“Is this the Kang family home?” Kang Er Zheng looked at the western-style house in front of him.
“Is anyone home?” Kang Er Zheng knocked on the door.
“Coming,” a kind female voice replied from inside.
A moment later, an elderly woman came out.
Kang Er Zheng recognized who she was.
Wang Yu Lian, the mother of the Kang family's four brothers.
She had a kind and amiable appearance.
“Who are you? Who are you looking for?” she asked, looking at Kang Er Zheng.
Who was this young man?
Although Cantonese was spoken in Hong Kong, there were some differences.
“I’m looking for Kang Er Shou, Uncle Kang,” Kang Er Zheng said after thinking for a moment.
Technically, Kang Er Shou was his older brother, but they hadn’t met yet, so calling him Uncle Kang was acceptable.
“The old man?” The old woman was also a bit confused. (It’s better to use ‘old woman’ from now on.)
She was puzzled as to why this young man would be looking for her husband. However, she opened the door and let Kang Er Zheng in.
Sometimes, Kang Er Zheng couldn’t understand why they dared to let strangers into their home so easily. Weren’t they afraid something might happen?
“Old man, someone is looking for you,” the old woman called out to the inside.
Not long after, an old man came out.
“Who’s looking for me?” Kang Er Shou asked as he came out.
Kang Er Zheng was extremely familiar with the man who came out.
“You are…?” He looked at Kang Er Zheng, unable to recall recognizing him. “I don’t recognize you, young man.”
He truly didn’t recognize Kang Er Zheng.
“My name is Kang Er Zheng,” Kang Er Zheng introduced himself.
“Kang Er Zheng?!” Kang Er Shou was taken aback. The names were so similar! And they were both from the Er generation of the Kang family.
He thought for a moment. His uncles, aunts, and cousins didn’t seem to have any children named Kang Er Zheng.
“Excuse me, I really can’t recall who you are,” Kang Er Shou asked, frowning.
“This is our first meeting, so of course you don’t know me, but you know my mother,” Kang Er Zheng said.
“Your mother? Who’s your mother?” Kang Er Shou asked.
“My mother? Your younger wife,” Kang Er Zheng said.
“Ah Zhuan?!?” Kang Er Shou was startled and stood up in shock when he heard Kang Er Zheng’s words.
“That’s right,” Kang Er Zheng nodded.
Kang Er Shou and the old woman were both shocked.
“You’re her son?” Uncle Kang calmed down and asked.
“Yes,” Kang Er Zheng nodded.
Uncle Kang looked at Kang Er Zheng’s appearance.
“How old are you?” He suddenly asked a strange question.
“Twenty-four,” Kang Er Zheng was a little strange, but he still answered his question.
Uncle Kang calculated and realized that Kang Er Zheng couldn’t possibly be his father’s son.
It had been thirty or forty years since Ah Zhuan left.
Kang Er Zheng was only twenty-four.
It was impossible for her to have been pregnant for more than ten years.
Uncle Kang’s face instantly darkened.
Although he didn’t like Ah Zhuan, his younger wife, she was still his father’s wife.
Now that she had a son, it meant that she had betrayed his father.
No wonder he was giving him such a cold look.
“What are you here for?” His tone was rather cold. “Where is she? Why didn’t she come with you?”
“My mother is still in Hong Kong,” he explained.
“Then what are you here for?” Uncle Kang asked coldly.
“I came to Guangzhou to do business, and I heard from my mother that we have relatives here, so I came to visit,” Kang Er Zheng explained.
“What’s there to visit?” Uncle Kang said coldly. “She’s been gone for more than ten years, so what is she visiting for now?”
“Are you here to annoy me now?” Uncle Kang said angrily.
“Old man,” the old woman tugged at Uncle Kang.
“Didn’t she remarry? How could she have the nerve to do that, after my father died?” Uncle Kang angrily scolded.
“You’re mistaken. My mother has been alone all these years,” Kang Er Zheng explained.
“Alone? How is that possible? How could she have given birth to you alone?” Uncle Kang was stunned and didn’t believe it.
