Chapter 185: Chapter 173: Alike or Not?

The father and son had just left the apartment and reached the stairwell when they heard Wu Xiaowen’s panicked cry from inside. "Xuanxuan! Xuanxuan, wake up! Oh my god... Qingyun! Hao Hao!"

Tang Qingyun grabbed Tang Haocheng and ran back. "Xiao Wen, what’s wrong with Xuanxuan?"

The housekeeper ran out from the bathroom, her hands spread wide in confusion. She had been busy with a deep clean and hadn’t paid attention to what the family was discussing in the living room, but Wu Xiaowen’s piercing shriek had startled her.

Tang Qingyun and Wu Xiaowen gathered around the unconscious Tang Yaxuan, performing the first aid measures a doctor had taught them. Tang Haocheng, however, walked over to the table, picked up the phone, and dialed a number.

Tang Yaxuan slowly came to and threw herself into Tang Qingyun’s arms. "Dad, if you have to go, please take me with you! I don’t want to be separated from my brother!"

With red-rimmed eyes, Wu Xiaowen said mournfully, "Xuanxuan, your brother is being disobedient, but are you going to abandon your mother too?"

Tang Yaxuan sobbed, "Mom, you and Dad always said our family would stay together forever and never be apart. But look at us now! What has this become? I love Dad and my brother. I don’t want to be separated!"

Wu Xiaowen wept in sorrow. Tang Qingyun shot a reproachful look at Tang Haocheng, only to see him sitting quietly on the sofa with a placid expression. This fueled his anger. "Hao Hao, what is that attitude? That is your mother and your sister! They’re heartbroken over you, and you can’t even offer a single word of comfort? Your sister’s condition just flared up, didn’t you see?"

Tang Haocheng nodded. "I saw. I called for an ambulance. It’ll be here in a moment."

Tang Qingyun and Wu Xiaowen were speechless.

After a moment of shock, Tang Yaxuan shrieked, "No! I don’t want to go to the hospital! I don’t want to!"

’Is going to the hospital supposed to be fun? They hook you up to one machine after another, and still can’t find anything wrong. Then the doctors lock you in a room and bombard you with all sorts of strange questions... No!’

Tang Haocheng said, "Fainting from emotional distress means your condition is serious. You should go to the hospital for a thorough examination. You need to get whatever treatment is necessary to cure it completely. The sooner you treat it, the better the chances of a full recovery. If you let it drag on, you’ll only prolong your own suffering and inconvenience everyone else. This is the only way you can go to school without us worrying. Otherwise, what happens if you faint at school? Are Mom and Dad supposed to come running every single time? They won’t be able to focus on their work, right?"

Tang Qingyun, Wu Xiaowen, and Tang Yaxuan were all dumbfounded, at a loss for words.

Since Tang Yaxuan absolutely refused to go to the hospital, Tang Qingyun had no choice but to send the ambulance away.

As the father and son drove toward Wancheng, Tang Qingyun sighed. "Hao Hao, I don’t care how you act outside, but you can’t be so cold to your own family."

Tang Haocheng looked at his father with an innocent expression. "But I’m always like this. Is that really being cold? What am I supposed to do, then?"

Tang Qingyun was speechless.

Back in Wancheng, there was nothing particularly urgent to attend to. However, as a leading cadre, Tang Qingyun had to set an example. This involved various social obligations, interacting with the public, and attending several meetings. After about a week of this, work at his government office stabilized. Tang Qingyun then found a spare moment and took Tang Haocheng by train to the county in H Province where Wu Xiaofeng lived. They only had four days for the entire round trip, so it would truly be a fleeting visit—they likely wouldn’t even have much time to talk.

Tang Qingyun was also eager to make the trip. It wasn’t just Tang Haocheng who wanted to meet Mo Xiaoman. ’She’s my own biological daughter, after all,’ he thought. ’If it weren’t for all of Wu Xiaowen’s anxieties, we would have met her long ago.’

