The 70s Novel: The Supporting Character Just Wants to Lie Down

Chapter 343 - 333: Opening the Heart’s Knot

Looking at Yang Zhigang’s determined expression, Yang Qingwen hesitated.

Thinking of how her mother, grandfather, and grandmother used to shower her with love, she wondered if confronting them about whether they only loved her brother and not her would make them sad...

"Dad..." Yang Qingwen’s eyes were red, and she looked at him helplessly like a pitiful little rabbit.

Yang Zhigang’s heart softened. He couldn’t help but harshly reflect on himself; he had indeed been neglecting this daughter of his lately. He felt an undeniable sense of guilt...

Yang Zhigang reached out to rub her little head and said firmly, "Daddy, Mommy, Grandpa, Grandma, even your aunt, brother, and sister—all your family—they all love you. You are you; everyone is an individual and different. You don’t need to compare yourself with anyone, nor can you be compared."

Yang Qingwen blinked her big watery eyes, still somewhat confused.

"Sigh..." Yang Zhigang sighed softly, thought for a moment, and explained from a different angle, "Sweetie, let me ask you a question: who do you love more, Daddy or Mommy?"

"Of course, I love both..." Yang Qingwen looked at him, exasperated.

But Yang Zhigang persistently asked, "If you had to choose one..."

Yang Qingwen frowned and pouted, "How do you choose?"

"Exactly, how do you choose, it’s not possible." Yang Zhigang chuckled, "Because deep down, both Daddy and Mommy are the most important to you, right? You love both of us, right?"

Yang Qingwen nodded vigorously.

"Then you and Xiao Yangyang are the most important to us—Daddy and Mommy and Grandpa and Grandma. We love both of you, and there’s no way to compare..." Yang Zhigang said seriously as he looked at her, "Both you and your brother are Daddy and Mommy’s children, so of course we love you both. Now, your brother is still young, so Daddy and Mommy might focus more on him, which led to our neglect of you. That’s our fault, and we’ll work hard to improve. We hope our sweetie can give Daddy and Mommy another chance, okay?"

Listening to her dad’s words, Yang Qingwen felt a twinge of tenderness in her heart. In these past days, she had felt wronged, puzzled, and confused, but at this moment, everything dissipated. Her dad was still the dad who loved her, and she believed her mom was still the same mom.

Her brother was the one her mom had yearned to give birth to, but he was also someone she had hoped for. She remembered back then how people in the village gossiped about her mom and said she couldn’t have a son, dooming her dad to be sonless.

She was so furious hearing that, secretly praying that her mom would have a brother. Now that her brother had arrived, and her mom could hold her head high, she felt uneasy...

The more Yang Qingwen thought about it, the more she felt she shouldn’t be so petty, narrow-minded, and small-hearted.

She shamefully lowered her little head and mumbled, "I’m not good either. I shouldn’t be jealous of my brother. Honestly, I like him too. I had long wished for a brother in the family so that Mom wouldn’t have to be talked about behind her back and bullied. As the older sister, I should help Mom take care of him. Daddy, I was wrong. From now on, I’ll be a good sister."

Her words were simple and sincere, and Yang Zhigang felt a rush of warmth in his eyes.

He felt like a failure, realizing that, without his knowledge, the two most important people in his life had been invisibly hurt, while he remained oblivious.

"Sweetie... Mommy believes in you."

Yang Qingwen heard her mom’s voice and looked up, finding Wang Pandi not far away, smiling with tears in her eyes, having no idea how long she’d been standing there listening.

"Mom..." Yang Qingwen suddenly felt like crying again. She took a deep breath, stood up, and ran into Wang Pandi’s arms.

This embrace, she hadn’t had for more than half a year, was still as warm as ever. "Mom..."

Her repeated calls made Wang Pandi feel endlessly guilty. She had indeed neglected her child lately, and she shouldn’t have, "Sweetie, Mommy loves you. You and your brother are both Mommy’s treasures. From now on, we’ll be a family of four, and we’ll work together to protect our little home, okay?"

From Yang Qingwen’s earlier words, Wang Pandi realized that her daughter had unknowingly grown up. She had her own independent thoughts, and she couldn’t talk to her like a child anymore; she should discuss things with her on an equal footing.

She believed that her daughter would make the best decisions because she could already discern right from wrong independently.

"Alright, we’ll protect our home together." Yang Qingwen lifted her small face, solemnly agreed, and upon seeing Wang Pandi’s approving and joyous gaze, she broke into a radiant smile.

"Daddy..." The mother and daughter both looked at Yang Zhigang, who returned their gaze with a smile, took a big step forward, and wrapped his arms around the two most cherished girls in his life.

Zhu Zheng stood not far away, quietly watching the three, suddenly filled with envy. He remembered that when he was little, he too would laugh freely in his parents’ embrace.

Unfortunately, he didn’t know when it started, but the warmth like this moment was no longer present in his family.

His parents still loved him, no doubt about that, but their relationship seemed to have lost its former sweetness.

"Zeng Er, let’s go, it’s time to eat." Yang Zhigang’s voice snapped Zhu Zheng out of his thoughts.

He looked up to see Yang Qingwen smiling and waving at him; her lively and cheerful demeanor had returned. He liked seeing her smile, happy and carefree, and it was wonderful.

Holding her dad’s hand on her left and her mom’s on her right, with her big brother following behind, Yang Qingwen skipped joyfully through the round archway, across the vegetable garden, and onto the path, where she could see Fang Ci watching eagerly from the pavilion in the distance.

"Sweetie, where have you been? Come to Grandma." She did feel very happy seeing her grandson, but over the years, her feelings for Yang Qingwen were genuine, too.

The Yang Family had only one girl, Yang Qingwen, so naturally, she was treasured. Their love for her was obvious, visibly displayed for anyone to see.

It was also because the older members of the family favored Yang Qingwen so much that Sun Xiangcao’s son, Yang Chaowen, didn’t particularly like this cousin of his, who was about the same age and enjoyed bullying her secretly.

"Grandma..." Yang Qingwen let go of her parents’ hands and ran to Fang Ci.

"Oh, where have you been? Grandma has a gift for you, come on, let’s go." Fang Ci hugged Yang Qingwen and turned to head towards the house.

She took Yang Qingwen to the guest room, dug through her bags, and pulled out a bag, opening it, she took out a pair of red round-toed little leather shoes.

"I bought these at the market, and as soon as I saw them, I thought they would look beautiful on our sweetie..."