Chapter 15: The Truth Revealed

Liu Feifei had not initially intended to deceive the other party; it was a spur-of-the-moment decision to bluff when the words reached her lips. Perhaps she felt that if she asked directly, "Are you and Brother Cheng actually related?" the other party might refuse to answer out of privacy concerns. It seemed more effective to adopt a posture of "I am very close to Brother Cheng, and he has told me everything," which would make it easier to extract the truth.

Kwon Boa was caught off guard and spoke frankly: "I have no idea what you are talking about. Brother Cheng and I are just ordinary friends."

Liu Feifei’s heart tightened, then immediately relaxed, leaving her in a complex state of mind. The tightness came from the realization that Gu Cheng and Kwon Boa were not actually related, meaning there was still a possibility between them. The relief came from the fact that Kwon Boa did not seem to have any romantic feelings for Gu Cheng, viewing him only as a good friend.

Still, she felt a bit unwilling to give up. With a "nothing to lose" attitude, she tentatively revealed some information: "You know that Brother Cheng’s grandmother is from Dongyi, right? Her surname is also Kwon, and her name is Kwon Young-rye."

Kwon Boa remained indifferent, showing no emotional fluctuation at this piece of gossip. After a brief moment of thought, she smiled gently and corrected her: "He did tell me that, but he said his grandmother was from Beiyi. It surely has nothing to do with our family."

"She is from Dongyi! During the war, she went from Hancheng to Kaicheng, was later assigned to the North, and lost contact with her family," Liu Feifei insisted. This was the homework she had done before coming.

Kwon Boa paused, feeling that this was not something easily explained. Suddenly, she recalled that the year before last, Gu Cheng had indeed asked her brother to help him get into the Kaicheng Development Zone delegation; perhaps her brother would know about this.

She stood up and went into the study, asking Kwon Shun-yu directly: "Brother, is Brother Cheng’s grandmother from Kaicheng? A friend of his came to see me and said his grandmother’s name was Kwon Young-rye, and that she might be a long-lost relative of ours from decades ago."

Kwon Shun-yu was also startled: "She was indeed in Kaicheng back then, and apparently from a wealthy merchant family. Kwon Young-rye... I haven't heard the name, but it sounds very familiar."

Kwon Shun-yu walked with his sister into the tea room and glanced at the ancestral tablets. The name of a late great-aunt, "Kwon Young-ae," was listed there, and the spot next to her, reserved for her sister, was empty because her fate was unknown.

Neither Kwon Shun-yu nor Kwon Boa could have known the name of an elder who had gone missing thirty years before they were born, and their father had never mentioned it to them. However, looking at the naming structure and the generation, the possibility was not zero.

Although the surname Kwon was one of the top ten common surnames in Dongyi, and older generations were not very creative with girls' names, a similar name did not necessarily prove anything. After all, ancestry was no trivial matter; the Kwon siblings felt they should be cautious.

Kwon Boa pondered the cause and effect, then suddenly remembered a question. She returned to the bedroom and pressed Liu Feifei: "The situation you mentioned... I still can't be sure. But even if it were true, we only just discovered this possibility. You said Brother Cheng told you all this, but how did he know? Why would he tell you about such a major matter instead of us?"

Seeing Kwon Boa flustered and slightly panicked, Liu Feifei felt a surge of pride. She did not even realize that she was feeling triumphant because "Brother Cheng didn't tell you, but he told me."

Driven by vanity, she slightly embellished her words: "He told me a long time ago. We used to talk about everything, but later, to shake me off, he changed his story and claimed he had no blood relation to you and that he liked someone else."

This logic was completely incoherent, showing that Liu Feifei was not cut out for lying. Fortunately, Kwon Boa had no conflict with her and did not want to expose her, so after a moment of thought, she understood Gu Cheng's true intention.

"Brother Cheng probably doesn't know anything; he was just using me as a shield to reject other girls. But why would he invent that vague rumor about blood relations in the first place? If he wanted to find a woman, there was no need for that. With his conditions, he could find anyone."

Kwon Boa couldn't figure it out, so she stopped trying. She offered a polite apology to Liu Feifei and left her in the bedroom for a moment, returning to the study to discuss with her brother how to verify the matter.

"Should we call Dad and ask? He would definitely be able to confirm the names of the family elders," Kwon Boa suggested.

