Rebirth: CEO's Sweetheart Reaches the Life Pinnacle!-Chapter 84 - 81 Tian Yaruo

Li Si had never experienced motherly love since she was young, and her longing for a mother had always been there. As a child, whenever she saw her classmates being picked up by their moms after school, she envied them to the point of heartbreak.

Especially back then, it wasn’t common to buy ready-made sweaters; everyone knit their own. She envied those classmates who wore sweaters hand-knitted by their moms the most, thinking they must feel incredibly warm.

The most unforgettable memory from all these years was of her elementary school desk mate, Wang Zhiqing, a pretty little girl. Every time Wang Zhiqing opened her pencil case, it was filled with neatly sharpened pencils! She always boasted proudly, saying her mom had sharpened them for her!

"Mom!" This term was something Li Si cried out countless times when she was sick or sad. But her father was the only one by her side. Now, to complicate matters even further, she was being told that even her father wasn’t actually her biological father! Could the woman in front of her possibly be her mother? If so, why did this woman give birth to her but refuse to keep her?

Leng Mochen gently wrapped his arms around Li Si. "Little girl, don’t be sad. The truth behind everything hasn’t been fully unraveled yet. I think we should personally make a trip to uncover more about your father and that woman. No matter what happens, you’ll always have Brother Leng by your side!"

Li Si nodded resolutely. She had to be strong. No matter what the outcome might be, at least she still had Brother Leng with her!

After a bumpy journey, Li Si and Leng Mochen finally met Zhang Tianbao.

He was a thin and dark man in his middle years, with a weariness etched into his eyebrows and eyes that carried the weight of life’s hardships.

The moment Zhang Tianbao saw Li Si, his eyes widened in disbelief. "You look so much like Guoqiang’s mouth and jaw—it’s uncanny!"

Immediately, he noticed his own slip and his expression turned sorrowful. "Child, are you the one Xiao Jiang told me about? Your father Guoqiang and I were the closest of friends during school! Who would’ve thought he’d pass away at such a young age? Heaven truly envies talent. What’s your name?"

"Uncle Zhang, nice to meet you. My name is Li Si. This is my Brother Leng." Li Si scanned the small house, which was less than 40 square meters and quite rundown. The conditions didn’t seem good. The walls had turned yellow with age, and the windows were framed with old wooden casements. Several picture frames hung on the walls, containing images of both elderly and younger people—presumably his family.

"Then it all matches!" Zhang Tianbao sank deep into thought. Soon, he got up and pulled open the drawer of a nearby desk, retrieving an old, yellowed black-and-white photograph.

Li Si took the photo, and seeing it like this had an even stronger impact than viewing it on a computer screen. Her father had been extraordinarily handsome when he was young, with a square face and large eyes that suited the aesthetic standards of that era.

The woman wore two braided pigtails, her bangs seemingly deliberately curled. Her smooth forehead and delicate features were indeed somewhat similar to Li Si’s.

Zhang Tianbao appeared full of vigor in his youth. His eyes carried a bold, ambitious energy!

Li Si gently ran her fingers over her father’s brows and eyes in the photograph, then slid her hand lightly to the woman’s face, as if she could feel her mother’s appearance this way. Pointing at the photo, she asked, "What’s her name?"

Zhang Tianbao replied, "Child, her name is Tian Yaruo!"

"Tian Yaruo?" Li Si murmured. So this was her mother’s name? How beautiful—Yaruo, Zhiruo—such literary elegance. It seemed her mother came from a good family!

"Yes, she was the youngest in our class back then, beautiful, from a good family, and had a great personality! Many boys in class liked her, but ultimately, she fell in love with your father in secret!"

Zhang Tianbao’s face carried a nostalgic expression. The events from back then seemed like they had taken place just yesterday, but now everything had changed beyond recognition. Who could have guessed that Guoqiang, in his forties, would pass away so soon?

"Sigh, life is truly unpredictable, full of twists and turns!"

Li Si forced her saddened emotions down. "Uncle Zhang, do you know where she is now? Did you stay in contact after graduation?"

She was desperate to find this woman. She needed to know what her mother had been doing all these years, and whether she had ever spared a thought for the daughter she left behind.

Zhang Tianbao shook his head. "After graduation, I returned to my hometown. Your father and I only exchanged one letter. In it, he mentioned that he had returned to his village alone with you. Tian Yaruo, though, disappeared completely—no news at all! We lost touch later on too."

"Then, Uncle Zhang, do you know who Tian Yaruo had me with?" Li Si struggled to ask, her voice trembling. She dearly hoped she was their child.

"What? What kind of question is that, child? Aren’t you trying to find your mother? Of course, you’re Guoqiang and Tian Yaruo’s child!" Zhang Tianbao looked utterly confused. Why would this girl even doubt such a thing? It was incomprehensible!

Li Si froze, then suddenly asked, brimming with joy, "I really am my father and mother’s child?"

"Of course!"

"But my grandma says I’m an adopted child my father brought back!" Li Si felt as though a weight had been lifted from her heart. Knowing the truth made her indifferent to whatever the Li family might say. As long as she was her father’s daughter, nothing else mattered!

"Guoqiang’s mother said that? That doesn’t make any sense! Sigh, actually, there’s more to this story. Your parents privately pledged themselves to each other when they were young. You were conceived just before graduation. I was thrilled when I heard that—we all were. But then, your mother’s family refused to let her marry a poor boy from the countryside..." Zhang Tianbao delved deeper into his memories as he spoke.

What a cliché plot—Tian Yaruo, a scholarly family’s daughter, fell in love with Guoqiang, a poor rural boy. The two pledged lifelong devotion and secretly consummated their love. Who would’ve thought that Yaruo would quickly become pregnant? As graduation loomed, the pair were elated and planned to marry.

But the Tian family strongly opposed the union, insisting that Yaruo break up with Guoqiang and terminate the pregnancy so she could marry into a wealthier family.

The couple ultimately eloped to another place. Guoqiang worked hard to support their family, and they lived happily. They thought they would continue this way, but misfortune struck within a year of the child’s birth. The Tian family found them and forcefully took Yaruo away. Guoqiang was left heartbroken, carrying one-year-old Li Si back to his hometown alone.

After listening to Zhang Tianbao’s account, Li Si was silent for a long time. She thought back to Grandma Li’s unwavering declaration on her birthday that she wasn’t her father’s child—it was truly exasperating.

Really, was there such a grandmother in the world?

"Child, Guoqiang’s mother actually said that?" Zhang Tianbao was utterly astonished. Guoqiang had been an upright man—how could his mother possibly do such a thing?

"Yes. Oh, Uncle Zhang, do you still have the letter my father wrote you back then? Could I make a copy of it to take with me?" Li Si thought of how she could prove she was her father’s daughter.

"I do. Give me a moment, child—I’ll look for it!" Saying this, he entered the bedroom and spent some time rummaging around before returning with an opened envelope.

The stamp on the envelope had been torn off. He pulled out the neatly folded letter inside, its corners curled and some folds beginning to tear.

It was clear Zhang Tianbao often took out the letter to read. The handwriting was strong and dynamic; her father had practiced clerical script. Li Si skimmed the letter’s content.

The letter did indeed state that Li Guoqiang had written to Zhang Tianbao about having a daughter with Tian Yaruo, nicknamed Tiantian.

As they left Zhang Tianbao’s home, Li Si quietly left 50,000 yuan behind for him, hoping it might help her father’s former friend a little. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote with recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation! Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)