Chapter 26

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As the weather forecast shows, the temperature was getting lower every day.

On the day of worshipping the ancestors, at the agreed upon time, the Tong family‘s car stopped downstairs and came to pick up Jiang Ci.

There was a light tap from the door of the room, Jiang Ci opened the door, and Lu Xingxue stood there.

“You haven’t slept yet?” Jiang Ci was slightly surprised.

Lu Xingxue said lazily: “I just finished reading the acquisition plan, there are car lights downstairs, I think that they should be here to pick you up. Is everything packed?”

She would be staying in her hometown for one night, so Jiang Ci packed some simple clothes to take with her.

“It’s almost done.” Jiang Ci let Lu Xingxue in, and continued to do the previous work, putting some miscellaneous things into the storage bag and stuffing them into the suitcase.

Lu Xingxue quietly watched her busy, and lastly reminded her: “It may snow today, so dress warmer.”

“I know.” Jiang Ci closed her suitcase and thought for a while: “…After the acquisition, you can check the situation. If the weather is bad, you don’t have to rush over, anyway, the sacrificial day is over.”

Lu Xingxue: “Good.”

There is nothing else to be said, just go there for one day. Jiang Ci put on the clothes: “Then I’m going down, you can rest early.”

The collar of her overcoat was half drooping, Lu Xingxue noticed, stepped forward to fix it for her, and chuckled: “I will send you downstairs.”

Jiang Ci: “…Oh.”

The driver picked up Jiang Ci and returned to Songling Road to pick up Jiang Lin. The Tong’s old house is located four or five hours’ drive from the ancient town of G City. Tong Tingkai has invested a lot to rebuild the family ancestral hall. This is the new ancestral hall to be completed and to worship the ancestors. It was very grand. He had already returned two days earlier. Because Tong Zhenni’s mother passed away in the old house, Jiang Lin has always been unwilling to stay longer, so they postponed leaving until today.

As for Tong Zhenni, since she had a big quarrel with Tong Tingkai, she often stayed out at night and couldn’t communicate. This time, no one could say whether she would show up or not.

Jiang Lin took Tong Junhao into the car, and Tong Junhao happily rushed towards Jiang Ci: “Sister!”

Jiang Lin shook away the blanket behind him: “Hao Hao, come and sleep.”

“I’m not sleepy, I want to play with my sister.” Tong Junhao took a stack of pictures from his pocket and shook his head: “Our school has recently become popular. Look, there is this. ~So much! Would you like me to teach you how to play?”

Jiang Ci: “You go to my mother’s place to sleep, and I’m going to sleep too.”

Tong Junhao heard it and said, “No, you are not allowed to sleep, you have to play with me!”

The journey was still long, and Jiang Lin was not in a hurry to urge Tong Junhao. She asked Jiang Ci: “Lu Xingxue said she would come here after the meeting?”

Jiang Ci patted Tong Junhao: “That’s what I said, but let her see the situation for herself. If it snows, don’t come. It’s not safe to drive on a snowy night.”

Tong Junhao complained: “Mom! Look at my sister! She pushed me!”

Jiang Lin didn’t make any sense, and muttered: “It’s too late for the time…. You said her acquisition would be just an excuse, right?”

Jiang Ci: “Should I ask her assistant for you?”

Tong Junhao watched and raised his voice: “Play with me!”

“Don’t make noise!” After Jiang Lin finished training Tong Junhao, Jiang Ci said with no anger: “You’ve also been giving me different feelings of weirdness. If she isn’t going back to worship the ancestors, isn’t it you who has no face? I hope it really snows today. If she doesn’t show up then, she can have an excuse!”

Jiang Ci put the earplugs into her ears, and told Jiang Lin with practical actions that the chat between mother and daughter had come to an end.

Tong Junhao was about to yell again, Jiang Lin pulled him without saying a word, and covered his face with a blanket. Tong Junhao was first indifferently rejected by her sister, and then forced to sleep by her mother. Then the young master got angry, kicked, struggled, and howled in one go, and dumped the pictures in the car.

