Xin Hailan felt that Xin Ying was using this as an excuse to delay, and she said firmly, "I want to go now."
Xin Ying raised her eyes and glanced at Xin Hailan.
The little girl immediately lowered her head guiltily when she saw her gaze.
Xin Ying said expressionlessly, "Then let's go back."
Upon hearing this, Xin Hailan immediately looked up with delight.
Before she returned to China, her father kept reminding her that if she wanted to stay in the Xin family, she had to get her aunt's consent first. If her aunt didn't agree, she would have no chance of staying.
She came straight to see her aunt as soon as she got off the plane today, hoping to spend more time with her and get closer to her. But to her surprise, her aunt was unwilling to talk to her much.
Seeing this situation, she no longer wanted to please her aunt. She wanted to see her grandmother first, knowing that her grandmother would definitely let her stay after seeing her.
Although Xin Ying agreed, Xin Hailan remained anxious. It wasn't until she finished dinner and Xin Ying drove her back to the Xin residence that she finally believed she was truly home.
Meanwhile, the New Year's Eve gala in Z City will be broadcast live at 8 p.m., but the live performances will start half an hour earlier than the live broadcast.
Lin Leyao's show was scheduled for earlier in the program; she was supposed to appear at 8:30 PM during the live broadcast. However, in reality, her performance ended at 8:05 PM.
Lin Leyao looked at the time and felt that it was still early. S City and Z City are neighboring cities and are very close to each other. It only takes two hours to drive to S City via the highway.
Lin Leyao was originally supposed to stay in Z City for one night and then take a flight to the film studio tomorrow morning.
But she can go back to S City tonight and leave from S City tomorrow morning.
In the past, Xin Ying always went through a lot of trouble to visit her, but today she can take the initiative this time.
She acted on her idea immediately. This time, she came to Z City by plane without her own driver or car. Lin Leyao told Xiaomi to stay at the hotel here and fly back to the film studio tomorrow morning, while she called a taxi to drive from Z City to S City.
Lin Leyao didn't tell Xin Ying any of this, intending to give Xin Ying a surprise.
Two hours later, Lin Leyao returned to the villa where she and Xin Ying lived.
Upon opening the door, the room was completely dark, indicating that the homeowner was not home.
Lin Leyao originally wanted to wait a little longer, but it was already 10:30, and if she waited any longer, the evening would pass quickly, and she wouldn't have much time to spend alone with Xin Ying.
After thinking for a moment, Lin Leyao took out her phone, typed a message, and sent it to Xin Ying: 【Where are you now?】
Xin Ying quickly replied: [Xin Residence.]
Xin Ying then posted another message: 【What, checking up on me? /evil grin】
Lin Leyao couldn't help but smile after reading the message. She didn't reply, and quickly drove a car out of the garage and headed towards the Xin residence.
Seeing that Lin Leyao did not reply, Xin Ying immediately made a video call. However, she was driving and it was inconvenient to video call, so Lin Leyao decisively clicked to hang up.
Seeing that her message had been disconnected, Xin Ying sent a message: 【? 】
Just as Xin Ying was feeling a mix of worry and secret joy about whether Lin Leyao was starting to check up on her and get jealous, Lin Leyao had already sped to Xin's residence.
As soon as Lin Leyao arrived at the entrance of the Xin residence, she sensed that the atmosphere there was unusual. It was already 11 p.m., but the Xin residence was unusually lively, with laughter constantly emanating from inside.
The butler, with his keen eyesight, spotted the newcomer and immediately came out to greet her: "Miss Leyao, you're back!"
Lin Leyao smiled and nodded: "Where's Xin Ying?"
"Miss is in the study."
Lin Leyao hummed in agreement and asked, "Did anyone come to visit today?"
The butler smiled and nodded: "Miss Hailan has returned home."
Miss Hailan? It was a name Lin Leyao had never heard before. Although she was puzzled, she didn't ask any further questions.
She nodded, went in to greet the old lady Dai Jiaozhi, and then went to the study.
In the study, Xin Ying pondered for a long time before making another video call to Lin Leyao.
This time, the other end answered quickly.
"Hello."
Lin Leyao's face immediately appeared on the screen.
Xin Ying smiled, and Lin Leyao's face was also beaming with joy.
Xin Ying asked with a smile, "Why are you suddenly asking me where I am?"
Lin Leyao blinked and asked, "Are you curious?"
Xin Ying nodded honestly: "Curious."
You'll find out in a minute.
As soon as Lin Leyao finished speaking, the study door was suddenly opened.
Xin Ying frowned, thinking it was one of the family's unreasonable housekeepers. She was about to ask someone to leave when the figure she saw made her expression change drastically.
Why are you back?
Xin Ying's words echoed again in the room; it was the sound coming from Lin Leyao's phone, which was in the middle of a video call.
Lin Leyao hung up the phone, smiled, walked to her desk, and asked, "Surprised, aren't you?"
Xin Ying nodded blankly.
She really didn't expect Lin Leyao to come back suddenly, and her originally depressed mood instantly soared.
Lin Leyao said with a smile, "I'll come back tonight to celebrate the New Year with you, and then go back to filming tomorrow morning."
Xin Ying nodded with a smile: "Okay."
