Huo Junyu smiled and held her small hand in his palm.
This is a day she will have to face, and she will have to face it alone. He can be by her side, but he cannot face it all for her.
"Mianmian, this is your home." He gently stroked her hair and said softly, "Your mom and dad will be back soon, and you will have a new beginning."
"But I..."
"I understand." Huo Junyu looked into her eyes. "Don't worry, once I'm done with things here, I'll go to Jiangzhou to bring Uncle and Aunt over."
Jiang Mianmian was taken aback, her eyes filled with gratitude.
The only person who could think of everything for her was Huo Junyu.
She lowered her head, a hint of worry in her voice. "What if they don't come?"
"No matter what, you are still their daughter." Huo Junyu looked at her gently. "Mianmian, I promised you that you would not be separated from your family."
Jiang Mianmian nodded and slowly released his hand.
Huo Junyu looked at Lu Ran and smiled gently, "I have things to do tonight, so I'll leave Mianmian in your care."
"Yes, no problem!"
Huo Junyu turned and walked out of the Lu family's gate, waving to Jiang Mianmian at the door.
Soon, his figure disappeared into the night.
Jiang Mianmian was still a little uneasy when she felt a small hand gently taking her arm.
Turning around, I saw Lu Ran's simple and cheerful smile.
"Sister Mianmian... shall I take you back to your room?"
Jiang Mianmian smiled at her.
Actually, they should be cousins; Ranran's birthday is half a month younger than hers.
The room Ranran mentioned is the one that Lu Lishan and Lin Yuqing have kept for Xiaoyouzi all these years.
“That room is the one my aunt and uncle value most, and it’s the best room in the house,” Lu Ran told her. “I’ve changed the sheets and blankets; they’re all clean! I haven’t touched anything in the room because those things are all yours…”
"Ranran..."
"Sister, they've been looking so hard for you." Lu Ran took her hand. "You mustn't let them down, okay?"
Jiang Mianmian was slightly taken aback and bit her lip.
She looked up at the room, which was on the second floor of the villa, but judging from the small balcony outside, she knew it must be a beautiful and dreamy princess room.
But the light coming from the room seemed to her to be from another world.
Jiang Mianmian took a deep breath, looked at Lu Ran, and said with a wry smile, "Perhaps I'm going to disappoint them..."
Lu Ran's eyes widened. "Sister, what do you mean by this?"
The two walked slowly in the courtyard. The night air was much cooler, and under the hazy moonlight, the occasional warbling of a nightingale could be heard.
Jiang Mianmian remained silent for a long time before softly saying, "These past few days, I've been completely in a mess... I don't know why this is happening, why me? I'm clearly Jiang Mianmian, how did I become Lu Xiaoyou?"
"Sister..." Lu Ran didn't know how to comfort her, so she could only hold her arm tighter.
“My mother doesn’t answer the phone, and even if she does, she only says a few words before hanging up.” Her voice choked with emotion. “Does she not want me anymore?”
"No way!" Lu Ran said hurriedly, "Maybe...maybe she can't get away? Sister, wouldn't it be better to have another pair of parents to love you? Besides, if you hadn't been taken away back then, you would have grown up with your uncle and aunt, and your feelings for them would be just as deep."
“Yes, Junyu said the same thing.” Jiang Mianmian looked at her, “But I still…”
“Sister,” Lu Ran stopped in her tracks, “do you know what my name means?”
Jiang Mianmian was stunned. "What?"
Lu Ran's smile carried a hint of self-deprecation.
“My name, Ran, is a kind of grass. My mother told me that my father came to see me when I was born and just casually gave me this name. Ha, perhaps in his heart, I am just an insignificant weed. He can pull me out when he needs me and let me live and die on my own when he doesn’t.”
“But your name is different.” Lu Ran looked at her. “You is a tree that is sturdy and durable. When people talk about pomelos, they think of that sweet and sour, fragrant fruit.”
"Look, even the way they named you shows how much your parents love you. And me..."
Jiang Mianmian felt a pang of sadness and quickly took her small hand in hers.
"Sister, I know you need time to adjust, but I'm still very envious of you. Whether it's your biological parents or your adoptive parents, they all love you very much. You receive double the love!"
"It's not just me, it's you too." Jiang Mianmian felt a pang of sadness at what she said, so she pinched her little nose and chuckled, "From now on, you'll have one more older sister who loves you, double the love!"
"You're willing to accept me?"
"I never said I wouldn't accept you!"
"What about your uncle and aunt?"
"I told you, I need time."
Jiang Mianmian smiled gently, but her smile now showed a greater sense of relief compared to before.
"Ranran, didn't you say you were going to take me back to my room?"
Lu Ran was taken aback, then a look of surprise appeared on her face. She took her hand and started to walk upstairs.
The maid then brought over some juice.
"Ladies, you've been chatting for so long, why not have some juice to quench your thirst?"
This is Lin Yuqing's old routine: every night she has someone bring Lu Ran a glass of freshly squeezed juice to supplement her vitamins.
Lu Ran and Jiang Mianmian exchanged a smile, and the two girls, completely unsuspecting, took the juice from each other.
What kind of juice is it today?
“It’s…honey grapefruit juice,” the maid said in a low voice, glancing at Jiang Mianmian. “When Miss Xiaoyou comes back, she should naturally have something special to drink.”
Lu Ran glanced at the maid, feeling that the aunt looked unfamiliar.
However, because she had only been with the Lu family for a short time and didn't interact with many people, she only knew Aunt Liu, who took care of her.
So she dismissed her momentary awkwardness as simply overthinking.
"By the way, where's Aunt Liu? Why isn't she delivering the juice today?"
"Old Liu has taken leave."
Why?
"because……"
The maid slowly raised her head.
The cold moonlight revealed the sinister ruthlessness in her eyes, and the upward curve of her lips concealed an unspeakable secret.
"Because I'm going to take you two ladies to a really fun place!"
Jiang Mianmian felt dizzy, and Lu Ran beside her was also swaying. After a while, the two seemed to lose consciousness, but they could still move their bodies.
There was only one voice in their ears, "Come, come this way..."
They then followed the maid, one on each side.
"The two young ladies need to go to the hospital to see their husband and wife." The maid took out her phone and instructed the driver, "Quickly, bring the car out; I'll take them there right now!"
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