" Look Tao . Your father is no more . So I naturally believe and hope that he will come back to us as your son . Also , only a son can expand a family one step further . He will bring you a daughter-in-law and will stay with you in your twilight years . So this child should be a boy . ", Mother Ning expressed her views .

" And what if it is a girl ? ", Ningtao subconsciously touched her belly .

" Then that will be too bad . ", Mother Ning sighed .

" I can't believe that you still have such a narrow mindset in 21st century , Mrs. Ning ! ", Lu Hongguang entered into the living room ,"Do you even have any idea how sweet daughters are ? In today's society , girls are as much capable as boys . Our Lu family will welcome the child , no matter what the gender it has , with open arms . "

" And who will take the blood lineage of your family further ? A boy . Mr. Lu , I understand your broad thoughts but we can't help the way this society works . ", Mother Ning refuted .

Soon , even Zheng Keer and Lu Wei entered the living room as they tried to calm down the situation but Mother Ning had no intention to retreat or back down.

But even Lu Wei had to speak up when mother Ning proposed a gender determination checkup ," I am sorry Mom , but gender determination is a crime in country X and there is no way that me and Ningtao are going to be involved in anything illegal . We are not going to those good-for-nothing roadside doctors you have found . This is me and my wife's child you are talking about . You need to stop involving in our lives . I won't even allow my own Mom and Dad to say something in this ."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

" Xinghe !!! "

Suddenly , Xi Yuan's panic stricken voice rang out throughout the living room as everyone turned around to look in the direction of the stairs .

As soon as Lu Wei saw his sister lying unconscious in Xi Yuan's arms , his face turned as pale as a sheet .

c.r.a.p !

Did she listened everything ?!!

How could he forget that this was an extremely sensitive topic for her ?!!

" Senior Lu ! Please call Senior Rogguang ! ", Xi Yuan looked anxiously at Lu Wei before he lifted up the girl in his arms and took her into a nearby room .

_______________

" H..How is she ?!" , Mother Lu asked worriedly as soon as she saw Su Rogguang coming out of the room where the girl was still lying insensately .

Su Rogguang didn't answered anything directly , but he approached Lu Wei angrily and confronted him ," She had a migraine stroke , Wei ! When she was diagnosed with Basilar-type migraine , didn't we all read heaps of books on this disease ? Although nothing happened to her today , it doesn't change the fact that these strokes can be fatal and dangerous .

" And I know for a fact that this stroke took place because some disturbing visual images had flashed through her mind before she got unconscious . Can you explain that ?! And don't you dare tell me that it was about her past with the Rongs ! You know better than ignoring her existence whenever any relatable topic comes up . "

On the sidelines , when Xi Yuan heard Su Rogguang's words , his back stiffened involuntarily .

Past with the Rongs ....

Disturbing visual images ....

What the h.e.l.l was going on ?!

Xi Yuan then took a deep breath and handed the file in his hand to Lu Wei ,"You need to sign this ."

And under the confused and perplexed gazes , the man fearlessly walked inside the room to see his girl .

He simply held the girl's soft yet cold hands into his warm ones as he gazed at her with concern enveloping his heart .

Su Rogguang had to leave as he had to perform a surgery he was scheduled for .

And after calming down Mother Lu , Father Lu and Mother Ning and sending them to rest , Lu Wei put Ningtao to bed before coming back into the girl's room .

To his surprise , Xi Yuan was still sitting in the same place and in the same position .

" You should go back ... "

" Please , let me just sit here Senior ." , the man requested.

" Sigh ! ..... Do you want to know about her past with the Rongs ? ", Lu Wei sat down on the bed facing Xi Yuan and asked him.

The man stayed silent .

" Yuan , I believe that her time with the Rong family was worse than that with the Zhou family . She was never treated like a princess there . In fact , she was treated worse than any animal . Unlike your grandfather and grandmother , her grandparents hated her . The reason was simple , her gender . I was in the hospital with my parents when her mother was giving birth to her and Xiao .

" Her grandparents and the entire Rong family was also there . I had myself seen her grandmother praying to G.o.d that at least one child should be a boy . But when doctors informed that her mother had given birth to twin girls , her grandmother broke down in tears and created a huge scene in the hospital corridor . None of the Rong family members smiled for once .

" In fact , they didn't even bothered to look at the girls and directly went back home. Of course, both of her parents were happy with these two little bundles of joy .

"You know who was the first person to hold her in arms ? It was me . At that time , I had pledged to treat her as my own sister . I had pledged to protect the both of them all my life .

" But the reaction of Rong family proved one thing to me that day . Life in that family was not going to be easy for her and Xiao. Alas ! I couldn't do anything back then because Rongs had her legal custody . At first , she was fine . But after her mom and dad left for their confidential mission when she was just 2 , her situation became miserable .

" I can't tell you what they did to her since she was a child , because it is not my place to do so . When she is prepared to open up to you about this , she will tell you everything herself .

" What I want you to know is that she never had a childhood . All she has seen is pain and sufferings . Her today's reaction was also the result of that . The images of her painful past , her horrifying childhood came back to her mind resulting in this migraine stroke.

" Gender discrimination is a sensitive topic for her because she herself has been a victim of that . Today , when Ningtao's mother said what she said today , she reflexively thought about her days in the Rong family . "