After Xin Ying finished washing her hands, she took a towel from the shelf next to her to dry them. Lin Leyao, who had been leaning against the door frame watching Xin Ying, suddenly reached out from behind and put her arm around Xin Ying's shoulder.
Xin Ying patted Lin Leyao's hand, which was wrapped around her chest, with her warm palm and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"
Lin Leyao shook her head and remained silent.
Her cheeks were buried deep in Xin Ying's back, and Xin Ying could not see her current state in the mirror.
Lin Leyao's eyes were red and swollen. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down.
She felt that Xin Ying didn't fit in with the Xin family mansion.
Although the old man didn't show up all night, the fact that Xin Hailan was allowed into the house meant that the old man tacitly approved of her presence.
Xin Hailan only has one father, but a father can have many children and many granddaughters.
Her father's love wouldn't be limited to just her.
She suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for Xin Ying.
Even someone as strong as her outsiders, who shelters her from the wind and rain, can suffer grievances.
Lin Leyao buried herself in Xin Ying's back without making a sound, refusing to look up. Xin Ying slowly reached out and firmly grasped Lin Leyao's clasped hands, which were wrapped around her chest.
The two remained silent, maintaining this posture.
Lin Leyao slowly released her arms from Xin Ying's until someone knocked on the bedroom door from the outside.
Xin Ying pinched Lin Leyao's cheeks with both hands, lifted her head, and carefully examined every inch of Lin Leyao's face, not missing a single detail. Finding nothing amiss, she slowly relaxed.
She held Lin Leyao's hand, which was adorned with a ring, and kissed it, saying, "Let's go eat some tangyuan (sweet rice balls)."
Lin Leyao nodded.
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Author's Note:
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 22:40:00 on March 15, 2022 and 17:36:11 on March 16, 2022!
Thank you to the little angel who threw the grenade: 55157345 (1 grenade);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 56
When it was time for a late-night snack, Grandpa Xin finally came out of his room.
His expression was clear and alert, not at all like someone who had just woken up.
As for what the old man did in the room during the few hours after Xin Hailan returned home, no one else knew.
When Xin Hailan saw her grandfather appear, a smile immediately spread across her face.
She ladled out a bowl of glutinous rice balls and placed it in front of Grandpa Xin, saying, "Grandpa, these are glutinous rice balls I made myself. It's my first time making them, so I don't know how they taste. Please try them and see if they're good."
Dai Jiaozhi chimed in, "Hailan has been abroad for so many years and has never eaten tangyuan (sweet rice balls). She went home and made a lot, but she's not in a hurry to eat them herself. The first bowl she'll be thinking of is for you!"
Xin Guangjin smiled faintly and said, "Okay, Hailan, you've worked hard tonight. You should eat too. You just got back from Australia today and you've been tired all day. You should get some rest after you eat."
Xin Hailan nodded emphatically, but instead of obeying, she watched intently as Xin Guangjin put the first glutinous rice ball into his mouth.
Xin Guangjin took a bite of the glutinous rice ball. He had lived for seventy years and had tasted all sorts of delicious food. This glutinous rice ball was no different from the ones he usually ate. Tonight, he didn't have much of an appetite because he had something on his mind. He took one bite and put down his spoon.
As soon as he looked up, he saw Xin Hailan blinking her big eyes and staring intently at him.
The little girl immediately smiled when she saw him looking at her.
Xin Hailan immediately asked, "Grandpa, is it delicious!"
Although Xin Hailan is much taller than girls her age and looks slightly more mature, she is only thirteen years old this year. The children of the Xin family all have eyes that resemble Xin Guangjin's. Looking at this granddaughter he had never met before, Xin Guangjin's expression melted, and he nodded and said, "Delicious, it tastes almost the same as the glutinous rice balls I used to eat."
Xin Wenwen, who had been quietly eating her glutinous rice balls, casually remarked upon hearing this, "The filling was originally made by Aunt Zhang, so of course it tastes about the same as before."
Xin Hailan's smile froze, and her face immediately turned bright red.
Xin Guangjin sensed Xin Hailan's embarrassment and immediately comforted her, "How many kids these days know how to make meat filling for glutinous rice balls? You've already done a great job by learning how to wrap them today. The glutinous rice balls in the bowl will get cold if you leave them in any longer, so you should eat them quickly!"
Xin Hailan had lost the will to continue talking to her grandfather and was eating the glutinous rice balls in her bowl with a sullen expression.
Xin Wenwen was happily eating the glutinous rice balls in her bowl, and soon the bowl was empty.
She went to a nightclub without having dinner tonight, and her stomach has been a little upset since she got back. A hot bowl of glutinous rice balls would be perfect for a late-night snack.
She picked up a spoon, preparing to ladle another bowl of soup from the pot on the table, when she looked up and saw her grandmother glaring at her angrily.
Xin Wenwen felt confused. Seeing that her grandmother was still staring at her, she turned her hand and scooped up dumplings from another pot.
Dai Jiaozhi looked at her granddaughter's unruly behavior and her chest pounded with anger.
His granddaughter, whom he hadn't seen for thirteen years, finally returned to China. He tried his best to keep her here, but who would have thought that his eldest granddaughter would cause trouble for him everywhere?
How could her eldest son have given birth to such a good-for-nothing child!
Dai Jiaozhi sulked for a while before turning her gaze back to her little granddaughter.
Seeing that Xin Hailan had finished a bowl of glutinous rice balls, she immediately said, "Aunt Zhang, give Hailan another bowl."
Aunt Zhang moved quickly, and the bowl that Xin Hailan had just emptied was instantly filled with hot glutinous rice balls.
