To Lu AnLing words, there was nothing Kang Jun could say to refute them.Everyone had problems with their family at one point in time, but there were a small number of people who were willing to ruin their ties with their family. No matter what the reason for their quarrels.
Unlike Lu AnLing, Kang Jun was a person who was surrounded by a large number of family members since the day he was born, and each family members showered him with their own kind of "love"; if it could even be called that.
Some were suffocating like his grandfather, some were annoying like his father, some were cold and distant like his mother and some were naive and gentle like his late elder brother"s.
Though Kang Jun had never felt completely close to them.
Seeing Lu AnLing eating as her mind wandered, Kang Jun couldn"t help but wonder how her relationship was with her father and why she"d ended up with the Lu"s. Had her mother truly died? Was her father truly her father?
There were too many mysteries, but for now, he needed to concentrate on one thing at a time.
The room was quiet for a bit as the two ate. But, then, Kang Jun"s voice filled the room.
"I understand."
Looking into Kang Jun"s eyes, Lu AnLing was calm. She believed he hadn"t understood at all. At least not completely, but that was fine, because maybe he hadn"t understood the whole situation or Lu AnLing"s motives for being pa.s.sive but, he had sincerely tried to understand her.
This was what mattered most to her.
***
Grandmother Lu"s party was supposed to be happening around 5 pm on Sat.u.r.day, but early that morning, Lu AnLing got a call from Grandma Lu, telling her to come down to the hospital.
Entering the hospital room"s doorway, Lu AnLing gave her grandmother a smile.
"Finally getting discharged, I see." Lu AnLing said as she leaned against the door. "Happy birthday granny."
Seeing her, Grandma Lu rolled her eyes and then frowned.
"I guess this means I won"t be seeing you ever again."
Grandma Lu was just joking when she said that but somewhere deep in her heart she did believe that Lu AnLing would most likely never come to visit her. And as she listened to the girl"s silence, her sadness began to grow in her heart.
Grandma Lu sighed.
Sighing herself, Lu AnLing went to sit beside her grandmother on her bed and then she gave the woman a side hug.
Rubbing the old woman"s arm, Lu AnLing said. "I won"t be going to the family home, but if you decide you want to go out one day, I"ll meet you anywhere you want. Okay?"
Grandma Lu turned to her granddaughter and c.o.c.ked her head. The old woman"s eyes squinted and she began to pout her lips. Like herself, her grandmother had pouty lips, so sometimes Lu AnLing didn"t know whether she was actually pouting or not but by the way the woman accentuated her pout, Lu AnLing felt a question coming her way.
"Why do you not want to go back home? Has someone bullied you?"
Hearing this, Lu AnLing"s heart began to beat faster. "It"s nothing, granny. I just don"t want to go home. Either way, it would be strange to just go home without any reason…"
Lu AnLing wasn"t sure what she was saying but all her words bore her own truth in one way or another.
"Do you really not want to go home?"
Lu AnLing looked at her grandmother in the eyes and then she took the old woman"s hand into her own. "I don"t want to go home. I"m sorry."
"That will be a problem then…"
Lu AnLing furrowed her eyebrow. "Why?"
A huge smirk appeared on Grandma Lu"s lips, causing Lu AnLing to sharpen her gaze.
Grandma Lu: "This year, my birthday will be held at home."
Lu AnLing"s face paled.
Grandma Lu: "I mean, in the condition I"m in, I would feel much more comfortable in a setting that I"m used to."
"Also," Lu AnLing turned to her grandmother with a "there"s more!" face. Grandma Lu put her hand on her granddaughter"s face and stroked it kindly.
"My darling granddaughter, you must come. It"s my birthday, after all, If you don"t, I promise you that I will do anything in my power to drag you back home, but this time, it"ll be for good."
Grandma Lu gave a cute but eerie smile.
***
Lu AnLing didn"t come to the part early. In fact, she arrived fashionably late, but this wasn"t by choice.
After Grandma Lu had pretty much threatened her, Lu AnLing didn"t know whether to laugh or cry but after that, she allowed herself to go along with all the old woman"s whims.
To accompanying the woman to get her hair done, to getting dressed up however the old woman wanted… Lu AnLing did everything without complaint.
She had promised to go to the party, so there was no backing out, so she might as well kiss up to her grandmother so she could stay by the woman"s side all night long instead of being forced to mingle with random guests alone or accidentally be left to fend for herself against the sea of dreadful relatives.
