"I haven't seen you for so many years. You've grown old, and so have I."
Ruan Jingguo reached out his hand tremblingly to touch his brother's face, thinking back to the heroic brother who was full of hope to drive away the Japanese invaders and recover the country. If he had known that they would be separated for half a century, he would have kidnapped him. The ancestral foundation is not as important as his brother's coming.
Fortunately, he could see his younger brother again in his lifetime, fulfilling his lifelong wish.
Men don't shed tears easily, but at this moment, Ruan Yuanjiang could not say anything except holding his second brother's hand tightly and crying silently. He could only keep calling the other party.
"Second brother, second brother, second brother," Ruan Yuanjiang shouted again and again with sobs in his voice.
"Hey." Ruan Jingguo also responded, as if he wanted to hear his younger brother make up for the debt of honor he owed him for so many years all at once.
"Second brother." Ruan Yuanjiang said hoarsely, looking at his aging brother, feeling so much longing for him that he had no one to express.
"Okay, you're a grandfather already, but you're still acting like a child. You're not afraid of being laughed at." Ruan Jingguo sat in a wheelchair, touched his brother's hair, and said gently and kindly. After that, he turned his gaze to behind Ruan Yuanjiang.
"Huo Wu hasn't married yet. This time I will urge the third brother to arrange something for you." Huo Wu was a retainer of the Ruan family, so Ruan Jingguo was naturally familiar with him. As for Jiang Yilu who stood next to Huo Wu, he often heard his younger brother mention him in letters. A few years ago, his eldest son went to the mainland and praised the little boy when he came back. Ruan Jingguo had been curious about him for a long time.
"This must be the Xiaobao you often mentioned in your letters. He is indeed a handsome and smart child." Ruan Jingguo said a few words with a smile, but the focus was still on Ruan Yuanjiang, asking him about his situation over the years.
Cai Shaoyun, who was standing next to Ruan Jingguo, curled her lips. Isn't he just a poor relative from the countryside? It would be fine if he came by himself, but he brought an irrelevant person with him, deliberately trying to take advantage of the Ruan family. She heard that the things that the Ruan family left in the country had long been confiscated by the Communist Party. Now Ruan Yuanjiang is a poor family. Not only did he send his granddaughter here a few years ago, but now he wants to come here to ask for benefits. How shameless.
Cai Shaoyun didn't know that the government had returned the confiscated wealth to Ruan Yuanjiang, and he thought that Ruan Yuanjiang was now penniless. He secretly despised him in his heart, but did not dare to show it on his face.
Looking at the old man's expression, you can tell that this brother is the apple of his eye. Although she has a bad temper, she is not stupid enough to provoke Ruan Yuanjiang. At most, she would just mutter a few words in her heart.
"Second brother, where is Ruan Ruan? Why can't I see her?" After the joy of the brothers' reunion, the first thing Ruan Yuanjiang thought of was naturally his precious granddaughter whom he hadn't seen for many years.
"Ruan Ruan, she hasn't finished school yet." Ruan Jingguo had a hint of embarrassment on his face, avoiding his brother's gaze, "Third brother, it just so happens that they are about to finish school, I'll take you to pick up Ruan Ruan and visit the place where Ruan Ruan studies."
Ruan Jingguo had a glimmer of anticipation in her heart. Maybe her younger brother was here today, and she was willing to give him face so that the whole family could get together and have a meal together.
Ruan Yuanjiang was still immersed in the joy of reunion and did not notice his second brother's momentary stiffness. However, Jiang Yilu, who had been silently observing everyone present, noticed it and was startled.
"Wuwu, go and ask the housekeeper to prepare the car." Ruan Jingguo said to a gentle and elegant woman in her early 40s standing behind him, "By the way, Third Brother, these two are the concubines I took in after I came to Hong Kong City. They can be considered as your second sisters-in-law."
Ruan Jingguo seemed to have just remembered to introduce him at this time. Cai Shaoyun followed Ruan Jingguo in calling him "the third brother" with a fake smile. Feng Wu was a little better than her. She looked affectionate but not unkind and called him "the third brother". Ruan Jingguo's slightly raised brows relaxed, and there was a hint of satisfaction in his eyes when he looked at Feng Wu.
