Chapter 44 p2
The sound of the door closing was merciless. Qiao Yi’s tears immediately came out.
Xue Jianping held her and comforted her.
Qiao Yi smiled bitterly and shook her head. “It’s fine. I’m just a little sad.”
This was also self-inflicted. It was only right that her daughter was distant from her now. She just hadn’t expected that at such a critical moment, she was still unwilling to come over.
Xue Jianping sighed. He also disagreed a little with his wife’s way of handling her previous marriage. But his wife had been hurt too deeply at that time and would lose her temper whenever it was mentioned. Later, it had become a habit, so naturally, no one had said anything.
On his wife’s mother’s side, they were even more biased towards her, and they couldn’t fight with the Ji family for custody. So, although they loved the child, they were far away and would only send some gifts every year and meet once every few years. They would mostly contact her by phone. Except for the two old people, the others were not familiar with Ji Yang either.
Thinking that he had clearly met the other party on the first day she had moved in, but he had not recognized her, he also felt a wave of guilt.
The couple supported each other and went upstairs.
The door upstairs opened, and a large family was gathered here. The seventh floor of the top floor was also their home. There were many people in the family, and several families lived together. They had originally planned to go to the villa area, but they had known in advance that there would be a flood, and no one was sure if the villa would be submerged.
The previous heavy rain, the fear of the villa almost being submerged had made them choose this large flat after various comparisons. They had rented the upper and lower two houses. There were many rooms, so so many people could live there. They would come down to eat at mealtimes. Although there were some conflicts, it was generally okay.
As soon as the couple entered the house, someone noticed that Qiao Yi’s expression was not right. Xue Yuanyang immediately came over. “Mom, what’s wrong with you? Did someone bully you?! Did the girl downstairs bully you?!”
“Shut up!” Xue Jianping shouted.
Xue Yuanyang shrank his neck and didn’t dare to say anything.
Seeing her son’s wronged expression, the others also looked over. Xue Jianping quickly raised his voice and explained, “The girl living downstairs is Ji Yang.”
“Ji Yang?!”
“Yangyang? How is it her?!”
“Why didn’t she come up with you?”
The room immediately became lively, and they were all surprised and curious. “Isn’t she in Changnan City? I thought it would be difficult to see her again. I didn’t expect her to come over!”
“It’s fate. She’s even living downstairs from us. As expected of a family! Isn’t Auntie very happy?”
“So amazing. No wonder Auntie insisted on going down to send things. There must have been a mother-daughter connection! Otherwise, we probably wouldn’t have known that the one downstairs was Ji Yang.”
“By the way, why didn’t you call her up? Is this child afraid of strangers?”
Xue Yuanyang was also stunned. He still knew this stepsister and seemed to have seen her a few times. However, he had gone to study abroad a long time ago. It was only last year that Xia Country had sent people to pick them up from abroad. He was lucky enough to be in the first group, and that was how he had survived.
The time they hadn’t seen each other was too long. He felt a little unfamiliar when he heard it.
He was stunned for a moment before he remembered that this was his stepmother’s daughter.
Yes, Qiao Yi was his stepmother. She had married his father when he was five. It had been more than twenty years now. Qiao Yi’s temperament was gentle, not at all the vicious stepmother that outsiders had described. They got along happily, and he also sincerely treated her as a mother.
This meant that Qiao Yi’s daughter was also his sister, but this sister was actually downstairs!
And his gut told him that this mother-daughter relationship was a little strange.
Qiao Yi, who was being questioned, was indeed a little embarrassed and didn’t know how to reply. The cold treatment from her daughter made her ashamed to show it in front of others.
Fortunately, Xue Jianping stood in front of her. “That child said she would pay a visit tonight. She also didn’t know that we were just upstairs from her. At this time, communication is almost gone, and news is not very reliable.”
Grandpa Qiao’s action of getting up paused, and he silently sat down again.
“That’s true. It’s good that she’s coming at night. I’ll show off my skills at night,” Grandma Qiao said happily. “We haven’t seen each other for a long time. The child is probably a little shy. After we have a meal together tonight, we’ll be familiar. In the future, the family will really be together.”
