The Sweetness of the Seventies
Chapter 412 - 383 Escape, Regret_1

Chapter 412: Chapter 383 Escape, Regret_1

Bai Qiongyu nodded slightly and couldn’t utter a word for a long time.

That was her granddaughter.

In the whole world, only He Jinming was so stubborn to cherish a useless leaf instead of a life of luxury and quick pleasures!

"Miss, shall we catch up with them?" Xianglan asked, and now without asking, she was certain that this was her mistress’s granddaughter.

She had the He surname!

Her grandfather studied at this university!

Here, she received a leaf picked up from the ground by her beloved as a treasure!

"Catch up?" Bai Qiongyu laughed bitterly, "How to catch up? Should I rush over and say I’m your grandmother? Quickly, call me grandmother?"

She had no obligations to her son, how much affection could her granddaughter have for her?

"So we just leave it like this?" Xianglan said, "The Young Master and Xiao Xiao, they are your descendants. We are not interested in the Xin Family’s things. You raised the two children of the Xin Family, and you have done right by your son-in-law. Now we are all old, with not many days left. If we let time slip by like this, do we really never acknowledge the Young Master and Xiao Xiao in our entire lives?"

"I don’t know, let me calm down first!" Bai Qiongyu hesitated, she still needed to think it over.

After saying that, Bai Qiongyu left the maple forest.

Xianglan looked at He Tiantian’s retreating figure towards the west and then at her mistress walking east, stamped her foot in urgency, and had no choice but to follow her mistress.

Maybe she should let her mistress know that Xiao Xiao had once been kidnapped in the United States, to make her worry, perhaps it might force her mistress to make a decision sooner.

Bai Qiongyu and Xianglan sat in the car, silent all the way.

Bai Qiongyu was immersed in her own thoughts, unable to compose herself.

Xianglan knew her mistress’s shortcomings, but such matters required the mistress to understand herself before she could acknowledge them. If the mistress herself backed away, no amount of pushing from behind would help!

When they arrived home, Bai Qiongyu’s stepson and stepdaughter had come back too.

The stepson, Xin Wei, was forty this year, and the stepdaughter, Xin Anan, was thirty-eight.

Both were married with their own families; Xin Wei had a son and a daughter, while the stepdaughter only had one son.

Bai Qiongyu adjusted her emotions and asked with a faint smile, "What a coincidence, how come you two came together?"

"Hehe, today is mother’s birthday, of course, we had to come and celebrate with mommy!" said Xin Anan warmly, linking arms with her stepmother.

Bai Qiongyu was taken aback, only then did she remember that today was her birthday.

"You are thoughtful," said Bai Qiongyu with a smile, "at noon today, let the kitchen prepare a few more dishes, and you all can have lunch here."

Xin Wei stepped forward with a beautiful wooden box, offering it, "Mother, this is your gift, wishing you a happy birthday."

Bai Qiongyu smiled and upon opening it, she found an exquisite jade pendant inside; judging by its quality, it was an antique, and she said, "You shouldn’t have."

"As long as mommy is happy," Xin Wei said with a smile, pleased that his stepmother liked the gift.

Xin Anan, seeing such a fine gift, felt envious. Her big brother was really generous with his stepmother, but stingy with his sister.

"Oh my, big brother gave such a nice thing, now my limited edition handbag seems not so good in comparison," Xin Anan complained, her brother’s jade pendant could buy many handbags.

At that moment, the sounds of children’s laughter came from outside.

It was the children of Xin Anan and Xin Wei.

Xin Anan’s husband was a man from Country M, Jeffrey Gladstone, and their son Danton Gladstone turned thirteen this year.

Xin Wei’s wife, a Chinese, was the eldest daughter of the Li Family, Li Yushan, who had a son and a daughter: their son Xin Xibin was eighteen this year and their daughter Xin Xiyang was sixteen.

Seeing Bai Qiongyu return, they came forward one after another to wish Bai Qiongyu a happy birthday and to present the gifts they had prepared in advance.

The home, once cold and empty, suddenly became warm and lively.

Bai Qiongyu was not a mean person and treated her stepchildren quite well.

Over the years, even after her husband passed away, she still maintained a certain contact with her stepchildren.

If she had not overheard the conversation between her stepson and stepdaughter, she might have believed that the two truly considered her as their mother.

Three years ago on Christmas, the house was decorated very warmly inside and out, just waiting for their return to celebrate Christmas together.

As one grows older, one longs for a lively household.

However, she and Xianglan waited all night and none of them came.

The next day, Xin Wei and Xin Anan came back, explaining that their biological mother was unwell, and they had gone to visit her.

There was nothing wrong with children visiting their sick mother.

The stepchildren were smart, but their mother, Ye Weiwen, was too impatient!

When the Xin Family faced a financial crisis that nearly led to bankruptcy, Ye Weiwen didn’t want to bear the burden of massive debts. She took the family’s funds and valuables, left her husband and children, and firmly divorced Xin Jianye.

However, the Xin Family, though badly hit, was not beyond saving.

With Xin Jianye’s efforts and the help of friends, they gradually climbed out of the valley. The earlier crisis even allowed Xin Jianye to recognize the Xin Family’s mistakes, boldly dispose of some outdated assets, and invest in new industries, earning a substantial profit.

Seeing this turnaround, Ye Weiwen cried and begged to come back.

Even when she used the excuse that the children needed their mother, Xin Jianye did not agree, and instead, he chose to pursue Bai Qiongyu.

At that time, her relationship with He Jinming was broken, and pressed by life’s circumstances, she also had to take care of her ailing father. Thus, she returned to Country M to care for her father and manage the business there.

Once her father’s situation stabilized, he confined her, holding onto her documents so that she could not travel to Country H to visit her children.

Moreover, since she hadn’t received any letters from He Jinming, plus the previous endless arguments, she found herself tired of that kind of life, and her love for He Jinming faded, so she stayed in Country M.

Three years later, she married Xin Jianye.

Yet, when lost in nocturnal reveries, she always remembered her young son.

When she finally sorted out her emotions and was ready to bring her son over, there was no longer any communication between the two sides, and she became even less able to see her son.

She felt extremely guilty about her son!

However, regret was of no avail!

She thought her feelings for He Jinming were gone, but when she heard He Tiantian mention the maple leaf bookmark, her heart actually ached!

When she was about to marry Xin Jianye, Xianglan had once tried to dissuade her, saying she still liked He Jinming. But at the time, just thinking about domestic life, the struggle to acclimatize, various inconveniences and the endless arguments with He Jinming—not to mention He Jinming’s mother and cousin—made her unwilling to bring up the past. So she chose to escape, closing off her heart.

On his deathbed, Xin Jianye once held her hand and asked, "Xiao Yu, have you ever liked me?"

At that moment, Bai Qiongyu’s mind was blank, and then, she thought of He Jinming, vibrant and full of life in their college days, before the composed and astute Xin Jianye flashed into her mind.

It was then that she knew she had loved Xin Jianye, just not as deeply and profoundly as she had loved He Jinming.

"I did," Bai Qiongyu answered, for she had indeed loved Xin Jianye. Since he wanted to know, she told him so.