Ruan Yuanjiang only recognized his second sister-in-law in his heart, and he just nodded to the greetings of the two women. The source of the mistake was still his second brother. He could only stay away from the two women in front of him, so as not to hurt his second sister-in-law's heart.
Ruan Jingguo couldn't figure out what he was thinking. His face turned red, but he didn't say anything and urged Feng Wu to go down and make the arrangements.
*******
"Is this where Ruan Ruan studies?" Ruan Yuanjiang stood at the school gate and asked his second brother who was sitting in a wheelchair.
It was time for the class to end, and a group of students in uniform walked out of the school. This was obviously not an ordinary school, with a mixture of Chinese and Western students. Ruan Yuanjiang had already seen several white children coming out of the school gate, and there were also many luxury cars parked at the gate. Whenever a student came out, a butler or nanny-like figure would take the student to the car.
"Our Ruan family has shares in this school. I already informed Ruan Ruan when she enrolled. Don't worry, Ruan Ruan is doing well in Gangcheng." Ruan Jingguo sat in a wheelchair, but his eyes were always looking around the school gate. He didn't seem to be waiting for Ruan Ruan to finish school, but rather waiting for other people.
"I think the children are almost gone. Why don't we go in and take a look?" Ruan Yuanjiang was extremely anxious. He saw the children coming out and being picked up by cars, but he didn't see his own daughter. He paced beside Ruan Jingguo and said anxiously.
"Wait a little longer. Wait a little longer."
Ruan Jingguo was also puzzled. Didn't she come to pick him up from school every day? Why didn't he see her special car today? Could it be that she was avoiding him? Ruan Jingguo felt a little bitter when he thought about it.
Just when everyone was getting a little anxious, a girl of about fifteen or sixteen came out with a group of girls, talking and laughing.
She was about 1.65 meters tall, with fair and translucent skin, and waist-length hair cascading down behind her like a waterfall. A few naughty strands of hair fluttered in the wind in front of her eyes, and the girl gently pushed them behind her ears, revealing her slender neck.
The group of people were talking about something interesting. The girl's mouth corners curled up, revealing two sweet dimples, with curved eyebrows and eyes, just like a lovable little kitten, making people feel sweet when they tickle her.
Ruan Yuanjiang looked at the little girl in front of him. This was his Ruan Ruan, but she was not like his Ruan Ruan. The shy girl had grown up to be generous and cheerful, but she was still as sweet and lovely as before.
Second brother took good care of Ruan Ruan, and Ruan Ruan has grown up!
Seeing the girl slowly coming out, his eyes were wet. Ruan Yuanjiang just watched from a distance, but didn't dare to get close. He sent her away without telling the child. Ruan Ruan must have resented him as her grandfather all these years.
Ruan Yuanjiang thought so, and so did Jiang Yilu.
"Ruan Ruan, is your second aunt here to pick you up today too?" A little girl next to Ruan Ruan was chattering, looking lively and playful.
"No, my aunt came to pick me up today." Ruan Ruan replied with a smile.
"That's great, no one comes to pick me up from home, and I can only look at the dead faces of the driver and bodyguard every time." The little girl pouted, looking at Ruan Ruan with a hint of envy. Although Ruan Ruan has lost her parents, her relatives treat her like their own flesh and blood. Unlike her, her parents are alive, but she acts as if they are not there.
Ruan Ruan just smiled and didn't answer her. Thinking of those people far away on the other side of the sea, she felt sad.
"Ruan Ruan, there are a few people over there looking at you. There's a handsome young man there. I wonder if he likes you?" Girls of this age always talk about the opposite sex, especially the handsome ones.
The little girl poked Ruan Ruan's waist with her finger, pointed at where Jiang Yilu and the others were, and said to Ruan Ruan with a wink.
"Hmm?" Ruan Ruan blinked and looked in the direction she pointed.
A few people who only appeared in her memory were standing not far away: Grandpa, Uncle Da Wu, and... Ruan Ruan blinked, forced back the tears that were about to burst out, hugged a few books in her arms, and wanted to turn around and leave.
