After returning home, Yao Yao belatedly realized that her jade pendant was missing.
Upon closer reflection, I realized that I had been wearing it perfectly fine before, so how could it suddenly be gone? Then I thought about it again, and maybe... it fell off accidentally while I was trying to break up the fight.
So they decided to go back the way they came to see if it was still there.
As soon as she stepped outside, she ran into Xu Chi, who asked Yao Yao in a flustered manner, "What's wrong? Why are you in such a panic?"
Yao Yao: "The jade pendant my mother left me is missing. I need to go back and look for it."
Xu Chi originally wanted to say, "Isn't your mother my mother too?" but then he remembered Yan'er's tragic past and swallowed his words, saying, "I'll go with you to look for her."
“Mmm,” Yaoyao naturally agreed, thinking that having more people searching might help them find it faster.
The group arrived at the spot where the incident had occurred. "It might be here. He tripped and fell and accidentally dropped the jade pendant. Let's look for it carefully."
"Hmm," Xu Chi responded, carefully turning over the grass on the ground to search for Yao Yao's lost jade pendant.
At this moment, Shao Chen did not leave, but quietly hid to the side after the two came in.
Xu Chi asked, "Is that jade pendant very important?"
"Yes!" Yao Yao nodded heavily. "It's very important. Mother said that it's the token of love Father gave her. As long as that jade pendant is still there, Father will come to pick us up." Then her tone lowered.
"Unfortunately, my mother died before he married her."
Hiding in the shadows, Shao Chen was already in tears. This was Ling'er and his child! But he had made them suffer so much.
But now is not the time. Wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes, she tried to tidy herself up and walked out calmly, staring at Yao Yao and asking, "Little ones, is this what you're looking for?"
Then he took out a bright white jade pendant from his bosom, the very one that Yao Yao had lost.
Yao Yao quickly accepted the jade pendant and thanked him, saying, "Thank you, Uncle."
Shao Chen felt a pang of sadness. She should be calling him "Dad," but now she was calling someone else "Dad." But there was nothing she could do. If it weren't for this other person, she would probably never have seen her mother again, having lost her at such a young age.
Hearing the commotion, Xu Chi turned around and exclaimed in surprise, "Master!"
Although tonight is a celebration of the leader's successful seclusion, children and adults are seated separately, so Yaoyao has not yet seen the leader.
Yao Yao looked at Shao Chen curiously, "Are you the cult leader?"
Looking into Yao Yao's curious eyes, Shao Chen felt a pang of sadness. "Hmm," he thought, "she should actually call me 'father,' not 'leader' in such an unfamiliar way."
Shao Chen gazed greedily at Yao Yao's face. She was so cute; no wonder she was Ling'er's child.
"What's your name?" Yao Yao looked into Shao Chen's affectionate eyes and got goosebumps all over. She felt that his gaze was a little sticky.
"My name is Xu Yan." But a higher-ranking official can have absolute power, so I'd better submit to their tyranny.
"Xu Yan... who gave you such a beautiful name?" Shao Chen felt a pang of sadness, but he didn't show it on his face.
“My mother named it that because smoke is ethereal and dreamlike, but impossible to grasp.”
Shao Chen felt a pang of pain in his heart. Was Ling'er blaming him? Blaming him for not going to find her, for giving her a beautiful dream, only to shatter it mercilessly?
"Um... I'll go first, you guys go back, it's getting late," Shao Chen reminded them.
Having found the jade pendant, Yao Yao and her companion naturally wanted to return, which was exactly what they were looking forward to.
As he watched that small, cuddly figure recede further and further away, Shao Chen finally couldn't hold back any longer.
Ling'er, you're still blaming me, aren't you? I gave you such a sweet promise, but made your waiting go to waste.
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