Claiming Kinship

"Xiao Fei, good evening. Have you eaten yet?"

The kind and amiable voice of Shen Jianshan came from the other end of the phone.

The old director had long reached retirement age, but unable to set his mind at ease regarding the children, he had continued to diligently manage the orphanage's affairs over the years.

"I'm eating right now, Director. The expansion of the orphanage should be almost finished, right? Is there a problem somewhere?" Qin Fei asked.

"No, no, the construction has been progressing well and is almost wrapping up. Xiao Fei, on behalf of the children, I want to thank you and your brother."

The old director spoke earnestly. After a brief pause, he continued, "The thing is, I'm calling you today because there's something I need to inform you about."

"We think we've found your parents..."

Hearing the voice on the phone, Qin Fei froze, her chopsticks slipping from her hand and clattering to the floor. It took her quite a while to react. "Director... is... is what you're saying true?"

As she spoke, her eyes grew moist, tears welling up within them.

"It's true. Every child who has stayed in our orphanage has left behind something for DNA matching, and you and your brother are no exception. Just two days ago, a middle-aged couple came looking. We gave them a strand of hair you left behind back then for them to do a paternity test..."

Shen Jianshan explained the entire process in detail.

After listening, Qin Fei took a deep breath and replied, "Alright... okay... then I'll head over there tomorrow... yes, I'll go in the morning!"

After a few more words, she finally hung up the phone.

Qin Ning and the others had also put down their chopsticks and were looking at her.

Qin Fei then recounted everything Shen Jianshan had said on the phone, word for word, to Qin Ning and the rest.

"This is a good thing. Why are you crying?"

Qin Ning smiled and wiped away her tears, feeling a pang of heartache for her.

The two had grown up together in the orphanage. Although Qin Ning and Qin Fei were not biological siblings, they had depended on each other for survival for many years.

Now, learning that Qin Fei had likely found her biological parents, Qin Ning was naturally happy for her.

"Yes, Xiao Fei, this is a great thing. You should be happy," Su Xingwan and the others gathered around to comfort her.

Qin Fei took a deep breath. "I'm not unhappy, it's just... suddenly getting news about my parents... it caught me off guard. Plus, I have absolutely no impression of them and don't know them at all... I'm scared..."

"Most importantly, I want to know why they abandoned me back then."

At this point, tears streamed down from her eyes once again.

...

The next day, early in the morning.

Qin Ning and his group took a commercial van and arrived at the orphanage gates bright and early.

Just as they stepped out of the vehicle, they saw Director Shen Jianshan already waiting there.

Behind him stood a middle-aged couple, looking to be around fifty, though their heads were already full of white hair.

The couple was dressed very plainly, looking like authentic farmers.

Upon spotting Qin Fei in the crowd, the middle-aged woman couldn't hold back her tears. She walked toward Qin Fei, reaching out for a hug.

Qin Fei instinctively wanted to dodge, but ultimately she didn't pull away. Instead, she also reached out and embraced the woman.

"Xiao Fei..."

At this moment, the middle-aged man also walked over, his eyes equally moist.

His legs seemed impaired; his right leg appeared injured, causing him to limp as he walked.

"Dad... Mom..."

After taking a deep breath, Qin Fei finally called out the two words she had never spoken since she was a child.

On the way here, she had thought a lot.

What she wanted to know most was why her parents had abandoned her back then.

She desperately wanted to interrogate them.

But upon actually meeting them and seeing their current state, Qin Fei simply couldn't bear to blame them for anything.

Perhaps she hadn't truly been abandoned after all.

There was very likely some hidden hardship behind it all.

"Xiao Fei, let's go sit inside the orphanage for a bit. We can talk slowly once we sit down," Shen Jianshan said.

"Okay."

Qin Fei agreed, and then entered the orphanage with everyone else.

Inside an office, the group took their seats.

Afterward, Qin Fei's parents began to recount the events of the past.

Her father, Tang Zhengwei, and mother, Sun Qiuqiong, were both genuine farmers from the neighboring Shuishan City.

Back then, Sun Qiuqiong gave birth to Qin Fei in Liu City. After a smooth delivery, the couple stayed in the hospital for only a few days before preparing to return to Shuishan City.

Unexpectedly, they ran into a thug at the train station.

It was a chaotic era. The thug not only robbed them of all their money but also snatched their daughter.

Tang Zhengwei's leg was injured during his struggle against the thug, leaving him crippled to this day.

Although the thug was quickly caught, while fleeing from the police, he couldn't run fast enough while carrying Qin Fei, so he casually tossed her away in some unknown location.

The police later searched along the thug's escape route multiple times, but they were unable to find Qin Fei.

Tang Zhengwei and his wife never gave up searching for their child over the years. Who could have known that this search would last for twenty years!

Combined with Director Shen's description, it was revealed that Qin Fei had been dropped off by a young couple when she was nearly a year old.

That couple were just ordinary workers. They claimed to have found Qin Fei by the roadside and originally wanted to raise her, but later, due to factory layoffs, their lives became difficult.

Left with no choice, they could only send Qin Fei to the orphanage.

After learning the entire story, Qin Fei cried.

To her, as long as she wasn't abandoned, everything else was acceptable.

The family of three hugged each other and cried for a long time.

Qin Ning stepped forward and said, "Xiao Fei, it's almost noon. The director has had some food prepared, let's go eat something first."

"Okay."

Qin Fei nodded. Finally coming back to her senses, she hurriedly introduced him to Tang Zhengwei and his wife, "Dad, Mom, this is my brother, Qin Ning. We grew up together in the orphanage. After leaving, we continued to rely on each other to survive up until now. Over the years, my brother has helped me a lot."

"Good, good..."

Tang Zhengwei and Sun Qiuqiong excitedly shook Qin Ning's hand. "Xiao Ning, thank you. Thank you for taking care of Xiao Fei all these years. Since you are Xiao Fei's brother, from now on, you are our child too."

"Uh..."

Qin Ning was taken aback, feeling somewhat like he was being taken advantage of.

However, he still smiled and called out, "Dad, Mom."

"Ah, good, good!"

The couple responded happily and then said, "Let's go, we'll eat first and talk while we eat."

"No rush."

Qin Ning smiled and glanced at Tang Zhengwei's leg. "Dad, your leg is inconvenient. I'll treat it for you first. It won't be too late to eat after it's healed."