“I was adopted by my mother. Besides me, my mother adopted another girl who is thirteen years old now, named Kang Er Li, her English name is Coco,” Kang Er Zheng explained.
“Hm?” Uncle Kang was startled when he heard Kang Er Zheng’s words.
“Adopted?” Uncle Kang and the old woman were both surprised.
“Yes. My mother has never looked for anyone else all these years. She has never remarried, although she adopted my sister and me, she never did anything to betray the Kang family. My name is Kang Er Zheng, which shows that she has always kept the Kang family in mind and considered herself a member of the Kang family,” Kang Er Zheng also wanted to clear his mother’s name.
Uncle Kang and the old woman fell into thought.
“However, she went to Hong Kong right after my father died and never looked back,” Uncle Kang still had some reservations in his heart.
“My mother told me about that. But she had no choice. You know there was a big wind back then, and my mother’s identity made it unsuitable for her to stay here. Moreover, you guys didn’t really like my mother back then, so she had to smuggle herself to Hong Kong. She almost died at sea. You know, many people who went to Hong Kong back then were eaten by the sea,” Kang Er Zheng explained.
The original plot didn’t explain why Ah Zhuan went to Hong Kong.
Staying in the Kang family wouldn’t have necessarily been bad.
Although the Kang family was in decline, they could at least eat. There was no reason for her to risk her life going to Hong Kong.
Smuggling oneself to Hong Kong back then was truly a matter of life and death.
A woman like Ah Zhuan, smuggling herself to that strange place, made it even more strange.
The main reason was the big wind that blew back then, coupled with her own identity. It was truly unsuitable for her to stay in Guangzhou.
“But she didn’t come back for my father’s seventh anniversary of death,” Uncle Kang asked.
“Sigh, she couldn’t come back. Smuggling wasn’t easy back then. The British were on the other side, guarding the border. They even kept a lot of wolfhounds. We had to avoid sharks and those wolfhounds. It was very dangerous. Almost everyone who smuggled themselves died at sea and fed the fish there. It was almost impossible to come back after that,” Kang Er Zheng sighed. “It was even more forbidden to come back after that.”
Uncle Kang’s expression improved.
“It was so dangerous. Is Ah Zhuan okay?” The old woman was worried.
“She’s fine. My mother is blessed by heaven. She’s doing well now. She’s been thinking about coming back all these years, but she was afraid that you guys would dislike her, so she never dared to come back. If I hadn’t come to Guangzhou to do business this time, she planned to keep it a secret for the rest of her life,” Kang Er Zheng said.
“Sigh,” Uncle Kang also sighed. “I hated her back then, but after hearing what you said, she did right by my father and by our Kang family. How could I blame her?”
He had indeed hated his younger wife before.
But so many years had passed, and after hearing what Kang Er Zheng said, the anger in his heart had dissipated.
The entire living room fell silent for a while.
Kang Er Zheng also looked at their expressions.
The old woman had a concerned look on her face.
Uncle Kang was looking down, deep in thought, not sure what he was thinking about.
“Your name is Kang Er Zheng, right?” Uncle Kang looked up at Kang Er Zheng.
“That’s right. My name is Kang Er Zheng. My sister is named Kang Er Li. We can both be considered your younger brother and sister,” Kang Er Zheng nodded.
“My younger brother?” He twitched his lips.
Technically, he was indeed his younger brother.
But the age difference between them was too big.
His youngest son, A Zu, seemed to be older than him.
“I came back this time for another reason, which is to recognize my ancestors. My mother also means the same thing,” Kang Er Zheng said.
“This…” Uncle Kang was a bit hesitant.
“Is there a problem?” Kang Er Zheng asked.
“I need to think about this carefully. And I need to go back to the countryside and discuss this with my uncles and brothers,” Uncle Kang felt that this was a big matter, so he had to think about it carefully.
The Kang family was a large clan.
Most of the Kang family members lived in the countryside.
There were also a few Kang family members living in Guangzhou, but they didn’t live in this area.
In the original plot, we rarely saw any Kang brothers appearing.
Most of them appeared based on their relationship.
For example, the Sixth Uncle who appeared many times.
Six means that there were five others before him.