Chapter 237: Blood Is Thicker Than Water, Siblings Recognize Each Other!
“Do you smoke?”
Jiang Tao turned around and offered the cigarette case to Jia Feng, asking in a polite tone.
“No, thank you.”
Jia Feng waved his hand in refusal.
Ever since he decided to become a full-time marathon bounty hunter, he had quit smoking and drinking.
Smoking and drinking had a significant impact on his running performance.
*Click*
Jiang Tao took out a Zippo lighter, a gift from Xu Li, from his pocket and lit the cigarette in his hand. After taking a puff, he said calmly:
“Jia Feng, do you want to meet your birth mother and sister?”
“Ah? My birth mother and sister? You, you know my birth mother and sister?”
Jia Feng looked at Jiang Tao with astonishment, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Two years ago, when Jia Feng’s adoptive father was dying, perhaps out of guilt, he revealed the truth about Jia Feng’s origins.
Jia Feng was bought by his adoptive father from human traffickers for 2,000 yuan, with the intention of having him care for him in his old age.
However, life is unpredictable, and Jia Feng’s adoptive father died of liver cancer before he was even 60, before Jia Feng was old enough to care for him.
When his adoptive father bought Jia Feng, the human traffickers didn’t provide any other information, only saying he was from the north.
But the vastness of the country made “the north” too vague a range.
It provided no help for Jia Feng in finding his birth parents.
In the vast sea of people, finding one’s birth parents based solely on the words “the north” was almost a fantasy.
Initially, Jia Feng still held onto a sliver of hope.
He voluntarily went to the local police station and entered his data into the “National Anti-Trafficking DNA Database.”
However, two years passed without any progress.
Jia Feng gradually stopped paying attention to this matter and gradually gave up the idea of finding his relatives.
Today, he suddenly heard Jiang Tao say that he knew where his birth mother and sister were.
Jia Feng didn’t consider whether it was true or false, nor where Jiang Tao got the information from.
The longing in his heart to reunite with his family, which had haunted him for so long, was instantly magnified countless times!
“Mr. Jiang, you’re not joking with me, are you?”
Jia Feng looked at Jiang Tao, who was leisurely smoking in front of him, feeling that the matter was too sudden.
Before today, they had only met by chance.
They had only seen each other once during yesterday’s Health Run event.
Today, he suddenly found him and said he knew where his mother and sister were…
Although Jia Feng desperately wanted to meet his relatives, his mind remained rational and he continued to think.
“Of course, I’m not 100% sure that you will be a match.”
“You’ll have to get your DNA tested to know for sure.”
Jiang Tao flicked ash into a car ashtray he was holding, still wearing a calm smile.
“Without further ado, do you want to go meet them?”
Jiang Tao, not wanting to waste more words with Jia Feng, directly asked if he would go with him to see Bai Yulan.
Although Jia Feng had a hundred questions in his mind,
he didn’t want to miss the opportunity to reunite with his family.
Going to see them wouldn’t cost him anything.
At most, it would cost him some time.
What if…
What if he could actually find his birth mother and sister.
Then he wouldn’t be “alone in the world” anymore.
Honestly, growing up watching other children with their parents, while he only had an old father.
Jia Feng could only envy those who had both parents alive.
Now, learning that he might meet his birth mother.
Even if it was a misunderstanding, Jia Feng was willing to try.
The longing for family in his heart was something that people who grew up with both parents present couldn’t understand.
“Okay, I’ll go with you, but before we go, can I go down and say a few words to my master?”
Jia Feng nodded and agreed to go with Jiang Tao without much hesitation.
In a society governed by law, he didn’t think someone like Jiang Tao would plot anything against an ordinary person like him.
But it was still necessary to inform his master.
It’s better to be safe than sorry.
If anything unexpected happened, his master could also call the police for him.
“You can. Do as you please.”
Jiang Tao knew that Jia Feng didn’t trust him much, so he didn’t mind his cautious behavior.
“Thank you.”
After speaking, Jia Feng pushed the car door open and walked directly towards Fang Yunpeng, who was waiting nearby.
The master and disciple mumbled something to each other.
Jia Feng got back into Jiang Tao’s car.
Fang Yunpeng turned and went back into the hotel.
*Roar—*
With the roar of the V8 engine, the Mercedes-Benz G-Class started again.
Jiang Tao reversed out of the Home Inn Hotel and drove towards the White Magnolia Hotel.
“Mr. Jiang, how did you find me?”