“Okay, okay, then we’ll wait for dinner.”
The others also chimed in. Seeing that Qiao Yi’s expression was not right, they probably guessed what was going on and didn’t ask any more questions. But they all shook their heads and sighed in their hearts. It was no one’s fault. Qiao Yi was not a person who would endure grievances. At the first birthday party that year, the guests were all present, but because of the appearance of the third party, she had become a joke in the circle for a long time, so that Qiao Yi’s hatred for the Ji family had extended to her love for her daughter, and the mother and daughter were distant.
And Ji Anfeng was not a good person either. What true love? He just loved one after another. The jokes that the fourth and fifth parties had made later had also made the two old people of the Ji family, who had been open and bright for a lifetime, lose all their face.
It was just that with the two sides making such a fuss, the only one who was wronged was a small child.
But even her own mother was like this. The others were even more powerless. They would only contact her during the New Year and holidays. But the child’s temperament had also become colder because of this, and she was not close to them.
Seeing that they were no longer asking questions, Qiao Yi breathed a sigh of relief, and the heat of shame on her face faded a little. She didn’t think of mending her mother-daughter relationship with Ji Yang. It was just that the disaster was difficult, and the extreme heat was just around the corner. She didn’t know how many dangers she would face living alone.
She hoped that so many relatives tonight could coax her to stay.
A young boy came to her side and sat down, his eyes sparkling. “Mom, is the pretty sister downstairs my real sister?”
Qiao Yi also smiled. “Yes.”
“Wow!” Xue Yuanhang’s eyes were even brighter. “Then can I go down and play with my sister?”
“No,” Qiao Yi quickly stopped him. “She’s not very familiar with us yet. We’ll play together at dinner later. If you can coax your sister, let her stay at home.”
“Okay!” he said crisply.
Qiao Yi also finally showed a smile, and her heart was a little more stable. She squeezed her husband’s hand.
Xue Jianping patted her hand reassuringly and was not too worried.
He had also seen it just now. Ji Yang also had a dog. The dog looked plump and strong and was very well-raised. To be able to raise a dog well at this time, she must be capable, not to mention that she had come from Changnan City alone.
Even if she was unwilling to come over, her life would not be bad.
—
At this time, downstairs, Ji Yang, on the contrary, did not have much fluctuation.
At first, she was quite uncomfortable. She had once been resentful of Qiao Yi’s rejection.
But now, she had too much. The little bit of grievance and sadness from the past had long since been smoothed over. She no longer cared about those things, just as she would no longer foolishly quarrel with Ji Siyue.
However, this did not mean that she had forgiven them.
In the five years of the apocalyptic world, she had seen too much and naturally knew that there were parents in this world who did not love their children. Ji Anfeng was one, and Qiao Yi was a little better, but she was also one.
So, she didn’t love them either.
In Ji Yang’s eyes, the debt of birth had already been repaid. Now, her politeness to her was just politeness, and she no longer cared. If she hadn’t come to her door, and she had finished what she had to do, she would have also left quietly, just as if she had never seen her.
What she wanted to do more now was to perfect her space step by step, get through the many natural disasters that would follow, and live to see everything return to normal.
However, this time, by a strange combination of circumstances, she had happened to run into the Qiao family. It could be considered fate. Her maternal grandparents were quite good to her, and she didn’t plan on directly ignoring them. It was fine to just treat them as ordinary relatives. When she left, she didn’t know when they would meet again.
Thinking of this, Ji Yang’s mood became even more relaxed. She began to think about what gift to bring for her visit. The Qiao family’s maternal grandparents were both old. They had two sons and one daughter. The two uncles were not young either, and in her impression, they had a lot of business and social engagements.
Then she would bring some commonly used medicines for the middle-aged and elderly.
Ji Yang picked and chose, and then took out a medicine box, put the prepared medicines in it, and also added two bottles of iodine and some medical cotton swabs. It seemed a bit inappropriate to bring medicine to someone’s house as a guest. She found a paper box, put the medicine box in it, and sealed the paper box with adhesive.