"No rush. He might be busy at work; we can ask when he gets home," Kwon Shun-yu said, always wary of his father. After thinking for a while, he thought of another possibility and beckoned to his sister: "Come, help me open the secret compartment at the bottom of the bookcase."

Kwon Boa knelt on the floor with her brother, unlocked the secret compartment, and pulled out a drawer. She gasped. Inside were twenty large gold bars, each roughly a kilogram. Kwon Shun-yu explained, "These are the things Gu Cheng brought out of Kaicheng a year and a half ago, claiming they were heirlooms from his grandmother. He couldn't easily transport precious metals across borders, so after keeping two as a service fee and exchange commission, I discussed it with Dad and we bought the rest with cash."

"So Brother Cheng’s grandmother really was from a wealthy merchant family!" Kwon Boa was astonished.

They examined the gold bars for a long time, but they all looked identical. Kwon Boa pointed to one that was slightly flattened and widened: "There are traces of a roller here, as if trying to hide something. Maybe there's a clue."

"Is that so? Let me see." Kwon Shun-yu took it and realized there were indeed traces. It seemed there had been characters, but they had been crushed by a heavy object, blurring them as if they were dough.

Kwon Shun-yu grabbed a scraper from the utility room, trying to pick at the crushed area, but failed. Kwon Boa suggested, "Scraping it won't work; it will destroy the remaining traces. Let's find another one that is clearly pressed and cut it in half. If the characters are deep enough, they won't be ruined."

Kwon Shun-yu agreed and patted his sister’s hair: "You're smart."

He took a sharp knife and cut another bar, revealing deep steel stamp marks on the inside.

"Damn! It's real."

Kwon Shun-yu looked at the gold bar in disbelief. Fearing he might have misremembered the characters, he ran back to the tea room to check the ancestral tablets. The stamp on the gold bar was exactly the name of his great-grandfather.

Kwon Boa was surprised, happy, and worried all at once. She had unexpectedly gained a distant cousin. Normally this would be pure joy, but what was this inexplicable feeling of sadness?

She exchanged some polite pleasantries with her brother, shared the news with their mother, and spent fifteen minutes explaining the whole story.

Then, walking like a zombie back to her room, she wanted to lie down. As she turned the door handle, she remembered Liu Feifei was still there and smiled awkwardly: "Miss Liu, thank you for telling me the truth. Brother Cheng is indeed my distant cousin. The complications are hard to explain, so I won't go into detail. I should thank you properly, but I've been sick these past two days, so I hope you'll excuse me. Would you like to have a meal before you go?"

"No need. I'm just here in Hancheng for a trip and happened to chat with you. I have other plans, so I'll take my leave." Liu Feifei could not hide her joy: So Brother Cheng was just using Kwon Boa as a shield to reject her... But then, she thought, this wasn't exactly glorious: he would rather be single and fabricate a shield than be with her... Could it be that she was too young and lacked womanly charm?

With a complex heart, Liu Feifei took her leave.

Kwon Boa, exhausted by the ordeal, couldn't sleep. The emotional rollercoaster had left her cold and sweating. She took some clothes, entered the bathroom, turned on the heater, and filled the tub to relax her nerves.

Lying in the hot water, Kwon Boa found herself crying for no reason. She rubbed her face with a towel, whispering to herself, "How stupid, what is there to be sad about? This is a good thing. Next time I see Brother Cheng, I can act as spoiled as I want without fear of gossip... *sob*..."

She calmed herself down, realizing that Gu Cheng’s well-intentioned lie had become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Now that Liu Feifei had found the truth, she would surely tell Gu Cheng, exposing his reason for rejecting her. Since that was the case, she might as well call him herself to prepare him.

Kwon Boa picked up her phone from the vanity and dialed. The line was busy. Gu Cheng was on another call. She tried several times while soaking, and finally got through ten minutes later.

"Brother Cheng, there's something I don't know how to tell you..."

On the other end, Gu Cheng’s voice sounded listless: "No need to say it. I already know—Liu Feifei called me just now."

"Oh? You know? Our families are..."

"This is a good thing. I’ve always wanted a younger sister in this life. I didn't expect heaven to be so kind to me, actually giving me a cousin. I will cherish this opportunity and love you just like a real sister."

Both were concerned about saving face; how could they utter shameful, taboo words? After probing each other and finding no one willing to take the lead, they could only exchange empty, meaningless pleasantries.