After they were done dressing up, Lu AnLing and Grandma Lu arrived at the Lu family estate.
There, the house stood tall. It was a beautiful house in terms of composition and color but, to Lu AnLing, it wasn"t welcoming. She found it disturbingly eerie.
Once there, the driver opened the door and allowed Lu AnLing out first before the two helped the old woman out of the car.
Holding onto Lu AnLing"s arm, the two women entered the house.
As they entered, they saw several people in the hall. All of whom were dressed beautifully. Lu AnLing even saw a few socialites that used to bully her but because Lu AnLing held onto Grandma Lu, none of them dared to approach or say anything out of line.
Despite being kind, Grandma Lu had a temper, and no one wanted to trigger it. It was once said that the old woman had cursed a man to impotence and it had come true. Who knew what else the old woman could do.
Holding onto Grandma Lu tightly, Lu AnLing inquired about her relatives.
"Everyone is coming, except for the usual"s," Grandma Lu said uninterested. Hearing " the usual"s" made Lu Xia"s face flash across Lu AnLing"s mind. Grandma Lu sure knew how to hold a grudge.
Grandma Lu: "Also, Xinya isn"t coming. She"s working. She"s entered the entertainment industry. I think she became a manager or something."
Hearing this, Lu AnLing felt better about getting fired from her a.s.sistant job. Already b.u.mping into Lu Shuya while she was on the job was bad, she could only imagine how much worse it would be b.u.mping into Lu Xinya.
Suddenly, a man appeared from the crowd. It was Mr. Jing. He walked up to the old woman and bowed.
"Good evening madam." He said with a smile of admiration. At first, he wasn"t going to welcome Lu AnLing but seeing the ice cold tempest in Grandma Lu"s eyes, he had no choice.
Mr. Jing: "Welcome back eldest miss. How have you been?"
Instead of answering, Lu AnLing gave the man a smirk and then she led her grandmother away.
"What an insufferably fake man. I don"t understand why your mother keeps him around." the old woman sighed.
But still, Lu AnLing said nothing.
The grandmother and granddaughter pair walked around greeting people. As they walked, Lu AnLing felt gazes on her. At first, she a.s.sumed that they were looking at Grandma Lu, but words quickly made their way to her ears.
"Isn"t that the eldest miss? She looks so elegant. And her aura! It"s so much different than it was since the last time I saw her!
"Here I thought she was abroad because she"d shamed her family… but now look at her! Is she back for good now?"
"She"s 26 right? An eligible age for marriage. I must introduce my son to her. I think they would make a good couple."
All the gossip that came to her ear was about her. It was like she was a rare animal in a cage.
She hated this feeling.
Her first year living with the Lu"s was quite similar but for different reasons. Lu AnLing was from the countryside. She didn"t know much about etiquette or clothing or being a socialite. She just went with the flow and this caused to get many judging stares.
Back then, it felt like there were always eyes on her.
Looking around, Lu AnLing noticed that there were a lot more people than she had ever seen before.
"Granny, did you end up making more friends again?"
Grandma Lu laughed at Lu AnLing"s statement.
"Why would you say that, child?"
"I know I"ve been gone long, but I"ve never seen half of these people."
Grandma Lu didn"t speak. Instead, she averted her eyes from her granddaughter and gave a sly smile.
The only reason why there were so many people today was because the old woman had added more people to the guest list. Some of these people she didn"t personally know, but that she had heard had sons that were eligible for marriage.
But Grandma Lu would never mention this to Lu AnLing.
If the girl found a nice man tonight, she"d be extremely happy. If the girl didn"t, the old woman had other plans in motion.
No matter what, Grandma Lu was going to a.s.sure that Lu AnLing married before years end.
And so, she would…
They continued to walk around and greet others until they reached an area to sit down. Seeing that her grandmother was beginning to become out of breath, she laid the woman down carefully.
Lu AnLing bent down slightly. "Are you okay?"
"I"m fine. I guess I"m just overexerting myself… but I"ll be fine."
Lu AnLing was not convinced but there was no point arguing with an elder. In their eyes, the young were always in the wrong.
"Lili." A deep male voice said from behind.
Looking up, Grandma Lu"s face turned from calm to happy.
"Wei!" Grandma Lu said before Lu AnLing had turned to see the mans face.
Once she did, Lu AnLing"s mouth dried and then open slightly and she felt her palms begin to sweat.
She recognized the man despite how much he had aged.