Lin Leyao stood in front of the antique display shelf, her gaze sweeping over the items that had witnessed her growth.
She walked up to a photograph and suddenly stopped.
This is a photo of Lin Leyao's father and her when she was eleven years old.
My father was still alive then, and he was young and full of vigor.
Lin Leyao remembers that it was her birthday at the time, and her father was going to Guangdong on a business trip the next day. This photo was taken when her father took her to Guangdong.
When my father was young, he was a wandering singer. After marrying my mother, she became a music teacher for the sake of the family.
This wandering singer cut off his long hair, which he had kept for a long time, and shaved off his messy beard for the sake of his lover and his child. He no longer yearned for freedom as before, because there was a place called "home" in his heart that held his heart.
To be honest, more than ten years have passed, and Lin Leyao doesn't really remember what her father looks like anymore.
Every year, she must use these photos to preserve the image of her father in her mind.
However, she remembered that her father was patient and attentive, and he would set aside a lot of time to spend with her every day. Whether it was studying or playing, he was never absent.
The photo in front of you is of her when she was eleven years old. She was very reluctant to let her father go to Guangdong for a week and cried for a long time at home.
In the end, her father decided to take her to Guangdong.
That short week flew by, and she can no longer remember many of the things that happened during that time, but she knows that she had a very happy time.
So much so that after her father passed away, whenever she saw this photo, she could recall how happy she was back then, how joyful she was.
Lin Leyao picked up the photo and carefully examined the father in it.
The background of the photo looks like a park. Lin Leyao took the photo closer and saw a house in the distance with a red sign hanging above the gate.
Because it was too far away, she couldn't see very clearly. After carefully examining the characters for a while, Lin Leyao realized that the last two characters looked like "hospital".
A hospital? Was this photo taken near a hospital?
Lin Leyao couldn't quite remember. She tried hard to recall what happened back then. She seemed to have gone to the hospital with her father and visited a very thin young lady in the ward.
More than ten years have passed, and Lin Leyao remembers very few things clearly. She stopped dwelling on the background of the photo and put it back.
The photos were placed back on the shelf, neatly arranged.
Lin Leyao turned off the bedroom light, plunging the room into darkness instantly. She quickly lit a white candle.
The white candles cast a warm yellow glow, the flickering flames illuminating half of Lin Leyao's cheek and the warmth in her eyes.
Lin Leyao exhaled, blew out the candle in her hand, and said softly, "Happy birthday, Dad."
Lin Leyao and Xin Ying would return to the Xin residence once a week.
On Sunday, Xin Ying took a day off, and Lin Leyao went back to have lunch with her.
At the dinner table, Xin Ying put down her chopsticks after eating for a while and said, "Yuan'er is back. I'll go pick her up in a bit."
Grandpa Xin frowned and said, "You only have one day off a week, why should you pick them up? Can't the driver pick them up?"
Xin Ying laughed and said, "If the little girl wants me to pick her up, then I'll go pick her up. She's had another tantrum with Sixth Brother, and she's probably feeling wronged."
The old man nodded: "She really treats you, her aunt, like her mother. She told Yuan'er that Grandpa prepared her favorite cake at home."
"Okay, Dad."
Xin Ying can be very strict with Xin Yuan, but most of the time she dotes on this little girl.
As Xin Ying prepared to leave the table, the old lady looked at Xin Hailan, who was silently eating, and asked with concern, "Hailan, is your luggage all packed? Have you packed everything Grandma prepared for you?"
Ever since the old man mentioned wanting to send Xin Hailan back to Australia, he quickly put it into action.
The flight scheduled for this afternoon will take Xin Hailan back to Australia.
As soon as Xin Ying stood up, she heard Xin Hailan, who hadn't spoken until now, suddenly say, "Grandpa and Grandma, I want to go to the airport with my aunt."
One sentence drew the attention of everyone at the table.
Xin Ying was very surprised when she heard her words.
The old lady stared at Xin Hailan in shock.
Xin Hailan calmly repeated, "My aunt is going to the airport, and I'd like to go with her."
The old lady finally came to her senses and carefully said, "Hailan, your flight is still a while away, stay home a little longer..."
Xin Hailan interrupted the old lady: "Grandma, it won't make a difference to take a little more time."
Xin Hailan turned to look at the old man: "Grandpa—"
Xin Ying didn't leave immediately after hearing Xin Hailan's words. The old man listened to Xin Hailan's words in silence for a while, then looked at Xin Ying and asked, "Xiao Ying, what do you think—"
Xin Ying replied decisively, "Then come with me."
After Xin Ying finished speaking, Xin Hailan quickly stood up, skipped her meal, and immediately went back to her room to pack her things.
Xin Ying sat back down at the dining table.
Everyone fell silent for a moment; no one spoke.
Lin Leyao also put down her chopsticks, her face sullen and silent.
Xin Ying reached out and squeezed Lin Leyao's fingertips under the dining table to soothe her emotions.
