Upon hearing her grandfather's words, the smile on Jiang Youli's face faded, and she fell silent.
Zhang Susu and Jiang Yehan, sitting nearby, both noticed the change in Jiang Youli's expression. The two exchanged a glance and quietly continued sipping their soup.
After a long moment, Jiang Youli spoke: "Grandfather, are you planning to bring their family back to the Jiang household?"
A flicker of surprise crossed Zhang Susu's eyes.
"Their family"? Who else could it be?
Of course, it was Jiang Yangxu's family.
For Youli to ask such a question, the old man must have said something. Otherwise, she wouldn't have asked like that.
What had the old man said?
Jiang Yehan also grew thoughtful. Their family's days had just settled into peace; he hoped nothing else would stir things up again.
"Youli, don't overthink this. I have no intention of bringing your second uncle's family back to the Jiang estate. But at the end of the day, your second uncle is my own son, and Jiang Xing and Jiang Zhao are my own grandsons. This old bones of mine doesn't have many days left, so I do hope that the family can gather for meals more often in the future." Old Master Jiang explained.
From her grandfather's words, he clearly wanted her to forgive Jiang Yangxu's family.
At least on the surface, that was the intent.
Jiang Youli said nothing more. "I understand, Grandfather."
Old Master Jiang said, "Alright, you go ahead and have your meal with your parents. I won't keep you."
Jiang Youli replied, "Okay, Grandfather. Send me your flight details when you have them, and I'll come pick you up."
Seeing Jiang Youli hang up, Zhang Susu asked with a complicated expression: "Youli, what did your grandfather say to you just now?"
Jiang Youli set down her phone and said calmly, "Grandfather is coming back to the country in a couple of days. He plans to have Jiang Yangxu's family come over to the Jiang house for a meal together."
Just as she thought.
Saying it was a meal—how could it possibly be just a simple meal?
After everything that had happened before, could the two families even sit together for a meal in harmony?
The old man was clearly trying to get their family to forgive Jiang Yangxu's family.
Zhang Susu looked at Youli with concern and said, "Youli, what are you thinking? If you don't want to have that meal with them, just go over to the Qi residence and spend time with Qi Huan that day. Your father and I can handle things at home."
Actually, Zhang Susu could understand Old Master Jiang's thinking.
No matter what mistakes Jiang Yangxu's family had made, they were still his blood relatives. Driving them out of the Jiang family and stripping them of company management duties was already a severe punishment.
The old man could never completely sever ties with Jiang Yangxu's family.
Now that some time had passed, the old man figured he might try to mend the relationship between the two families if possible.
But how could making up be that simple?
Let alone the repeated harm that Jiang Xing and Jiang Zhao had inflicted on Youli—she herself could never forgive Jiang Yangxu for having his steward kidnap her in the past.
Jiang Youli said, "We'll see."
No matter what her grandfather was scheming, the shares of the Jiang family's two most important companies—Jiang Medical and Starlight Entertainment—had already been transferred to her.
What was in hand was what truly counted.
Jiang Yehan also said, "Youli, you are our daughter. What we can do for you is make sure you never have to agree to anything that puts you in a difficult position. So if you truly don't want to have that meal with Jiang Yangxu's family, go ahead and stand them up. I'm sure your grandfather won't say anything. And if he does, then he'd be the one in the wrong, and I will argue it out with him to the very end."
Jiang Youli smiled. "I know, Dad, Mom. Don't worry—I won't let myself be shortchanged. When Grandfather comes back, we'll see what he actually has in mind."
Jiang Yehan said nothing more. Sometimes, Youli was so self-reliant that it made them, as her parents, ache inside.
After all, how many storms must she have weathered to become so unflappable and worry-free at such an age?
As the saying goes: children from poor households grow up fast.
Youli had developed such maturity because she had never had anyone to shield her since childhood, and she had to rely on herself to solve everything.
The things they could do for Youli were really so few and insignificant.
...
After finishing her meal, Jiang Youli attended to her herb garden as usual. She carefully checked the growth of every medicinal plant, watering and fertilizing them.
After completing her work in the herb garden, Jiang Youli returned to her room and took a nice hot bath, then blow-dried her hair. She changed into loose pajamas, climbed into bed, picked up her phone, tapped on Qi Huan's profile picture, and initiated a video call.
It didn't take long for the other side to answer, and the screen showed the upper half of Qi Huan's body.
Qi Huan had apparently just finished showering as well, wearing a soft robe with his hair still slightly damp, casually tousled in a fluffy and messy way.
"Huanhuan, how was your day? Any news about your brother?"
Over the past few days while treating him, she knew that Qi Huan was now spending every day tracking down and investigating everything related to his brother.
Sometimes, Qi Huan had to go verify things in person.
Qi Huan gave a faint smile. "Still nothing."
Jiang Youli could see the helplessness and disappointment hidden behind his smile.
She had also instructed Ye Ying to have people in their organization look into it, but even the talents within their organization couldn't uncover any trace of Qi Huan's brother's whereabouts.
So Jiang Youli said, "Huanhuan, I think you should just ask your father, Qi Tianxiang."
She paused, then added, "If he still refuses to admit it, then you need to get ruthless and use some methods. And if you can't bring yourself to be harsh, let me handle Qi Tianxiang with some strict interrogation. At worst, I'll feed him another dose of poison."
Qi Huan chuckled. "No need to waste your precious poison. Actually, I've already made up my mind. I'll keep searching nationwide for another week. If I still can't find him, I'll pry open Qi Tianxiang's mouth by whatever means necessary."
Because if his younger brother was still alive, he had no way of knowing how his brother was doing now.
If he was living decently, then finding him a bit later wouldn't matter much.
But if life was hard for him, then every day of delay meant one more day of suffering for his brother.
"Alright, as long as you've made up your mind, that's good." After saying that, Jiang Youli told Qi Huan about the call she'd received from her grandfather today. "Huanhuan, tell me if I'm right—my grandfather wants me to forgive Jiang Yangxu's family."
Qi Huan hummed in agreement and continued, "From your grandfather's perspective, that's probably the case."
Jiang Youli said, annoyed, "If that's really what my grandfather is planning, it feels like a stab in the back."
Qi Huan said seriously, "Don't worry about what your grandfather thinks. Just keep doing things your own way. Jiang Medical and Starlight Entertainment are firmly under your and your father's control now. All that so-called sentiment is hardly worth anything."
Jiang Youli nodded and replied, "Yeah, that's how I see it too. Good thing you and Dad both pushed to have the company shares transferred to me back then. Otherwise, if I really grew the companies into something big and successful, I might have ended up making wedding clothes for Jiang Yangxu's family in the end."
Qi Huan said with deep agreement, "Exactly, benefits in hand are what matter most. After all, feelings can be so fragile sometimes—they simply can't withstand the test of time and reality."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Youli teased, "Oh? Huanhuan, if you say that, are you implying that even the bond between us isn't reliable?"
