"Works of Ye Wei Lan Chapter 22 Where Does Love Return To?"

  Point: When the heart is dusty and returns with a flourish, what one sees is that everything has changed; where should it be attributed to?

  Lin Jinglan's high school graduation was a grand occasion. While his classmates were still fighting in the sea of questions, many famous universities had already extended their hands to him. Among them, there were top universities nationwide, but he unexpectedly chose to stay in this city. Although it was the best university in the city, compared to the national number one, there was still a gap.

  "Dad, Mom, I'm back." Lin Jinglan walked in and put down the bag in her hand. Her parents were preparing dinner in the living room.

  "Come back and wash your hands to get ready for dinner." Lin Tongxia smiled and gazed at her son, as if he had grown taller after not seeing him for a week.

  More than a year after entering the university, Xiao Lan not only attended classes but also participated in the school's scientific research projects with professors, often staying in the laboratory, and only returned home on weekends. Lin Tongxia worried that he was too tired and could only try to cook more delicious food for him to supplement his nutrition. But now, it seems that such opportunities are also gone...

  After eating a few mouthfuls of rice, Lin Yuxuan suddenly said: "By the way, Hua Ning is back from England, do you know?"

  Lin Jinglan felt her heart skip a beat and shook her head: "When did this happen? She never told me."

  "I just had a phone call with Lao Ji this morning. I thought you kids would have communicated quickly."

  Lin Tongxia smiled at her husband and said, "I thought they were just kids, doing everything together like they're stuck together, and still having to report to each other. The children have grown up, and we've also gotten old."

  Lin Yuxuan smiled and responded with a few words, but Lin Jinglan didn't hear anything at all. The only thought swirling in her mind was: She's back!

  After dinner, Lin Jinglan rushed to the Ji's house amidst her parents' laughter. It had been two years since they last met briefly in England. She never said a word about coming or going, she was always so willful.

  He rang the doorbell several times, but no one responded. He gently pushed the door with his hand, and to his surprise, it opened. He called out inside: "Is anyone there? Aunt Jiang? Hua Ning?"

  "Bang, bang——" was the response, two crisp cracking sounds coming from upstairs. He couldn't care about politeness anymore, took off his shoes and rushed upstairs, Jiang Ayi and an unfamiliar man stood at the stairway entrance, two girls facing each other inside the room, the atmosphere tense.

  "Get out!"

  Hua Ning's voice pierced into his ears, her back to him, black long hair down her back, wearing a red cheongsam and black leather boots.

  Another girl facing the door, with tears in her eyes and a look of grievance: "Sister, Xiangxiang has been abandoned by mom, Xiangxiang has nowhere to go... can't you not drive me away..."

  She's as weak as a little white rabbit, making people feel sorry for her. Unfortunately, Ji Huaning didn't appreciate it at all: "Stop pretending in front of me. What happened to your attitude just now? How come you changed your tone as soon as Mom and Uncle Su arrived? It's such a waste that you didn't attend an acting school!"

  "Dad—" Susan stumbled into Su Mao's arms, sobbing softly. Su Mao frowned slightly, his mouth moved, but he didn't say a word, only glanced at Jiang Yun.

  "Hua Ning ah, you..."

  Jiang Yun wanted to speak but stopped. After waiting for more than four years, she finally waited for her daughter to come back, but unexpectedly it was today's situation. In the second year after divorcing Ji Rujing, she met Su Mao, who was also divorced, and they felt suitable for each other, so they got a marriage certificate last year.

  Susan is Su Mao's only daughter, seventeen years old. Originally following her birth mother, she suddenly knocked on their door one day not long ago, crying and throwing herself into her father's arms, just like before. She said that her mom didn't want her anymore because of marriage.

  Su's natural maternal instincts ached for her daughter, and she asked Jiang Yun if she could temporarily take in Su Shan. Jiang Yun took pity on the little girl and let her move into the small room that had been kept unchanged since Ji Hua Ning's time.

  I didn't expect it, but just a few days later, the real owner of this room suddenly came back.

  "I'm going out for a walk." Ji Huaning turned around and walked outside, unexpectedly meeting the small blue who had been standing there for some unknown time. He glanced at him but didn't stop in his tracks.

  In a flash, Hua Ning's black hair flew by, her pale and clean profile, even her dark eyes were slightly red. Lin Jinglan said: "Aunt Jiang, I'll go take a look, don't worry." Then she hurriedly chased out.

  Susan peeked out from her father's arms, watching the figures of Ji Huaning and Lin Jinglan disappear into the distance one after another, a faint smile rising to her lips.

  Ji Huaining's anger gradually dissipated in the cold wind of November. Unbeknownst to her, she had already walked a considerable distance. She turned around, and Lin Jinglan was following closely behind her, with her eyes cast downward in silence.

  "Little devil!" she suddenly called out to him from a short distance away. He looked up, and the two of them sized each other up under the streetlights of the shopping district. After a moment, he gradually walked closer to her, and Ji Huaning slightly tilted her head upwards, Xiao Lan's expression remaining calm as always, yet with many subtle differences.

  He looked at her: a head of black hair fluttering in the wind, hands in pockets. In his eyes flashed the cunning he was used to seeing, and on the corners of his mouth played the familiar wicked smile. Her slender figure was elegant and refined. Every gesture she made had an added hint of feminine charm that made it impossible for him to look away from her beauty.

  She looked at him: the round big eyes on his pale face, which had unknowingly turned into deep black, shining with starlight. The curved black eyebrows and pink lips brought him a touch of androgynous beauty, still carrying some youthful spirit, really damn handsome! And paired with his slender figure... She suddenly felt her neck was a bit sore: he, when did he grow so tall?!

  Ji Huaning took a step back in surprise, using her hand to measure the height difference between the two: even with high heels on, she was still half a head shorter than him! This kid, did he grow up eating cabbage?

  "Stinky brat, how dare you grow so tall!" She furiously punched his chest with an angry "iron fist", but found that only her own fist hurt. So hard!

  "What's wrong, did I hurt you?"

  Lin Jinglan hurriedly pulled her hand back, gently stroking it as if comforting a child. Ji Huaning felt his face suddenly burning, quickly withdrawing his hand, "Nothing, nothing, do you think I'm made of tofu?"

  As she spoke, she secretly blamed herself in her heart: Is it because I haven't been in love for too long, and even being pulled by a little devil's hand would make me blush?

  Lin Jinglan only then realized that her actions earlier were somewhat inappropriate, and she felt a bit embarrassed. The two of them walked in silence for a while, the sky growing darker by the minute. He looked at the faint sadness in her eyes and couldn't help but ask: "Earlier...what was going on?" He believed 100% that she wouldn't be unreasonable or bully others without reason, except when it came to him.

  "She changed all my curtains and bed sheets, threw away the books in my bookcase, and messed up my rabbit... She's practically dismantled my room. All my certificates from childhood to now, the textbooks awarded by teachers, and a diary are all gone. Who does she think she is? How can she be so careless and throw away all my things without asking me?"

  Tutu? He remembered it, that one stuffed animal hugging the pillow on her bed. Lin Jinglan trembled slightly.

  He knew how important these things were to her, that was her glory, her face, the achievements of more than 20 years. After all, they were her private belongings, why did others dare to handle them arbitrarily? Thinking of the girl's weak appearance hiding in her father's arms, he had a meaning:

  "Unless... she wants to take her place."

  "She wants to stay, then let her stay. Since that home is no longer the same as before, it doesn't matter whether I stay or not." Lin Jinglan looked at her raising her head to gaze at the deep blue sky, as if covering up a certain emotion they both knew.