Watching as Gao Lan tightly hugged the younger aunt who only stopped running when she reached her, even Jiang Lingxi was momentarily stunned.
Then she exchanged a blank look with Xu Ling’an.
The silence in and out of the courtyard was broken by Jiang Wenhu: "What... what’s happening?"
How did the younger aunt suddenly run up to An’an’s grandmother, and now they’re hugging tightly?
Jiang Lingxi walked over to Xu Ling’an, who seemed immobilized, patted her shoulder, and was about to speak when she heard Jiang Wenhu’s question, so she took Xu Ling’an to Jiang Wenhu and whispered, "If I’m not mistaken, the younger aunt should be An’an’s grandmother’s long-lost daughter."
In this light, the sense of familiarity at the welcome banquet was not an illusion.
A mother and daughter are bound to share some resemblance, but An’an’s grandmother’s age had made her look older. If she were slightly younger, she might have been able to guess the first time they met the younger aunt.
But this family relation... it’s a bit complicated!
As soon as she said this, the hand she was holding suddenly trembled.
Jiang Wenhu looked even more bewildered, "What?"
The younger aunt is An’an’s grandmother’s daughter?
Gao Lan was hugging her daughter tightly as if afraid she would disappear, holding her so tight she didn’t want to let go.
Not until Xu Yin struggled to move because she was barely able to breathe did Gao Lan wake up as if from a dream and loosen her grip a bit, awkwardly saying, "Did I hurt our Yanyan? I’m sorry, I’m sorry, mom couldn’t help it..."
The two almost inaudible words made tears stream down Gao Lan’s face instantly.
Until a pair of hands reached out to wipe the tears from her face, "Don’t cry."
Gao Lan nodded without thinking, "Okay, okay, I won’t cry."
After her tears were wiped dry, she finally saw her granddaughter and Jiang Wenhu and Jiang Lingxi standing at the courtyard entrance.
"An’an, this is your mother, she was the one who took you home back then."
Jiang Lingxi let go of Xu Ling’an’s hand and watched as the girl walked over.
The family of three was reunited.
Gao Lan then looked at Jiang Lingxi, "Xixi, were you the one who found An’an’s mother? No, what did you just call Yanyan?"
Jiang Lingxi exchanged a quick glance with Jiang Wenhu.
"Aunt Gao, no, do I have to call you grandma now?" Jiang Wenhu started with the accustomed greeting, then suddenly realized, "Well, my little uncle seems to have married your daughter."
Inside the guest hall.
Shen Chuyue tied the wire to the lamp pole and then said, "How come sister-in-law hasn’t come back from finding a lighter yet?"
Tu Susu put down the lantern she was halfway through making and got up, "I’ll go have a look."
Before she could reach the door, she saw Shen Huchen leaning at the window, looking outside.
"Huchen, what are you looking at?"
"The courtyard gate, it’s quite lively."
Everyone in the guest courtyard gathered in the main hall.
Jiang Cisheng, who had been pulling Jiang Runcheng aside in the quieter study to discuss starting a company, was called over by Jiang Lingxi in person.
She opened with, "Granduncle, your mother-in-law and daughters are here."
When he rushed out, the first thing he saw was his wife on the sofa, and next to her was an old lady with slightly red eyes.
The moment he looked over, the lady also raised her eyes to look at him.
With their eyes meeting, everyone else in the room tacitly remained silent.
Jiang Lingxi watched the scene in front of her—where her granduncle was finally meeting his mother-in-law and daughter for the first time after being married for over ten years—and tugged at Shen Yunqing’s sleeve standing next to her.
When he looked over, she blinked.
She knew the familiarity all along, which in the end turned out to have such deep ties.
Shen Yunqing discreetly bowed slightly.
Your Majesty is indeed remarkable!
This year’s Lantern Festival was destined to be extraordinary.
And it was truly a reunion dinner.
Gao Lan tightly held her long-lost daughter, listening quietly to Jiang Cisheng recount the entire process of his encounter with her daughter up to now.
Fear, relief, bitterness, gratitude... various emotions surged in her heart all at once.
Should she blame her daughter for riskily saving someone, or blame this man for silently marrying her daughter and taking her to live far away in Mao City from the Imperial City?
But if not for their dangerous encounter, this man might have been tortured to death by those evildoers over a decade ago. And considering her daughter’s situation, if no one had been protecting her, Gao Lan herself wouldn’t dare to claim her daughter could have survived peacefully outside for even a year, let alone have this blessing of a reunion after nearly twenty years!
Seeing her mother-in-law finally open her mouth, Jiang Cisheng couldn’t help but hold his breath.
Yet, Xu Yin softly interrupted Gao Lan’s words, "Mom, I love Shengsheng."
Gao Lan stroked her daughter’s hand.
In the past nearly twenty years, her daughter was now about the same age as Wenhui, without even a thin callus on her hands; though there were some fine lines at the corners of her eyes, her gaze remained clear.
Moreover, what surprised her most was that through their brief interaction, she could clearly sense her daughter’s state was much improved compared to before she went missing.
And all of this, without a doubt, was thanks to this son-in-law in front of her.
Even though she’d never imagined anyone would be willing to marry her daughter, at this moment, she couldn’t deny the man’s feelings for her daughter.
"Don’t just stand there, sit down."
Jiang Cisheng let out a sigh of relief, obediently took a seat, and followed suit, "Thank you, mom."
Her son-in-law might be a little thick-skinned.
Jiang Lingxi handed over the prepared tissue to Xu Ling’an.
"Thank you, sister, I’m just so happy. I didn’t expect such a big surprise during this visit."
"I know, I didn’t expect it either."
Xu Ling’an wiped her tears and blew her nose with the tissue, threw it into the bin, and looked up to see her sister with a peculiar expression.
"I’m pondering a very complicated issue."
"You see, your mom is my younger aunt, which makes your dad my granduncle. What should I call you then?"
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After laughing, Xu Ling’an looked up at her sister, who was watching her with a smile, and snuggled over gently, "Everyone can call each other differently, but I only want to be your sister’s little sister."
Jiang Lingxi patted Xu Ling’an’s head and glanced in the direction of the study.
Regarding this title issue, her granduncle shouldn’t mind either, right?
Little did she know someone else was troubled too.
Jiang Lingxu quietly walked alone to the small lake at Xiyuan, slouched his head, threw a stone into the lake, then squatted by the lakeside playing a stone himself.
An’an turned out to be the daughter the younger aunt took in back then.
Does that mean he’ll have to start calling An’an his grandaunt in the future?
Thinking this, he felt darkness descend before his eyes...