Rebirth: A Cinderella's Counterattack

Chapter 426: Chapter 406: The Girl in Our Family is Growing Up

Luo Qianqian and the others had reached the downstairs when they saw He Wenyu waiting by the flowerbed with his phone, which surprised them, ”Why didn’t you go back first?”

He Wenyu curled his lip, ”If I wanted my family to know that I came back and left you guys behind, there would be no issue, but I don’t dare let them find out.” Simply put, he didn’t dare let his family know about his early romance.

”Then why bother having him send you back? Wouldn’t it have been better to stay with us?” Luo Qianqian said, but then she immediately realized, she didn’t want to part ways so soon either, just like she didn’t want to separate from Xu Tianyi right now.

”Let’s go,” Lin Jiayou saw through He Wenyu’s thoughts, remembering how he too felt the same way once.

He Wenyu immediately grabbed Luo Qianqian’s arm, asking softly, ”Do you have to be so romantic? I’m jealous...”

Luo Qianqian quickly realized he was referring to the fireworks, glanced at Xu Tianyi, and slowly said, ”It was Brother Jiayou who brought them.” But watching the stars with Xu Tianyi was also wonderful. Such things she wouldn’t casually mention.

”Ah, I’m jealous of you guys,” He Wenyu sighed. In Qianqian’s family, it was always the children who made decisions, and the opinions of the adult elders were just for reference. In their family, weren’t all three of them decisive individuals? Thinking about his own home, even coming home late would lead to inquiries about how long the delay was.

Thinking about it, it’s better when Qianqian is at home; her family is clearly more lenient, not even calling her despite her late return.

Luo Qianqian smiled. This was all her own doing. If she hadn’t presented herself so differently from ordinary kids initially, perhaps An Zilan wouldn’t have been confident in letting her make her own decisions, and might not have been as generous to her brother.

Thinking of her mother’s pregnant belly, Luo Qianqian covered her mouth and laughed, suspecting her mother’s strict-mom demeanor would have to transfer to this unborn child. After all, in front of her siblings, her mother’s opinion was only supplementary, which must have been quite a shock for a mother.

As if sensing Luo Qianqian’s thoughts, Xu Tianyi also laughed softly.

Upon opening the door, An Zilan was already asleep; Lin Xu had left them some fruit and a note, advising them not to rush to sleep after eating too much, and to digest the food first.

”Hey, since when has my dad been so thoughtful?” Lin Jiayou chuckled softly.

The couple, awakened by the sound of the door, exchanged looks; anger filled Lin Xu’s eyes, while An Zilan’s eyes were smiling.

”Uncle Lin now needs to take care of a pregnant woman, how could he not be attentive? You think he’s like you?” Luo Qianqian laughed, ”Mom marrying Uncle Lin is really great, I’m relieved.”

The expressions of the two in the room changed again; An Zilan’s face was full of anger, where does one speak of their mother like that? Lin Xu’s face was full of joy, nothing could make him happier than this stepdaughter’s approval.

Xu Tianyi whispered softly, ”The door opening just now must have woken up uncle and auntie. Qianqian, keep your voice down.”

Luo Qianqian immediately covered her mouth, glancing toward her mother’s bedroom door, and only relaxed when there was no movement.

An Zilan and Lin Xu fell asleep with smiles, confident the children could handle their own matters.

Xu Tianyi fumbled in Luo Qianqian’s bag for a while, took something out, and went back to his room, unnoticed by the others. Looking at the charging camera, his face was filled with gentleness.

The four of them watched TV for a while then went to wash up and sleep.

The next day, Xu Tianyi took the memory card with him as he followed Luo Qianqian out to develop photos. Luo Qianqian, seeing the nearly full memory card, almost burst out laughing—what was happening? There shouldn’t have been much in her camera.

Then Xu Tianyi grandly declared, ”Print them all out at five inches, we’ll pick them up in the afternoon.”

Luo Qianqian stared wide-eyed, ”Are you serious?”

”More real than pearls,” Xu Tianyi laughed, ”Rarely do we see the sea, how can I not enjoy it more?”

Luo Qianqian pouted her lips, it was about the sea, huh? She had thought...

Xu Tianyi watched Luo Qianqian with smiling eyes, idiot, of course it’s for you.