Lin Leyao placed the things she bought on the way on the table: "I bought a small cake on the way. Have some if you're hungry."
Xin Ying moved the chair next to her over, patted the seat, and said, "Eat with me."
Lin Leyao sat next to Xin Ying, and the two ate dessert together.
Lin Leyao took a few bites and asked, "Who came to our house today?"
Xin Ying replied directly, "My third brother's daughter."
As soon as Xin Ying finished speaking, Lin Leyao's expression changed.
Although there are many things about the Xin family that she doesn't yet understand, she will not forget what Iris told her when she last went to Europe: Xin Ying's third brother almost killed her.
Although I have no evidence to determine the truth of this statement, the fact that my family never mentioned Xin Ying's third brother during the time I was married to Xin Ying suggests that the truth is not much different from what Iris said.
After so many years apart, what's the point of bringing a child back now?
Lin Leyao was lost in her own thoughts, while Xin Ying remained calm and contentedly ate the dessert that Lin Leyao had specially prepared for her.
Halfway through the meal, Xin Ying suddenly remembered something, took out her phone, and took a picture of the half-eaten cake.
Xin Ying sent the photos to Xu Hong.
[My wife specially bought me a small cake / hehe]
Oh, I forgot, you don't have a wife. / Hehe
Xu Hong: [Smiling face emoji]
Outside, Xin Wenwen was summoned back from the nightclub by a barrage of urgent phone calls.
As soon as Xin Wenwen stepped into the hall, she heard lively chatter coming from the dining room. When she went over, she saw her grandmother, who usually stayed in her room, gathered around the dining table with a group of the family's housekeepers.
Xin Wenwen looked around and saw an unfamiliar face. She glanced at it twice and then looked away.
As soon as Dai Jiaozhi saw her return, she said, "You brat, you finally know how to come back! It's already past eleven o'clock, and all you do is go out and play!"
Xin Wenwen said unhappily, "Grandma, I'm almost thirty, and you still have to nag me all the time!"
Dai Jiaozhi waved her hand, indicating that she was in a good mood today and wouldn't dwell on the matter.
She pointed to Xin Hailan beside her and said, "This is your third uncle's younger sister. She's back from Australia."
Xin Wenwen's expression froze instantly, and she stared blankly at Xin Hailan.
Xin Hailan greeted her with a smile: "Hello, sister."
Xin Wenwen felt a little embarrassed and quickly waved her hand, saying, "Don't be so polite."
Dai Jiaozhi said, "It's just in time that you're back. Aunt Zhang, bring out the prepared ingredients, let's make dumplings."
"good!"
Xin Wenwen stood to the side, scratching her head. She was the only one among the younger generation in the family who knew what had happened back then. She couldn't understand why her grandmother was so happy, as if nothing had happened.
"Find a chair and sit down together to make dumplings. We'll eat dumplings at midnight to mark the New Year."
Xin Wenwen pouted. She hadn't seen her grandmother cook for her during the Spring Festival, and now that Xin Hailan was back, she was even valuing the Gregorian calendar New Year.
Seeing that Xin Wenwen didn't move, Dai Jiaozhi's face immediately fell: "Hurry up!"
Xin Wenwen immediately retorted unhappily, "My family are all from the South, when have we ever eaten dumplings!"
Xin Hailan's hands, which were pinching dumpling wrappers to make dumplings, froze.
Xin Wenwen seemed oblivious, muttering softly, "Even to celebrate the New Year, we should eat tangyuan (sweet rice balls)."
Dai Jiaozhi's good mood was ruined by her granddaughter. She glared and frowned, about to scold Xin Wenwen, when she heard her little granddaughter say, "Grandma, I've never eaten tangyuan before!"
Dai Jiaozhi's expression froze for a moment, then she asked, "Hailan has never eaten tangyuan before?"
Xin Hailan nodded: "Yes, neither my parents can cook. We usually eat Western food outside. If we want to eat Chinese food, the Chinese restaurants there mostly serve dumplings. I've never had glutinous rice balls."
As soon as Xin Hailan finished speaking, Dai Jiaozhi's eyes instantly reddened. She hugged Xin Hailan and said sadly, "My little granddaughter is only thirteen years old. What kind of suffering has she endured outside? She has never even eaten tangyuan (sweet rice balls)!"
Xin Wenwen pursed her lips and remained silent.
Dai Jiaozhi quickly recovered and instructed, "Aunt Zhang, get ready. We'll make some more glutinous rice balls with fresh meat filling. Hailan will definitely like them."
Aunt Zhang immediately replied, "Okay!"
The ingredients were quickly prepared, and this time Xin Wenwen didn't need Dai Jiaozhi to say anything. She sat down at the table and began to learn how to make glutinous rice balls from Aunt Zhang.
Xin Hailan made a few glutinous rice balls and asked, "Where's my aunt? Isn't she coming out to make them?"
At the table, Dai Jiaozhi and Xin Wenwen both stopped what they were doing.
Dai Jiaozhi's expression was unreadable as she asked, "Does Hailan want to wrap some with your aunt?"
Xin Hailan nodded: "Yes, I like my aunt."
Dai Jiaozhi turned to her and instructed, "Wenwen, go and call your aunt and Le Yao. If they want to come, great; if not, that's fine."