Chapter 22 : Return to Yunjiang

Jiang Yunshu smiled and said, “Stop always telling me he’s no good, he’s the father of my child.”

“I said he has a conscience, I’m praising him!” Gu Jingyan said, looking innocent. After a pause, he asked, “Has Fu Chengze never mentioned me to you?”

Jiang Yunshu thought for a moment. “Actually, no. He’s never even mentioned your name to me.”

Gu Jingyan clicked his tongue. “Is he avoiding my name because it’s unlucky?”

Knowing he was joking, Jiang Yunshu laughed and glanced toward the car not far off.

“You’ve made the trip for nothing. Uncle Li is still waiting for me, I should get going.”

Just as she finished speaking, Gong Yan walked over to say goodbye.

“Yunshu, thank you for agreeing to the interview. I’m really sorry about the last question, I didn’t expect that to come up, I didn’t know it would be included in the document.”

“No need to apologize, it’s not your fault,” Jiang Yunshu replied, noticing the filming crew’s vehicle still hadn’t left. She asked, “How are you getting back?”

Gong Yan answered, “The shoot is wrapped up, so I’ll just take a taxi home.”

“I’ll give you a ride,” Jiang Yunshu offered.

Gu Jingyan extended his hand. “Gu Jingyan, Yunshu’s cousin.”

Gong Yan shook his hand. “Hello, Gong Yan.”

“‘Gong Yan’,” Gu Jingyan raised an eyebrow, “I said it quickly, and it sounds pretty close to mine.”

Gong Yan silently repeated “Gu Jingyan, Gong Yan” in her mind and agreed it did sound somewhat similar.

She smiled politely. “Thank you, but I’m fine. I’ll just take a taxi home.”

Gu Jingyan waved his hand dismissively. “No need to be polite. Yunshu’s friends are my friends.”

Jiang Yunshu looked at Gong Yan. “You can come with me, I’ll have the driver take you home first.”

Gong Yan didn’t want to trouble Jiang Yunshu, especially since she was pregnant and the ride would be a long one. After some hesitation, she finally agreed to get in Gu Jingyan’s car.

Once in the car, Gong Yan appeared a bit reserved.

Gu Jingyan chatted with her for a bit but, noticing she wasn’t very lively, assumed she was tired from the day’s work. He kindly suggested, “If you’re tired, you can take a nap. I’ll wake you up when we arrive.”

“Okay…”

The silence that followed was rather awkward.

Gong Yan closed her eyes, deciding to pretend to sleep until they reached her destination.

Unexpectedly, she actually fell asleep halfway through the ride.

Gu Jingyan stopped the car at the entrance of the residential area and looked over at Gong Yan, who was still asleep. As he hesitated on how to wake her up, his phone rang.

Gong Yan was startled awake, quickly answering the call with three quick “hellos” before hanging up.

“Sorry, it was a work call. I had to pick it up.”

“It’s fine, I understand.”

“Thank you for bringing me back.”

“No need to thank me.”

Gong Yan got out of the car. “Goodbye, and thank you again.”

Gu Jingyan nodded, noticing the box of snacks in the back seat. He quickly got out of the car and called after her.

“Gong Yan!”

Gong Yan turned around, seeing Gu Jingyan approaching with two gift boxes.

He handed them to her. “These are Yunjiang local snacks. I brought them so you can try it.”

Gong Yan hesitated. “You’ve already been kind enough to bring me home. I can’t accept any more gifts.”

“Take them. Consider it a bit of local food promotion for my hometown,” Gu Jingyan insisted with a wave of his hand. “Go ahead.”

As he got back into the car, Gong Yan looked down at the gift boxes in her hands and couldn’t help but comment, “Yunshu’s cousin is really nice.”

—

On the day Jiang Yunshu returned to Yunjiang, Xu Shuping was still worried about the baby in her belly. She held Jiang Yunshu’s hand and gave her many instructions.

Jiang Yunshu agreed to all of them, then said goodbye to Grandma Fu and Aunt Luo before heading to the airport with Fu Chengze.

They arrived in Yunjiang at 3:30 PM.

The airport was crowded, and Fu Chengze pushed the luggage cart while tightly holding Jiang Yunshu’s hand.

“Dad, why are you here at the airport? You could’ve had Uncle Chen pick us up. Why did you come too?” Jiang Yunshu asked.

“Alright, I got it. We’re heading this way,” her father replied.

“…”

Jiang Yunshu was on the phone with Jiang Zhengguo when she felt Fu Chengze’s hand come closer. She looked down and saw their hands tightly intertwined.

The last time they held hands was at the wedding, and the feeling was unfamiliar.

But it was also sweet.

“Xiao shu! Over here!” Jiang Zhengguo waved his hand.

Jiang Yunshu saw Jiang Zhengguo through the crowd, and her tears almost instantly began to fall.

It had been nearly six months since she last returned to Yunjiang. After getting pregnant, her emotions had become especially sensitive. Sometimes, just a word or even a scene could move her deeply.

Jiang Zhengguo opened his arms and gave his daughter a hug, reaching up to pat her head. “Why are you crying again?”

Jiang Yunshu wiped away the tears on her face, linked arms with Jiang Zhengguo, and said, her voice still choking, “I’m just happy to see you.”

Once in the car, Jiang Yunshu began chatting warmly with Jiang Zhengguo and Uncle Chen, talking about all the recent events in the Jiang family.

In contrast, Fu Chengze barely spoke.

Other than responding to Jiang Zhengguo, he quietly listened, watching Jiang Yunshu as she spoke the whole way.

It seemed that something about her had changed since returning to Yunjiang.

—

The car drove smoothly and soon arrived at the Jiang family’s large courtyard.

As a traditional Chinese-style villa built by the water, the design was elegant and refined, with elements of mountains, water, and bamboo groves everywhere. The pursuit of poetic beauty in the landscape was carried to the extreme.

Once inside, Old Madam Jiang was sitting by the fish pond in the pavilion, admiring the lotus flowers. Not far off, her little great-grandson was crouched by the pond, his little bottom sticking up as he watched the red koi fish. She called out to her granddaughter-in-law, who was eating snacks nearby, “Watch out, don’t fall in!”

Just then, Auntie stood up. “Oh, Xiaoshu’s here!”

Jiang Yunshu and Fu Chengze walked over and greeted everyone.

“Aunt!”

Jiang Yuchen, her little nephew, saw Jiang Yunshu and his eyes lit up. He ran over wanting to hug her, but Auntie was quick to grab him back.

Jiang Yuchen looked up at his grandmother with a furrowed brow, a little upset, and said, “I want to hug Aunt.”

“Aunt has a baby in her belly, so she can’t hug you. You need to behave today and not bother Aunt, do you understand?”

Jiang Yuchen obediently nodded and looked up at Jiang Yunshu. “Aunt, is the baby in your belly a little sister?”

“This child,” someone commented, “has been constantly bothering me lately, asking me to have another sister to play with him.”

“Must be because his dad wants a daughter, so he’s got himself a little assistant.”

Everyone around them laughed.

Jiang Yunshu patted Jiang Yuchen’s little head, her voice gentle and patient as she answered his question.

“I don’t know yet, either. We’ll find out around the New Year if it’s a brother or a sister.”

Jiang Yuchen lowered his head, counting on his fingers. He was still trying to figure out how many months until the New Year when Auntie pulled his head up. “Have you said hello to your uncle?”

Jiang Yuchen looked at the person standing beside his aunt, who looked as serious as his father. He quickly stopped being playful and obediently said, “Hello, uncle.”

Fu Chengze wasn’t good with children. He simply nodded in response, and that was all.