Chapter 19 - Jinyu"s Thoughts
"Miss Yu must be thirsty after walking over from the front yard. I don"t know what you young people like to drink now, but I don"t have anything else here except some aged tea. You can drink some tea to quench your thirst first."
Yan Jinyu took the teacup. "Thank you. I"m not particular about my drink. Anything is fine." She looked at the old man sitting on the other side of the table, who was staring at her with mixed emotions. She paused for a moment before, "Don"t you suspect that I"m a fake?"
Yan Xin, who was staring at her hands, did not expect her to suddenly ask such a question. He was stunned for a moment and then he smiled kindly, "Although I"m old, I"m not blind. Miss Yu seems to be carved from the same mold from Madam when she was young. I can recognize you at a glance."
Yan Jinyu was silent.
Yan Xin"s gaze landed on her hands again, "But Miss Yu… where have you been all these years?" She had so many calluses on her hands at such a young age. She must have suffered a lot.
"Second Young Master Yin found me in a remote town. Last night, Second Young Master Yin sent me back to the Yan Family. I didn"t come to the old residence to disturb you as it was late."
"Distant, remote town?" Yan Xin"s voice trembled slightly. There was no need for him to ask in detail. Just hearing the word "remote" made his heart ache.
Old Master and Madam had been searching for her for so many years, but they still couldn"t find her. Hence, it was obvious how remote this place was.
He wondered how Miss Yu had survived all these years and what she had experienced.
"Miss Yu, how have you been all these years? Is it alright for you to tell me about that?"
Yan Jinyu"s hand that was holding the teacup halted in midair, and her eyes narrowed, "Let"s not talk about the past. I came here to offer incense to Grandfather and Grandmother."
Seeing her behaviour, Yan Xin thought that it was because she didn"t want to recall the hards.h.i.+ps of the past, so he naturally wouldn"t ask further. Then, he realized that something was wrong when he heard her words again. He suddenly looked up at her, "M-Miss Yu, do you still have memories of the past?"
Back then, Miss Yu was only two years old when she went missing. After so many years, how could she still have memories from then?
However, if she had no memory of him, how could she have recognized him at a glance? Although she was a little unfamiliar with him, she did not seem unnatural at all when she called him "Grandpa Xin".
Furthermore, if she did not have any memories, she would not have specially come to the old residence to offer incense to Old Master and Madam.
"I vaguely remember some things. It"s not very clear. I can remember some things intermittently after I returned to the Yan family." In reality, there was nothing unclear. She remembered everything. The reason why she didn"t say it clearly was because she didn"t want Yan Xin to ask her why she hadn"t returned after so many years since she still remembered everything.
She didn"t want to tell a lot of lies to this old man, but she couldn"t tell him the truth either. Instead of debating how she should answer his questions, she might as well eliminate the possibility of him pursuing the matter from the start.
"I see." Yan Xin didn"t doubt her answer at all.
"Let me bring Miss Yu to the ancestral hall first." There were many questions he wanted to ask, but he was in no hurry.
The ancestral hall of the Yan family didn"t have many memorial tablets, but it wasn"t small either.
Yan Jinyu walked directly to two of the memorial tablets and took the three joss sticks that Yan Xin handed over. She lit them over the candles in front of her and placed them into the incense burner. Then, she stared at the two memorial tablets for about three minutes. No one knew what she was thinking.
After a while, she turned to look at Yan Xin, "Grandfather Xin, let"s go."
Yan Xin looked at her with a complicated expression, "Mm-hm."
Just now, he was only concerned about the pleasant surprise. Now that he had calmed down, he realized that he could not see through this 18 years old Miss Yu.
She had fair skin and a pet.i.te figure. She was dressed in a youthful outfit.
It was what girls her age should look like.
However, her emotionless appearance did not match her age.
If he wanted to say that she had no feelings for Old Master and Madam? That was not true either.
