Spring River Chasing the Moon

When Luo Zhong woke up, night had already fallen. He looked out the window. For the first time, he felt the loneliness in his heart, as if he had always had a seed called "loneliness" in the depths of his soul since he was a child. At this moment, this seed broke through the ground and sprouted a little.

He raised his hands to rub his eyes, then sat up and prepared to get up.

"Dad, you're awake."

Luo Youyou just came in from outside and was about to call Luo Zhong for dinner, but she didn't expect that he had already woken up.

"Ah."

Luo Zhong's voice was still a little hoarse because he had just woken up.

Luo Youyou stepped forward and stood beside the bed, reaching out to hug him, "Dad, are you unhappy?"

Perhaps she thought too simply, always thinking that returning to the Nan family was something to be happy about. She did not consider deeply that it was not easy for her father to accept that the parents he had believed in since childhood were not his biological children. He also had to face the fact that he was maliciously replaced. This was too cruel for her father who had been kind and filial since childhood.

When Luo Zhong heard his daughter's small voice and was worried about her own mood, he choked up instantly.

"No, Daddy is not unhappy. Daddy is just too tired and didn't sleep well."

Luo Zhong didn't want to show his bad mood in front of his daughter, for fear that she would be affected by him, but he couldn't help but stretch out his hands and hug Luo Youyou in his arms.

"As long as Youyou is by Dad's side, Dad is already very satisfied."

Luo Youyou felt the trembling in Luo Zhong's voice, and she also wanted to cry. She raised her hands, hugged Luo Zhong's neck, and leaned on his shoulder.

"Dad, I will always be with you, and so will Mom, and Grandpa and Grandma. We all love you very much."

Luo Youyou's words moved Luo Zhong deeply, and the father and daughter comforted each other in the night.

"Dad, in this life, I will never let anyone bully our family again."

Luo Youyou thought silently in his heart.

After dinner, Luo Zhong was about to return to the northern suburbs. Luo Youyou hugged him tightly and didn't want to separate.

"Yes, I'll spend more time with you next time Dad is on vacation, okay?"

Luo Zhong felt helpless, but more distressed. Since his daughter grew up, he had not been able to accompany her for a long time because of his job.

Luo Youyou knew the special nature of her father's job, but this time she just didn't want to be separated from her father so soon, and didn't want him to endure it alone in the army. But she couldn't really stay with Luo Zhong, after all, the army has its own discipline.

Luo Youyou could only nod slightly in Luo Zhong's arms, "Dad, you must miss you every day. I will be a good boy at home."

Luo Youyou said with red eyes.

Luo Zhong touched her little face and nodded to agree with her.

"Mom and Dad, I'm going home."

Luo Zhong hugged Luo Youyou and said goodbye to Chen Ze and Li Muzhi.

Then he looked at Chen Lili again, reluctantly saying, "Let's go..."

Chen Lili nodded. She also wanted to stay with Luo Zhong for a few more days, but she was too embarrassed to express it in front of her parents.

-

Wednesday.

Today is Luo Zhong’s real birthday, and also Nan Younian’s birthday.

Early in the morning at the Nan family's house, the aunt cooked a bowl of longevity noodles for Nan Younian as per the custom in previous years, and brought it to him on the dining table when he got up.

"Happy birthday, Younian."

"Auntie, where are my parents?" Nan Younian was eating noodles and looked around. He found that no one was at home except his aunt.

"The chief and the professor left early in the morning."

Nan Younian paused with his hand holding the chopsticks. He didn't expect that his parents were really not at home, and they left so early without even seeing them.

"Where did they go?"

Nan Younian pretended to be nonchalant, but only he knew that he was not in the mood to eat even this bowl of longevity noodles at the moment.

The aunt shook her head, indicating that she didn't know.

Even if she knew, she couldn't discuss the affairs of the leaders at home. Even if Nan Younian was their son, it would still be the same. She knew clearly who hired her.

"But Professor Zhu said that a private room has been reserved for dinner at Yanxinzhai. The food there is your favorite. It's reserved for 7 o'clock. Don't forget it then."

After the aunt finished explaining what Zhu Yuying said, she went back to the kitchen to tidy up.

