Chapter 71
The couple on the right looked towards the door together. When they saw Jiang Wanning, a hint of unfamiliarity flashed across their eyes. The woman stood up first, stretched out her hand, and called out doubtfully, "Wanwan?"
Jiang Wanning wanted to go in, but when she lifted her feet, she found that her legs were too weak to walk. In an instant, her eyes were blurred. She covered her mouth slightly and burst into tears.
Her crying startled everyone present. Lu Shang subconsciously supported her back, and the couple in the hall finally reacted and walked towards the door in two steps at a time.
Lu Shang hesitated for a moment, and finally let go of Jiang Wanning. He then silently took a half step back, leaving all the space for the Jiang family members who had reunited after a long separation.
Mother Jiang stumbled to within two steps of Jiang Wanning and raised her hand to touch her face, but her arm stopped abruptly mid-air. Her eyes froze in shock, then in pity. She called out again, "Wanwan..."
The next moment, she rushed forward and hugged Jiang Wanning.
"My Wanwan, my dear Wanwan...it's all because of me that you are dragged down, my Wanwan—"
Jiang Wanning bit her lower lip hard and shook her head vigorously. She wanted to say that she was living a good life, but just like when she was so happy that she couldn't control her movements, it was difficult for her to utter a complete sentence.
At some point, Father Jiang also walked over to the mother and daughter. Even though he tried his best to control his emotions, tears in his eyes were inevitable. He had to look up hard to avoid losing his composure in front of everyone.
After an unknown amount of time, Jiang's mother finally calmed down from her mixed emotions of joy and pain. Her violent crying gradually stopped, leaving only a few intermittent sobs. She gently let go of Jiang Wanning and looked up to see her clearly.
Jiang Wanning's eyes were already red, and the moment her eyes met her mother's, she couldn't stop crying again.
Mother Jiang carefully traced her features, trying to find some familiarity in this now unfamiliar face. It took her a long time before she said, "Wanwan has grown up..."
The little girl who was only as tall as her chest at the beginning had grown taller than her in the blink of an eye. The black hair that was draped behind her neck in her memory was now tied up. In a place she couldn't see, their beloved little daughter had lost her youthfulness and had been married for several years.
On the way from the north to the capital of Songxi County, Jiang's father and mother asked Zhan Shunan a lot. From their words, they vaguely pieced together the experience of their little daughter in the past few years. It can't be said that she was wronged, but after all, she was not growing up in front of them, so there were always many worries and fears.
Even now, after they saw Jiang Wanning's appearance with their own eyes, Jiang's mother still felt uneasy, but she realized later that her son-in-law was still here, so she had to swallow the questions that were on her lips.
Jiang Wanning narrowed her eyes slightly, with a look of grievance and sadness on her lips. Her former dignity and reliability were gone, and now she was just a poor child who had to say goodbye to her parents.
Mother Jiang took her hand and held it lovingly in her palm.
Although Father Jiang didn't interact with her much, his eyes were always on her since they met. When Jiang Wanning turned to look at him and called out "Dad", he completely lost his composure: "Okay, okay... Dad is here." His voice was hoarse and he could only close his eyes to stop his tears.
Seeing that several people stood at the door for a long time, and the excitement of the first meeting had passed, Lu Shang finally stood up and whispered a reminder: "Why don't you go in first and talk after you sit down."
As he spoke, he waved to the two maids serving in the hall, signaling them to leave.
After a while, only the three members of the Jiang family and the two members of the Lu family were left in the room.
Jiang Wanning exhaled slowly, curled the corners of her mouth, and quietly introduced: "Dad, Mom, this is Lu Shang."
The two elders of the Jiang family followed her gaze, but before they could react, Lu Shang saluted them.
Lu Shang was not shy at all. He poured two cups of tea and handed them to Jiang's father and then Jiang's mother. Before they knew what was going on, he lifted his robe, knelt before the two elders, kowtowed and called out, "Dad, Mom."
"..." This action really surprised everyone. Even Jiang Wanning didn't expect him to do this.
Mother Jiang was dumbfounded. She just said instinctively, "Good, good child... You, you get up first?"
Lu Shang kowtowed to the two elders again and said happily: "Thank you, Dad and Mom!"
Father Jiang: “…”
After Lu Shang stood up swiftly, he personally led the two elders to their seats, turned around and helped Grandma Lu sit next to him, and finally looked at Jiang Wanning. Although he didn't say anything, the meaning in his eyes was obvious.
Jiang Wanning was silent and hesitant, but finally left the two elders of the Jiang family, walked to Lu Shang's side, and stood side by side with him.
The room was full of elders, and it was the first time for the two of them to meet each other's parents in the common sense, so it was naturally not convenient for them to sit down.
This also caused Jiang's father and mother's eyes to linger between the two of them. Jiang's father wanted to say something several times but stopped himself, not knowing what to say. Or perhaps in his heart, Jiang Wanning was still the little daughter who lay on his lap to study, and he could not connect her with the image in front of him standing side by side with another person.
If it were seven or eight years ago, when the Jiang family was at its peak, Lu Shang would definitely not be among the Jiang family's candidates for a son-in-law.
