Chapter Sixteen Fell into My Arms 1 Carefree

  It's been three years. Since Grandma passed away, Xia Qian Ning hadn't set foot in this garden again.

  The south is still lush and thriving in summer, but here it's already a desolate and dense autumn. The few, not yet withered, phoenix tree leaves slowly fall, gently sliding over slender shoulders, backs, and garment corners, finally landing on the ground, slowly drifting away with the wind.

  Xia Xian Ning stood under the tall French plane tree in front of the gate, the gentle breeze stroking her flower-like face, a thread of coolness spreading over her body, she couldn't help but shiver, stretching out her hand to caress the familiar, bluish-gray courtyard wall, the icy stone once again sweeping away the temperature from her fingertips.

  She smiled, is she still afraid of cold? At this moment, her heart might be even colder than that stone.

  Guān Xuě took down her luggage from the car and said: "Quickly go in and take a look, see if you like the room Mom has arranged for you."

  Xia Xianying pushed open the door, took a backpack from her mother's hand, and walked into this home that she once wanted to have but now didn't want to have.

  The whole yard is still the same as before. The stone-paved path in front of the door still leads to the three-story foreign-style building, and the slightly yellowish grass on both sides of the road is also neatly trimmed, just like six years ago.

  Inside the courtyard, those four Chinese parasol trees are lush and tall. The wooden table under the tree is covered with fallen leaves of the Chinese parasol tree. The lonely swing in the wind gently sways back and forth, like a lost child waiting for the call of loved ones.

  "Mom, have you always had someone to take care of you? Or is it still the same as before." Xia Xianying turned around, and a long-lost smile finally appeared on her face.

  "Your aunt left me her most treasured house, how could I not take good care of it? But also thanks to your uncle Wei, he found people to take care of it, so we were able to move in so quickly. Otherwise, this time when we came back, we would have had to wander around outside for a while." Guan Xue stopped and said: "Xian'er, from now on, this is our home, just yours and mine, you... do you regret it?"

  "Mom, how many times have I told you that I won't regret it. Besides, which daughter doesn't want to be with her mom?" Xia Xianying pouted on purpose: "Is Mom not willing to be with me, and regrets it?"

  This is a Russian-style residential building. The roof color is bright: green as the base color, with yellow and brown circular patterns on top, matched with light gray exterior walls, giving it an exotic atmosphere from afar. The semi-circular arched floor-to-ceiling windows have slightly mottled semi-circular stone pillars on either side, showcasing the building's luxury and antiquity.

  Xia Qian Ning pushed open the large door, and everything in the hall was exactly the same as what she had seen before: "Mom, nothing has changed here at all!"

  "Uh-huh. We all like it here, why change? Your room is on the second floor, first one to the left. I put up the wallpaper you liked, everything else is still the same. Most of your luggage has been put away, uh... there are still some things of yours in there, go sort out your room yourself." Guan Xue handed Xia Wenjing a backpack and then glanced at her watch: "Tonight, we're going to your cousin's house for dinner."

  Xia Xianying walked into the room and found that everything in it was almost identical to the one in Shuicheng, including the wallpaper, bedding, and even the curtains.

  Dad, heartless dad. And there's something even more heartless... Don't think about it anymore, those were all things that happened in Shuicheng. From now on, don't think about them again, just treat them as a bad dream, just pretend you never went to Shuicheng, just pretend you grew up here - Huayang.

  Xia Xian Ning took out clothes from her luggage one by one, used a clothes hanger to prop them up and hung them in the wardrobe.

  "Ah——, another box. How did I end up with so many clothes? It's the first time she's ever complained about having too many clothes. She had forgotten that these were just a fraction of her original wardrobe."

  With a "clatter", a photo frame fell out.

  Xia Xian Ning picked it up from the ground, such a perfect composite photo.

  Xia Qian Ning wiped the frame clean with her hand. This was taken this summer when they went to Yunshan together and asked a passerby to take it: amidst the vast expanse of beautiful chrysanthemums, Yi Chen and Xia Qian Ning sat side by side, Yi Chen's face as beautiful as a fairy's and Xia Qian Ning's smile radiant like sunshine...

  "Bang!" Xia Qinger threw the photo frame in her hand away. She didn't want to remember, she didn't want to see Pei Yichen who made her fall apart. Because of him, she and her mother lost their beloved father, lost the home that her mother had maintained with all her heart, that warm home she loved so much.

  At some point, tears had filled Xia Qianying's face. She fiercely wiped away her tears and picked up the broken photo frame that she had smashed earlier from the ground, throwing it into the wastebasket beside her desk. She continued to tidy up her room.

  It was already ten o'clock when Xia Qian Ning and her mother returned from her uncle's house, and Xia Qian Ning almost fell onto the sofa in the living room.

  "Go back to your room and take a bath, relax a bit. You can sleep in as late as you want tomorrow. Goodnight!"

  Indeed, today was a day of traveling 3,000 miles, followed by cleaning the room and on top of that, a passionate 'welcome dinner', it can be said to be exhausted. Even if I'm extremely tired, I must finish washing up before going to bed.

  Xia Xianying reluctantly left the sofa and dragged her already limp body towards the bedroom.

  ————————&&&——————&&&——————

  The lights in the Ling family's house were always on all night on weekends. Ling Shuiyue sat quietly in a dimly lit corner of the small lounge, holding a cup of iewalker, watching those hypocritical and pretentious men and women.

  In his eyes, every dazzling face has a dirty and dark side hidden under the brilliant light, just like their family, he is that darkness covered by the light.

  Sweet wine slowly flowed into his bitter heart.

  At one end of the hall, Yu Mei Li was looking around: Where did this damn thing go? When I don't want to see it, it's always in front of my eyes, now that I'm looking for it, I can't find it anywhere. Ni Jia's precious daughter is still waiting over there.

  "Mingde! Have you seen Yao?" asked Meili, seeing Mingde eating mousse.

  "Aunt Mei! You look so beautiful today!" Mingde knew why Meili was in such a hurry to find Ling Shuiyue, so he deliberately answered irrelevantly.

  Mei Li smiled hypocritically at Ming De. This bad boy, usually the closest to Yao, must know where Ling Shui Yao is right now: "Having fun?"

  "Thank you, Aunt Mei! I'm so happy!"

  "Then who will play with?"

  Ming De held up a piece of strawberry cake in front of Mei Li: "Of course it's this one. Do you want to have some too, Beautiful Aunt?"

  "Thank you! I don't need anything else." Yu Mei Li turned around and was about to leave.

  "Mei Yi," Ming De called out to Mei Li: "Have you seen our Ming Xin? My aunt is looking for her."

  "Just use it slowly." As long as Ming Xin wasn't mentioned, everything was fine. But once Ming Xin was brought up, Mei Li's lungs almost burst from anger. This girl was even worse, earlier she saw Ming Xin and Lan Bei Er together, asked her if she saw Ling Shui Yao, but she made a ghost face at her and said, "Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you!"

  The more beautiful she thought, the angrier she became. Her originally elegant pace also became hurried, and in a moment of carelessness, her skirt got caught on the dinner table. Another stumble, and a fruit salad spilled all over her bright red evening gown.

  Ah——! This is her most beloved evening gown!

  Ming De saw this and suppressed his laughter, walking over to say: "Mei Yi! I'll help you back to your room."

  She stomped her foot in beautiful frustration: "Never mind, I'll do it myself."