Come To My Side

5

Since today is the weekend, both of them didn't have to go to work.

Guan Xi got up early and went to sit in the living room. The moment Jiang Suizhou saw her watching variety shows when he came out after washing up, he found it a bit unexpected, as previously she would immediately leave as soon as she woke up and won't stay for long in his house.

However, it was merely a momentary bafflement, the two of them have never interfered nor pry on each other's affairs, so once he finished eating breakfast, he then went about his business.

Guan Xi spent all morning sitting there, throughout the whole time, she left the call she received from Guan Xinghuai unanswered.

At around noon, she drew a deep breath, got herself off the sofa, and walked inside the room to put on makeup.

The housekeeping auntie is currently making lunches, when Jiang Suizhou come out after taking care of his work he only saw all those flashy stuff remnants from last night and nothing else.

"Guan Xi left?"

Auntie pointed her finger towards the cloakroom, "Miss Guan is doing her makeup inside."

Jiang Suizhou let out an 'Oh', then turned around walking to the cloakroom. He stopped at the door and saw Guan Xi is in the middle of applying lipstick.

Dark red, coupled with her exceptionally fierce makeup today, she looked like she was going to kill someone

"Not eating?" He asked.

Putting her lipstick into her bag, Guan Xi got up and walked over, "My dad told me to go home."

"Oh, want me to drop you off?"

It was no more than a mere courtesy.

And Guan Xi is well aware of it, but instead of throwing sarcastic or inappropriate remarks to make him choke like usual, she just shook her head and went straight out the door.

This Salty Fish is in a bad mood, thought Jiang Suizhou.

Seems like she has offended someone again, stirring up trouble for her family, and is about to get scolded at home.

As far as she was concerned, this was the gravest reason for her to come home dark-faced that he could come up with.

He didn't think Guan Xi could possibly have any real difficulties in this lifetime.

"Sir, what should I do with this stuff?" Auntie was alluding to the flashy scene in the living room.

She was stunned at what she saw when she arrived today, but she dared not to clean it up as the house owner didn't say anything.

Jiang Suizhou didn't answer immediately. He reached for a gift box with 1st Birthday written on top of it, unwrapped it and saw a pacifier, plated with gold.

How unlucky is a baby to use this sort of pacifier.

Jiang Suizhou smiled, telling the auntie,"Place all these gift boxes inside my study and clean up the rest."

"Alright."

_____

Guan Xi's entire body was tense throughout the way back to her house from Jiang Suizhou's house.

They promised to give her two months to adjust first, but only one month has passed and they've already brought her back. It just showed how much they miss her.

She didn't really want to return home, however, she was also aware she wouldn't be able to run away from this matter.

It grieves her, yet for the first time ever, she cannot lose her temper.

Just like what Lang Ningyi said, she only held a supporting character position now, what qualifications did she have to get angry? If she see this matters through other people's perspective, she's just a sparrow that turned into a phoenix**.

(**rags-to-riches)

Guan Xi parked her car once she reached the gates.

As she walked from the door to the main room, she didn't see the usual housekeeping aunties, they're likely not allowed to come these days to keep this matter confidential for the time being. The only one that still remains is Auntie Zhen, who's been taking care of her since she was young. Auntie Zhen saw her and gently caressed her arm, saying, "Go in, they're in the living room."

Auntie Zhen raised her with affection, so she probably is feeling sorry for her at this moment.

Guan Xi straightened her back, there's nothing to feel sorry for!!!! She didn't need any pity!!!!

"Xixi, you're here."When she arrived at the living room, she was greeted by the sight of three people sitting inside, her dad, mom and that girl.

Seeing her coming in, Guan Xinghao hastily stood up, his expression was rather awkward, but he still retained his bright smile,"Xixi, this is Guan Ying, she will be your sister from now on."

Guan Xi moved her gaze to the girl that was sitting beside her mother, this was the first time she saw her in person.

Jeans, blouse, barefaced, timid smile, pretty good-looking.

"Sister."She called her in a low voice.

All at once, Guan Xi got goosebumps, reality hit her, she felt like she was thrown into some parallel universe where everything is unfamiliar to her. In a split second, all those, how to maintain her position, how to win her parents' affection, how to outsmart this newly-arrived Guan young lady…..and so on, were shattered by one friendly and gracious 'sister' from the other person.

Damn it…..how should she move forward now?

Perhaps seeing her awkwardness, Guan Xinghao tried to lighten the mood, asking everyone to eat lunch.

The food was steaming hot, and there was an extra person at the table that was usually only used by three people.

"You didn't come home these past two days, what have you been doing?" Guan Xinghao started a topic.

Realizing that this question was directed to her, Guan Xi answered,"Nothing much, just staying with Jiang Suizhou."

Guan Xinghao: "Really? Why didn't you bring Suizhou home for dinner then? It's been quite a while since Dad last met him, how are you guys doing these days?"

Guan Xi knew that Guan Xinghao was deliberately starting a topic to have a chat with her and that he was just trying to show that he was still paying attention to her and cared about her.

Guan Xi understood everything, and precisely because she did understand it, she felt even sadder.

"Pretty good."Guan Xi took a light breath, trying to play it cool as she said,"I'll tell him to come over to have a meal at our house next time."

Guan Xinghao: "That's great."