After a few dozen seconds of silence, Jia Feng couldn’t help but ask the question that was on his mind.
“This question involves some confidential matters. You just need to know the process and see the result, what do you think?”
Jiang Tao replied calmly while driving.
“Oh, okay.”
Seeing that Jiang Tao was inconvenient to explain, Jia Feng didn’t press further and began to look forward to the scene of meeting his “sister” later.
In less than 10 minutes.
The Mercedes-Benz G-Class drove into the parking lot in front of the White Magnolia Hotel.
Under the enthusiastic direction of two security guards, Jiang Tao parked in a shaded parking space.
“Good morning, President Bai!”
“Good morning, President Bai!”
As soon as Jiang Tao got out of the car, the two security guards greeted him with bowing and smiles, very enthusiastically.
“Good morning.”
After greeting the two security guards in a friendly manner, Jiang Tao led Jia Feng directly towards the hotel’s main entrance.
“President Bai! You’re here! President Bai asked me to wait for you here.”
Wu Xiaolan, the client manager who had served Jiang Tao and his group several times before, saw Jiang Tao and Jia Feng and eagerly stepped forward to greet them.
While Wu Xiaolan greeted Jiang Tao with enthusiasm, her gaze also fell upon Jia Feng, who was standing beside him.
Although Jia Feng was utterly outmatched by Jiang Tao in every aspect when they stood together, he was still quite handsome.
Coupled with Jia Feng’s years of running, his tall and well-proportioned physique held some appeal for women.
Jia Feng saw how polite the parking lot security guards and the hotel client manager were to Jiang Tao.
He became even more convinced that Jiang Tao’s identity was unusual and that he wouldn’t harm him.
In other words, if people wanted to harm him, they wouldn’t need to do it themselves.
“Manager Wu, this is my friend Jia Feng. I’m bringing him to see Sister Bai.”
Jiang Tao introduced Jia Feng with a smile, feeling a touch of envy towards him.
Of course, it wasn’t envy of him being trafficked as a child, but envy of him having a good sister.
Given Bai Yulan’s net worth, status, assets, and her influence in Ping County.
If Jia Feng were to be recognized as her brother, he wouldn’t have to worry about anything for the rest of his life.
“Hello.”
Jia Feng greeted Wu Xiaolan with a slightly reserved expression.
“Hello, hello, please come with me.”
Wu Xiaolan smiled and greeted Jiang Tao and Jia Feng before leading them towards a nearby internal elevator.
After taking the elevator to the 5th floor and arriving outside Bai Yulan’s office, Wu Xiaolan knocked on the door.
*Knock, knock, knock—*
“Come in.”
Hearing Bai Yulan’s voice from inside, Wu Xiaolan gently pushed open the door and led Jiang Tao and Jia Feng in.
“Jiang Tao, you’re here. Huh, and who is this…”
Bai Yulan looked up and showed a confused expression upon seeing Jia Feng standing beside Jiang Tao.
“Hello, my name is Jia Feng.”
Jia Feng greeted Bai Yulan with a slightly nervous expression and introduced himself.
The moment he saw Bai Yulan, Jia Feng’s heart began to race with excitement.
Bai Yulan was undoubtedly the most beautiful and elegant woman he had ever seen in person.
And, from the looks of it, she was the boss of this seemingly high-end hotel?
Wealthy and beautiful, who wouldn’t want a sister like that!
“If she were really my sister, how wonderful that would be!”
At this moment, Jia Feng’s longing reached its peak!
“Hello Jia Feng, it’s nice to meet you, I’m Bai Yulan.”
Bai Yulan nodded and greeted Jia Feng, giving Jiang Tao face and introducing herself.
“Xiao Wu, you can go out now.”
Bai Yulan knew that Jiang Tao had brought Jia Feng today because he had something to discuss with her, so she waved Wu Xiaolan away.
“Okay, President Bai, call me if you need anything.”
Wu Xiaolan nodded in response, turned, and left the office, gently closing the door.
“Sister Bai, do you believe in fate?”
Jiang Tao plopped down on the guest sofa by the office wall, smiled at Bai Yulan, and got straight to the point.
“Oh? Fate?”
Bai Yulan’s gaze flickered between Jiang Tao and Jia Feng, still not quite grasping the meaning of Jiang Tao’s words.
Jiang Tao didn’t beat around the bush with Bai Yulan and said directly:
“The person you’ve been looking for all these years is right in front of you, though far away.”