The earplugs work well, but they can’t help when the noise is so close and lively. Jiang Ci brushed off the pictures from her clothes and moved to sit by the car door.

Early in the morning, the street was very quiet. At this time, the buildings were completely dark.

The appearance of Lu Xingxue just talking with a smile emerged from the bottom of her heart, such a gentle and attractive person, treated as a show off. Jiang Ci didn’t like this.

……

The Tong family was a major clan in the town. The red carpet was spread all the way from the ancestral hall to the entrance of the town. Firecrackers, gongs, and drums were making noise for the whole day. In the evening, the sky was gloomy, and the ground was finally covered with fine snow.

There was a loud voice in the ancestral hall, and cups were exchanged on the tables.

Jiang Ci sat at a table with Tong Zhenni according to seniority. Tong Zhenni came by herself, one day earlier than Jiang Ci and the others.

In the first ten years of Jiang Ci’s life, she was labeled as an illegitimate girl, and she was not recognized by the Tong family, so even if Jiang Lin was already a well-known wife, she was also a child of the Tong family. Still no sense of belonging. Especially when she was sitting in the same place with Tong Zhenni, others asked her to eat more, and her voice was embarrassing.

“…Yes, it’s the president of Forest. Oh, she’s very busy. Well, she has to come over after the meeting, but it’s dark and snowy, so we didn’t allow her to come.” Jiang Lin at the next table, when she said this intentionally, let go of the volume, letting everyone hear it.

Tong Zhenni stared at Jiang Ci, the ridicule written on her face: Lu Xingxue made it clear that she was too lazy to socialize, she just found an excuse to fool you, you can use it here to fool yourself again.

“Sister, she really won’t come?” a 17-year-old girl asked Jiang Ci, and she could not hide her disappointment, “I saw your photos on Weibo last time, but they didn’t believe me! I also want to take more photos this time and go back so that they would be convinced.”

When this girl spoke so bluntly, it was not very annoying. Jiang Ci nodded and said, “She is busy today, go to—”

“It’s impolite! If she can’t come, you have to follow up and ask, are you deliberately embarrassing people?” The girl’s mother patted the girl on the back of the head, and Jiang Ci’s explanation was interrupted immediately.

Tong Zhenni stared as Jiang Ci shrugged: Look, more than one person thinks so.

Jiang Ci was not interested in watching her.

Girl’s mother: “Also, you will be less online in the future, and don’t watch all those messy things all day long, do you hear me?”

The girl was not convinced: “How rude? I called her sister! And the last time you were on ‌Weibo, didn’t you also read it, you said that the sparrow flies——”

Her mother glared: “Tong Xinyu! Are you still talking!?”

The girl was stunned, knowing that she had made a mistake, her face turned red and she did not dare to look up at Jiang Ci.

Tong Zhenni smirked, and everyone in the room looked subtle. With gazes from all directions, Jiang Ci calmly ate the dishes in her bowl.

She listens and understands, but she doesn’t care about it.

The ancestral hall was brightly lit, and the roof tiles had already been covered with snow unknowingly.

Tong Tingkai sent red envelopes to the juniors several times in succession, and then withdrew the banquet, mahjong served on the table, Jiang Ci took the opportunity to sneak back to the old house.

There is heating in the room. After Jiang Ci took a shower, she was sitting by the window blowing her hair, and Tong Zhenni’s fierce voice suddenly sounded in the snowy night.

“Don’t pick it up, don’t pick it up, you can’t, it’s dirty, even if you sell it, it’s not worth a few dollars. You’ve been tight on hand for the past two months, but I have also sent you money, so let it go. Do you understand?”

Downstairs, Tong Zhenni struggled to hold a stack of cardboard, pressed her chin, and lifted her waist with one hand, the old lady: “Go slow! The ground is covered in snow!”

The old lady carried a plastic bag, grabbed it in her hand and shook it as if packing it back into a lunch box.

