After returning home with the child, her ex-husband knelt down and gently coaxed her.

Pushing open a tightly closed door, a bright pink hue came into view.

Anning stood at the door, too shocked to speak.

The entire wall in the room was painted pink, exuding a girlish charm, and even the sheer curtains by the window were a mix of pink and light blue.

The large bed was covered with a pink velvet blanket and light blue plush pillows, and the soft, fragrant bed was filled with all kinds of plush dolls.

Besides the bed, the sofa, bookshelves, and wall shelves were also filled with dolls of all sizes.

"You loved these plush dolls when you were little. You would buy them whenever you went out," Jiang Xiaoshan said gently. "Your parents doted on you, and they bought you everything you wanted."

Anning looked at the room filled with girlish colors, and how it was spotless and clean everywhere, clearly indicating that someone regularly came to clean it.

"Your parents always believed you would come back, even before they passed away, they firmly believed that you would come home one day."

Jiang Xiaoshan choked up as she said, "So before she passed away, she told me to make sure your room was well-maintained, clean, and tidy, not messy, because she was afraid you would be unhappy and cry when you came back..."

Anning stood in the huge room, smelling the strange yet familiar scent in the air, and tears fell uncontrollably.

Even though she had never met her parents, she could imagine how much they loved her.

This kind of love was something she had never experienced in her twenty-odd years.

It was the love from her parents that she had always dreamed of.

"Xiaozhi," Jiang Xiaoshan asked her, "can you remember anything?"

Anning tried hard to remember, but couldn't recall anything.

I have absolutely no memories of my childhood.

Suddenly glancing at the photos displayed on the bookshelf, she walked over quietly, her eyes trembling.

The photo shows a couple posing together. Their eyes are gentle, their faces are smiling, and their expressions make you want to get close to them.

For some reason, Anning felt a sudden, heart-wrenching pain as she looked at the photo.

"This is the only photo your parents left behind."

Jiang Xiaoshan looked at An Ning, sobbing uncontrollably, "Your parents didn't even have a family photo of the three of you, all to protect you. Until you disappeared, they didn't even have a single picture to remember you by..."

"They loved spending time in your room when they were alive, so I thought I'd put a photo of the two of them together in your room, so that you can be considered reunited."

Anning's trembling hands caressed the two people in the photo. A torrent of emotions surged forth like a raging flood, and large tears dripped onto the photo frame. She burst into tears.

"Dad... Mom..."

"I am Jiang Zhi... your daughter..."

She clutched the photo to her chest, squatted down, and cried, her whole body trembling.

The sound of crying reached outside the door. Lu Xiyan leaned against the wall, his eyes dark red.

He wiped away the tears that fell, his heart aching as if being cut by a knife.

Jiang Xiaoshan gave An Ning some time alone. As she gently closed the door and left, the man happened to wipe the moisture from the corner of his eyes.

Lu Xiyan glanced at the person inside the room who was crying uncontrollably with red eyes, and said in a hoarse voice, "Aunt Jiang, may I speak to you in private?"

......

"You mean, you won't tell Xiaozhi her true background?" Jiang Xiaoshan looked at the man in front of her, "...keep it from her for the rest of her life?"

Lu Xiyan was silent for a few seconds, his eyes lowered slightly, "She had three sets of parents in her short life of just over twenty years, but only the two elders of the Jiang family treated her like their own daughter."

Lu Xiyan took a deep breath, his eyes reddening again, and his voice slightly hoarse, "Even though the two elders are gone, this love is precious to her, a healing balm. Let her be Jiang Zhi for the rest of her life."

He looked at Jiang Xiaoshan and said, "If she knew that she was not born to the Jiang family elders but was abandoned by her birth mother, it would be too cruel and unacceptable for her. I don't want to see her suffer these bad things anymore. I just want her to be happier. Please keep this secret, Aunt Jiang."

"In that case, I won't bring it up." Jiang Xiaoshan sighed deeply. "When my sister-in-law brought Xiaozhi back, she was less than half a month old. The other party also said that they would not come to claim kinship. In fact, this way, we don't have to worry about her birth mother coming to look for her."

"But her birth mother said she was never allowed to set foot in Jinghai..." She looked at Lu Xiyan, somewhat worried, "I never expected she would be abducted to Jinghai. Is it all preordained?"

"No, it's just a coincidence." Lu Xiyan glanced towards the room. The crying inside had stopped, but his heart was still not at peace.

After a moment's thought, he said, "As long as she doesn't know this secret, I won't let anyone find out about her background."

All she needs to know is that she is not without parental love, and that her biological parents love her very much.

......

The Jiang family's daughter was finally found after 23 years, a fortunate yet unfortunate turn of events.

Fortunately, it seems that everything was predestined, as Anning came to Dianhai on a business trip and, by chance, learned about the Jiang couple's search for their daughter.

Compared to the countless children around the world who have been abducted and taken to various corners of the world, enduring suffering and even losing their lives, she is the luckiest among these lost children.

Unfortunately, fate not only separated her from her parents for twenty-three years, but also for a lifetime.

The only time we'll meet again is at the cemetery.

Jiang Xiaoshan took her to the graves of Jiang Pei and Kong Yiyun to pay their respects. She said to the two black and white photos on the tombstone, "Brother, sister-in-law, I've brought Xiaozhi to you. If you have anything you want to say to her, see her in your dreams and let her remember things from her childhood as soon as possible."

Anning stayed in the cemetery for a long time that day. She had no memory of her parents, only a vague recollection of that dream.

Even in the fragmented and indistinct dreams, she could sense that her parents were very, very good people. So she wanted to stay in the cemetery a little longer, to spend more time with them.

"You're here on a business trip, shouldn't you be leaving?" Jiang Xiaoshan asked Lu Xiyan, looking at the peaceful figure standing before the grave.

Lu Xiyan also paid his respects to the Jiang couple and then stepped back to wait for Anning.

He gave a soft "hmm," and said, "I'm leaving the day after tomorrow morning."

Jiang Xiaoshan smiled and suggested, "Why don't you and Xiaozhi come over tomorrow, and we can have a meal together?"

"Okay." Lu Xiyan nodded. "Thank you, Aunt Jiang."

Jiang Xiaoshan suddenly turned to look at him, "In terms of our relationship, you should at least call me 'Auntie,' but you still call me 'Aunt Jiang'?"

Lu Xiyan smiled, turned his gaze from An Ning to Jiang Xiaoshan, and said, "Aunt."

Jiang Xiaoshan nodded in satisfaction, looked at the photo on the tombstone, and sighed, "If my older brother and sister-in-law knew that Xiaozhi has such a good home now, they would be so happy."