Not only were the other people at the dinner table surprised, but Xin Ying herself was also quite surprised. Probably no one expected that Xin Hailan would suddenly make this request.
Xin Ying knew that Xin Hailan already knew the truth about what happened back then, and what her father had done. Xin Ying already knew the day Xin Wenwen told Xin Hailan the truth.
Xin Ying, who used to be able to guess Xin Hailan's thoughts perfectly, couldn't figure out what Xin Hailan was thinking this time.
Xin Hailan quickly came out with her suitcase. Xin Ying let go of Lin Leyao's hand, stood up and said, "Let's go."
Neither Xin Ying nor Xin Hailan spoke a word the entire way.
Looking in the rearview mirror, Xin Ying saw that Xin Hailan kept turning her head to look at the scenery outside the window the whole way.
Upon arriving at the airport, Xin Ying said, "We've arrived."
Xin Hailan politely replied, "Thank you, Auntie."
Xin Hailan opened the door and got out of the car, and Xin Ying followed her out. She watched her go through security and then went inside before returning to her own car to wait for Xin Yuan to come out.
After picking up Xin Yuan, Xin Ying first took her back to the Xin residence, and then took Lin Leyao back to their villa.
That evening, Xin Ying took a shower in the bathroom.
Her phone, which she had left outside, rang. Lin Leyao took the phone and knocked on the bathroom door.
"It's my older brother on the phone."
"I'll call back in a bit."
Half an hour later, Xin Ying came out of the shower and dialed Xin Boliang's number back.
The call was answered in less than a second.
Xin Boliang asked urgently, "Didn't Hailan board the plane today?"
Xin Ying replied, "She boarded the plane this afternoon. I saw her go through the security checkpoint with my own eyes."
Xin Boliang immediately asked, "Are you sure?"
Silence fell on the other end of the line. Xin Boliang realized his tone was off and immediately said, "Pengchi called me and said they didn't pick up Hailan at the airport. It's been over an hour now, and I just had someone check. Hailan wasn't even on the plane today!"
Upon hearing this, Xin Ying's eyes immediately darkened.
Xin Boliang seemed unconvinced and asked again, "Little sister, are you sure you saw Hailan go through security with your own eyes? And that she didn't leave in between?"
Xin Ying calmly replied, "I only saw her go through security and then I left, so I didn't see her again."
Upon hearing Xin Ying's answer, Xin Boliang clicked his tongue in frustration.
Xin Ying asked, "Have you told Dad about this?"
Xin Bolang replied, "No, I want to find Hailan before telling him, I don't want him to worry."
"Tell him now, contact the airport to check the surveillance footage. If you still can't find him, call the police. Do you think someone this big can just disappear into thin air? I don't have that kind of magical ability!"
Xin Ying left with her last words, and Xin Boliang knew that Xin Ying was angry, thinking that they believed she had deliberately detained Xin Hailan.
Xin Boliang's tone became urgent, and he was about to explain when Xin Ying hung up the phone.
Xin Ying quickly dialed the Xin residence's phone number and told them the whole story.
Soon after, the Xin residence was thrown into chaos.
Tonight, the Xin residence will be sleepless. The investigation results came out in the early hours of the morning.
Xin Hailan went through the security checkpoint by herself and ran out a few minutes later. She ran straight out of the airport and avoided the surveillance cameras until she disappeared.
It is clear that Xin Hailan ran away on her own.
In the Xin residence, upon hearing the news, the old lady Dai Jiaozhi, wiping away tears, angrily questioned Old Master Xin: "It's all your fault! You insisted on sending Hailan to Australia, and now look what happened! That girl has simply vanished. She's only a few years old! What if something happens to her?!"
The old man sat on the sofa, his face sullen and silent.
Xin Yuan was awakened by the noise at home in the middle of the night. She was sitting in the study when she heard Dai Jiaozhi's words and said unhappily, "Didn't she run away from the airport herself? Who can she blame!"
Dai Jiaozhi slammed her cane on the ground and gritted her teeth, saying, "You little brat!"
Xin Yuan pouted angrily but didn't say anything.
Grandpa Xin then slowly spoke, saying, "Is Yuan'er sleepy? Do you want to go back to sleep?"
Xin Yuan immediately smiled and said sweetly, "Grandpa, I'm not sleepy. I just want to stay by your side."
The old man didn't refuse: "Okay, go back to sleep if you're sleepy."
"Okay, Grandpa."
At the same time that Xin Zhai learned that Xin Hailan had run away from the airport on her own, Xin Ying also received the news.
Afterwards, Xin Ying made a phone call to Xin Boliang, who was in Hong Kong.
For the first time, Xin Ying, who had been calm all along, turned cold and said, "Third Brother really raised a good daughter. She's much smarter than them. She's learned to outsmart me!"
"Little sister..."
Before Xin Bolang, who was far away in Hong Kong, could even finish speaking, Xin Ying on the other end of the line quickly hung up the phone.
In the end, he, who wanted to help, became the villain.
Xin Boliang was also in a very bad mood when a phone call came in from Australia.