“Yes…”
Song Jinning was still a little uncomfortable talking about it. She reminded Huo Shaoheng gently, “It’s enough for me that you know about this, so don’t tell anyone else. Although your Uncle is now gone, your Aunt and Cousin are still here. They’ll be sad if they find out. Also, I shouldn’t be talking about others behind their back. Even though Bai Jinyi kept bothering your Uncle, she never crossed the line. She’d always liked to save face and would have never humiliated herself in public. So it’s better that you pretend to not know anything.”
Huo Shaoheng was completely overwhelmed. He began to rub his temples and considered her request before finally saying, “Aunt is no longer here.”
Song Jinning blinked, staring blankly at Huo Shaoheng, “No longer here? What do you mean? Has she remarried?”
If Huo Shaoheng’s uncle, Huo Guanyuan, had passed away 16 years ago, then it wouldn’t have been unlikely for his wife to have remarried. After all, he had already died and the living had to continue on with their own lives. In this day and age, women no longer had to remain widows forever.
“No… she committed suicide ten years ago.” Huo Shaoheng awkwardly shifted in his seat. And the direct cause of death, is related to Song Jinning, Huo Shaoheng thought. Or that was all that they supposed anyway; those love letters… He had initially thought that the matter was very simple and could be explained concisely, but when he got to this particular part, he felt the story snowball so much that he couldn’t explain anything properly right now.
However, if he didn’t tell her now, Song Jinning would continue to remain in a passive position. As for Huo Shaoheng, he wouldn’t allow his mother to continue being deceived.
“Suicide?!” Song Jinning covered her mouth, her misty eyes brimming with tears. “I don’t believe it! Tell me, why did your Aunt commit suicide? Had someone in the Huo family gossiped about her?”
“Gossip?” Huo Shaoheng frowned, his lips pressed tightly together as he gazed stoically at the instruments on Song Jinning’s operating chair. He avoided her gaze and said, his voice a faint whisper, “What do you mean?”
Song Jinning leaned back against the operating chair and exhaled sharply. She spoke with great regret, “What happened in the last 16 years?” She had been saddened enough by Huo Guanchen divorcing her while she’d been ill. However, she had never imagined that there was more sad news to come. “Elder Brother and Elder Sister are gone just like that?” Song Jinning sighed, closing her eyes as a few tears seeped out. “Compared to them, my situation with your father is not all that bad. At least we are still alive, but they have already left this world.”
Hearing Song Jinning say this, Huo Shaoheng finally sighed in relief. He truly hadn’t misjudged his mother. This was a woman who had been determined to be a scientist ever since she was young; love had never been the predominant aspect in her life. So it should be fine if he continued on, Huo Shaoheng believed. Although, If it had not been for this matter being related to his parents, Huo Shaoheng wouldn’t have hesitated to drag Gu Nianzhi over to speak on his behalf.
“Aunt committed suicide because she found love letters Uncle wrote to another woman.” Huo Shaoheng blurted out before he became too embarrassed to say it. “16 years ago, the year that Uncle passed away, the military had returned Uncle’s things to Aunt. It was then that Aunt found the love letters.to They hadn’t been addressed for her, but for… another woman. Six years later, she chose to end her own life.”
“Love letters?” Song Jinning opened her eyes in confusion, “When were they written?”
“Intermittently over a few years.” Huo Shaoheng said crisply. “If Mother is interested, I can show them all to you.” He only had in his possession the letter that read, “Locking our tear filled eyes, I regret not meeting you before becoming betrothed.” He had originally planned to have Song Jinning look at the handwriting when she woke.
Song Jinning still hadn’t realized it was related to her and waved her hand dismissively. “There’s no need.” She paused before continuing to ask, “You mean to say then, that your Aunt couldn’t accept that your Uncle had loved someone else and so she’d chosen to commit suicide?”
“Yes. That’s the gist of it.” Huo Shaoheng turned away, his face numb but sighing with relief internally. It had been difficult recounting this embarrassing situation.
“I had never thought that Luo Xinxue would go to that extent for your Uncle.” Song Jinning sighed deeply as she recalled Elder Sister’s face. She had been a classic Jiangnan beauty, with milky skin and a small figure. She had very virtuous and obedient to Huo Guanyuan, never even raising her voice at him. She had been Grandmother Huo’s favourite daughter-in-law and had received praise for having all the traditional virtues of a Huaxia woman.
However, Song Jinning began to feel dubious, “Your Uncle wasn’t that kind of person. He would never betray your Aunt. As for the love letters, who hadn’t loved someone in their youth? Who doesn’t have a few unsent love letters? How many people are actually lucky enough to stay together with their first love? These were just relics of youth and frivolity, so I really can’t believe that your Aunt wouldn’t understand this. As a matter of fact—” Song Jinning suddenly closed her mouth; she sensed that she was revealing too much.
Huo Shaoheng had been listening to this with a frown. His mother was implying something, so it looked like he would have to tell her the rest. ” These love letters are very important. Aunt’s suicide, and Father’s divorce with Mother, was all because of Uncle’s love letters. As for Mother, you also apparently wrote him back as well. The letter had read, ‘Locking our tear filled eyes, I regret not meeting you before becoming betrothed.'” Huo Shaoheng finished speaking and took out the letter signed by Song Jinning to place before her.
“What on earth?!” Song Jinning’s face turned red with anger and embarrassment. “Nonsense! I can’t even make sense of this. Who has said such a ridiculous lie?”
Her hands trembled as she took the letter from Huo Shaoheng. As soon as she saw the handwriting, her head was filled with a sudden buzzing and her mind began to swim. On the piece of paper was truly her own writing. But she couldn’t remember ever writing these words. “How can this be? This letter isn’t even addressed to anyone, yet how was it proven that I wrote it to your Uncle?” Song Jinning coughed, then patted her chest to soothe her breathing and quell her anger. “I’ve steered clear of literature and poetry ever since I was young. I had only ever been interested in math and science. Who had the ability to make me write such flowery words?”
“Mother…You really never wrote this?” Huo Shaoheng raised his brows at Song Jinning, keenly aware of a key aspect—Song Jining hadn’t denied the authenticity of the letter, but had said that she hadn’t recognize the sentence. Meaning that someone else had made her write it.
“What I’m saying is that even if I had written this, it still doesn’t definitively prove anything. It’s preposterous to assume so.” Song Jinning gave a low groan of frustration. “Your father divorced me from just seeing this letter?! Is that the case? Just one sentence, and he assumed I’d been cheating?!”
“That… I’m not too sure about.” He was having a tough time sorting through the years of secrecy and drama that was coming to light. He rose from his seat. “Mother, I have to go out for a bit. Do you want to rest alone, or should I bring Nianzhi to come and stay with you?”