Tang Qingyun had intended to call Wu Xiaofeng beforehand, but Tang Haocheng reminded him that his uncle would certainly tell Wu Xiaowen. If he didn’t want his wife’s imagination to run wild and fill her with anxiety, it was best not to say anything at all.

Wu Xiaofeng and Yu Min were stunned to see the father and son suddenly appear at their doorstep. Wu Meini, on the other hand, was delighted, grabbing Tang Haocheng’s hand and jumping up and down with excitement.

Wu Xiaofeng and his wife were doctors at the local commune’s health clinic. They had been allocated a room and a half in a long, tile-roofed brick building. Their main room, divided into two sections, was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight square meters. They had also built their own kitchen and bathroom in the open area in front. For a family of three, it was relatively spacious, so they had no trouble housing "Mo Xiaoman" when she came to live with them.

When Tang Qingyun and his son saw this "Mo Xiaoman," they both fell silent for a long moment. Tang Haocheng didn’t know what his father was thinking, but he himself was skeptical. ’Tang Yaxuan doesn’t really look like a member of the Tang family, but this girl in front of me doesn’t either!’

In any case, he felt no sense of kinship toward her.

’Then again,’ he mused, ’perhaps feelings aren’t reliable. After all, I never felt any sense of rejection toward Tang Yaxuan. I just accepted her as my biological sister all this time.’

This "Mo Xiaoman" was a great disappointment to Tang Haocheng.

’Her features were ruined. Her face is so ugly,’ he thought. ’If I had to take her out in public and introduce her as my sister... I honestly don’t think I’d have the courage.’

’But if she really is my sister, I’ll have to acknowledge her regardless!’

Upon seeing strangers, the young girl was at first just shy and uneasy. But when she heard Tang Qingyun introduce himself as Mo Xiaoman’s biological father, she instantly became terrified. She began to tremble violently, her words came out in a stutter, and she refused to lift her head to look at them again.

Tang Qingyun led "Mo Xiaoman" to a chair and tried to comfort her with gentle words, asking her all sorts of questions. The girl only responded with nods or shakes of her head. Finally, she turned to face the wall and began to cry, clearly unwilling to speak any further.

Tang Qingyun felt a pang of sadness. Wu Xiaofeng tried to smooth things over. "It’s natural to get overwhelmed. Seeing her closest kin for the first time... it’s normal for her to be emotional."

Standing to the side, Tang Haocheng frowned. ’If only there were some instrument or method to prove a blood relationship,’ he thought.

After a quick lunch at Wu Xiaofeng’s home, the father and son hurried to catch their train back to Wancheng.

On the train, Tang Haocheng asked Tang Qingyun, "Dad, do you feel like she’s your daughter?"

Tang Qingyun mulled it over for a moment before asking in return, "What do you think?"

"I don’t think she is."

"How so? I thought her face shape was rather like your mother’s. And her build, so slender and straight—isn’t that a bit like you?"

Tang Haocheng was at a loss for words. "Anyone my age who isn’t overweight has that kind of build. Her face is an oval shape, which is also very common. Even though her features are ruined and her eyes and mouth are distorted, you can still see her general appearance. Why don’t you compare her to me? Is there even a hint of resemblance? Her nose and eyebrows weren’t affected. I don’t know about her eyebrows, but she has a flat nose. Does anyone in our family have a flat nose?"

Tang Qingyun exhaled a cloud of smoke. Tang Haocheng recoiled against the train window in disgust. With a small smile, Tang Qingyun reached out and patted his son’s cheek. "You know," he said, "I once saw a girl who looked exactly like one of us. It’s a shame she’s not from Ping County..."

Tang Haocheng’s eyes lit up. "Dad, are you talking about Brother Shaolian’s sister? I remember now, it’s her! The moment I saw her, I thought she looked just like me!"

Tang Qingyun stared at Tang Haocheng in astonishment. "What did you say? Brother Shaolian’s sworn little sister? She looks like you?"

"Yes! You made me apologize to her, and she still slapped me!" Tang Haocheng sounded aggrieved. It was the first time in his life he had ever been hit.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.