He held her hand. “Yanxi, let’s go in.”
Zhuang Jiawen unloaded the luggage from the trunk.
Zong Yanxi nodded. “Let’s go.”
As they entered the house, they switched on the lights to the living room. With a flip of the switch, the whole house lit up at once.
Zong Yanxi remarked. “Why don’t both of you sleep first? I’ll go see Mom and Dad.”
She knew that her parents were definitely still awake.
Zhuang Jiawen replied, “Okay.”
After he brought her luggage to her room, Shen Xinyao and him headed upstairs.
However, Shen Xinyao was worried, “Is Yanxi…”
“She will manage. Don’t worry.” Zhuang Jiawen ushered her into the room to sleep.
Standing at the door, she reminded him, “Just keep watch downstairs, alright?”
Zhuang Jiawen’s room was further inside. Although both of them were about to be married soon, the most they did was kiss and nothing beyond that.
To Zhuang Jiawen, sleeping with Shen Xinyao before marriage was an irresponsible act. As for Shen Xinyao, she shared his views about the matter. Hence, despite the fact they were already promised to each other and recognized by everyone else, they had a tacit understanding of where to draw the line.
Therefore, even though they were engaged, they still slept in separate rooms.
Zhuang Jiawen grunted in acknowledgment. “You should go ahead and sleep first.”
Shen Xinyao nodded and entered her room.
The moment she closed the door, Zhuang Jiawen heaved a sigh of relief and glanced downstairs. However, he didn’t interfere and returned to his room instead.
Downstairs, Zong Yanxi stood where she was and collected herself. She hadn’t seen her parents for a year. Despite getting constant updates from Zhuang Jiawen about them and having seen recent photos, she still felt a bout of reluctance.
No matter how old she was, she was still a kid in the eyes of her parents.
At that moment, she didn’t dare face them because of the mistakes she made.
However, she was cognizant of them and didn’t want history to repeat itself, so that her parents would not have to worry.
Gathering her courage, she headed to her parent’s room.
At the door, she took a deep breath before knocking.
However, no one opened it.
She announced softly, “Dad, Mom, I’m home.”
In the room diagonally opposite, Su Zhan and Qin Ya were also awake. When he heard Zong Yanxi’s voice, Su Zhan quickly jumped out of bed.
However, Qin Ya maintained her composure better than he did. But that was only on the surface. When she heard Zong Yanxi’s voice, her heart was equally jolted.
She too watched Zong Yanxi grow up and treated her as her own daughter. After her near-death experience, everyone was both worried and heartbroken for her. Although she returned home safe and sound, Qin Ya knew that it was just superficial and that Zong Yanxi’s heart had been scarred.
When she was young, she went through a similarly traumatizing experience. Hence, she understood exactly what Zong Yanxi was going through.
It was precisely because their experiences were similar that her heart ached for Zong Yanxi.
Subconsciously, her eyes had already turned red.
Su Zhan poured her a glass of water and asked softly, “What’s wrong?”
Receiving the glass, she shook her head. “Nothing.”
Su Zhan held her hand. “It’s all in the past now.”
He figured that Qin Ya must have thought about the past.
She too had suffered a lot then.
Because of him, she lost the ability to bear children which was one of the regrets he had in his life. When he saw that Shen Peichuan and Zong Jinghao had their own children, he was envious and that was all he felt.
He was already grateful for the fact that Qin Ya forgave him and gave him a second chance. Furthermore, he greatly appreciated the opportunity to live out the rest of their lives together peacefully.
When Grandma Su was still alive, she would alternate between being present and spacing out. However, she was often difficult most of the time.
For his sake, Qin Ya had tolerated her. Now that she had passed on, he and Qin Ya could finally live in peace.
Qin Ya suddenly looked up at him. “Are you angry at me?”
Very often, she would vent her frustrations at Su Zhan over the past. She would make things difficult on purpose or give him the cold shoulder.
Su Zhan understood her feelings. Hence, he never complained about it.
“Go back to sleep.” Su Zhan patted her on her shoulders.
Qin Ya sighed. “Finally, the worst is over.”
Given that Zong Yanxi was willing to return and face them, it meant that she had gotten over the past which was a good thing.
Meanwhile, outside the room.
After knocking a second time, no one responded. Zong Yanxi turned the knob and pushed open the door slowly.
