Xiao Zhan politely bowed to Chen Yunyi, then turned and followed Jiang Wei.

Chen Yunyi was left standing there, bewildered in the cold wind.

From the moment Jiang Wei stepped into the Chen family's gate, she unconsciously felt her mood improve.

After exchanging a few words with her third uncle, she felt even more that this warm life made her look forward to more things.

Gradually, her steps became lighter.

With her eyes curved in a smile, even though it was the same snowy landscape and forest, everything here seemed more distinct in color to Jiang Wei than in the Jiang family's home.

It was incredibly heartwarming.

Xiao Zhan's gaze never left Jiang Wei; when she smiled, he smiled too.

Jiang Wei stood on the covered walkway, looking at a loquat tree in the courtyard. The loquat tree was now tall and shady, though smaller than the one in her own yard.

There were also some fuzzy, unopened flowers growing on it.

Jiang Wei remembers this loquat tree; it was planted by her maternal grandfather after her mother passed away, as a way of telling her that they would always welcome her home.

It was a summer, a summer after my mother had left.

After the loquats ripened, her maternal grandfather came to visit her from Jiangnan. He went to the Jiang residence to invite her to come and play, but her father and Aunt Liu refused. Later, no one knew what her maternal grandfather said to them, but they actually agreed.

It was already dinnertime, and Father and Aunt Liu did not even invite my maternal grandfather to stay for a meal at the Jiang residence.

Her maternal grandfather led her directly out of the Jiang residence; she didn't take anything with her.

In this house, her maternal grandfather had prepared everything for her.

The next day, her grandfather picked a lot of loquats, and she ate them to her heart's content...

"Wei'er." Madam Xu called out to Jiang Wei with a smile, walking over from the connecting corridor. "General Xiao has also arrived. Please come in. Everyone is waiting for you in the flower hall."

Xiao Zhan cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards Madam Xu.

Jiang Wei turned around and saw Xu Shi beaming with joy, revealing a row of white teeth. Her eyes and brows were full of happiness. "Second Aunt, what good news is this?"

Madam Xu smoothed Jiang Wei's hair. "Your cousin is back today. Second Aunt, go to the door to greet him."

No wonder Auntie was so happy; Jiang Wei was also happy because she hadn't seen her cousin in a long time.

"Second Aunt, Wei'er will go with you to the door to wait." Jiang Wei wanted to reach out to help Xu Shi's arm, but then she thought of the injuries on her hands and stepped back.

“No need. You take General Xiao to accompany your maternal grandfather. He doesn’t need so many people to pick him up.” Xu Shi said, but her face couldn’t hide her joy.

“No wonder Third Uncle was standing at the door waiting!” Jiang Wei said as she walked beside Madam Xu.

Xiao Zhan followed Jiang Wei and accompanied them back to the gate of the mansion.

"You old Taoist, you dare to come here again? You abandoned me in Lanyu in the middle of the night and even kidnapped my nephew along with the carriage." Chen Yunyi was furious and strode over to grab the white-bearded Taoist by the collar.

The white-bearded Taoist priest, dressed in an ancient Taoist robe and holding a whisk, stood tall and straight, exuding an air of otherworldly grace. He let Chen Yunyi grab his collar, a faint smile playing on his lips.

His gaze fell on Jiang Wei, who was following Xu Shi out the door.

Chen Yunyi knew that the people of Lanyu were able to escape the earthquake entirely because of this Taoist Master Taixuan. He took Chen Shiyi to the carriage in the middle of the night.

He deliberately woke Chen Yunyi up and provoked him. Enraged, Chen Yunyi drove the carriage around the entire village.

The noise woke up everyone in the village, and they all got up to see what was going on.

Chen Yunyi, furious, followed the carriage, shouting and yelling as he chased after it.

Seeing that everyone had gotten up to watch the excitement or help Chen Yunyi chase after the carriage, Master Taixuan stroked his beard with a half-smile, drove the carriage away, and rode off.

While Chen Yunyi could still hear his voice, he told him that he would bring Chen Shiyi and the carriage back today.

That's why Chen Yunyi was waiting here for Master Taixuan, still angry. He couldn't let him off easily and had to give him a good scolding to vent his anger.

"I only dared to leave because I was certain someone would come to pick you up. Today I've come to return the carriage and bring you back..." Master Taixuan replied.

"Did you expect I would beat you up? I kindly gave you a ride all the way, and you chased my carriage away, leaving me to brave the cold wind all the way to the capital. You are truly ungrateful." Chen Yunyi released Master Taixuan.

"Third brother." Upon hearing Chen Yunyi's voice, Madam Xu hurried over, scanning the crowd for her son.

When Chen Yunyi saw his sister-in-law arrive, he released Master Taixuan.

"This... I didn't expect that." Master Taixuan straightened his clothes, which had been wrinkled by Chen Yunyi.

She bowed to Master Taixuan and said, "Thank you for bringing my son back."

After Chen Yunyi returned, he didn't dare to tell his family directly that Chen Shiyi hadn't left with the Taoist priest Tai Xuan with his permission. He told his family that Chen Shiyi had arrived a day later with his longtime friend.

Since everyone is a guest, and especially grateful to those who had taken care of her son, Madam Xu felt compelled to intervene when she saw her brother-in-law behaving so rudely.

"Madam, you are too kind. It was nothing. Now that the person has been delivered, I will take my leave." Master Taixuan straightened up and bowed.

Because of Xu's presence, Chen Yunyi did not cause him any trouble. Xu wanted him to stay for a meal, but Master Taixuan did not stay.

"Mother..." After Master Taixuan left, Chen Shiyi stepped forward and bowed to Madam Xu.

Mrs. Xu looked at her son; he had grown taller and stronger, but his skin was a little darker than before.

"Oh dear." Tears streamed down Madam Xu's face.

Seeing her child safe and sound and growing up, Madam Xu wiped away her tears. "It's good that you're back. This is your cousin."

Xu pointed to Jiang Wei and introduced her.

Chen Shiyi immediately bowed and clasped his hands in greeting to Jiang Wei, saying, "Greetings, Cousin."

She then bowed to Xiao Zhan and said, "Greetings, cousin-in-law."

Upon hearing Chen Shiyi refer to him as "brother-in-law," Xiao Zhan couldn't help but smile.

Madam Xu awkwardly tugged at Chen Shiyi's hand and quickly explained, "This child, this isn't your cousin-in-law, this is General Xiao, a guest we invited today."

Chen Shiyi didn't understand. His cousin was already married, but the man next to her was dressed very differently. They were clearly from the same department as his cousin.

"I forgot to tell you, your cousin broke off her engagement and didn't actually get married. This isn't your cousin's husband." Chen Yunyi walked towards the house. "Go home, everyone!"

Chen Shiyi stood awkwardly in the cold wind.

pennant

Madam Xu took Chen Shiyi's hand and said, "Let's go home. Your grandfather is waiting for you!"

Jiang Wei felt both embarrassed and shy when Chen Shiyi called her "brother-in-law".

She wanted to wait until everyone else had gone in before going in alone.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Zhan stood motionless to the side, and she was too embarrassed to approach him.

After walking a few steps, Madam Xu noticed that Jiang Wei hadn't followed. "Wei'er?"

"They're here." Jiang Wei realized she couldn't avoid them, so she quickly followed.