Reborn in the 70s: Pampered by Regiment Commander-Chapter 565 - 386: Journey to Find Relatives

One more Chapter to come today, whether it’s going to be one Chapter or two is still undecided, but at the very least, there’s one more to go.

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"Chuxia, if I were your real brother, would you still need to think so much?" Jing Zhe’s eyes clearly showed signs of hurt.

Uh...

If he were her real brother, she obviously wouldn’t need to give it so much thought. The real issue was, if he were her real brother, they would share the same father, and what need would there be for her to think about all this unnecessary stuff?

"Bro, you know I don’t stand on ceremony with you, but you can’t speak for Uncle Jing. Seeing how he looked just now, this must be very difficult for him.

I don’t want our family issues to cause a rift between Uncle Jing and Aunt Zhu. If Aunt Zhu knew about this, Grandpa Jing and Grandma Jing wouldn’t have possibly sent us here, right?"

Jing Zhe realized the situation immediately, laughed, and said, "You’re not that old, but your thoughts are meticulous. Don’t worry, there’s no problem."

"Really no problem or just pretending there’s no problem?" Chuxia eyed him suspiciously, "This matter can’t be taken lightly, there absolutely can’t be any conflict between Uncle Jing and Aunt Zhu."

Jing Zhe was speechless, "Why think so much? Just listen to what my dad has to say and decide what to do afterward, right?"

"That’s true." Chuxia blinked her big eyes, smiling sheepishly, "I really went down a dead end there. Let’s go, let’s go." Now it was her turn to be impatient.

Jing Monian’s expression had returned to calm. When he saw the group enter, he pointed to the chairs opposite to him and gestured for Jing Zhe to lock the door of the office from inside.

"I’m not clear about your father’s background, nor have I heard the Lin Family of the Capital talk about losing contact with any relatives. However, I can confirm that this bracelet and this pair of chopsticks are heirlooms of the Lin Family of the Capital.

It is said that an old ancestor of the Lin family received them as a reward from the imperial palace and they have been passed down from generation to generation. The bracelet is for promoting health and the chopsticks are for testing poison. Ordinary silver chopsticks don’t have the ability to test poison. These have been specially crafted by the imperial artisans.

The pair of chopsticks that Jiang Xinzhou had were borrowed from his sister, Jiang Xinwan, for playing around, and Xiao Zhe happened to see them. Xinwan has one of these bracelets too, but..." Jing Monian’s face showed a pained expression, "but it’s broken."

"Broken by dad?" Jing Zhe asked.

"Yes," Jing Monian said with a bitter smile, "I broke it, and at the same time, I shattered the fate I had with Jiang Xinwan completely." With a sigh, he continued, "You saw my loss of composure just now; there’s no need for me to hide it from you.

Back then, Jiang Xinzhou, Lin Zhidong, and I were classmates, always coming and going together. Zhidong and I both fell for Xinwan, Jiang Xinzhou’s sister. By the time we graduated from university, Xinwan finally made it clear that she was refusing Zhidong and chose to be with me.

That period was the happiest time of my life, and I thought we would live happily ever after. Then one day, she came with a blood-red bracelet and asked if I found it beautiful. I said it looked quite nice and asked her where she got it. She told me it was from Zhidong.

I lost it at that point, snatched the bracelet from her, and threw it to the ground, where it broke into three pieces. Xinwan was clearly stunned, then she picked up the broken bracelet, wrapped it up without saying a word, and left.

I was too angry to stop her, and after that, she refused to see me. She even had her brother tell me explicitly that she was giving up on me, followed soon after by news of her engagement, and the man was Zhidong.

You can imagine how furious I was at that time, I confronted Zhidong, accusing him of being despicable. Zhidong was very indifferent and said that the mess was of my own making, and not to blame him. On further questioning, he refused to say anything.

Latterly, I asked Jiang Xinzhou, and he didn’t know the reason either, saying that he also found it strange how his sister suddenly changed her attitude. He had asked Xinwan, and all she said was that "fate is predestined".

Until now, I haven’t had any contact with Zhidong or Xinwan again. However, just now, seeing this bracelet and considering what you told me, I suddenly seem to understand what happened back then.

I suspect when Zhidong gave that bracelet to Xinwan, he had two intentions. One was hoping to use the beautiful object as an opportunity to win her favor, another, to let Xinwan help find the other bracelet or, rather, to help find the missing relatives of the Lin family.

Of course, I believe the second possibility was only a pretext for the first, otherwise, he wouldn’t have had a proper reason to approach Xinwan.

Unfortunately, I fell into his trap, the bracelet was destroyed, and Xinwan had no other choice but to repay the debt with herself. That’s probably what she meant by "fate is predestined.""

Jing Zhe frowned and said, "According to dad, then Zhidong is quite despicable, just like that, stealing dad’s beloved."

"Don’t tell your mother about this; she doesn’t know it. However..." pausing slightly, a smile crossed Jing Monian’s face, "I’ve been very happy living with your mother all these years."