"Yingying, do you have a boyfriend?"Though she had been in contact with her biological daughter for a month, Wei Shaomin seemed to have missed this question.

Guan Ying shook her head,"Not yet."

"I see, then Mom will help you look for someone later on."

Guan Ying was a little shy,"You don't have to......"

"What's the matter? You're a little older than Xixi." Wei Shaomin looked somewhat sad as she said,"After all these years…..Mom owes you a lot."

While bowing her head to eat, Guan Xi listened to their conversation without saying a word.

She had already been fully informed on the circumstances surrounding Guan Ying.

Back then, two-month-old Guan Ying was taken away by a nanny with mental problems, the nanny threw herself into a river and died. At that time, they couldn't find the baby's body even after searching for a long time, they could only find the clothes worn by the baby at the river downstream, that's why everyone thought that Guan Ying was dead.

Never have anyone guessed, there's still some rationality left in that nanny, she repented, didn't bring the baby to die together with her and instead gave the baby to other people before she died. Afterwards, the baby was sold privately and ended up in a place far away from the Imperial Capital.

The mother, Wei Shaomin, was already in poor health and unable to conceive again after her first child. She was extremely distraughted over the death of her child and went abroad to recuperate.

One year later, Guan Xinghao went to an orphanage and brought Guan Xi home to comfort Wei Shaomin.....they then lived abroad in the following years, Guan Xi had already turned eight-nine years old the moment they returned back to China. 

Time and years have become blurry, everyone has forgotten what happened in the past. Only a handful of people knew about Wei Shaomin's inability to conceive again, so Guan Xinghao simply told people that they were fortunate to give birth to another daughter.

No one ever doubted it.

Apart from her paternal and maternal grandparents, no other person knew the truth of this matter.

Guan Xi has no recollection on any of this, she even believed her mother was just of that nature every time she was treated rather coldly by her mother since childhood. On most days, she dared to make a scene in front of her father, but she would exercise restraint in the presence of her mother. She even goes as far as wanting to get her love and attention, always trying to please her be it explicitly or implicitly......

But as it turned out, it was all useless.

Not once did her Mom ever use such a tone to talk to her.

Guan Xi's brain is buzzing in echo, envious, jealous, but she was aware of the fact that she was the least qualified person to feel jealous.

Once she's done eating, Guan Xi went upstairs to her room.

At night, Guan Xinghao knocked on her door. This was the first time where the two of them calmly faced each other since their last conversation.

"Dad, do you have anything to say?" Guan Xi didn't beat around the bush with him.

Guan Xinghao hesitated for a little,"Previously Dad had promised that we would give you two months before bringing back Guan Ying, but now…."

"Sooner or later, she will have to come back." Guan Xi added,"She is your own daughter, her return is sure to happen."

"You're my own daughter too." said Guan Xinghao, "Xixi, don't overthink things."

But this 'own' is different from that 'own'.

The rim of Guan Xi's eyes become a little red, she really loves her parents, really really loves them.

She hummed,"Got it."

"Yingying has also suffered so much, we owe her a lot."

"I understand."

Guan Xinghao felt a load off of his back when he saw her nodding,"Seeing you able to accept this so quickly makes Dad very happy, from now on just think of this as yourself having an extra sister, get along well. There will be a lot of things she doesn't understand, you should help to lead her."

Guan Xi smiled at Guan Xinghao, "Alright."

For the first time in her life, Guan Xi, who had been so willful to the point of making people's blood boil since she was young, was able to 'restrain' herself.

____

According to Lang Ningyi, every heroine in the novel who just returned back to their place are all overcautious and a bit timid at first, feeling that they could not fit into such a splendid world.

Guan Xi trusted Lang Ningyi years of experience with novels.

Because Guan Ying is indeed like that, reserved, timid, soft-spoken. Guan Ying was so good-natured that she, the villainess who's thinking about doing hundreds of tricks behind her back, decided to give up.

Wei Shaomin and Guan Xinghao mostly stayed at home these days to accompany Guan Ying. To not make her parents feel awkward as well as to avoid all those drama about sisterly love between her and Guan Ying, except from returning home at night to dinner and sleep, she spent all day in the company.

Her attendance rate and the amount of time she spent in the company these past few days has left all the clueless employees below in shock: Miss Guan is back in the light!

After finishing work for today, Guan Xi is dilly-dallying her way back home.

As soon as she entered the door, she heard a laughter coming from a distance. She went into the living room but saw no sign of them. When she traced the sound and walked towards the kitchen, she was surprised to see them gathered around wrapping dumplings.

Mom loves cleanliness and never gets into the kitchen. Dad is very busy and doesn't know how to cook.

This was Guan Xi's first time seeing both mom and dad in the kitchen. They were currently holding a dumplings clumsily next to Guan Ying, each time they were done wrapping one, they happily showed them off to Guan Ying, who would softly said that they were much better than the last one.

Wrapping dumplings?

What a thrilling parent-child activity.

Subconsciously, Guan Xi took a step back without making a sound.

How really warm….. causing people to be disinclined to get inside the picture.

She didn't know what to do with herself, directly going upstairs would make herself appear obtrusive, joining them wrapping dumplings would make her feel awkward as she knew nothing about it. So before she even realised it, she was already back outside the door, driving her car to leave.

As if she was running away.