After the two sides finally extinguished their anger, Xia Qingtian cleared his throat and said, "Erya, pour a glass of water for each of the two old professors. They've been shouting for a long time and must be thirsty."
"I..." Erya didn't want to pour water for the person surnamed Miao, but seeing Xia Qingtian squint his eyes and shake his head slightly, Erya suppressed her dissatisfaction, obediently poured two glasses of water, and handed them to Professor Tang and Professor Miao.
These two had indeed shouted themselves hoarse, and at this moment, they didn't throw a tantrum anymore. They just glared at each other, took the water glasses from Erya, took a big sip, moistened their throats, and took a breath.
"So, Professor Tang is the former Hidden Master of the Tang family?" Xia Qingtian finally said, "It was you who were dissatisfied with Tang Youxi being the head of the family, and that's why you took people away from the Tang family?"
"That old muddlehead, relying on a forged举报信 (jǔbào xìn - report letter) and some evidence I've never even seen, actually thought I killed his son and daughter-in-law." Professor Tang's chest swelled with anger whenever he thought of it. "That old muddlehead even wanted to kick me out! Would I, with my proud bones, allow him to expel me? If I leave, I leave on my own accord!
He didn't even consider that he was so busy back then, his head spinning, and had no time to take care of a half-grown boy who was a terror.
His short-lived son was raised by me; how could I bear to harm him?"
"But I heard that the Tang family's Visible Master has to be raised separately from childhood. How did you end up in the Tang family?" Xia Qingtian asked in confusion.
"Fate," Professor Tang shook his head and said, "I was sent out of the Tang family when I was just born. But during that famine, my adoptive parents starved to death early, and I wandered back to the Tang family in a daze. I didn't look like them, like those two girls, who could be recognized at a glance. I was skin and bones from hunger then, while he was a pampered young master, plump and oily, not resembling me at all."
Until the end, he remained tall and thin, while that old muddlehead was plump and looked easily bullied.
"Others didn't know, but the previous family head did. Those times were indeed unstable, and many people starved to death. Perhaps out of kinship or fear that I, as an alternative, would starve to death, he let me stay in the Tang family," Professor Tang recalled with a pang in his heart. "We were around the same age, and we had a telepathic connection like twins, our bond stronger than others.
We grew up together, stumbling through life, getting into trouble and being punished together. He was the young master of the Tang family, and I was his companion reader.
Later, he got married and had a son. His wife was not fortunate and died during childbirth. He was too busy at the time to take care of the child, so I helped him.
Such a young child, in the blink of an eye, grew so tall. Time flies so fast… this little chubby boy, swaying and tottering, reached the age to marry and have daughters, twins no less. Everyone said these two little babies would be the future Visible and Hidden Masters of the Tang family and should be taken good care of."
At this point, Professor Tang choked up, closed his eyes, as if unwilling to recall what happened that night.
The child he raised with his own hands died of poison, his childhood brother was also poisoned, and two newborns, less than a month old, one inherited the deadly poison, and the other was sickly and weak like a kitten. Before even a month had passed, he was taken away by his maternal uncle, and his whereabouts have been unknown ever since.
There's no need to say how much pain his heart was in then, but who would have thought that he would eventually be framed as the murderer, and worse, that old muddlehead actually believed it!
Muddlehead!
He's truly a muddlehead!
It was also at that time that he learned he was the Hidden Master of the Tang family, and that old muddlehead, already deeply poisoned, had given up and wanted to drive him away!
No matter how much he pleaded or how he proved his innocence, that old muddlehead was determined to expel him and even wanted to make that infant, born with poison in his system, the Visible Master!
He'd rather tie the future fate of the Tang family to an infant than trust him or even look at him!
Weren't they blood brothers?
Were status and power more important than sibling affection?
He was disappointed in the Tang family and despaired of that old muddlehead. He immediately took many people and left the Tang family.
He'd been gone for so many years.
"Now I am white-haired, and the grass on that old muddlehead's grave must be half a meter high," Professor Tang chuckled and said, "It's all in the past, and I don't want to mention it again."
"Grandpa was cremated," Da Ya looked at Professor Tang, her eyes clear, as if she had become a different person. "According to Grandpa's wishes, his ashes were scattered at sea."
"That's absurd, the older he gets, the more muddled he becomes!" Professor Tang said irritably, "He couldn't even swim in his life, why follow trends and scatter ashes at sea like others! That old muddlehead!"
Professor Tang's brows were tightly furrowed, and a chubby old man vaguely appeared in his mind.
Just as he was about to fall into thought, Professor Tang was interrupted by Erya's words.
"Da Ya, why are you..." Erya looked at Da Ya, feeling that something was off about her. She reached out to hug Da Ya, but Da Ya stopped her.
"Don't touch me." Da Ya, no, at this moment Da Ya had temporarily recovered her memory and was Tang Youxi. She frowned at Erya, "I'm not used to it."
She had wanted to say this for a long time; that kind of hugging and embracing felt too strange.
Da Ya might not have minded and even enjoyed it.
But she wasn't Da Ya, and she didn't like it.
"Da Ya..." Erya looked at Da Ya's rejection with disbelief. Her beautiful, clear eyes instantly became misty, as if if Da Ya said anything more harsh, her eyes would overflow with wronged tears.
"Forget it," Tang Youxi felt a headache seeing this. "As you wish."
Only then did Erya open her arms and tightly embrace Tang Youxi.
Tang Youxi frowned but didn't push Erya away again. She just looked at Xia Qingtian with a hint of reproach.
Xia Qingtian's mouth twitched, feeling wronged.
Erya's personality was like that; what did it have to do with her!
Why was she being blamed?
Professor Tang looked at Tang Youxi and, seeing that she indeed seemed to have recovered her memory, said, "That old muddlehead had been suppressing your poison all along. After his death, it wouldn't have occurred this early. It's likely someone tampered with your food and incense, which caused the poison in your body to act up prematurely."
"That's exactly right," Tang Youxi nodded. She now understood the whole story. "Life and death are determined by fate, but I am truly uneasy about leaving this world now."
Speaking of which, Tang Youxi glanced at Erya, who was still holding her tightly, and sighed silently.
Turning to look at Professor Tang, Tang Youxi then said, "Uncle, do you have any way to delay it? Even a day's delay is a day gained."
If she couldn't deal with those rebellious scoundrels in the Tang family, she wouldn't be able to die in peace.