Jing Zhe waved his hand dismissively at him, "Dad, you don’t need to pledge your loyalty to me. I’m not getting involved in your old sesame-seed-like past affairs. Right now, I’m just concerned about how to find Uncle Lin’s relatives.

According to what you said, it seems it’s not appropriate for you to go. So, maybe I should talk to Uncle Jiang, have him help probe around first, and see what stance the Lin family takes on this."

"We should avoid the awkwardness if they don’t recognize us and get angry. Oh, and if the Lin family members are difficult too, we’ll just advise Uncle Lin to not recognize them. If it’s like dealing with Grandpa Lin and Granny Lin again, Uncle Lin and Aunt Lin would really be out of their depth."

"The Lin family members won’t be that bad. Although Lin Zhidong’s actions back then were not very honorable, but..." Jing Monian glanced at Chuxia’s face and laughed, "There’re not many fools like you. If you had taken the initiative, maybe Chuxia would have been my daughter-in-law by now."

"Dad, are you making fun of us too?" Jing Zhe looked at his father, nursing a headache. Was he aiming to stir up chaos or what?

"Alright, I was just joking..." Jing Monian waved his hand to shoo them off, "Better go find Jiang Xinzhou while it’s still early. I won’t accompany you, lest your mom finds out and gets mad at me."

Jing Zhe turned to Chuxia: "Now you see your worries were unnecessary, right?"

"Yeah. This proves that Aunt Zhu is the one Uncle Jing loves most. Now I’m relieved." Chuxia smiled gratefully at Jing Monian, "Thank you, Uncle Jing."

"Don’t be so formal with me, just go take care of your important matters."

Jing Zhe then hurried off to Jiang Xinzhou’s place with Chuxia and Luo Xiaoqiong without delay. Jiang Xinzhou was the Director of the Civil Affairs Bureau in City A, and with Jing Zhe’s familiarity, he led the two straight into Jiang Xinzhou’s office, which was empty.

They inquired around and found out he was in a meeting with the leadership team, so the three of them had no choice but to sit in the office and wait.

At half-past eleven, Jiang Xinzhou returned, a tall and sturdy figure with gold-rimmed glasses, a pair of slender phoenix eyes, a high nose bridge, and full lips—by any era’s standards, an absolutely handsome man.

Seeing Jing Zhe, a smile spread across his eyes, "Xiao Zhe, how come you’ve decided to visit Uncle Jiang, and who are these two young comrades?"

"Uncle Jiang, do you have time right now?" Jing Zhe didn’t beat around the bush.

"What’s the matter?" Jiang Xinzhou’s expression turned serious. "Is there a problem?"

"There’s something we need Uncle Jiang’s help with. Could we find a quiet place to talk, if that’s alright?" Jing Zhe suggested.

Jiang Xinzhou led the group to a small meeting room, closed the door, and said, "Alright, let’s talk."

Chuxia once again revealed her treasures.

True to form, upon seeing the chopsticks and bracelet, Jiang Xinzhou’s eyes lit up, and he asked Chuxia for permission, "May I take a look?"

"Of course." For a moment, Chuxia felt like she was part of some illicit underground transaction.

After examining and caressing the chopsticks and bracelet for a good while, Jiang Xinzhou reluctantly put them down and apologetically smiled at the group, "I just have a taste for these things. Whenever I see them, I want to touch and look at them."

"Uncle Jiang, we’ve come to ask you about something. Have you heard from Aunt Xinwan about any lost relatives from her husband’s family that they haven’t been able to find?"

Jiang Xinzhou was a smart man. With Jing Zhe’s explanation, he grasped the gist and after a moment of reflection, he said, "I haven’t heard Xinwan mention it, but these items are definitely connected to the set she has. How about I take you to see her?"

"Right now?" Jing Zhe asked with some uncertainty.

"Aren’t you in a rush?" Jiang Xinzhou glanced at the time, "Let’s grab some lunch and then head over. We should arrive just as Grandpa Lin and Granny Lin are up from their noon rest."

Jing Zhe looked to Chuxia for her opinion: "What do you think?"

"Is it okay for us to just go over like this?" Chuxia hesitated, then added, "What if the Lin family doesn’t want to acknowledge this? By going like this, wouldn’t we cause trouble for Uncle Jiang?"

After some thought, Jiang Xinzhou asked, "Can you tell me the details?"

Chuxia didn’t want to refuse; she just felt it impolite to dive into family history upon their first meeting. Now that Jiang Xinzhou had asked directly, she certainly wouldn’t hide anything and told him everything she knew.

Standing up, Jiang Xinzhou said, "Let’s go. Such an old issue, any animosity should have dissipated by now. Of course, if they really do have any issues, just consider you’ve never had these relatives. You shouldn’t jump out of the tiger’s den only to enter the wolf’s lair, right?"

Everyone laughed at his remark, easing the initial strangeness of their first meeting.

"Uncle Jiang, from your past interactions with the Lin family members, what do you think they are like? Are they easy to get along with?" On the way to the Lin family’s place, Chuxia took the opportunity to inquire about the Lin family from Jiang Xinzhou, aiming to get a better sense of what to expect. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, we welcome you to vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com) with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to continue reading.)

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