Door was opened from the inside.
Chi Yingyu, who had been waiting at the door the whole time, gently knocked on the room door the very next instant after the knock sounded, as if she shared a telepathic connection with the person inside.
Jiang Leyi looked at her dad, who was being carried on her aunt’s back.
She was stunned for a few seconds at first, then burst into loud “waah” crying right in front of everyone.
Her originally red and already moist eyes instantly let the tears flood out.
Her voice trembled and choked, filled with indescribable excitement and release.
Jiang Leyi originally wanted to call out to her dad, but seeing that there were outsiders beside her, she swallowed back the word “dad” that was about to slip out.
Instead, there was only this heartbreaking crying sound.
Tears blurred Jiang Leyi’s vision, but her gaze remained fixed firmly on her dad, as if afraid he would disappear again.
The tears on her daughter’s face fell like pearls from a broken string, continuously sliding down from the corners of her eyes.
They carried deep grievance and excitement, as if she wanted to cry out all the worries and fears that had built up in her heart while she waited alone in the room.
Jiang Lai looked at her daughter, who was crying like a little tearful person, and reached out to gently stroke her head.
Her heart was full of heartache and guilt — it was all her fault that the child had encountered danger.
“I’m back.”
Jiang Lai no longer knew how to comfort her daughter.
All she could do now was continuously use her fingers to gently wipe away the tears on her face.
“I will absolutely never let something like this happen at home again.”
Jiang Lai looked at her daughter, who was still crying nonstop, and knew that this time she had really been scared badly.
Since they were already home, there was no need for her to continue staying on Chi Yingyu’s back.
Thinking of this, she gently patted Chi Yingyu’s shoulder.
Chi Yingyu immediately understood her brother-in-law’s meaning.
She gently put her down, letting Jiang Lai stand at the doorway, and tightly pulled the crying daughter into her arms.
Chi Yingyu watched the father and daughter hugging each other tightly.
Although she also wanted to join in, she noticed Shen Ruxue standing to the side.
Jiang Lai and Jiang Leyi could ignore her, but she could not — that was her older sister.
At this moment, perhaps only Chi Yingyu and Shen Ruxue truly understood the entangled fates of the four people in this family.
Now was the true moment of reunion for this family in the real sense.
After returning home, Jiang Lai was stuck to her daughter’s side the whole time.
Jiang Leyi even wanted to wash her feet — something she had rarely done even when she was little.
At first, Jiang Lai was almost moved to tears, but after some inner struggle, she still refused.
After all, her feet were very dirty right now, and she did not want her daughter to touch them.
She would do it after she took a bath.
Just as she was about to go take a bath, Chi Yingyu glanced at Jiang Leyi sitting on the sofa, then at her older sister who seemed to have something to say.
She gently patted Jiang Leyi’s back.
“Go to the room and find a set of pajamas for Shen Ruxue. She will take a bath in a bit too.”
Although finding pajamas would not take more than a few minutes, those few minutes would be enough for Chi Yingyu and Shen Ruxue.
The two of them avoided the child and came to the balcony, making sure their conversation would not be heard by anyone.
Chi Yingyu looked at her older sister, who clearly had something to say, and instead spoke first:
“I have something I want to say to you first. Sister, I know you have many questions you want to ask me right now, but…”
She looked at the gaze Shen Ruxue directed at her and slightly tightened her fist.
Even though she had already thought of everything, when truly facing her sister, she still could not help feeling timid.
After all, the other person was her older sister, and she was the younger sister.
The other person was her brother-in-law’s original wife, while she was more like a latecomer.
It could be said that everything she possessed now was, in a certain sense, “inherited” from her sister.
Because of this, everything she had now carried an indescribable sense of impropriety.
“Sister, you have already been away from us for more than ten years. These more than ten years are enough to change too many things. I am no longer the younger sister you once knew.”
Chi Yingyu’s emotions were on the verge of collapse.
She knew very clearly that if her brother-in-law found out that her sister had returned, she would have no chance of winning.
Everything she possessed now would disappear.
“When you revealed your true identity to me earlier, besides feeling happy, there was one thought in my heart…”
Her voice trembled slightly.
“That is — why did you come back?”
“Since you already have your own new life, while no one else except me knows yet… I beg you, I really beg you, please do not come back to disturb us anymore, okay? Sister… I beg you.”
Shen Ruxue looked at her usually strong younger sister, who was now constantly pleading in front of her.
It felt as if an invisible boulder was pressing on her heart.
Every breath carried a faint pain, and sadness surged like a tide, overwhelming everything.
A trace of barely noticeable bitterness hung at the corner of her mouth.
She had to admit that her appearance had indeed brought trouble to her younger sister.
A person who should have disappeared from this world appearing again would naturally bring trouble.
Before coming to find her younger sister to acknowledge her, or even earlier — when she decided to come back to find her daughter — Shen Ruxue had already thought it through clearly.
No matter what, she wanted to return to her family’s side.
Even if her return would only bring disturbance and trouble to them, she still wanted to do it.
“Because I really miss you all very much.”
Her voice was very soft, yet incredibly firm.
“I miss you a lot, and I miss my daughter very much… and I also miss Jiang Lai very much.”
“In the more than ten years I have been away from you all, I dreamed of returning to your side even in my dreams. I was really afraid that I would never see you again in this lifetime.”
“I have never thought about taking anything away. I just… want to come back.”
Shen Ruxue could clearly feel the uneasiness her younger sister felt because of her appearance.
She also understood what her younger sister wanted and what she was afraid of.
“I know… you like Jiang Lai.”
Chi Yingyu suddenly froze: “You really knew.”
“It was such an obvious thing. I figured it out a long time ago. Even before I knew that the person taking a bath was Jiang Lai, I already knew — you really love her, love her enough to be willing to give everything for her.”
Shen Ruxue calmly stated the fact that her younger sister loved her own husband.
Just moments ago, this matter had still been hard for her to accept, but after truly saying it out loud, she could instead understand her younger sister’s feelings.
“I just want to return to my family’s side.”
“And you, you just want to protect your own love.”
“In this matter, neither of us… is wrong.”