Shao Yan just stayed silent, as Grandma kept patting her hands. A lot of unspoken emotions actually flowed through every single action that she had. It had been a while since Shao Yan felt a warmth of a family member.
She was filtering all the information in her head. What Grandma Wu had said, what Risa had said. And then the story about her family; and every single details was too overwhelming.
"Hold on," Shao Yan suddenly spoke up. She had both her palms raised and her face was tilted to the side, while looking at Risa.
Her soft eyebrows slowly scrunched together, "So you"re married? Then, what was that last week in Xiqing"s office? Even if you"re my cousin, I will never forgive you."
Grandma Wu raised her eyebrow and then she turned to look at Risa, "You see, what have I told you? She would be angry," and then Grandma playfully hit Risa on her arm, "you apologize now."
Risa could have avoided the playful hit, but she let Grandma scold her.
She grinned and then clung childishly on Grandma"s arm, "I know, I know, don"t scold me anymore. You have scolded me enough last week, Grandma."
Risa quickly turned to Shao Yan, "Yan Yan, I"m so sorry, it was only a test. Grandma and I learned so much about you and your past from the Private Investigator. And we were worried about you."
Risa peeked at Grandma who was still glaring at her. Risa slowly continued, "I only wanted to make sure that this guy is really good for you. I even wanted to do a background check on him. BUT, Grandma already put a stop on it, don"t worry" she hurriedly said the last sentence when Risa saw that Shao Yan"s eyes went so big and she had opened her mouth to say something.
When she was done, Risa puffed her cheek and sulked at Grandma Wu.
Grandma patted Risa on her cheek and laughed, "You. How old are you already. And you"re still sulking like this. I know you care for your sister. I talked to Xiqing through his lawyer already. From how he delivered his questions and how he answered mine, more or less, I know how his personality is."
"Oh that"s right!" Grandma Wu suddenly turned to Shao Yan, "Yan Yan, arrange for both of us to meet this weekend. Both of you have been dating for so long, and now even living together. That boy needs to answer to me now," Grandma said while poking her index finger on the surface of the table to stress her point, "He thinks he can bully a woman from our Wu family?"
The whole afternoon, Shao Yan spent her time to catch up with Grandma and Risa.
Shao Yan slowly learned about her family. Her father"s childhood. Her mother"s secret phone calls and letters to them.
She even found out that when she was about five or six years old, she had met the twelve year old Risa.
"Yan Yan, you kept running around the house, chasing her and calling her "bro.. bro.." all the time and even cried when Shaoying had to leave." Grandma laughed out loud.
"Your mother told us a good story, your grandpa especially liked to read about your antics. Ha ha" and she laughed heartily again.
Risa chimed in, "I was a tomboy, and I had a very short hair. I don"t blame you, Yan Yan. I know I must have looked so cute back then, you couldn"t resist." Risa smirked at Shao Yan while refilling their cups. Shao Yan could not help but roll her eyes silently at this narcistic sister of hers.
Risa signalled the waiter to change the water, "I was visiting your house with my parents back then, trying to persuade your father to come visit Grandpa and Grandma, but he stubbornly refused. And you also so stubborn, not letting go off your hold on my s.h.i.+rt," she grinned, "I guess stubborness really runs in the family."
Shao Yan smiled embarra.s.sedly, "Let"s not talk about that anymore, Grandma, Y- Ying jie."
Even though she had found out that she was actually related to Risa, Shao Yan still felt so awkward to suddenly call someone so intimate as a sister.
But sooner or later, she had to call her own family, so Shao Yan forced herself to adjust quickly.
"Ying jie - sis Ying. Hm. Actually it doesn"t sound so bad," Shao Yan thought to herself.
When both of them decided to go back to the office, the day was almost over. Risa and Shao Yan then decided to just call it a day, and not going back to the office anymore.
"Grandma, let me know where you are staying while you are in Shanghai. I want to spend more time with you," Shao Yan was holding onto Grandma"s arm while the three of them were walking out of the tea house.
Grandma Wu patted her back, "You don"t have to worry about me. I bought a small villa nearby, so I can come visit the store frequently. You can come look for me when you"re free. Shaoying told me that your work is really busy."
They were standing at the gate of the tea house now. Grandma Wu was holding onto Shao Yan"s hand and was looking at her complexion carefully; she started to nag, "Don"t work too hard until you forgot to sleep or eat. Look at you, you are not even thirty yet, but your eye bags are already bigger than mine," she patted Yan Yan on her cheek, "and then what? When you"re forty, you will be going back and forth to Korea to fix your face? Tsk!" she clicked her tongue disapprovingly.
Grandma Wu swiftly turned to Risa, "You"re staying here for three months, right? You make sure Yan Yan is taken care of. Do your job as her elder sister."
Risa slowly nodded at her words, "Don"t worry, Grandma, Yan Yan is smart, I just need to mentor her a little bit more, and she is set for promotion."