But things are different now. Although the couple doesn't know much about Lu Shang, they know that their little daughter's well-being over the years was mostly due to him. Even when they were able to leave the north and reunite with their little daughter, it was all due to Lu Shang's efforts.
It's like a mother-in-law looking at her son-in-law, she is always a little picky and disgusted. But this little flaw is not worth mentioning in the face of such great kindness. To put it bluntly -
Jiang Wanning and Lu Shang have been married for several years. Is it possible that they can get divorced?
Putting aside other things, just looking at the atmosphere between the two of them, it doesn't seem like there is any kind of emotional discord between them.
Mother Jiang suppressed the bitterness in her heart and spoke softly, "My master and I heard of Master Lu's great name back in the North, and we've also heard many of his deeds along the way. It's all thanks to him that we're able to be reunited with our daughter. It's a pity we have nothing left now, so we can only express our gratitude with the humblest words."
Lu Shang smiled and said, "You're being too kind. Aning and I are husband and wife, and you two are Aning's parents, so naturally you're also my parents. I'm just afraid that it took me so many years to find you two, and that you and Aning must have been suffering from longing for each other for so long. How dare I take credit for it?"
"If you two elders don't mind, why not just call me by my first name?"
"But..." Jiang's mother opened her mouth, but her peripheral vision accidentally caught a glimpse of his and Jiang Wanning's shoulders hugging each other. She swallowed the refusal that was on the tip of her tongue and gave a forced smile, "Lu, Lu Shang."
Lu Shang still had a smile on his face. Thinking that they had just met and were still unfamiliar with each other, he was reluctant to ask anything. So he politely said, "Dad and Mom must be tired after all the travel. I'll go get the guest room ready. You two can rest for the night. We can talk about anything after you've rested up. Is that okay?"
It happened that Jiang's father and mother didn't know how to deal with such a situation, so they immediately agreed when they heard it.
"Then I'll ask someone to clean the guest room." Lu Shang said, turning around to leave, but her sleeve was pulled. When she looked down, she found that it was Jiang Wanning who was holding her.
Jiang Wanning's mood had calmed down a lot, but her eyes and nose were still red, which made her look even more pitiful in Lu Shang's eyes.
Jiang Wanning said, "My husband, please go ahead. I want to spend some time with my parents."
"That's as it should be, that's as it should be." Lu Shang agreed without hesitation, and said thoughtfully, "Then I'll just clean up two rooms so that it will be more convenient for you to stay with your mother at night. How about this?"
He waited for Jiang Wanning to nod, then went to ask Jiang's father and mother what they thought.
If Jiang Wanning stayed overnight, it would mean that Jiang's father and mother would have to separate. Jiang's mother only cared about being with her daughter, so she agreed without hesitation. As for Jiang's father's opinion, it was obviously not within their consideration.
Only Lu Shang, concerned about his father-in-law's face, asked, "Dad, what do you think?"
"...I'm fine with anything." Father Jiang replied in a deep voice.
As Lu Shang left, Grandma Lu also said goodbye tactfully. As she passed by Jiang Wanning, she patted her on the back and said, "It's not been easy for my in-laws on this journey. Wanning, please spend more time with them."
Whether it was Lu Shang or Grandma Lu, their actions were seen by Jiang's father and Jiang's mother.
The couple looked at each other and came to a conclusion in their minds.
When there was no one else in the room, Jiang's mother lost her previous restraint and stood up again, walked to Jiang Wanning, held her hand again, and walked her to the chair before stopping.
She wanted to ask her little daughter to lean against her legs like she did when they were little, but when she was about to do that she realized——
Her daughter has grown up and is no longer the little girl who could snuggle up to her and complain.
This realization made her heart sad again, and the corners of her eyes turned watery again.
Jiang Wanning was also affected by this, and her nose felt sore, but she quickly pressed the corners of her eyes, bent her knees and half-knelt beside Jiang's mother's legs. She looked up at her mother and said with a smile: "Don't be sad, mother, we have already met."
"You see, I'm doing very well now. My husband... and grandma are very kind to me. I don't know if Brother Zhan has told you and Dad that I've opened a private school and have enrolled dozens of students. I've made a name for myself over the years."
"My husband is also very capable. He passed the imperial examination many years ago, but later on, due to poverty, he was forced to change his status to merchant. In recent years, his business has grown bigger and bigger. The team that went to the north to look for you and my eldest brother this time is the long-term workers of Lu Logistics. The imperial examination system was changed two years ago, and my husband just decided to study again before the New Year, hoping to pass the imperial examination."
"Don't worry about me, the two of you. I'm fine... But how have you and Dad been doing these past few years? And Big Brother, why haven't I seen him? Did he come with us?"
Jiang Wanning knew what her parents wanted to hear, so she gave them a brief account of the situation without waiting for them to ask.
Although Jiang's mother found it unbelievable, looking at her complexion and dress, she did not look like someone who had been treated harshly. Perhaps she was not as wealthy as she was in the capital, but among ordinary people's families, she was definitely one of the best.
But after hearing what Jiang Wanning said, she was still not satisfied. She just wanted to ask her daughter about every day of these years in detail.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
