came for something else." Erya shook her head and sighed. "Your city is simply too big, full of people everywhere. I was lost for three days, and my phone was stolen. If it weren't for the police, I might not have known where I was being tricked into going..."
Unexpectedly, Erya had gone through such experiences. Both Xia Qingtian and Xia Qingyu looked at her with great sympathy.
"Then what did you come here for?" Aunt Liu asked.
"Oh... what was it?" Erya tilted her head, looking distressed. She had remembered it before, but now she couldn't recall it.
Seeing Erya looking troubled and about to ponder for a while, Xia Qingtian turned her attention back to Xia Shang. "If you need me to accompany Uncle Xia to Kyoto to find his family or whatever, I don't mind. In fact, I'd be more at ease if I accompanied him. But what about Uncle Xia's own thoughts? Uncle Xia, do you want to see them?"
Setting aside the elder's dying wish, Xia Shang's own feelings were equally important, weren't they?
After all, he hadn't seen them for so many years, and Xia Shang had no memories before the age of ten. With his personality, trying to force himself into a new family would be a very difficult and painful experience for Xia Shang!
"I don't know." Hearing Xia Qingtian ask him, Xia Shang moved his lips and hesitated, "I... I want to go back first, to see my adoptive mother."
After all, he had survived for so many years thanks to his adoptive mother. Even if he were to acknowledge his biological family, he should first ask for his adoptive mother's opinion.
"Mmm, then you first..." Xia Qingtian was interrupted before she could finish speaking.
"Ah! I remember!" Erya clasped her hands together and blinked her large eyes. "I remember why I came here!"
Everyone was startled by Erya's sudden outburst and looked at her in unison. Why was this girl so jumpy?
"Xia Shang, your adoptive mother is dead!" Erya said, patting her chest with a relaxed expression. "Alas... I finally remembered. I was so worried!"
"Wh-what?" Everyone was completely stunned. "How could you forget something so important!"
"But I remember it now~" Erya said somewhat sheepishly. "I, I don't have a very good memory... there's nothing I can do about it."
"Then your memory is really..." Before Xia Qingtian could comment, she heard Xia Qingyu scream, "Uncle Xia has fainted!"
The Xia family immediately panicked. Aunt Liu's face turned pale, Xia Honglang shouted for someone to call an ambulance, Xia Qingyu looked around, not knowing what to do, and Xia Qingtian gently patted Xia Shang's cheek, calling out to him incessantly.
"Everyone make way." Erya pushed aside the Xia family members and walked to Xia Shang's side. She reached into the wide pocket on the front of her overalls and pulled out a small porcelain bottle, about two fingers long. She unscrewed the cap and waved it under Xia Shang's nose.
Xia Shang coughed twice from the fumes and regained consciousness. Seeing that Xia Shang had woken up, the Xia family breathed a sigh of relief.
As soon as Xia Shang woke up, he immediately grabbed Erya's arm and asked, "What did you say? My adoptive mother..."
"Dead." Seeing Xia Shang like this, Erya helplessly scratched the back of her head and said, "You know her health, she couldn't hold on much longer anyway. Otherwise, she wouldn't have rushed you away. My master said she couldn't hold on much longer. If she hadn't been worried about you, she would have passed away three years ago. These past three years, she lived in great pain. Death is a release."
Erya sat down next to Xia Shang and rested her head on his shoulder. "Don't worry, my master calculated that she did many good deeds in her life. Although her personality was a bit eccentric, it's not a problem for her to be reborn into a wealthy family in her next life. After living alone for half her life, she will have loving parents and children around her in her next life. It's not bad."
"The funeral was a cremation, very grand. Everyone in the village came. Master said the weather for the cremation was very good, a good omen."
"Xia Shang, don't worry. Even if your adoptive mother has passed away, you still have me. I won't let you be alone and lonely," Erya said earnestly.
"Why didn't you tell me immediately?" Xia Shang asked, looking down.
"Your adoptive mother didn't want you to. She said she was like a dead tree, rotten long ago. But you are different, you are a bamboo shoot after rain, with plenty of sunshine and dew awaiting you. People should look forward. Don't be like her, stuck in one place your whole life, having lost the ability to look forward," Erya said, her voice becoming long and ancient. "Xia Shang, don't look back, move forward..."
Hearing Erya's final words, the Xia sisters shivered. Even though they had never met that distant relative, at that moment, it felt as if they could hear the old lady's dying wishes firsthand.
Xia Shang lowered his head, his fists clenched and resting on his legs, his body trembling slightly.