Taking a deep breath, Bai Wenxi piled up all the documents and letters in a corner of the desk. She then began to open and read them one by one in chronological order.
Many of them were official letters from her work partners, which she didn't open for the time being. As long as they were correspondence with Bai family relatives or her father, she carefully sorted them out.
Actually, Su Xingfei and Bai Zhongxun used to communicate normally on the phone at first, but they would always quarrel during the calls. They would say the most unpleasant things to each other. It was Uncle from the Su family who came up with an idea and suggested that they communicate by writing letters. This way, when they put pen to paper, they would be more reserved and polished in their words, and they wouldn't quarrel face - to - face.
Bai Wenxi also thought this method was suitable for her parents. From these letters, it could be seen that their attitudes were restrained and polite. It wasn't as the elders gossiped, saying that they hated each other so much that they were on the verge of physical conflict. Even for those letters with intense words that could easily lead to disputes, Su Xingfei never sent them out. She just wrote them down, put them in envelopes, and finally locked them in the drawer.
Bai Wenxi first picked up a reply letter from her father to her mother. It should have been sent before her mother got sick. It mentioned that Su Xingfei had a serious car accident. One night when she was driving on a mountain road, a drunk - driving truck driver almost drove her off the hillside. It was only because of a sudden rockfall that both of them escaped.
As Bai Wenxi read her father's concern for her mother, she could imagine the horror of that unknown car accident from between the lines. Tears welled up in her eyes as she read. Her mother was lucky to escape this drunk - driving accident. But many years later, her father died in a car accident.
Not daring to continue reading, Bai Wenxi quickly threw the letter aside. After taking a few sips of hot water to calm her nerves, she opened another document. It was a legal document signed by herself for inheriting Moon Island.
After thinking for a while, Bai Wenxi took it out and put it in her handbag. If there were really problems with Moon Island, then this original document would be the key evidence in court.
There was an unsent letter. It was very conspicuous among the neatly - kept letters. The words on the envelope were scribbled, which was not in line with her mother's usual style. Bai Wenxi's curiosity was piqued, and she casually picked it up and opened it.
It was a letter her mother wrote to her father after she got sick, but it wasn't stamped and sent out. Just reading these words, Bai Wenxi felt pain. Her mother mentioned in the letter that her illness got worse the more she rested. At first, she just felt tired and dizzy. Later, it was even difficult for her to breathe, and due to her low resistance, her asthma also flared up.
She specifically mentioned Yao Chunmei, saying that thanks to her care, she could have regular meals after getting sick. No matter how other aunts cooked, the food never suited her taste. Only the meals cooked by Yao Chunmei were what she wanted to eat. She praised Yao Chunmei for her considerate care and told her father not to worry.
But for some reason, this letter was never sent. Bai Wenxi thought it was because of Su Xingfei's pride. Due to her physical illness, her mother's handwriting was scribbled. She was always a delicate and elegant woman, and surely she didn't want others to see her in such a mess.
Bai Wenxi continued to pick up a few letters and flipped through them. She found that they were all praises from her mother for Yao Chunmei. They basically said that Yao Chunmei took care of her day and night, drove herself to the town to get medicine, and even tried every means to make snacks for her.
June 18th. This was the last letter from her father. A thin piece of paper fell out of it. It was in her mother's handwriting. Her mother must have summoned all her courage to write this line of words.
"Zhongxun, she should love you very much. Otherwise, she wouldn't be so respectful to me, an ex - wife."
"I've decided to forgive you two. The child is the crystallization of your love, and I can't blame you. Ms. Yao has been humble and taken care of all my daily needs when I'm sick."
By this point in the letter, the pen had poked through the paper.
"I'm very grateful to her. Everyone knows their own physical condition. I don't have much time left. After I die, you can marry her. Sometimes I can see her crying in the garden at night. I think it must be because she has borne too many insults."
"Because of my existence, no one accepts her. As a woman, she must be having a hard time."
Bai Wenxi bit her knuckles tightly, holding back her tears. Dad, you let such a good woman down! My mother was the kindest and gentlest wife in the world.
Her father drew a big red cross on this letter from her mother, and in his reply, he promised that as long as her mother was alive, he would never marry another woman. He had made a mistake once by having an innocent baby with someone else, and he promised never to make a second mistake.
Not long after this letter reached her mother's hands, she died of a sudden illness at night. Bai Wenxi covered her eyes with a tissue. Her trembling lips betrayed her agitated state of mind.
Presumably, before her death, her mother should have felt consoled? Although she had quarreled with this man for many years, she had given birth to a daughter for him after all and had an artistic and spiritual resonance with him. When she was seriously ill, she got his promise that as long as she was alive, he would never...
Bai Wenxi knew that her mother actually loved her father deeply. She could only console herself like this, thinking that her mother should have had no regrets before she died.
However, her father eventually made a mistake. Thinking of all the ugly deeds of Yao Chunmei and her daughter after they entered the family, how they behaved differently in public and in private, and all the schemes she and her daughter had against her, Bai Wenxi just couldn't empathize with her father. He had a daughter with someone else without getting divorced first, and this was something she could never forgive!
A faint melancholy lingered in Bai Wenxi's heart. Her vision was a bit blurred, but her mother's dignified and gentle smile slowly emerged clearly in her mind.
Bai Wenxi quickly gathered the personal letters to one side and picked out all the legal documents. She couldn't read these emotionally - charged letters anymore. If she did, her state of mind would definitely be negatively affected. She had to find the truth behind this thick fog and couldn't let these sad emotions affect her progress.
There weren't actually many legal documents left by Su Xingfei. Many of them were about the distribution of her estate after her death. The real - estate part of her mother's estate was left to herself. She had the absolute right to inherit Moon Island and this house.
Her jewelry was respectively given to Aunt from the Shen family and several of her good sisters. Only the biggest and most beautiful diamond necklace was reserved as her dowry. The property right of the Star Art Museum, which was jointly owned by her mother and father, was also completely transferred to her father.
So before her death, she had perfectly arranged all her affairs. As for her father's lover, Yao Chunmei, considering that she had taken care of her when she was seriously ill, her mother also gave her a set of ruby jewelry. Yao Chunmei would even wear it at large social gatherings in the upper - class society.
Bai Wenxi propped her chin with both hands. Her mouth was filled with bitterness. Her mother was such a gentle and considerate person, but she still couldn't escape the clutches of the disease, leaving her with endless longing.