The Shen family’s dinner was livelier than usual, with the Tangs joining them. Their conversation started from Shen Yi’s work, to Lu Xinyi’s performance at the academy, and how the previous Young Master Shen met Sun Meixiu in an accident.
Lu Xinyi didn’t talk that much and only spoke when she was asked. Shen Yi, on the other hand, wasn’t sure if he made a mistake in accepting Tang Lingfei’s request to meet his wife.
Her hands smoothed the bedspread Jiao Jiao brought to her in the guest bedroom. Returning the comforter to its proper place, she gently lined up the pillows at the base of the headboard.
Lu Xinyi sighed and looked outside, relieved that the snowstorm outside had somewhat stopped midway during their dinner. Her initial impression of her maternal grandmother wasn’t bad at all.
The impression left upon her mind by her grandmother’s appearance would never be effaced. Her elegance was peculiarly striking: with full dark eyes, a high nose, a mouth of great beauty and firmness of expression, and teeth which splendor she had never seen equaled.
Add a tall, well-proportioned figure, and a certain air of authority to these; and her grandmother stands before her. Nothing that she’d seen from her mother.
Tang Lingfei was certainly a woman from a high cla.s.s. She was certainly a very good, kind old body; and she had pretty silver curls and pink cheeks as every grandmother should have. There was only one flaw about her, but that was a very serious one—she was gravely ill.
Lu Xinyi turned on her heel to exit the room, only to come face-to-face with her grandmother. Shocked to see her appear so suddenly caused her to halt on her steps. She hadn’t really talked to her during dinner, and she was somewhat ashamed of her behavior.
“Xin’er, you don’t need to trouble yourself with this.” Tang Lingfei appeared at the doorway, now sitting in a wheelchair with her attendant standing behind her. Lu Xinyi was already the wife of a wealthy businessman, and yet she still chose to do this task personally.
“It’s no trouble at all. You’re our guest. It’s only proper to make sure you’ll have a comfortable stay with us,” Lu Xinyi responded and stepped back to give way to her grandmother. Once their guest settled in, she bid goodnight to the older woman, dismissing herself and walking quickly out of the room.
She didn’t notice her grandmother’s eyes following her until she shut the door and was out of her sight.
“Jia Ling,” Tang Lingfei talked to her attendant in a pitiful tone, “Do you think Xin’er will open up to me soon? She’s been respectful as a host, but she wouldn’t even acknowledge me as her grandmother.”
In Lu Xinyi’s eyes, she was a stranger… a guest who’d temporarily stay in her house until she recovered. She regarded her as ‘Lady Tang’, clearly drawing a line between them.
“Lady Tang should give her enough time” The woman called Jia Ling replied to her with sympathy. She’d seen how this old woman cared about her only granddaughter but wasn’t able to show herself until now. “Madam Shen must have a lot of things and questions in her mind. I can say she’s a smart and logical woman. She’ll understand you if you can explain your side well.”
“I sure do hope so…”
—
A buzzing sound pierced the silence of the room, startling Lu Xinyi from her restless slumber. Rubbing her eyes and groaning, she rolled on her right, only to find her husband sitting up to turn off the alarm.
“Sorry,” he murmured, “I should’ve turned off the sound before going to bed.”
Shen Yi didn’t really need to set an alarm to wake up for he was able to wake up on his own before daybreak.
Staring at the glowing numbers at their bedside table, it took some time before she was coherent enough to remember what caused her restless night. Forcing her body off the bed, she gave her husband a kiss on his cheek before stifling a yawn.
“Morning. I guess it’s alright since the twins are also about to wake up soon,” she whispered.
She pulled her slender arms above her head to relieve the stiffness she felt on her shoulders and back before going to the bathroom to prepare herself for the day.
When she came back, her husband was sitting at the edge of their bed, waiting for her.
“Xinxin, it’s not that I’m forcing you; but if you’re worried about your grandmother, you should talk to her,” Shen Yi told her as she prepared his business suit to be used today before slipping out her nightgown to change her clothes.
“We’ll talk later. I guess it’s just that I don’t know how to accept the fact that she didn’t do anything to help my mother when she needed it the most,” she said while adjusting the ties of her dress in front of the mirror.
Shen Yi came behind her and wrapped his arms around her.
“Why are you suddenly thinking so negatively? Why don’t you listen to what she has to say first?” he said.
“Okay, but she better give me a good reason.” Lu Xinyi turned to him, her hands on his chest and his moving to her arms.
“Well, I’m sure every good mother wanted the best for their children, and based on Lady Tang’s characters, she wouldn’t turn her back on your mother,” Shen Yi muttered, his hand reaching up to touch her cheek.
Looking up to him, Lu Xinyi met him half-way as he lowered his head to kiss her lips. It was a fleeting kiss, yet enough for Lu Xinyi to feel his warmth.
“Everything will be alright. Call me if you need someone to talk to,” Shen Yi told her when they parted.
—
“Xin’er?” Tang Lingfei called as she and Jia Ling entered the kitchen and saw her working at the kitchen counters while the twins were busy playing with their new toys that Zhao Xi had given to them.
Lu Xinyi turned her head towards them when she heard her name being called.
“Lady Tang, how are you doing? Are you settling in alright?” she asked before returning to the carrots she was slicing before she was disturbed.
Tang Lingfei hesitated, but a nudge from behind coming from Jia Ling reminded her of what she was supposed to do.
“I know you’re busy with running your home and school works…”—she trailed off before taking a deep breath and strengthened her resolve to clear the matter with her granddaughter—”but will you give you this old woman some of your time to talk with you?”
“Alright.” Lu Xinyi stopped what she was doing and placed down her kitchen knife. Then, from the other room, she called Jiao Jiao to bring tea and snacks to the study.
Tang Lingfei seemed stunned. She hadn’t antic.i.p.ated that Lu Xinyi would agree easily. However, it was better than her dismissing her request.
A few minutes later, the old woman found herself sitting across from her granddaughter who was steeping another variant of tea, different from what she’d served yesterday. Jia Ling left the room to give them privacy to talk and hoped that after this much-antic.i.p.ated meeting, the relations.h.i.+p between the two would improve.
Once she left, Tang Lingfei took the courage to ask her granddaughter.
“Where do you want me to start?”