Nan Younian felt better after hearing this. He thought his mother had booked a restaurant and was waiting for him to come back in the evening to have dinner together.

What he didn't expect was that Nanzhou Yue and Zhu Yuying had already arrived in the northern suburbs, preparing to celebrate Luo Zhong's birthday.

They had planned long ago that they must come to see Luo Zhong today. They thought about it and decided to ask Luo Zhong if he was willing first. If he was willing, they would meet and have a good chat.

If Luo Zhong didn't want to, they would still come, but they would not disturb him, just take a quick look at him and leave.

Unexpectedly, Chen Ze called and asked them to take the initiative to find Luo Zhong. He also told them that Luo Zhong really wanted to see them, but was a little nervous, so it would be better for them to go directly without telling him.

"Zhou Yue, what should we say when we see him later? Will he be unhappy?"

In the northern suburbs, in the regiment commander's office, Zhou Xin learned that Nanzhou Yue was looking for Luo Zhong. Although he didn't know what the relationship between Luo Zhong and Nanzhou Yue was, he didn't dare to ask too much. He just asked them to sit in his office first and he would go find Luo Zhong.

Zhu Yuying had never been so nervous before. She was afraid that Luo Zhong would be unhappy with their sudden arrival.

Although Nanzhou Yue seemed calm, he was no less panicked than Zhu Yuying.

But he still held Zhu Yuying's hand and comforted her.

"Didn't Professor Chen say that he's willing? So as long as we're sincere, I believe the child will be able to sense it."

Zhu Yuying nodded listlessly, not knowing whether she had heard what Nanzhou Yue said.

"He's suffered a lot since he was a child, so it's normal for him to feel a little bit resistant. He's also afraid that we might treat him badly like that woman."

Nanzhou Yue slowly analyzed the situation to Zhu Yuying.

"I know, I just feel bad for our children. They've suffered so much, and now they have to endure this."

Zhu Yuying felt very upset. After they did the paternity test, they asked their acquaintances in Haicheng to find out everything about the Luo family.

Every piece of news they received was more heartbreaking than the last.

"Luo Zhong is the third child in his family. He has an older sister and an older brother, both of whom have already started their own families. Of the three children, Luo Zhong is the least favored."

"Luo Zhong's sister is a dance teacher, and her husband is an ordinary worker. After her sister got married, she rarely returned home. It was said that this was because her husband had a strong personality and was difficult to get along with, and he didn't like her sister to come back to her parents' home."

"His brother Luo Tian is a more complicated person. He works in sales at a shopping mall, hangs out with a mixed crowd every day, and his private life isn't entirely clean either."

"Luo Zhong's father, Luo Jiasheng, was the best person in the family to him, but Luo Jiasheng was away from home in the army all year round, so the family was always managed by Yang Qian."

"According to what we learned in their village, Yang Qian has always treated Luo Zhong badly. Growing up, Luo Zhong was never as good as his good-for-nothing brother, especially when he was a kid. Whether he made a mistake or not, Luo Zhong was the one who got beaten."

"After they got married, Luo Zhong also gave all his money to Yang Qian, saying it was to supplement the family expenses, but the money ended up in the hands of his older brother and sister."

……

"As for the hospital back then, we tracked down the doctors and nurses who worked there. Because it's been so long, they don't remember much about what happened. However, one young nurse remembered that despite the chaos, the babies' birth times were all a few minutes apart. As an assistant, she wrapped the newborns in different colored blankets and attached name cards. The nurse explained that this was something their head nurse had arranged in advance to prevent this from happening. She also marked the name cards with the blanket color and the parents' names, so there wouldn't be any mistakes."

"Finally, based on the blood sample provided and the sample we collected from Luo Jiasheng, we confirmed the father-son relationship."

Zhu Yuying will always remember how angry she was after hearing these words. Anger was not enough to express her emotions. She wanted to rush to Haicheng and kill that woman.

Nanzhou Yue was in the same mood. No one in his life had ever dared to do anything in front of him. He secretly swore that he would never let this woman go.

After a while, the office door was opened and Zhou Xin led a young man in.