Liars, a bunch of big liars. They left her to her uncle in the first place, why are they looking for her now?
"Ruan Ruan!" Just as Ruan Ruan was about to leave in panic, a cheerful female voice came from the front. A woman wearing a thick black leather jacket and leather pants, and a pair of high boots, sat astride a cool motorcycle, holding a helmet in one hand and waving at Ruan Ruan with the other.
"So, that's Mu Ning?"
Ruan Yuanjiang was still immersed in the sadness that his granddaughter clearly saw him but turned her head away and wanted to leave, when he was frightened by his eldest niece who appeared at the school gate in this outfit.
Ruan Muning is the youngest daughter of Ruan Jingguo and his first wife Xue Ning. The name Muning is a symbol of the couple's deep love, although it sounds a bit ironic now.
Ruan Yuanjiang remembered that when his second brother left, Mu Ning was still a lovely six-year-old girl. He could not connect the woman in front of him, who was dressed too modernly, with a buzz cut and heavy makeup, with the little niece in his memory.
"This child is naughty." Ruan Jingguo explained awkwardly. He was helpless about his eldest daughter who was in her forties, not getting married, and dressed like a gangster. But what could he do? After all, he was sorry for them.
He felt guilty when he saw his daughter, let alone discipline her.
When Ruan Jingguo saw Ruan Muning appear, he understood that Xue Ning saw through his intentions and was deliberately avoiding him. It seemed that his wish to have a good meal with her today by relying on the third brother's face would not be fulfilled. Ruan Jingguo looked gloomy, feeling bitter and lost.
"Ruan Ruan, your aunt will take you for a ride today. This is a motorcycle that has just been imported from abroad. It looks cool, right?" Ruan Muning handed the helmet to his little niece and showed off his newest pet to her.
"Why are your eyes red? Did someone bully you?" Ruan Muning saw Ruan Ruan's red eyes and got off the motorcycle anxiously and asked nervously, "Who is so bold? Don't you know that you are the one I am protecting?"
St. Paul's Girls' School is an aristocratic girls' school. Those who can study in this school all have some background in their families. How could those people not have heard of the reputation of the lawless Tyrannosaurus Rex eldest daughter of the Ruan family? Ruan Ruan is the person she has said she will protect, and others are so respectful to her that they would never bully her.
Everyone was privately saying that the old man of the Ruan family had lost his mind and handed over those underworld forces to a girl named Ruan Mu Ning. Ruan Mu Ning dressed like a street girl every day and had a carefree personality, which made everyone believe the truth of the rumor and naturally they were a little afraid of her.
"No one bullies me." Ruan Ruan shook her head and just wanted to leave quickly.
"Don't be afraid, your aunt is here." Ruan Muning thought that Ruan Ruan didn't dare to say it. Ruan Ruan was a timid person at the beginning, and she endured it even when being bullied. That's why Ruan Muning was worried.
"Aunt Ruanruan, there were a few people there who were staring at Ruanruan, including a handsome young man. Ruanruan might have been scared by those people." The little girl who had been following Ruanruan complained.
"Handsome boy?" Ruan Muning frowned. That bold boy actually dared to harass her niece. She wondered if she would not teach those naughty little bastards a lesson.
Jiang Yilu, who was treated as a little bastard by Ruan Muning, didn't know that he was being targeted by the big sister. Looking at Ruan Ruan who had her back to their voice, he felt mixed emotions.
"You guys..." Ruan Muning turned in the direction the little girl was pointing and was about to yell at her when he saw the familiar car and took back the rest of his words.
What is that old man doing here? Ruan Ruan is protected by her and her mother, what does that old man have to do with her? However, when her eyes turned to Ruan Jingguo, she was stunned.
For Ruan Muning, the happiest memories have always been those before the age of six, with his parents’ love and his happy family. Perhaps because of the preciousness of that memory, Ruan Yuanjiang, the uncle who lived with them when they were young, is also deeply engraved in his heart.
Although Ruan Yuanjiang is much older now, one can still see the appearance of his youth. Ruan Muning's lips moved slightly, and he called out "Uncle" in disbelief.
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