499 A Journal?

Xin Zimen's revelations left Xiu in deep thought. He told her everything she asked without hiding anything. For some reason, he couldn't stop himself from telling the truth. The earnest look in her eyes was enough for him to reveal everything he knew at this point. 

But even he knew that what he was aware of wasn't enough at all. However, if it could help her, then what was the point of keeping it to himself. It wasn't like he was gonna hide it forever. No matter what, somethings couldn't stay hidden for good.

"Now, would you like to tell me how you connected everything to me? Why did you assume that I'm related to your father?" he might not have been surprised with other things but he was certainly curious to know how she knew that he was related to her father? If she had no memories, then how did she come to that conclusion?

Xiu rubbed her chin in silence before she rummaged out an envelope from her pocket and placed it before him. Xin Zimen eyed the envelope for a while before he looked at the content. It had a piece and it read:

'I feel like my mind is gonna burst with everything that's been going on in my life lately. I think I'm stuck in a storm or perhaps, I chose to jump in this storm voluntarily. However, whichever it is, I'm stuck for sure.

Let's go over the things I learned in the last few days...

Carina Novell was looking for her good friend; Wen Ai.

Madam Wen Ai died years ago.

So, Carina Novell tried to reach out to her family.

However...

Wen Ai's living relatives are Xin Zimen; her husband and her two sons; Xin Xiaoli and Xin Xiaosi.

If Carina Novell was looking for Wen Ai's family, why didn't she look for her husband?

Why did she try to reach out to that family?

The Xin family...

.

.

.'

Even on the paper, there were several scattered dots. As if someone was thoughtlessly just tapping the nib of the pen over the blank sheet of paper.

'But just when she tried to reach out to the Xin family, she got into an accident.

Coincidence?

I think not!

Planned murder?

I hate this gut feeling but it's possible.

But if it was a planned murder, then why?

What did my mother do to anyone?

Just who was she looking for?!'

"Turn it over."

Xin Zimen was startled by Xiu's voice and turned the paper over. There was only a single line written there, 'Carina Novell wasn't looking for Wen Ai's family. She was looking for someone in the Xin family... She was looking for Xin Zemin!'

"What is this? And who wrote it?" he asked after a moment of silence.

Xin Zimen finally understood why she came to look for him. 

Suddenly she stood up and turned to leave, "Let's go. I'm hungry. You aren't planning on starving a guest, are you?"

Xin Zimen gave the envelope back to her as he stood up saying, "I wouldn't dare."

"Oh, you aren't expecting me to call you uncle, right?" Xiu questioned out of nowhere. "I mean I can call you weird uncle to tease you but I personally find, Xiao Zi more amusing. So, don't think I'll call you uncle just because my birth father happens to be your brother."

Xin Zimen pinched her nose lightly. "You really think about all sorts of things."

"I can't help it," she shrugged her shoulders. "It just reminded me. Although the question is gonna sound really lame, I still can't help asking."

"Go ahead," he replied while walking side by side with her towards the dining room.

"Your name is Zimen which is from Spanish while your brother's name is Zemin which is from Mandarin. Any special reason behind it? Because both sound very similar."

Xin Zimen gave her a sideways glance and shook his head lightly, "There is no special reason. As you just said, both are just slightly different in sound. That's it. I guess that was the reason why we were named like this."

Xiu wasn't really amused to hear that answer as she muttered, "How boring!" Xin Zimen didn't give any reaction but he listened to her silently as she went on, "Zimen means 'Obedient' while Zemin means 'Favor to the people.' Although both sound similar slightly, but the meaning is completely different. And I don't think your name has any effect on you."

"Little lass, are you saying that I'm not 'obedient' kind of a person?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. I can't say anything about your brother yet since I haven't met him."

Xin Zimen patted her head softly as he informed her, "Congratulations then... You'll be meeting him soon." Xiu's brows furrowed together in confusion. "He is also invited to my son's wedding. I guess you'd love this father-daughter reunion."

"You're wrong. I don't look forward to this reunion but I certainly am curious to know what he is like."

Xin Zimen shook his head but didn't bother telling her that whether his name's meaning was obedient, he had never been one. Instead, it was his brother who was called the obedient one.

It was strange but he was also curious to see Xiu's reaction. As he had said to Francesca, this wedding was really gonna be one hell of a show. Now, this allowed him to look forward to something. He also needed to find out his brother's standpoint in all this. After all, even until now, he was uncertain whether he knew that Xiu is his daughter or not.