“Nini, the mistress knows you are filial, how can I use your money? Wait, when Nini is going to do something, the mistress will give you a red envelope.”

Tong Zhenni: “Who wants your money! Worry about yourself…”

Jiang Ci did not deliberately listen, just at this moment the phone rang, she looked at it wrongly, and Lu Xingxue called.

……

Jiang Ci went to the ancestral hall to pick up Lu Xingxue.

Lu Xingxue came to town, and found the ancestral hall along the red carpet. She didn’t know the road ahead, so she called Jiang Ci.

A few children who refused to go home were still having snowball fights and they were chasing each other around the old tree in front of the ancestral hall. The children’s voices were clear.

The snow is splattered by street lights. Lu Xingxue stood under the eaves. Across the snow curtain, she wore a dark yar, her long hair naturally draped like a waterfall, and she was well-dressed. With a buckle, it looks like a ‌‌country beauty in the pictorial.

“I thought you couldn’t come.” Jiang Ci closed the umbrella and stepped onto the steps of the ancestral hall.

Lu Xingxue turned around, with snow‌ in her eyebrows.

—She could choose not to come, no one would force her, and no one would accuse her, ‌but she came anyway.

Once she had this recognition, Jiang Ci’s voice became a bit lighter: “Was the road smooth?”

Lu Xingxue answered with a question: “Jiang Ci, aren’t you cold?”

“Huh?” Jiang Ci’s clear pupils reflected Lu Xingxue’s approaching figure.

“If your hair is wet, don’t just run out.” Lu Xingxue said softly, taking off her scarf and wrapping it around Jiang Ci. The scarf was soft and gently wrapped around it, almost covering half of Jiang Ci’s face.

She hurried to the door after answering the phone, so she had not finished drying her hair.

The scarf is stained with the scent of Lu Xingxue, which is very strong. Jiang Ci pulls her mouth and nose, her nose is red, and her face is a little red for no apparent reason.

“…Let’s go,” she said.

Lu Xingxue pointed to the entrance of the ancestral hall: “Shouldn’t you take me‌ to say hello to the elders? Listening to the voices, it’s still very lively inside.”

Jiang Ci was not in the mood, Lu Xingxue saw her hesitate: “What’s the matter? Isn’t it?”

Jiang Ci took a deep breath: “No.”

She led Lu Xingxue into the ancestral hall. As soon as they showed up, the mahjong stopped. After the consternation, Jiang Lin immediately took Lu Xingxue to introduce her to her relatives.

Lu Xingxue greeted them one by one, with a humble and polite attitude.The people who listened to it superficially agreed, but secretly，tacitly—it sounds like a noble person, but she didn’t. Not putting the Tong family in your eyes, not your own wife, that’s why you won’t come, right?

Lu Xingxue, braved the heavy snow overnight and all guesses were defeated.

Jiang Lin deliberately blamed her: “It is snowing‌, so I told you not to come, yet you still came!”

“…” Jiang Ci didn’t know how to put her hands and feet in this scene.

Lu Xingxue is okay, and she replied politely: “I shouldn’t have come, but it’s too late. Don’t be offended by this, elders.”

“If you don’t care about it, you don’t care about it.”

“Are you a busy person…”

From an unknown place, a voice said: “I’m afraid you couldn’t wait out the night because you were separated from Ah-Ci, right, huh?”

“……”

Everyone had ‌smiles on their faces, Jiang Lin was especially happy. Tong Tingkai asked Lu Xingxue if she would play mahjong, anyway, it’s still early, so it’s better to sit down and play a few rounds.

A few people rushed to give up their seat to Lu Xingxue:

“Here here, ‌this‌ brand is brisk!”¹

“Just your brand is booming? ‌It’s booming too!”¹

An aunt simply pulled Lu Xingxue on her hand, and said cheerfully, “Let’s go to another table, not with these stinky men.”

Jiang Ci couldn’t stay still any longer: “Mom, Lu Xingxue is still hungry.”

……

Leaving the ancestral hall, the snowy night was cold and cool, the air poured into their lungs, and Jiang Ci was able to breathe more smoothly.

