Chapter 11: A Choice

Chapter 11: A Choice

The lights in the private room were turned back on.

"Clap, clap, clap..."

Liang Qiu Feiyan led the applause, and the siblings cheered for Ji Xinghuo together, as the floating camera by their side recorded this moment.

Ji Xinghuo cut the cake and shared it with everyone.

Wang Zizheng, who had been silent, suddenly asked, "Older Brother San, if your biological parents wanted to take you back, would you agree?"

The room fell silent.

For an adopted child to return to their biological family, they would have to give up their relationship with their public family, which meant leaving this home.

In fact, this had been a question buried in their hearts for a long time, but no one had brought it up until now.

And now it had been asked.

However, Ji Xinghuo did not hesitate at all and firmly replied, "No."

"That's great!"

Liang Qiu Feiyan immediately jumped for joy. She was the one who would miss Ji Xinghuo the most, and she would be very sad if any of the siblings left.

"Really?" Ye Dongyun was also very happy.

"Of course it's true, Older Sister," Ji Xinghuo said seriously.

In fact, he himself had hesitated for a long time and considered various possibilities. It was only a few hours ago, when he was about to set off for the birthday banquet, that he finally confirmed his answer in the apartment.

Zhong Ming smiled and said, "What if they had no choice but to give you up back then and it wasn't their initiative? What if they truly want to make amends now? If your biological parents are important people, holding high positions of power, or if they are wealthy and on the rich list, wouldn't you consider it?"

Such a situation was not impossible, just extremely unlikely.

There had been a case where an adopted child found out that their biological parents were billionaires, and they immediately left the public family to become a rich second-generation child.

"No matter what the situation, I won't go back," Ji Xinghuo said resolutely. "We will always be a family!"

Zhong Ming nodded vigorously.

Ye Dongyun, Liang Qiu Feiyan, and Wang Zizheng all leaned in and hugged Ji Xinghuo one by one.

"Older Brother San, take this."

Wang Zizheng took out a pair of virtual glasses that he always carried with him.

Ji Xinghuo sat down on the sofa in the private room and put on the glasses, while the others quietly waited by his side for the results.

Ji Xinghuo tapped the side of the virtual glasses gently.

"Beep!"

The scene before his eyes changed as it connected to the wireless network, and a login interface appeared in his vision, along with a slight tremor in his mind, as if his thoughts were connecting to the system.

Ji Xinghuo entered his account password.

This account password was universal across the entire internet and was bound to his real identity, making it unique. In order to access the internet within the Asia-Pacific Community, one must possess a legal identity account. This account could be used to log in directly to any platform, website, or social media.

He opened the official website of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and logged in. Immediately, he received a prompt that he had an important notification.

The flashing message icon was a bit dazzling.

Ji Xinghuo paused for a few seconds before finally opening it.

"Citizen Ji Xinghuo, there is now a piece of information regarding your birth and guardianship that has reached its decryption deadline. Please review it."

Upon opening the document, there was a list of files.

The first one was his birth certificate.

This was the first time Ji Xinghuo had seen his own birth certificate. The date of birth was listed as July 23, 2201, and the place of birth was a maternity and child care hospital in Haixia City. His former name was "Xin Ye."

"Haixia City..."

"So that's where I was born," Ji Xinghuo continued reading. The most important information on the birth certificate was the parents' information. The father's name was "Xia Qingyu," and the mother's name was "Xin Yimo." They were born in 2159 and 2178, respectively.

"A 19-year age difference," Ji Xinghuo noted.

He immediately had a bad feeling about this.

As expected, the birth certificate stated that the two were not married, and Xin Yimo was unmarried and pregnant by accident. She was 23 years old at the time.

There was a photo of the couple in the archives.

Xia Qingyu looked nowhere near 42 years old at the time; he appeared to be in his thirties, very handsome, with a confident look on his face. Xin Yimo leaned against his embrace, dressed as a young girl in her youth, very beautiful, and her eyes were filled with admiration for the man beside her.

The two were close together, a perfect match.

Ji Xinghuo looked at the man in the photo, who looked 70% similar to him, and hummed with mixed feelings, unable to describe his emotions.

There were also two statements in the document.

They were from both the infant's biological parents, and the content was the same: they voluntarily gave up guardianship of the newborn and handed him over to the government for foster care. Their electronic signatures were attached.

As expected, this was an old-fashioned story.

The man was a powerful Esper, good-looking, most likely wealthy, and knew how to make a woman happy. He had accidentally impregnated a beautiful university student, and that unborn child was him!

"Hehe..."

Ji Xinghuo smiled faintly to himself, not surprised by the outcome.

In fact, most adopted children had similar stories. It was either an accidental pregnancy or an emotional rift between the couple, and only a very small minority were cases where the parents were unsuitable or unwilling to raise their children, so they abandoned them to the government's care.

Regardless of the situation, it did not change the nature of "abandonment."

"This is also good," Ji Xinghuo said to himself.

He opened the last two files, which were two emails forwarded by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The senders were Xia Qingyu and Xin Yimo.

This indicated that they were still alive and had not met with any accidents.

Usually, if parents wanted to reconnect with their adopted children, they would include their contact information in this email as the first step towards rebuilding their relationship.

Of course, if they didn't want to reconnect, they didn't have to include any contact information.

"They even sent me emails..." Ji Xinghuo was a little surprised. He opened Xia Qingyu's email and found it to be empty, without a single word.

There was no contact information or video content.

At the very bottom, there was only a pending transfer of funds from a trust fund in Chang'an, amounting to 10 million Asia Dollars!

