After entering the yard, Granny Zhang busied herself with cutting a few plates of watermelon: "Everyone, have some watermelon to quench your thirst."
Han Jingchen smiled as he accepted it: "Thank you, Auntie."
After the few of them chatted for a while in the yard, Su Jingsong, Zhang Libing, and He Jinxuan stayed and chatted with Granny Zhang.
Meanwhile, Xinyan took her newfound dad, Han Jingchen, into the main room.
Xinyan poured two glasses of water and placed one in front of Han Jingchen: "Have some water."
Han Jingchen kept looking at his daughter, remembering when he first met his wife Wanqing, she was this age too. His daughter looked a lot like his wife, especially her eyes, which were exactly like her mom’s: "Yanyan, it must have been hard for you all these years. It’s me who let you down."
Although Xinyan had already cried once before, upon hearing this, her eyes involuntarily watered again. In fact, she truly felt wronged; if nothing had gone wrong, she wouldn’t have had to suffer all those things in her past life.
She didn’t have the slightest intention to blame her dad; it was just fate playing tricks. After all, she knew that her dad had been looking for her all these years and even lost his life in search of her in their past life.
Fortunately, in this life, they didn’t miss each other again, and she felt deeply grateful.
Han Jingchen kept his eyes fixed on his daughter, afraid this was a dream. Now and then, he would pinch himself, causing Xinyan to feel heartbroken: "Dad, stop pinching yourself, this is not a dream."
In this life, her dad had found her, and she was no longer the poor little thing without anyone. Her heart felt a strong ache, and unknowingly tears started to fall again.
Han Jingchen was somewhat flustered: "Yanyan, don’t cry, it’s my fault."
He wanted to reach out and hold his daughter but worried she wouldn’t like it. Seeing his cautious appearance, Xinyan couldn’t help but feel heartache again and threw herself into Han Jingchen’s embrace: "Daddy."
Feeling the deep fatherly love spanning two lives, Xinyan’s tears couldn’t stop.
Han Jingchen held his daughter tightly: "Ah, daddy is here."
After a long time, they finally calmed down, and the father and daughter, with red eyes, laughed together.
Han Jingchen reached out to stroke his daughter’s head: "I’ve finally found you. When your mom comes back, she will be very happy."
Before, Xinyan had already heard Han Jingchen briefly explain the situation and knew that her mom took the risk of luring those people away to protect her, and since then, there had been no news: "Dad, do you have any news about mom?"
Han Jingchen nodded and then shook his head: "There are some, but we haven’t found out where she is yet. But I believe that one day your mom will come back to find us."
They spent the entire afternoon talking in the room until the sun was slanting to the west before they came out.
Xinyan learned about the Han family’s situation from Han Jingchen. She got to know each of their personalities and characters, including Qiu Chunli’s family; Han Jingchen didn’t leave them out either. He felt it was better for his daughter to be aware of these things early to avoid being passive.
Han Jingchen told her everything he could, including who he got along well with, sharing it all with his daughter.
The relationship between the father and daughter grew at rocket speed, and when they came out, there was no longer the previous sense of unfamiliarity. Both had smiles on their faces.
Su Jingsong and Zhang Libing were undeniably happy seeing the leader’s change. Over the years, the leader rarely smiled, mostly staying serious.
Xinyan looked around when she noticed Granny Zhang and He Jinxuan weren’t in the yard.
Su Jingsong quickly spoke up: "Aunt Zhang and Comrade He Jinxuan went out to buy groceries; they should be back soon."
As soon as he finished speaking, Granny Zhang and He Jinxuan came into the yard, chatting and laughing. Seeing their hands full of things, Xinyan quickly went to welcome them: "Why did you buy so many things?"
Granny Zhang laughed and said: "Well, I thought we’d have your dad and the others stay for dinner, and Jinxuan here wanted to buy everything she saw. If I hadn’t stopped her, we might not have been able to come back yet."
Xinyan laughed, meeting He Jinxuan’s gaze and winked at her.
He Jinxuan knew that the little girl must be aware of her thoughts and couldn’t help but smile foolishly.
On one side, Han Jingchen couldn’t take it anymore. This kid dared to openly try to win over his precious daughter right in front of him; he didn’t want to accept it and coughed heavily: "No need to bother, let’s go to the state-run restaurant in front and have dinner."