Things backfired, and she didn’t like it. It still happened.

Lu Xingxue was laughing. Jiang Ci didn’t ask her what she was laughing at, so there is no need to ask. The face of the palm of the hand was trapped in the scarf, only a pair of eyes were exposed, looking at the person in front of him, those eyes were full of helplessness.

Lu Xingxue: “It’s okay, I can handle it… But how could you guess? I really didn’t have dinner.”

“You…” Jiang Ci didn’t know what to say for a while, she was hungry and came over in the snow. Was this necessary?

Lu Xingxue looked at her with warm eyes and smiled.

Thousands of words, when they reached her lips, Jiang Ci turned to the beginning: “…Let’s go, take you to eat.”

Stepping on the snow-covered blue bricks, Jiang Ci brought Lu Xingxue back to the old house. After Tong Zhenni delivered the mistress, she happened to be back. The three met at the door. Tong Zhenni snorted, and squinted at them. She squeezed past them and rushed into the house before them.

In the snowy weather, she only wore a pair of black stockings, showing half of her white legs, she was not afraid of the cold.

Glutinous rice and ginseng chicken soup was boiled in a casserole, Jiang Lin was preparing to give the family a supper, and Jiang Ci filled a bowl full for Lu Xingxue.

People stayed in the kitchen, and it didn’t take long for Tong Junhao to rush in like a firecracker. Without breathing, he jumped to Jiang Ci: “Smelly sister, my mother said she’d take me‌ to go skiing, not you! Humph!”

Jiang Ci: “Whatever, I don’t like it anyway.”

“You, you, you!” Tong Junhao was mad at her, jumping about.

Lu Xingxue was blowing the warm chicken soup, sipping it.

Jiang Lin followed closely behind with a smile: “Xiao Bai, is this soup still to your liking?”

Lu Xingxue: “Mom made it, of course it is delicious. Drinking a bowl of hot soup in this weather is very comfortable.”

Jiang Lin’s cooking skills really didn’t say it, and this is not flattery.

Jiang Lin said with emotion: “Listen, you’re really more intimate with me than my own children.”

Jiang Ci, Tong Junhao: “…”

Lu Xingxue asked: “Hao Hao said he is going to ski? Has the place been set?”

“That’s the idea.” Jiang Lin sighed: “Aunt Ning, told me in front of you that Mrs. Lin has an appointment with Mrs. Wen, and the family members are going to take a national holiday together next month. Listen. Her voice is very lonely, just as Haohao was making a fuss about skiing, so he simply invited her to go with her. Ah-Ci, you can help me see where to go.”

Before Jiang Ci could speak, Lu Xingxue said: “Skiing, have you thought about Country S? There are places to stay there, and there are many acquaintances. You take Hao Hao and go. Ah-Ci, you are free to help me find out where to go.”

Country S is of course good, with top-level skiing resources, and the overall public security is at the forefront of the world, and since Lu Xingxue has proposed it, it naturally means she will take care of the whole process. Cost is the second most important thing. The most important thing is that she has this opportunity. Jiang Lin said with joy: “Is it convenient?”

Lu Xingxue nodded: “You just have to confirm the time.”

“Ah, that’s great!” Jiang Lin stroked her palm.

Jiang Ci: “…” Okay, you guys are the pros.

Jiang Lin became more satisfied as she watched Lu Xingxue. Seeing that her bowl of soup was about to bottom out, she immediately served her a second bowl: “The belly must be full.”

Lu Xingxue: “Thank you mom.”

Jiang Lin lifted the lid of the casserole: “Ah, Xiao Bai, have you taken those medicines, and have you been sleeping better lately?”

Lu Xingxue stopped drinking soup‌‌, Jiang Ci looked at Jiang Lin suddenly.

Jiang Lin: “Will you sleep with Ah-Ci tonight or should I arrange another room for you?”

1: Pretty sure these are mahjong terms

TL: zen

PR/Edit: avel

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