Yu Lingyi immediately greeted her proactively: "Xingxing, you're back."
"..." See, I told you she's been acting all clingy and sappy lately.
Yu Xiaxing stopped in her tracks, looked up at them and said, "Yeah, Fourth Sister, I just got back from overtime. That contract renewal task of mine is almost done."
She tugged at the school uniform she was wearing, "I even cosplayed a high school student just for the task... and here you are slacking off?"
She went straight to talking about working nonstop.
Yu Lingyi knew she meant well, trying to motivate her.
Anyone who's been to school knows that the worst kind of people are the ones who secretly grind nonstop and lie about not studying at all. Xingxing works hard openly, so she's definitely not that kind of bad person.
She shook her head: "No way, I've been busy with work too. I'm never slacking off again."
Yu Xiaxing encouraged her: "That's awesome! Let's get back inside and pull an all-nighter to keep working then!"
She turned to leave right after saying that.
Unexpectedly, Yu Zhining, who had been silent this whole time, called her name: "Yu Xiaxing."
She turned back around and asked very politely, "What can I do for you?"
Yu Zhining was quiet for a moment, then asked calmly, "Why haven't you talked to me? Did that bond we forged fighting side by side by the pool just vanish into thin air?"
Yu Xiaxing frowned slightly: "You were just standing on the shore watching! You didn't even jump in to save me! How is that fighting side by side?"
Yu Zhining said, "But you know how to swim, don't you?"
Yu Xiaxing froze for a second, her eyes softening a little as if she was suddenly struck by a realization: "Oh right, that's what it was."
"So back then when I got into a conflict with your ex-fiancee by the pool, you didn't jump in to save me, not because you didn't care about me."
"It was because you knew I could swim, that I wouldn't get hurt..."
"..." Yu Zhining had a bad feeling about where this was going.
Sure enough, the next second Yu Xiaxing blazed up in indignation: "So it turns out you really do have a thing for me... Hey! I'm never getting into incest with you! Can't you just drop that thought for good?! If you keep this up I'm really going to tell Grandpa on you!"
Yu Zhining: "..."
Yu Xiaxing had already run off far away.
The garden fell quiet again.
Yu Lingyi looked at Yu Zhining, too curious to hold back any longer: "Brother, if I may be so bold..."
Yu Zhining cut her off coldly: "If you know you're being bold, then don't open your mouth."
"..." Yu Lingyi asked anyway, "So what exactly did you do to Xingxing before she went abroad? Why is she still being all snarky with you this whole time?"
Yu Zhining stayed silent.
Yu Lingyi guessed it definitely wasn't some serious unforgivable issue. If it was, Xingxing wouldn't just be snarky with him, she'd be treating him with far deeper resistance and hostility.
The fact that they were still willing to talk to each other, and even stand on the same side every now and then, proved both of them knew it wasn't a big deal.
But since neither wanted to talk about it... it must be something super embarrassing.
All of a sudden, Yu Zhining's phone rang.
He took it out, saw the call was from the wellness center, and answered: "What's the matter?"
After listening to what the person on the other end said, his originally calm expression gradually turned serious. "I understand. I'm heading over right now."
After hanging up, he was already on his feet.
Seeing that, Yu Lingyi dropped her playful look too: "Something went wrong at the wellness center?"
Yu Zhining hummed in confirmation. It was Huo Mian's mother who had run into trouble...
He left immediately.
-
Yu Xiaxing got back to her own small cottage.
As soon as she walked in, she spotted her grandpa there, holding a tiny carrot toy and playing with Diandian.
"..." Oh no, there's a second checkpoint to get through!
Diandian, who was biting the carrot toy, was trotting around Grandpa's feet in circles.
The second it noticed its owner was back, its ears perked straight up. It immediately dropped Grandpa, bit the carrot toy, and dashed over to her, whimpering and jumping straight into her arms.
Yu Xiaxing bent down and picked it up.
Grandpa also looked up at her: "You're home."
Yu Xiaxing, holding Diandian in her arms, walked over obediently: "Grandpa, why haven't you gone to sleep yet?"
Grandpa glanced at her: "I stayed up specially to wait for you."
Yu Xiaxing sat down on the chair next to him, waiting for him to speak.
Grandpa looked down at Diandian and reached out to pet the little dog's head. "Xingxing, Grandpa owes you an apology. More than a decade ago, your dog Tang Tuan passed away."
"I knew you'd be sad, but I thought it was just a dog after all, that a kid would get over the sadness after a little while. I didn't even punish Huo Mian for what she did, just brushed the whole thing off like it was a tiny trivial matter."
"I never realized all those years later, you'd still be having nightmares over it, that you'd never been able to let go."
Yu Xiaxing looked down at Diandian, and was quiet for a long time before she spoke.
"Grandpa, it's not your fault. Back then more than a decade ago, the whole society's mindset was different from now. A lot of adults back then just didn't take kids' pets seriously."
"There were even parents who killed their kids' little pets on purpose just to make their children behave, and some even cooked the pets and made the kids eat them."
"It's only as society's ideas have slowly progressed that people now understand that children have their own pain too, that they pour real affection into things they love."
"A life that a child has poured their love into is no longer just an ordinary animal."
She looked up at Grandpa, asking hopefully, "Grandpa, if something like what happened when I was little happened again now, you would definitely stand up for me and do right by me, wouldn't you?"
Grandpa chuckled, his usual sharp eyes now unbelievably soft. "Of course I would. Grandpa will protect every single thing that you care about."
"Thank you, Grandpa." Yu Xiaxing lowered her head, resting it on Grandpa's knee just like she did when she was little.
With the true heiress not arriving for a while yet, she was cherishing this family affection more than ever.
Yu Zhengrong looked at his little granddaughter, feeling genuinely guilty for not being there for her before.
Now that he knew the huge conflict between Xingxing and Huo Mian was irreconcilable, he planned to tell Xingxing about Huo Mian's upcoming arrangements so she wouldn't have to worry.
"Huo Mian is staying at Yu Zhining's wellness center right now, taking care of her mother. They're going to get her mother discharged as soon as possible, and neither of them will ever come back to the Yu family. You don't have to worry about that."
"Good." Yu Xiaxing nodded. Even though she knew she technically wasn't a member of the Yu family herself, she was still really happy to hear Huo Mian would no longer have anything to do with the Yu family.
Grandpa then looked closely at her clothes.
He had thought it was just a regular suit from far away, but looking closely now he spotted the St. De logo badge on it.
"Why are you dressed like that? And by the way, why are you so late today? Normally you get home right after work, don't you?"
Yu Xiaxing's heart skipped a beat.
Just as she thought, Grandpa never seemed to meddle in everyone's affairs openly, but he was always paying attention.
He might not know exactly what every single person was doing at every minute. But he almost certainly had a clear idea of who got home at what time, who was working overtime often, and who was always leaving work early.
From now on she had to put on a good show of working super hard at her job, while quietly making plans to leave, so she wouldn't get called out for slacking like Second Brother did. Otherwise she'd never get the severance pay she was counting on.
She had to make Grandpa truly believe that she really had tried her absolute best. It was just that her abilities were limited, and fate had not been on her side...
Yu Xiaxing immediately hugged Diandian tighter, her face full of a pained, aggrieved expression as she pouted: "Grandpa..."
Just you wait, I'm gonna spin you such a convincing story!