Perfect!
It was still early. After she had gotten the gift, Ji Yang looked at the sweet potatoes, which were almost cold. She threw one into her space and reheated the other one, eating it on and off.
She couldn’t waste food.
Then, she exercised. After exercising for two hours, she washed up and rested for a while. It just so happened that it was dinner time.
The main door was knocked on, and Qiao Yi came down to call her up for dinner.
Ji Yang replied and went upstairs with the paper box.
“What is this?” Qiao Yi asked.
Ji Yang: “A gift.”
“You child!” Qiao Yi was a little unhappy that she had actually brought a gift as if she were visiting relatives, but she didn’t dare to say much. Soon, they reached the sixth floor. The sixth floor had the most people. The two old people were old and couldn’t climb the stairs, so they were on the sixth floor. The young and noisy ones all went upstairs and came down when they were hungry.
This time, the dinner was naturally also on the sixth floor.
As soon as she entered, Ji Yang was faced with a large group of people’s burning gazes, with curiosity, joy, and anticipation.
The Qiao family had many people. The two uncles each had their own families, and their children were also older than Ji Yang. The oldest was more than ten years older than her and had also gotten married and had children. There was also Qiao Yi’s family of four.
It made one have to sigh that the family was prosperous.
“Yangyang is here!” Grandpa and Grandma Qiao happily came to greet her. “Didn’t you say you also had a dog? Why didn’t you bring it up?”
“It sheds a lot, so I didn’t bring it up,” Ji Yang said with a smile, called out to her grandpa and grandma. The others… she couldn’t tell them apart. She didn’t even know who was the older uncle and who was the second uncle.
Fortunately, they were enthusiastic enough themselves and quickly came to greet her, so that she couldn’t even get a word in for a moment.
Only Xue Yuanyang looked at Ji Yang, stunned. “It’s you?!”
Xue Jianping was surprised. “What do you mean, it’s you? Have you seen Ji Yang?”
Xue Yuanyang smiled awkwardly. “She’s the girl I said had exchanged for pickled vegetable fat intestine noodles with me before.”
Xue Jianping understood in a second and gave him a warning look. This matter is over, don’t mention it again. Xue Yuanyang quickly nodded. He didn’t want to mention it again either.
On this side, Ji Yang had already been pulled over by Grandpa and Grandma Qiao to call everyone one by one.
She was not used to it. The Ji family was not so prosperous, and she was also used to being alone. Suddenly becoming the center of everyone’s attention, she was awkward no matter what. But she could keep a straight face and deal with the various questions from the Qiao family.
She answered all that she could, such as her living conditions in Changnan City.
For those that she couldn’t answer, she was vague.
This group of people was measured and did not ask any more questions. It was just that Qiao Yi, who was watching from the side, felt her heart sink. Ji Yang was clearly just treating herself as a guest. She was also distant and polite to her maternal grandparents.
At this time, her little son, Xue Yuanhang, suddenly came over hesitantly. “Sister, you gave my brother something good to eat. Did you bring anything good for me?”
With that, he looked at the paper box with pitiful eyes.
He always felt that there was something delicious in there. He had heard his big brother come back and say that a sister had exchanged for delicious fat intestine noodles with him!
The few people who had been chatting enthusiastically paused and followed his words to look. Oh right, they hadn’t seen what that gift was yet.
Ji Yang smiled. “There are some common medicines in here. It’s not easy to get medicines now. I just happened to get some, and I don’t need them, so I brought them over. I have snacks. I’ll get them for you after dinner.”
She didn’t hate this younger brother.
She had seen him a few times before, but it was when the other party was still young. After her grandparents had passed away, she had not gone to Qiao Yi’s side again and had not seen him. But in the few times they had met, the little guy had liked her very much. Every time she had to leave, he would cry his eyes out, which was very cute.
Xue Yuanhang also smiled and said coquettishly, “Thank you, sister!”
Qiao Yi relaxed a little and showed a smile.
