80: Chapter 80 The Truth

"Don't go in yet; I'll wait for you in the stairwell."

After hanging up, Song Yuan watched the elevator's numbers change until it stopped on their floor, and Song Heng emerged, carrying a bag of fruit that Tao Yulian enjoyed.

"What's so urgent? Let me take this fruit to your mom first."

Song Yuan held him back and handed him the paternity test report.

"Dad, I'm not Mom's biological child. What's going on?"

Song Heng froze, looking up at Song Yuan, his face filled with shock.

He hadn't expected his son to ask him this; a secret kept for twenty-eight years, he never intended for it to be revealed.

"How did you find out?"

"I only found out when Mom got sick this time that both of you are A-blood type, while I'm AB. Dad, were you picked up?"

He really didn't want to say the word 'picked up.' When he was little, adults liked to tease children with that phrase, 'You were picked up by your dad.' Now, he wished he had been picked up.

And not trafficked.

He didn't want to think that he had once been treated like an object, openly priced and sold in a market. If that were the case, where was human dignity?

Song Heng's old face fell. The truth couldn't be hidden anymore, so he admitted, "I have azoospermia and can't have children. I went to many hospitals, but nothing worked. Your mom and I originally planned to be DINKs, but then one day, your grandpa brought you home."

Song Yuan eagerly asked, "Where did my grandpa get me from? Did he buy me?"

Song Heng shook his head.

"No, our Gu Family has always been honest people; how could we dare to buy a child?

It was a nurse classmate of your aunt's. They delivered you in their department. Your biological mother had a difficult labor when she gave birth to you and was sent to the ICU. She was also unmarried when she had you, and your father was unknown. You have a grandmother with a visual impairment, and considering she couldn't raise a child, she gave you up for adoption."

Hearing this, Song Yuan felt a mix of emotions.

It turned out his arrival had brought such great disaster to his biological mother.

"Then what happened to my mom later?"

Song Heng replied, "I didn't hear clearly later. Your aunt didn't say when she came back, and we didn't ask. I hope she's healthy and lives a long life."

"Which hospital?"

"Dongcheng First Maternity and Child Hospital."

"Do my aunt and that classmate still keep in touch?"

"You'll have to ask your aunt about that."

Song Yuan was thoughtful. He took back the paternity test report and put it into his backpack.

"Don't tell my mom about this for now. Let her recover quietly."

Song Heng replied, "I know."

The father and son composed themselves and entered the ward one after the other.

Song Yuan had been busy with company matters these past few days and hadn't been to the hospital for two days. When Tao Yulian saw both her son and husband, her appetite improved, and she ate an extra half-bowl of rice.

After visiting Tao Yulian and leaving the hospital, Song Yuan called his aunt. He got straight to the point:

"Aunt, can you still get in touch with that friend of yours who brought me out of the hospital?"

On the other end of the phone, Song Qingqing went silent, then after a moment, she spoke,

"Song Yuan, how did you know about this?"

"My dad told me everything, Aunt. I want to know how my biological mother is now. Please help me contact your nurse friend. This is very important to me. Please, Aunt!"

After another period of silence, Song Qingqing spoke, "Song Yuan, what you're saying is too unconscionable. How have your parents treated you all these years? They treated you as their own, gave you all their houses and savings, poured everything into you. Now that you know the truth, you're turning around to find your biological parents. Doesn't your conscience hurt?"

Song Yuan had expected some condemnation, but he had to ask,

"I just want to know my origins. My biological mother's fate after giving birth to me is unknown. Shouldn't I be concerned?

The grace of birth and the grace of upbringing are equally important to me. It doesn't mean that if I look for my biological mother, I'll abandon my current parents. Aunt, you're thinking too narrowly of me. I'm not that kind of heartless person."

"I won't tell you."

Song Qingqing hung up the phone directly.

Song Yuan didn't get any useful information and returned home heavy-hearted.

Gu Shiyu was working overtime tonight, so Song Yuan ordered takeout by himself, ate a few hurried bites, and then returned to his study.

He turned on his computer and hacked into the information system of Dongcheng First Maternity and Child Hospital.

He was born on October 1st, 1997, National Day. Song Yuan thought, hospitals usually have archived information, right?

He cracked it layer by layer until he found the hospital's maternity information table, entered his birth date for a search, but the database returned zero results.

He pulled up the earliest date recorded in the hospital, and it turned out the data stored in the database started from 2005; nothing before that was archived.

Song Yuan was at a loss after checking this far.

He didn't know if the hospital would keep paper records for information before 2005. To check, he would need to know someone working inside Dongcheng First Maternity and Child Hospital.

But he racked his brain and couldn't think of any connections in that area.

Song Yuan had too much on his mind, and he started craving a cigarette.

He took his lighter to the balcony, and half a cigarette later, Gu Shiyu returned.

Gu Shiyu noticed his heavy heart, changed her shoes, and went to the balcony to find him.

"What's wrong? Are you in a bad mood? Did the investors make things difficult for you?"

She was already thinking of going to settle accounts with Huo Ziming, but Song Yuan replied to her,

"No, Shiyu, my paternity test results came out. I'm not my parents' biological child."

"Then, you..."

Gu Shiyu suddenly didn't know how to comfort him.

"Shiyu, my biological mother might not even be alive now. I really want to know her whereabouts. But the hospital's information database only stores the last twenty years."

Gu Shiyu's eyebrow twitched.

"Most hospitals have a document room. If it's not in the information database, it doesn't mean it's not in the document room. I have relatives who work in hospitals and know a lot of people. Tell me which hospital, and we can go directly to the document room to check."

Song Yuan smiled knowingly, put out his cigarette, and pulled her into his arms.

They had thought of the same thing.

It was the first time someone could anticipate his every need. Song Yuan felt their compatibility wasn't just in bed, but in every aspect.

"Shiyu, Dongcheng First Maternity and Child Hospital. Can you help me ask your relatives if they know anyone there?"

Gu Shiyu readily agreed,

"Probably."

She hadn't even heard of this hospital, but in Beijing, there was no place the Gu Family couldn't investigate.

"Wait for me, I'll contact that relative."

Gu Shiyu returned to the living room to text her assistant.

"[Donate five million to Dongcheng First Maternity and Child Hospital in your name. Have their director contact me tomorrow morning at nine. Do it now.]"

Ms. Xu had already gone home after work but received another task from her boss.

"[General Manager Gu, donate overnight, in my name?]

"[Yes, overnight!]

Ms. Xu complained bitterly. One word from the boss, and the subordinates run themselves ragged. It's tough for them, the poor workers.

She figured her boss must be pregnant; otherwise, why would she donate to a maternal and child hospital late at night?

And in her name!!