Bai Yuyou's Maternal Grandfather

Before heading to meet Aunt Xian's parents, Ye Shuang planned to pick up Alice on the way—after all, Alice was also part of the granddaughter generation, especially now that their relationship had smoothed over. But the moment Ye Shuang called Alice, he got a blunt refusal straight away.

"No, not interested. You guys go on your own." That was Alice's three-part direct response.

There was even a soft huff on the other end of the line.

"You haven't paid any attention to me lately."

She sounded a little resentful.

Ye Shuang had originally assumed Alice would want to go see her grandfather or the rest of the family, so he never expected to get turned down that quickly.

Is she mad? Not really, she's just being petty and moody, he thought.

Ever since Alice moved in, Ye Shuang had mostly left her at home, and on the rare occasions he took her out, he either brought her along to the office or to the academy campus.

That doesn't seem too great, does it? After all, Alice has her own career to tend to.

"Alright, fine. Let's just head over ourselves," Ye Shuang said as he glanced at his phone. Aunt Xian had already sent over the address, a familiar location—it was the same hotel where they'd met Yuyou's uncle last time.

It was still fairly early, and their main purpose wasn't to eat a meal, simply to come and meet their relatives. Compared to the lost, confused Bai Yuyou from back then, she now sat quietly gazing at the traffic streaming past the car window, and her mature, calm demeanor made Ye Shuang smile to himself.

She's really grown so much.

Before long, Ye Shuang and Bai Yuyou arrived at their destination.

"Hello, how many of you are dining here?" a waiter greeted them as they walked in.

"We have a reservation for the Lotus private room," Ye Shuang said.

"Right this way."

They quickly stepped into the familiar private room, where Ye Shuang saw several people seated around the round table. Among them were a few familiar faces, including Aunt Xian, and as for the rest—

After a quick scan of the room, Ye Shuang's eyes landed on the elderly man sitting at the head of the table, who he guessed must be Bai Yuyou's maternal grandfather.

He looked around sixty or seventy years old. His temples were streaked with white hair, but he seemed to be in fairly good spirits.

"Aunt Xian," Ye Shuang greeted simply, then nodded politely at Bai Yuyou's uncle. Even though they hadn't seen each other for years, he was still courteous.

As for Bai Yuyou, she was no longer the little girl who used to hide behind Ye Shuang. She stood openly in front of the elders, one arm looped through Ye Shuang's, and spoke softly.

"Hello, everyone."

The moment Old Master Xu laid eyes on Bai Yuyou, his eyes lit up, full of warm excitement. "Come here, my good girl, let me get a look at you."

Bai Yuyou knew that was her grandfather, since she'd seen him on video calls before. She glanced at Ye Shuang first, and when he nodded to encourage her, the young girl stepped forward to greet her grandfather.

Old Master Xu clearly doted on Bai Yuyou immensely. His wrinkled eyes crinkled up, and he nodded over and over, so overjoyed he could barely keep his eyes open.

The Xu family had no shortage of children, with a large, thriving extended family, but Xu Huixian—Aunt Xian—was Old Master Xu's most beloved daughter, which made Bai Yuyou the little princess of the Xu family by default.

If she hadn't been abducted all those years ago, Bai Yuyou would have grown up surrounded by everyone's love and care, the center of everyone's world. But there's no going back to change the past. Thankfully, Old Master Xu finally got to meet his long-lost granddaughter.

"Here, this is a little gift for you." Old Master Xu pulled out a vivid, deep green jade bracelet. "This is for you."

Bai Yuyou stared at the bracelet he was holding out, stunned.

She rarely wore jewelry, and what little she did own had all been bought for her by Ye Shuang. She could tell at a glance that this bracelet was far from cheap.

Meanwhile, Ye Shuang summoned a virtual interface to check its details.

[Item: Imperial Green Jade Bracelet

Hong Kong Auction Estimate: 36,000,000 HKD]

Ye Shuang: "..."

Wait, what? No way, that can't be real.

Looking at the beautiful bracelet the old man was offering as a gift, Bai Yuyou shook her head gently. "This bracelet is very pretty, but it's not really my style."

"She's a young girl who likes trendy, modern things," Aunt Xian chimed in, covering her mouth with a laugh, teasing Old Master Xu for picking such an old-fashioned gift.

"Is that so?" Old Master Xu chuckled heartily. Seeing that Bai Yuyou wasn't too keen on it, he put it back in its box. "That's alright. You'll grow to love it when you're older. I've got plenty more gifts for you."

As he spoke, he pulled a sparkling gemstone bracelet out from behind him, seemingly producing it out of thin air, taking it from Bai Yuyou's uncle sitting next to him. It looked incredibly valuable as well.

"How about this one, my dear?"

Bai Yuyou: "..."

You don't like it?

"All of you coming here to see me is already the best gift I could ask for. I don't need all these material things," Bai Yuyou said. Her words made everyone in the room, even Aunt Xian, widen their eyes in surprise, and Aunt Xian felt her eyes well up a little with emotion.

Ye Shuang, standing off to the side with his arms crossed, couldn't help but marvel at what Bai Yuyou had just said. This kid really does come out with the most heartfelt, touching lines out of nowhere.

Old Master Xu was obviously over the moon, but he still insisted on pressing all the gifts he'd prepared into Bai Yuyou's arms.

The young girl stared at the pile of presents in her lap. Along with the gifts from Old Master Xu, there were also bank cards from her uncles, each one loaded with at least a million dollars.

In the end, Bai Yuyou accepted everything.

I'm going to save all of this for Ye Shuang, she thought to herself quietly. These things must all be worth a lot, and if Ye Shuang's company ever runs into a rough patch and doesn't make good profits, they can add all this to his funds.

If Old Master Xu knew what Bai Yuyou was thinking right now, he'd probably be on the verge of tears.

My precious granddaughter, you're giving all these nice things away to someone else? And you're saving them up for him?

Once they all sat down, the dishes were brought to the table one by one. Old Master Xu had come to the mainland this time for a leisure trip. His health hadn't been great, and his doctor had suggested he travel around and see new sights, which might help him feel better.

Aside from running his huge family business, Old Master Xu was also an avid collector, which was why the jade bracelet and gemstone bracelet from earlier were both pieces from his personal collection. In that way, he was a lot like Father Chen—they both loved collecting rare, precious treasures.

As they chatted over the meal, Bai Yuyou's uncles were the most shocked of all. The last time they'd met her, Bai Yuyou had been too shy to even speak, and Ye Shuang had to translate every word for her.

Now she spoke fluently, and her thoughts were mature and well-spoken. She was a completely different person from the little girl they'd known years ago.

Ye Shuang watched everyone's reactions, especially the astonished looks on the uncles' faces, and he couldn't help feeling a surge of pride.

After all, I'm the one who raised her.

With that thought, he unconsciously lifted his chin a little higher and sat up a little straighter in his seat.