Natural Disaster: Back to the End of the World

Part 30

At night, Grandma called Yao Ziqing into her room. Seeing her grown-up grandson, the old woman was deeply moved. Her weathered hands, rough with calluses, gently caressed Yao Ziqing's cheek. The rough texture was surprisingly comforting to him, bringing warmth from the heart.

Yao Ziqing wrapped his arms around the old woman's waist, resting his head on her embrace, and affectionately called out, "Grandma." The old woman patted his back gently. "You're all grown up now, still clinging to Grandma. Si'er has grown up too. Grandma is old and doesn't know if she'll ever see little Si'er's future."

Yao Ziqing's heart ached at his grandmother's wish, knowing it might never come true. He smiled and changed the subject, saying, "Grandma, you're not old. You'll live to be a hundred, a thousand, even ten thousand years old!"

The old woman laughed and tapped him playfully. "Then I'd be an old witch!"

After a bit more chatting and laughing, the old woman's expression grew serious. Looking at Yao Ziqing, her eyes were filled with so many emotions that it made him feel uneasy. "Grandma?"

Looking at Si'er's delicate features, the old woman seemed to see the grand mansion of their past, full of luxury and opulence from a turbulent era.

When she was just five or six years old, she had lost her parents in the chaos and wandered with no place to stay, always hungry and anxious about the uncertain future. Unexpectedly, she was taken in by Madam Yao of the prominent Yao family. The Yao family had been a scholarly clan for generations, a prestigious family with a history spanning hundreds of years.

Even today, she still remembered the first time she entered the Yao family. She saw the Seventh Young Master of the Yao family, elegant and refined, in a courtyard full of flowers. When he smiled as Madam Yao led her in, the vibrant colors seemed to fade in his smile. That moment was unforgettable for her.

She had witnessed his rise to greatness and his decline, like a flower withering at its peak, leaving a lifetime of regret.

The Yao family, known for its scholarly heritage, was harshly criticized during that time. The priceless treasures accumulated over generations were destroyed beyond recognition. A hundred-year-old family, once so noble, fell into ruin, evoking deep sorrow.

At the age of nine, she was adopted as a ward by the Fifth Madame of the Yao family, who had no children of her own. Seeing her beauty and cleverness, the Madame took her in, and the following year, the Madame had a son. Although they now had a biological son, they continued to care for her deeply. At that time, the Seventh Young Master became her little uncle.

As the world became increasingly chaotic, the Yao family's once-glorious past turned into a death knell. Her adoptive father decided to leave with her, her adoptive mother, and less than two-year-old Yao Haoran, to escape from the family's once-great but now crumbling estate.

They moved far away, living a life less luxurious than before but at least stable. They didn't know that after they left, the Yao family would quickly fall apart. Around the time Yao Haoran turned ten, her little uncle, now in poor health despite being only thirty, came to find them.

The once-elegant little uncle, now worn and frail, was brought to them. Without the wooden box that carried the Yao family's legacy, her adoptive father wouldn't have believed he was the same Seventh Brother who once held the family's hopes.

Yao Haoran was still young, so the adoptive mother sent them away. She heard the old man's anguished cries and saw his fearful, desperate eyes. Alarmed, she quickly took Yao Haoran and left. Later, her adoptive parents passed away, and her adoptive father entrusted her with the wooden box on his deathbed, urging her never to let it be seen again.