Yi Xinyi couldn't help but start crying again.

"Don't cry! What a crime, your mother divorced your father, leaving you kids to suffer," the elderly man couldn't help but add a few more words.

"Is this your number, so we can reach you? I'll have your second uncle call you back using this number later."

"Yeah! Thank you, Grandpa!" Yi Xinyi said gratefully.

About ten minutes later, the house phone rang. Yi Xinyi, who had been anxiously waiting by it, picked up the receiver excitedly yet apprehensively.

"Hello! Is this my second uncle?"

"Are you Xinyi? Are you really Xinyi? Where are you now? Are you doing well?" As soon as the call connected, an eager and concerned voice came through.

"Second Uncle! I'm in Shenzhen. I'm living well now. My father is always with me, and he loves me very much. He has always been good to me," Yi Xinyi replied.

"That's good! Is your father doing well? Did he find a new mom for you?" asked her second uncle, Zhang Zhijun.

"No, my father hasn't remarried yet."

For some reason, Yi Xinyi didn't tell her second uncle about her father having found several new moms.

But Xinyi wasn't lying either, as her father indeed hadn't remarried, so it wasn't exactly deceiving her second uncle.

"You must be 11 years old this year, growing up and sensible now. Do you want to know how your mother is doing?" Zhang Zhijun asked.

"I just want to know why she left me back then, leaving me and my father," Yi Xinyi said, her voice breaking into tears by the end.

"Ah! Although your mother is my sister, I have to say, it was your mother who wronged you and your father," Zhang Zhijun said candidly.

"But don't hold a grudge against your mother; she's already faced her consequences, and she regrets it. She just doesn't have the face to come back to you and your father."

"Your grandma and all of us uncles, as well as your eldest aunt, have all scolded your mother, saying she was too heartless, casting aside her own daughter like that. She wronged your father by leaving him alone with you, making it hard for him to start a new family. Your father suffered a lot because of her."

"Your mother now works at an electronics factory in Dongguan City, not far from where you used to run a fruit shop."

"I have your mother's phone number. If you want to talk to her, you can call her. She's long since regretted it and surely misses you very much now."

"She will be very happy if you call her."

"Let me give you her phone number. Do you have a pen to write it down?"

"135XXXXXXXX."

"Your grandma misses you too. When you're grown up, if you miss her, you can go visit her at her place."

"No matter what your mother is like, your grandma, your eldest aunt, and all of us uncles care about and miss you. We'll always be your family, and you can visit us anytime if you miss us."

"Thank you, Second Uncle! When I grow up and have time, I'll come and visit you and Grandma," Yi Xinyi said sincerely, nodding.

No matter what, her uncles were kind to her, her eldest aunt was kind to her, and her grandma was kind to her. This brought a bit of comfort to Yi Xinyi's heart.

Even though she had no memory of Grandma, her uncles, or her oldest aunt.

But this didn't stop Yi Xinyi's imagination.

Yi Xinyi often envied her classmates for having grandparents, uncles, and aunts, with so many relatives around.

But she never had these relatives since childhood, only having aunts.

But now, Yi Xinyi knew she wasn't devoid of their love. It was just that because of her mother's circumstances, she hadn't been able to experience their love all these years.

Yi Xinyi looked at the slip of paper with her mother's phone number on it, feeling a bit hesitant and scared, but eventually, she resolutely reached out and dialed the number.

At this moment in Dongguan City, it was shift change time at a large electronics factory, and workers were pouring out of the workshops.

Zhang Liping worked as a supervisor at this electronics factory. She always left last because she waited for the day's production reports to come out before leaving assured.

Throughout these years, she dedicated herself to her work to numb herself, fearing returning alone to her dorm, facing solitude. So, she preferred to work more overtime to earn extra pay.

Not just for herself but to honor her mother and save for her daughter's dowry when she grows up and marries, to make amends for the mistake she made as a mother years ago.

Zhang Liping chose to work at this factory, hoping to one day encounter her daughter, believing that her ex-husband and daughter were living nearby.

Unfortunately, Zhang Liping didn't know her ex-husband had left with her daughter for Shenzhen to build a new life, and she was destined never to meet her daughter, like parallel lines that would never intersect.

Zhang Liping sat in her small office, organizing the reports on her desk, waiting for the new reports to be delivered by the statistician.

Suddenly, Zhang Liping's phone rang, and she saw it was a call from a landline in Shenzhen.

Zhang Liping's company was headquartered in Shenzhen, so receiving a call from there wasn't unusual.

"Hello! Hello!" Zhang Liping answered the phone decisively.

"..."

"Hello! Who is this?" Zhang Liping asked again, not hearing any reply.

"Are you Zhang Liping?" a distinctly young voice asked.

"Yes, little one, who are you?" Zhang Liping curiously asked, hearing the voice of a young girl.

"..." There was silence again.

"Hey! Little one, who are you? Why the call? Please speak," Zhang Liping said exasperatedly but patiently.

"If you don't talk, I'll hang up."

"My name is Yi Xinyi!" the young girl finally spoke up.

"Yi Xinyi?" Zhang Liping responded excitedly upon hearing the name.

For Zhang Liping, this name was anything but unfamiliar, as it was her daughter's name. Someone she could never forget, and whom she always felt she owed the most to.

Zhang Liping had imagined countless times the scene of her and her daughter meeting again.

Though it wasn't a face-to-face encounter, after so many years, reestablishing contact with her daughter brought Zhang Liping to tears.

"Are you my daughter, Yi Xinyi?" Zhang Liping asked once more, unbelieving of her ears, needing confirmation.

"Do you still remember I'm your daughter?" Yi Xinyi's voice choked with sobs.

The flood of emotions made Xinyi cry uncontrollably, tears falling before words.

Yes! So she, too, had a mother.

But her mother had cruelly abandoned her as a child.

Faced with her daughter's soul-stirring question, Zhang Liping was overwhelmed with tears, feeling regret and guilt she couldn't hope to answer.

What else could she do but weep tears of regret and heartache?

"Why did you give birth to me, only to cruelly abandon me?" Just as Zhang Liping was sorrowful, her daughter Yi Xinyi questioned her soul once more.