Ji Xinghuo widened his eyes and counted again to confirm that it was indeed 10 million.

Ji Xinghuo was usually calm and collected, but even he couldn't help the slight acceleration of his heartbeat in this situation.

He checked the additional information attached to the transfer and found that it had been sent twelve years ago when he was only ten years old.

Xia Qingyu's intentions were clear. While he didn't want to shoulder the responsibilities of a father, he wasn't completely washing his hands of the matter either. This 10 million was his compensation for the child. By accepting this money, it would signify that they were even, and Ji Xinghuo should not seek him out in the future.

"This man has some scruples," Ji Xinghuo mused, able to guess Xia Qingyu's character.

He was the type to pursue strength, enjoying life's pleasures as he traveled the path of evolutionary advancement. He would not refuse the enticements of wine, sex, money, or status, but he would never let them impede his cultivation and advancement to become a more powerful Esper.

If troubles arose, he would cast them aside, and if they couldn't be cast aside, he would immediately flee.

Later, feeling guilty, he would do what he could to make amends within his capacity, assuaging his conscience.

There were countless Espers like this.

"Xia Qingyu's abilities are probably quite impressive. He must be at least a high-level Esper to have been able to set aside 10 million in a trust fund over a decade ago."

"He's probably even stronger now."

Ji Xinghuo thought for a moment before jumping to a webpage to search for Xia Qingyu's information, but his efforts yielded nothing.

The Asia-Pacific Community government's protection of personal privacy was impeccable. Unless one was a public figure or had voluntarily made their information public, it was virtually impossible for an ordinary person to find any information about others.

It would require extremely high-level permissions.

Without the necessary permissions, Ji Xinghuo's search attempts were futile.

He didn't immediately accept the 10 million Asia Dollars. The transfer deadline was twenty years, so there was no rush to claim it. He then opened the email from Xin Yimo, which had been sent the previous month.

A long letter of several thousand words was the first thing that greeted his eyes.

Ji Xinghuo patiently read through it all.

In the letter, she introduced herself. She was from Haizhou City in the southeastern province, currently married with a son and a daughter. Together with her husband, she ran an entertainment media company with several hundred employees. The company had a modest reputation in the industry, was valued at over 1 billion Asia Dollars, and was seeking to go public. Her husband's family held considerable influence in Haizhou City.

Attached were introductions to the company, along with dozens of photos showcasing the company, their luxurious home, and their daily lives, clearly displaying her financial prowess.

Lastly, there was a video.

Ji Xinghuo hesitated for a moment before playing it. A woman in her thirties appeared on the screen, seated in a lavishly furnished living room. From the background, it was evident that they were in a high-rise building, with a seaside view just a short distance away.

She hadn't changed much from her archival photo, only her attire was more refined, and she carried herself with a more mature air.

"Xiao Ye, please forgive me..."

Xin Yimo's face was filled with sorrow and regret as she recounted the events of the past.

She had just graduated from university when she met Xia Qingyu, and she had come to Chang'an to seek her fortune. Deceived by his honeyed words, she ended up pregnant after dating him for a few months. She had intended to marry him and start a family, but as soon as Xia Qingyu found out about the pregnancy, he disappeared without a trace that very night.

In her panic, she could only return home to give birth, but her attempts to contact Xia Qingyu during that time went unanswered.

"I was young and inexperienced back then, with no idea how to raise a child."

"And I was so angry, I was almost driven mad. All I could think about was finding that despicable man, believing that he would at least have a shred of conscience and possibly change his mind."

"But when you were born, I realized I didn't have a guardianship certificate."

"I took care of you while studying for the certification exam, and my life was in disarray. My mental state was poor, and I was afraid I couldn't provide you with good living conditions, so..."

At this point, Xin Yimo's face was filled with immense regret, and tears streamed down her cheeks.

The video cut away for a moment.

When she reappeared, she had regained her composure and wore a happy expression. "I've remembered your birthday every year. When you turned eighteen, I learned from the government that you were doing well, and I was overjoyed."

"A few years ago, I started making preparations to bring you home. My husband supports this decision, and he promised to treat you as his own child. Your younger brother and sister also long for an older brother."

"Son, if you come home, I will provide you with the best conditions."

"No matter what you want to do, whether it's becoming an Esper, pursuing higher education, or starting a business, I will support you wholeheartedly."

"In the future, you can even inherit our family business."

"Xiao Ye, please come home soon!"

After watching the video, Ji Xinghuo realized that he wasn't as calm and composed as he had imagined. His emotions were stirred, and it took him a few minutes to regain his tranquility.

Xin Yimo's emotions were sincere, and while there might have been some exaggerations or untruths regarding Xia Qingyu, it was evident that she genuinely wanted to mend their mother-son relationship.

However, Ji Xinghuo shook his head inwardly.

From the content of the letter and the video, he had picked up on some subtle details. When Xin Yimo mentioned her husband and family, her confidence seemed to waver, suggesting that she couldn't make this decision solely on her own, and there must have been disagreements.

The so-called company and billion-dollar business might be enticing to others, but to him, it wasn't worth the time and effort to fight for it, potentially creating a mess. He was better off focusing on his own endeavors.

With the Myriad Phenomenon Star Eyes, anything was possible!

After some contemplation, Ji Xinghuo looked at the contact information in the email but ultimately closed it without reaching out. As long as he didn't take the initiative to contact her, Xin Yimo wouldn't be able to find him or even know his current name.

"I won't disturb your family and life. I wish you all the best."

Ji Xinghuo closed the document and took off the virtual glasses, his face breaking into a smile as he looked at the siblings gathered around him.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end