”By the way, should we bring some specialties? No, customs might think you’re smuggling,” Luo Qianqian immediately dismissed her suggestion, seeing the sadness in Xu Tianyi’s eyes, ”How does time pass so quickly?”

”We still have one day,” Xu Tianyi had deliberately not woken up Lin Jiayou today and called Luo Qianqian directly for some alone time, ”Is there anywhere you want to go? You accompanied me to the beach, so it’s only fair I accompany you wherever you want, right?”

Luo Qianqian blinked, ”Are you sure? No regrets?”

”I don’t regret it.” What was there to regret about a trip to the amusement park?

”Then come with me tomorrow. I’ve booked the flight for tomorrow morning.” Luo Qianqian smiled slightly, her gaze calmly fixed on the sky.

Xu Tianyi was a bit surprised. Was it a place they had just visited in Capital City?

”I’ll take you to see the place where I grew up.” Luo Qianqian took Xu Tianyi from the rented house to her elementary school, from the front of her first high school to the current ’Luo Shenyao’: ”Our first earnings back then, the things that happened later always made me feel like it was all a dream, everything changed so quickly. Meeting you was truly my luck. I’ve never been so grateful for skipping a grade to compete.”

”This used to be my favorite cake shop. Now it has turned into a bookstore. Isn’t this just the passage of time?”

”Xiao Yu and I met right here, as if destined.”

”I once fell from this tree.” It was because of that, I had the chance to start over again.

As Luo Qianqian shared the stories of the places she grew up, Xu Tianyi listened quietly without a hint of impatience, his eyes soft.

After they collected their photos and returned home, dinner was already prepared. He Wenyu was sulking on the side, turning her head away when she saw them as if blaming her for not waking her up to go out together.

Luo Qianqian, holding a half-melted cotton candy said, ”The taste of childhood, do you want some?”

”Where did you guys go?” He Wenyu snatched the cotton candy, taking a bite and immediately recognizing it as from that park.

”I always wanted to show him where I grew up.” Luo Qianqian smiled, ”Taking you would have bored you.”

”You’re just afraid I’d be a third wheel, right?” He Wenyu wasn’t really blaming her, she was just teasing Luo Qianqian for prioritizing her romance over friendship, though it seemed she did the same.

”Exactly.” Luo Qianqian did not deny it.

Xu Tianyi had already opened the bag filled with nearly two pounds of photos. An Zilan also came over to look: ”You went to the beach, huh? The water there is kind of dirty; the clean spots are a bit further away. Next time you come, you can go swimming.”

Looking at the photos full of pink bubbles capturing them, Lin Jiayou could hardly bear to look directly.

Xu Tianyi also felt a bit embarrassed. No wonder there were so many photos—he had only briefly checked them after charging the camera, deciding to have them printed out only after realizing there were quite a lot and had not really focused on the content.

Luo Qianqian picked up a photo where her white dress fluttered in the sea breeze, a dove perched on her hand, and a young man not far away looked at her with a smile, his eyes filled with tenderness.

”Cough cough, Brother Jiayou did a great job with the photos, he could become a photographer.” As if to cover her own shyness, Luo Qianqian patted Lin Jiayou on the shoulder.

Lin Jiayou rolled his eyes, not everyone is like you two.

”I’m jealous.” He Wenyu looked at the two people in the photo, one lively and the other serene: ”You didn’t include me.”

An Zilan saw the smile on her daughter’s face in the photo and tears involuntarily slid down her face.

”Mom, what’s wrong? Does your stomach hurt?”

”Auntie, I’ll call 120 right now. You should lie down quickly.”

Luo Qianqian and Xu Tianyi were the first to notice something was off with An Zilan and immediately spoke up.

An Zilan stopped Xu Tianyi as he reached for his phone: ”No need, I just feel like my daughter has grown up too fast. She used to be a little girl crying for candy, how did she become so grown up?”

Hearing An Zilan say this, Xu Tianyi paused for a moment and then understood her feelings, putting away his phone.

”You scared me to death, Mom. You’re pregnant, don’t get sentimental for no reason. You need to smile, smile and you’ll look ten years younger.” Luo Qianqian breathed a sigh of relief.

”Godmother, does it feel like our girl is going to grow up fast?” He Wenyu asked, feeling sentimental. Seeing the photos gave her this choked-up feeling; An Zilan, as the birth mother, probably felt similar.

Luo Qianqian looked at her mother silently. Was she worried about her growing up and getting married?