“What! You mean…”
Bai Yulan suddenly turned her head to look at Jia Feng, who was standing by the side with a somewhat restrained expression.
The person she had been looking for all these years?
Her younger brother, Xiao Cheng?
“Xiao Cheng, you say, is he, is he Xiao Cheng?”
Even the steady Bai Yulan, upon learning that Jia Feng was the brother she had been searching for years, could hardly remain calm.
After saying this, Bai Yulan strode over to stand opposite Jia Feng.
The distance between the siblings was now less than a meter, allowing them to see every detail on each other’s faces.
“Can you, can you turn around and lift your shirt so I can see your back?”
Bai Yulan looked at Jia Feng with unconcealed excitement, making a seemingly strange request.
“Yes, yes, I can!”
Hearing Bai Yulan’s request, Jia Feng’s heart rate quickened even more!
On the center of his back, there was a birthmark the color of cyan shaped like a heart.
The two girlfriends he had dated before had thought it was a tattoo.
Her asking to see his back as soon as they met clearly indicated she knew there was something unusual about his back.
After agreeing to Bai Yulan’s request, Jia Feng turned his back to her and lifted the quick-drying sports vest he was wearing.
Bai Yulan’s gaze immediately focused on the center of Jia Feng’s back.
When she saw the heart-shaped cyan birthmark the size of a walnut, Bai Yulan’s eyes welled up with tears.
Identical!
The color, size, and shape of the birthmark on Jia Feng’s back were exactly the same as the birthmark on her brother’s back in her memory!
No mistake, absolutely no mistake!
Bai Yulan was certain that the young man in front of her was 100% her brother, Bai Yucheng, without even needing a DNA test!
“Cheng Cheng!”
Bai Yulan joyfully called out her brother’s nickname and embraced him tightly from behind.
“Cheng Cheng! Where have you been all these years? Do you know how much Mama, Papa, and I have missed you.”
“Papa kept calling your name until his last breath.”
“Cheng Cheng, Cheng Cheng, Sister has finally found you, finally found you…”
“Mama and I searched for you and waited for you all these years. We waited so long.”
“Come, let Sister have a good look at you, let Sister see you.”
Looking at Bai Yulan, who was composed and dignified, she was now weeping profusely, holding her younger brother whom she had been separated from for many years.
Jiang Tao was also moved by the emotions, his eyes feeling a bit sore.
“You, are you really my sister?”
Jia Feng’s eyes also turned red as he looked at Bai Yulan, who was hugging and kissing him, crying and laughing.
“Yes, I am your sister, you are my younger brother Bai Yucheng!”
“You’re Chengcheng, I’m absolutely sure!”
Bai Yulan nodded with utmost certainty; she remembered the birthmark on her younger brother’s back particularly clearly.
“Chengcheng, do you not remember your sister at all?”
Bai Yulan looked at her younger brother with tears welling up, reaching out to touch his face, which was now completely different from her memory.
Bai Yucheng was less than 3 years old when he was abducted.
According to scientific research, the hippocampus in the human brain is in a period of rapid development before the age of 3.
During this stage, the hippocampus can continuously generate new neurons and constantly store new memories.
At the same time, it also “deletes” or “overwrites” old memories.
Children at this age have only temporary memories, not long-term ones.
After the age of 3, the hippocampus, which is responsible for memory in the brain, matures and forms a new, permanent “memory bank.”
Therefore, Jia Feng, or rather Bai Yucheng now.
He had no recollection of his biological parents or his older sister Bai Yulan.
From the time he started remembering things at four or five years old, he lived with his father in their Minnan rural hometown.
For the more than ten years before he left to work with a fellow villager after graduating from high school.
He had never even left the vicinity of the small county town where he lived.
He also had no idea that his father was actually his adoptive father.
He only learned the truth when his adoptive father was on his deathbed.
“I’m sorry, I don’t remember, not at all.”
“But I can feel that there seems to be an invisible connection between us.”
Bai Yucheng looked at Bai Yulan, and indeed felt an incredibly close connection to this sister he had just met.
“Chengcheng, I’ll take you to see Mom! Mom will be very happy to see you!”
After Bai Yulan finished speaking, she reached out and took Bai Yucheng’s hand, walking towards the door.
“Jiang Tao, please excuse me for a moment! I’ll thank you properly another day!”
Bai Yulan didn’t have time to be polite with Jiang Tao. After saying this, she hurriedly pulled Bai Yucheng towards the elevator.