The few adults went to see the medicine that Ji Yang had mentioned. When they opened it, there were several kinds of commonly used medicines for the middle-aged and elderly. This generous gift made them all show a look of gratitude. There happened to be some medicine that the family was short of, and the base was also short of the ones they didn’t need. They could sell them for a lot of points.
At this time, it was a truly precious gift.
The Qiao family was not short of points, but the medicine in the base was limited. For the sake of fairness and to prevent the rich from hoarding in large quantities, they basically had to fight to get a portion each time, which was not enough.
Grandma Qiao picked it up and looked at it, picked out the ones that could be used and left them. She stuffed the rest to Ji Yang. “Take these back. We don’t need them. You keep them. If you don’t need them, go and exchange them for points at the base.”
“No need. I still have some,” Ji Yang directly refused. “I brought these for you. There’s no reason to take back a gift.”
Grandma Qiao said it a few times, but she couldn’t succeed and gave up. Her heart was even warmer. She felt that Ji Yang was closer to her than she had imagined, so she boldly said, “Why don’t you just stay here? Our family can also have a support. Otherwise, I’m afraid I won’t have a next time to see you.”
Ji Yang smiled and refused. “How could that be? Grandma is in good health. There will definitely be a next time.”
Grandma Qiao and the others showed a look of disappointment again.
—
After chatting for a while, it was time for dinner. To welcome Ji Yang and to show their importance, this meal was very sumptuous. It was still raining, and there were no fresh ingredients. They had taken advantage of the fact that others were coming over to fish and had given them points to help them buy some green vegetables, a few fresh and plump live fish, and some smoked and cured meat.
A large family, and the portion was also large. However, the younger ones had no place at the table and were given a little bit of food to eat at the coffee table in the living room.
Ji Yang was naturally at the main table.
As soon as she sat down, she was served a pile of dishes, for fear that she would be too embarrassed to eat.
But… how could that be?!
Ji Yang quite liked to eat home-cooked dishes. The taste was a little lighter than in a restaurant, but the taste was not bad at all. She was not polite either and ate with relish. A child who loved to eat was likable. The few elders looked at her with even more affection and kept recalling which of the children was a better eater when they were young. Among them, Ji Yang also had some memories.
It was just that every time they tentatively brought up letting Ji Yang stay, they were tactfully refused, and they were very disappointed.
The Qiao family was quite good, and the Xue family seemed to be okay too. That was right. To be able to raise a kind and naive young master like Xue Yuanyang, they couldn’t be that bad.
However, as long as they were human, there would always be all kinds of conflicts. The more people there were, the more conflicts there would be. They all needed to get along and try their best to be tolerant to get the current peace.
It just so happened that Ji Yang had had enough in her previous life. Now that she had the ability to provide herself with a quieter life, it was even more impossible for her to be tempted.
So, after dinner, she said goodbye one by one, called Xue Yuanhang, and gave him some snacks that children liked: potato chips, biscuits, sachima, spicy strips, and the like. She didn’t give much, just for a taste.
Xue Yuanhang was also very satisfied. He would smile brightly with just a little bit. This child was also simple-minded. Seeing that Ji Yang had given him something to eat, his gaze towards her was even closer. He asked reluctantly, “Sister, why don’t you live with us?”
“Because my home is in another city,” Ji Yang also answered him very seriously. Changnan City had left her with too many memories, both good and bad. She preferred it there. Unless it was no longer suitable for living, she would not move.
Xue Yuanhang’s face was dejected. “Can’t we really be together?”
Ji Yang smiled and shook her head.
Xue Yuanhang could read people’s faces and didn’t say anything more. He touched the cute dog and went upstairs with a sigh.
Ji Yang closed the door and immediately released a large pile of ice.
There were too many people, and it was hot.
She quickly went into her space to wash up, washed off the stickiness, and also washed her hair. By the time she had slowly blow-dried her hair and came out again, she felt that the room was much quieter. A closer thought revealed that the sound of the pouring rain was gone.
She opened the curtains and found that the rain had stopped at some point.
Great!
She can continue to collect fish and shrimp tomorrow!