The VIP lounge at Jincheng Airport is elegantly furnished, with soft sofas, exquisite coffee tables, and neatly arranged magazines, making it exceptionally comfortable.
However, Lin Ying, sitting on the sofa, seemed a little restless. She stroked her smooth, delicate, wrinkle-free cheeks and complained, "Oh dear, Hongmei is such a child. We're already so old, and she still insists on coming to pick us up."
Lin Ying's tone revealed a hint of helplessness, but even more so, her doting affection for her daughter.
She has a beautiful face and fair skin, looking like a young girl, and you can't tell at all that she is already a mother of seven.
Sitting to the side, Lin Jianguo was a stark contrast to Lin Ying. His hair was thinning, forming a typical Mediterranean hairstyle, and his belly was slightly protruding due to long-term drinking. He looked exactly like a greasy middle-aged man, and it seemed that the signs of aging that should have appeared on Lin Ying's face were doubled on his.
Lin Jianguo smiled and patted his wife on the shoulder.
"It's the child's sentiment, isn't it? We haven't seen each other in a long time, don't you miss the child?"
The two smiled at each other, seemingly overwhelmed with joy at seeing their daughter.
Just then, seeing the couple's affectionate appearance, Chu Tianxing suddenly interjected, "...What are you pretending for, you two?"
Looking at Lin Ying and Lin Jianguo's slightly affected manner, he couldn't help but laugh and scold them.
Chu Tianxing and Lin Jianguo were of the same generation. Although he also showed signs of aging, he seemed to belong to a completely different era compared to Lin Jianguo.
However, Chu Tianxing's joking remark made Lin Ying and Lin Jianguo somewhat embarrassed.
They exchanged a glance and both saw a hint of tension in each other's eyes.
Actually, they weren't really blaming Lin Hongmei for treating them like children; rather, they had guessed that Lin Hongmei's arrival meant that another person would also be coming...
They were no longer children. When they heard that Lin Hongmei insisted on coming to pick them up, they already guessed that Mu Liuyun would come as well.
"When we couldn't find them, we cried and begged for help, but now that we've found them, we're too embarrassed to see them. Brother Mu, isn't that a bit dramatic?" Mu Lixiong looked at the two men in front of him with a kind smile, a smile that seemed to contain a sense of nostalgia for the past. He seemed to see himself decades ago, when he was leading these two young men in the army.
At that time, one was Chu Tianxing, who was required by his family to join the army, and the other was Lin Jianguo, who chose to join the army to avoid succeeding as the head of the family. Chu Tianxing's joining the army was a family tradition, and as the future head of the family, he had to have such an experience; while Lin Jianguo was different. He resolutely threw himself into the military in order to break free from the constraints of his family.
"I remember back then, Jian Guo swore to me that he would never go back to inherit the family business, even if it meant his death. Now, look at him, he's acting like the head of the family."
Mu Lixiong smiled and said, his gaze falling on Lin Jianguo. Lin Jianguo was now slightly overweight, with a kind face, and certainly looked like a good family man. In contrast, Chu Tianxing appeared more capable, his every move exuding the air of a soldier.
However, Mu Lixiong knew in his heart that the roles of the two people back then were actually completely opposite.
Although Chu Tianxing may appear to be a playboy, he has actually been a man of strong will since his youth and has a deep understanding of his responsibilities to his family.
Lin Jianguo, though now appearing plump and like a good family man, was once a complete rebel who was willing to pay any price for freedom.
"He said he'd team up with me for life, be a communications soldier for life, but well, he just dropped the job after a couple of days..."
"Brother, I'm leaving the army. I've found someone I like."
Lin Jianguo scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly, a blush creeping onto his face.
"Oh my, Lao Lin, you had this kind of trick up your sleeve? Wow!"
Mu Lixiong and Chu Tianxing exchanged a smile and began to tease Lin Jianguo.
Lin Jianguo, teased by the two, became even more shy, his face turning as red as a ripe apple. It seemed that Mu Liuyun's tendency to blush easily was not inherited from her mother.
Lin Ying, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but laugh when she saw this scene, but she didn't say anything.
Although Mu Lixiong and Chu Tianxing's teasing was somewhat embarrassing, it undeniably eased the tension between Lin Jianguo and Lin Ying.
At least now, they no longer stare intently at the VIP room door as they used to.
Just as the four of them were chatting enthusiastically, a clear voice suddenly rang out in front of them: "Mom and Dad, Uncle Chu, Grandpa Mu."
Everyone looked up at the sound and saw Lin Hongmei walking over with a big smile on her face.
"My daughter, come here..."
As soon as Lin Ying saw her daughter, she immediately stood up to greet her.
However, when she saw the figure behind Lin Hongmei, her words suddenly caught in her throat, and she could no longer speak.
"Xiaoyun?"
Lin Ying's voice trembled slightly, and two lines of tears instantly slid down her cheeks.
She rushed past like a gust of wind, almost leaping towards Mu Liuyun, whose expression was somewhat reserved.
"Waaah, son, ah waaah, Mom, it's me."
Lin Ying's voice was broken and intermittent due to sobbing, unable to form a complete sentence, but the emotions contained within it were like surging waves.
She hugged Mu Liuyun tightly, as if she wanted to meld him into her body and let him re-integrate into her bones and blood.
Mu Liuyun could feel that her embrace was so tight that he could hardly breathe.
Hearing Lin Ying's sobs, Mu Liuyun, who was initially at a loss and unsure how to face her biological parents, had her defenses crumble in an instant.
He slowly reached out and gently embraced the woman in front of him.
"Mom..." This was the first time in his two lifetimes that he had truly felt the meaning of the word "Mom".
"Eh."
Lin Ying's response was equally full of emotion; that simple word seemed to contain a thousand words.
"Mom..." Mu Liuyun called out again and again, and with each call, the emotions in his heart surged like a flood breaking through a dam.
However, with each call, his voice grew hoarse until he could no longer speak. Tears streamed down his throat, leaving him only with strange whimpers.
The mother and son's voices intertwined, creating a unique melody. Although it was somewhat comical, none of the people present smiled.
"Old Lin, you look so expectant, aren't you going to go up and hug them?"
"Ahem, there's no need for that. It's inappropriate to do this in public."
"Go ahead and pretend."
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