If she really didn"t have any feelings for them, then she wouldn"t have stared at their memorial tablets for such a long time after she had finished burning the incense. However, if she had feelings for them, for someone her age, even if she didn"t cry out loud, she should have at least shed some tears when she saw the two elders" memorial tablets.
But she did nothing.
Her expression was very calm.
Even though he had lived for so long and had seen all kinds of people, he could not tell if she was happy or sad.
Was it because she was already able to conceal her emotions, or was it because her memory was not clear and so her feelings for her family had faded too?
After walking out of the ancestral hall, Yan Jinyu stopped in her tracks and looked up at the sky.
It was a little glaring in the afternoon"s scorching sun. She subconsciously raised her hand to cover the glaring sunlight and exhaled softly. Yan Xin, who was half a step behind her, did not notice this small exhalation.
After a while, she retracted her gaze. At the same time, she put down her hand that was covering the glaring sunlight. When she turned back to look at Yan Xin, she had a faint smile on her face. "The incense is done. I"ll go back first. I"ll visit Grandfather Xin when I have time."After a while, she retracted her gaze. At the same time, she put down her hand that was covering the glaring sunlight. When she turned back to look at Yan Xin, she had a faint smile on her face. "I have already offered the incense. I"ll go back first. I"ll visit Grandfather Xin when I have time."
Yan Xin looked at the girl in front of him and felt that her smile was very clean and pure. Clearly, she did not have any hidden deep thoughts.
Perhaps, he had overthought?
"Miss Yu, please wait a moment. Master and Madam left something for you when they left. I thought that I would never have the chance to pa.s.s it to you in this lifetime. Since you are back, I will have to hand it to you. This way, I can feel more at ease." At his age, he did not know if tomorrow would arrive or not.
Yan Jinyu was stunned, "Grandfather and Grandmother left me something?"
"Yes, Miss Yu. Please follow me."
After hesitating for a moment, Yan Jinyu followed him.
After taking a few steps, Yan Xin suddenly slowed down and walked beside her, "Miss Yu has returned to the Yan Family. Is Young Master and Young Madam… treating you well?"
Back then, Yan Qingyu and Fu Ya didn"t hesitate in choosing to save Yan Jinyun. After that, they called the police without a care about Yan Jinyu"s life. Outsiders didn"t know, but the Yan Family"s people knew very well.
As an eldery servant of the Yan Family, Yan Xin naturally knew as well.
He knew that Yan Qingyu and Fu Ya favored their younger daughter.
It was already like this in the early years, and it was probably even worse now. After all, they didn"t even get close to each other when they lived together, not to mention that they had lived apart for 16 years now.
Upon hearing that, Yan Jinyu looked at him silently and then smiled faintly. "Grandfather Xin, don"t worry. They treat me very well."
She knew that Yan Xin genuinely cared for her, but she was no longer the person she used to be.
She had killed many people and many people had many grudges against her. Once her ident.i.ty was exposed, the people around her would be in danger. She did not want Yan Xin to be implicated by her at his age. Hence, she had already decided not to get too close to Yan Xin ever since she stepped into the old residence.
They were both people who treated her well, but why could she accept Yin Jiujin but not Yan Xin? It was because she knew that Yan Xin was different from Yin Jiujin.
Yin Jiujin had the ability to deal with danger, but Yan Xin, an old man, didn"t.
Furthermore, she would be spending more time by Yin Jiujin"s side in the future. Even if she really brought any danger to Yin Jiujin, she had the ability to resolve it before it reached him.
However, she would remember that Yan Xin was genuinely good to her.
"That"s good." Yan Xin did not know if it was an illusion, but he felt that she was not as distant as she was earlier.
Soon, they arrived at their destination.
It was Yan Jinyu"s grandparents" room.
"Miss Yu, please sit here for a while. I"ll go get the things.." As he spoke, Yan Xin walked towards the painting hanging on the wall.