Yao Ling walked into the room hesitantly --- they deliberately didn"t call Yao Ying and Lin Jian over as well, because they wanted to talk to Yao Ling alone. After all, what they wanted to talk about was a private matter inside their family. It would be better if they solved everything first before telling others about the result.
Besides, Yao Ling didn"t want Yao Ying to feel awkward as well.
When she arrived in front of the room, she squeezed her sleeves tighter because of her nervousness. Wu Cheng told her politely, "Just go in! Master and Young Master have been waiting for you in there." Yao Ling gave him a forced smile and nodded her head.
"Thank you," she muttered softly.
Wu Cheng smiled back, trying to give her a.s.surance. He already saw his young master"s stance, thus, he understood that she would be the future young miss as well.
Yao Ling took a deep breath and then decided to step into the room slowly. "Father..." She called Rong Qiu softly, trying to feel in the atmosphere inside the room. Was it a good one... or a bad one? She wondered whether their talk was actually successful or not.
When Wu Cheng called her, he didn"t explain anything to her about the result of the task and the former kept his blank expression all the time when they were on their way. She didn"t know Wu Cheng beforehand and didn"t think that it was a good idea to ask him some questions about that matter, so she kept quiet all the time.
"Yao Ling! Quickly come in here and meet your brother!" Rong Qiu said cheerfully while waving one of his hands at Yao Ling.
Yao Ling looked at Rong Qiu"s happy appearance and it seemed like the talk went well and she sighed in relief. She quickly came over with a soft smile nervously while standing beside Rong Qiu obediently. Honestly, she didn"t know how to face his brother.
She had been so happy to have a new brother but she knew that the latter might not have the same idea as her.
"Quick... Quick! Call him Da Ge [= Big Brother]!" He excitedly said while pointing at Rong Heng. Rong Qiu tried to make the introduction as smooth as possible. Fortunately, he made the right decision to tell Rong Heng about Yao Ling"s life story because he could see that it made Rong Hend soften considerably.
"Is... Is it really okay?" Yao Ling looked at Rong Heng with big watery eyes which made the latter"s heart weaken.
"Of course," he answered while nodding his head carefully.
Yao Ling looked up shyly at Rong Heng and called him in a soft and cute voice, "Da Ge!" She felt elated when Rong Heng gave his permission to call him Da Ge.
Rong Heng was still feeling reluctant at first but when he heard Yao Ling"s sweet voice, he felt his heart faltered. He actually always wanted to have siblings but there was no chance for that -- after all, his father had no partner. It seemed like his wishes had come true in a pretty weird twist of fate.
He understood Rong Qiu"s line of thoughts. If he wanted Rong Qiu to continue to become his father, he needed to admit this new little sister, after all, he couldn"t abandon his blood-related daughter.
Rong Heng nodded his head and greeted Yao Ling back, "Mei Mei [= Sister]..." It was bittersweet for him to call her that.
Yao Ling"s eyes lit up when she heard his acknowledgment. She was moved and couldn"t hold back her tears anymore. Yes, she was crying due to happiness. She finally had a real family --- of course, she meant other than Yao Ying.
The two men jumped up in surprise when they saw her crying, after all, they thought that she would be happy. Both of them asked at the same time worriedly, "What happened?! Why are you crying? Does someone bully you?"
Yao Ling was quite surprised because Rong Heng quite cared about her --- it was a big leap from his previous displeasure towards her and he even asked her whether someone was bullying her or not. She was touched by his words because it meant that he actually concerned about her, right? She shook her head softly, "No... it"s not that..." Her voice became hoa.r.s.e because of her tears.
"Then, what happened?" Rong Heng asked while furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.
When Rong Qiu noticed that Rong Heng showed his care towards Yao Ling, he cleverly stopped talking and letting the brother and sister pair to slowly bond --- after all, he had already seen an improvement ah~! Why didn"t he encourage them more? Let them talk more!
"I"m... I"m just too happy..." Yao Ling honestly answered with a sweet grin.
Rong Heng ma.s.saged his forehead --- he almost forgot that women were really a complicated being. They cried when they were sad and they also cried when they were happy. He shook his head exasperatedly, remembering his own wife who had a mood swing as well. Thus, he didn"t blame Yao Ling.
Women were really complicated human beings and yet, men couldn"t live without them, thus, he could only relent and sigh indulgently.
"Why?" Rong Heng asked curiously. "Why are you so happy?"
Was it because she ended up becoming the daughter of an official? Or because of something else? Rong Heng wasn"t that narrowminded, he would still give her the benefits of the doubt until she explained everything. After all, she was the daughter that his father had acknowledged and he was pretty sure that his father wouldn"t be that blind even though Yao Ling was his blood-related daughter!
"I used to live all alone with my mother and how I wished that I could have a father and brother to protect me and mother just like the other villagers. Both of us are women so sometimes there would be one or two villagers who wanted to take advantage of us. However, I also knew that it was only my wishful thinking, but... who would have guessed that my wish would come true someday?" Yao Ling explained with teary eyes while smiling at the same time.
"I find my real birth father and even gain a new older brother..." She said softly. "How could I not be happy? I have never thought that I would really be able to find my real family... after all, I only have a hairpin as proof. I thought I will be all alone... Fortunately, I found Yao Ying or else... I wouldn"t be able to travel this far..."
Yes, Yao Ying might be her lucky star!
Her simple answer warmed Rong Qiu"s heart --- it felt bittersweet to him because he couldn"t easily erase the guilt inside his heart. Rong Qiu looked at Rong Heng, wondering what his next step would be. He couldn"t force him to say something nice to Yao Ling because Rong Heng already had his own mind...
"I know a little bit of your life story from father so I also understand that you have lived a hard life before you become a stepdaughter of a merchant at the Shu Kingdom... I will treat you well just like my own sister, but I have to give you a warning beforehand," Rong Heng said seriously.
Yao Ling tilted her head to the side and asked innocently, "En... What kind of warning, Da Ge?"
Rong Heng thought that she would make a tantrum but she didn"t, so he had a better impression of her.