Dai Jiaozhi looked at her granddaughter with loving eyes: "Eat slowly if you like, there's still plenty left in the pot. You just got home today, so eat more. Many of the glutinous rice balls have coins inside, so eat more and see if you can find more coins to bring you good luck."
Xin Hailan nodded obediently, put a glutinous rice ball into her mouth, and chewed it with effort.
One bowl of glutinous rice balls is enough to make you feel nauseous.
Although Xin Hailan had never eaten glutinous rice balls before, she couldn't eat a second bowl.
But she couldn't refuse her grandmother's words, so she had to swallow with difficulty.
Suddenly, Xin Hailan's expression changed, and a few seconds later she spat out a hard object from her mouth.
The coin clinked against the porcelain bowl, and before Xin Hailan could react, Dai Jiaozhi burst out laughing: "This is the first coin Hailan has ever found! Good, good! Find a few more, and you'll have good fortune all year round! Guangjin, I told you Hailan is a lucky little girl!"
If an elder likes a child, they will find a reason to praise the child no matter what the child does.
Xin Guangjin ate a few glutinous rice balls and then stopped. Watching Xin Hailan wolf down her food with a very sweet eating manner, he smiled and nodded with his eyes narrowed when he heard Dai Jiaozhi's words.
Seeing Dai Jiaozhi so happy and listening to what she said, Xin Hailan's initially agitated emotions gradually calmed down. She nodded and began to eat seriously.
Suddenly, a low laugh came from the side, coming from her aunt and Lin Leyao. Xin Hailan couldn't help but look up.
Seeing her sister-in-law Xin Ying smiling broadly as she spoke to her wife, and then patting her head with a smile.
It turns out that my aunt wasn't as excited as my grandmother about finding a coin in her food. In fact, neither my aunt nor her wife paid attention to themselves; they each created their own little world, keeping everyone else out.
Xin Hailan continued to eat the glutinous rice balls, but there wasn't a single one with a coin in it left in the bowl.
Dai Jiaozhi couldn't believe it either. She had put so many coins in the glutinous rice balls, how come Xin Hailan only found one in one night?!
Suddenly, a series of crisp sounds came from next door, like metal hitting a marble tabletop.
This series of sounds was enough to prove that the person had found more than a dozen coins.
Everyone's attention was naturally drawn to the source of the sound.
Xin Ying poured all the coins that Lin Leyao had spat out of the bowl onto the table, and the loud noise attracted the attention of many people.
Xin Ying glanced at Dai Jiaozhi and Xin Hailan before looking away. Turning her head, she saw Lin Leyao pursing her lips and blinking at her.
Xin Ying immediately understood, holding the bowl in her hand, and said, "Spit it out."
Lin Leyao couldn't help but glance sideways, wanting to see Dai Jiaozhi and the others over there. Xin Ying poked her cheek with her fingertip, stopping her from turning her face away.
Xin Ying said, "Go ahead and throw up."
Ignoring everyone else, Lin Leyao spat out four coins in a row.
Xin Ying couldn't help but laugh when she found four coins in a glutinous rice ball. She had only ever had four coins in one glutinous rice ball that Lin Leyao had made, and the others had at most three. She never expected that Lin Leyao would find the only one.
Because everyone's attention was focused on the two of them, the sound of the four coins Lin Leyao spat out hitting the bottom of the bowl was clearer and more resonant than before.
Dai Jiaozhi's face darkened, and she withdrew her gaze, no longer looking in that direction.
Xin Hailan felt a burning pain on her face. She tried her best to eat more coins, but in the end she only managed to eat one. Meanwhile, the other side had already eaten more than a dozen coins.
She felt as if they were doing it on purpose, deliberately making things difficult for her on her first day back home.
On the other side, Lin Leyao and Xin Ying realized that even a single coin could make the other person think so much.
With her elders present, Lin Leyao felt embarrassed to whisper, so she took out her phone and typed a few words in her notes app.
You did this on purpose!!!
The series of ellipses that followed perfectly captured Lin Leyao's feelings at that moment.
Xin Ying shrugged, indicating no.
You specifically picked out all the glutinous rice balls with coins in them from the pot and put them in my bowl.
Lin Leyao was certain that Xin Ying did it on purpose.
Xin Ying smiled, took Lin Leyao's phone, typed a message, and then returned the phone.
Lin Leyao's cheeks flushed red as she looked at the extra line of text below her own statement.
My daughter, Leyao, is the luckiest of all; good fortune is only for you!
After reading this sentence, Lin Leyao immediately put her phone into her pocket.
Her face was flushed, and her whole body was burning with embarrassment because of those words.
With so many people at the dinner table, including elders, Xin Ying felt extremely shy typing this out under everyone's gaze.
Although no one else could see what Xin Ying said, Lin Leyao's cheeks and ears remained burning hot until the late-night snack ended and she returned to her room, at which point she gradually calmed down.
Xin Ying was in a very good mood after that, with a faint smile on her face. Lin Leyao went back to the bedroom to wash up, while Xin Ying went to the study alone to handle some work left over from the day.
Lin Leyao had just finished showering and came out of the bathroom when there was a knock on the bedroom door. When Lin Leyao opened the bedroom door, she saw Xin Hailan standing outside.
When Xin Hailan saw that it was Lin Leyao, her eyes flashed, and she asked, "Where's Aunt?"
Lin Leyao looked at her and said, "She's in the study."
Xin Hailan nodded, took out a cup of coffee from the tray she was carrying, and said, "This is coffee I made for you, it's a latte, you can still fall asleep tonight if you drink it."