Mrs. Wilson was furious.
She accused Xia Xiaolan of being ruthless and ungrateful. Xia Xiaolan had long grown weary of such hypocritical social niceties, and if Mrs. Wilson would stop treating her with excessive enthusiasm because of this, Xia Xiaolan would be incredibly relieved!
She bid farewell to Mrs. Wilson, stating that it was time for her to leave work—after her internship at GMP ended, Xia Xiaolan’s visits to the construction site were essentially unpaid overtime. She went because of her sense of responsibility. If she didn’t want to go, who could force or criticize her? The so-called working hours were all set by Xia Xiaolan herself; she could leave whenever she wanted.
“You’ve upset her. Didn’t she hire you? Won’t this cause trouble?” Pan Bohua was still somewhat worried. He had always felt Mrs. Wilson’s smile was fake, and now that she was angry, it was even more terrifying.
Xia Xiaolan shook her head. “Strictly speaking, she hired GMP firm, and I was just a former intern at GMP. Now that I’m not even interning there anymore, the most she can do is complain about me to GMP and create a dispute with them.”
Even if they had a falling out with GMP, they would still have to pay GMP what they owed. The Wilson family had money, and Mrs. Wilson had money, but did they think GMP was a pushover? If every client could find excuses not to pay, GMP would have gone bankrupt long ago!
At worst, partner Kissinger would be very angry with Xia Xiaolan for offending a client and cancel the promised commission… But that was fine. While Xia Xiaolan loved money, the commission wasn’t all she cared about. Leading the theater renovation from design to follow-up implementation—this experience was what Xia Xiaolan valued most.
If they wanted to fall out, so be it. Xia Xiaolan had been wary of the Wilsons’ excessive enthusiasm from the beginning.
“I just didn’t expect Mrs. Wilson’s friendship with the Zhang family to be deeper than imagined. No wonder Harold Wilson was worried sick about it.”
Pan Bohua felt these rich people had too much time on their hands. They were already wealthy enough, yet still greedy for more. The distribution of the previous generation’s wealth must have involved struggle. Even those who got the largest share couldn’t rest easy, still having to guard against the losers making a comeback… There was nothing new under the sun—it all came down to money.
The Du family in Hong Kong was like this. The Wilson family in America was the same.
Pan Bohua stretched lazily. “Of course, he can’t sleep. His elder brother and sister-in-law are close with gang leaders, and he nearly got shot. If I were him, I wouldn’t dare close my eyes at night without hiring more bodyguards.”
Though saying this, Pan Bohua thought Harold was quite brave. Look at him, still having the mood to think about romantic matters—truly fearless.
Three days after Mrs. Wilson’s accusation against Xia Xiaolan, Cui Yiru finally contacted Xia Xiaolan to tell her that the family was preparing to return to China.
“Miss Xia, thank you so much. If it weren’t for you, the Changle siblings might never have been able to reunite with their grandmother. I found the San Francisco TV station’s interview tape—I really can’t believe I knew nothing about this! Anyway, thank you for everything you’ve done for our family!”
Cui Yiru was genuinely sincere.
Xia Xiaolan smiled warmly: “Are you prepared? Perfect timing—I need to return to China soon as well. When does Madam plan to depart?”
Cui Yiru was surprised, clearly not expecting Xia Xiaolan to return to China together with them.
She paused, “If you want to return together, we can adjust our schedule to match. But regarding the meeting location… we’ll need to accommodate the elderly. Do you know where Changle’s grandmother is now?”
“Grandmother Yu is in the capital. Since we didn’t have a definite response from your side before, I haven’t told Grandmother Yu that we’ve found you all. After all, it wouldn’t be good to get her hopes up unnecessarily. Once your departure is confirmed, I’ll inform Grandmother Yu. There are planes in China now, and while inter-city transportation isn’t as convenient as in America, it’s much improved compared to the 1960s. What I mean is, if you have any special requests about the meeting location, you can mention them.”
Xia Xiaolan said this while trying to gauge Cui Yiru’s thoughts. Cui Yiru had noticeably hesitated when mentioning the meeting location, seeming to have her ideas.
Hearing Xia Xiaolan’s words, she sighed with relief: “I don’t want to tire the elderly, but if there are flights between the capital and Shangdu, that would be best. Changle has forgotten his childhood memories due to trauma, and meeting in Shangdu might help him remember some things.”
Xia Xiaolan thought this arrangement was very reasonable. Grandmother Yu had been keeping watch over the house in Shangdu, never leaving, waiting for her long-lost family to return home. Meeting in Shangdu would fulfill the old lady’s wish!
Just one person was missing. If Xu Zhongyi had returned to Shangdu with his wife and two children instead of Zhang Jiading, this story would have had a completely happy ending. Now, it remained regrettable… When would Xu Zhongyi finally appear?
After Cui Yiru confirmed their return to China, Xia Xiaolan quickly arranged her leave. Other professors were understanding, except Professor McCarthy, who was still disgruntled about Xia Xiaolan’s “inability to be taught.”
Professor Wen, knowing she was returning to China, asked her to bring some items back for his old friend Mao Kangshan, whom he hadn’t seen in years.
“I’ll be back soon, and Teacher Mao will surely like what you’ve chosen.”
Professor Wen knew Mao Kangshan’s temperament—whether he liked the gifts or not didn’t matter. Being friends with Mao Kangshan required great tolerance.
At Kennedy International Airport, Xia Xiaolan met Zhang Jiading for the first time.
With Pan Bohua by her side, Xia Xiaolan wasn’t intimidated at all.
She showed neither fear nor provocative eagerness, maintaining polite courtesy.
“You must be Miss Xia. Miss Xia, you’re accomplished at such a young age and have helped our entire family tremendously. I’ve wanted to thank you personally for a long time but was held up by various matters. Now I finally get to meet you.”
Zhang Jiading was sincere in his attitude.
This man had great composure.
Compared to Zhang Jiading’s calmness, the Farn siblings’ behavior was much less composed.
Farn was cold, while Tina reluctantly followed behind her family. The prospect of going to China made Tina extremely anxious.
The man she had called “Daddy” since childhood turned out not to be her biological father. Although she was ethnically Chinese with black hair and eyes, she had grown up in America. Now she was going to a strange country to meet an unfamiliar Chinese grandmother who was her biological grandmother… Tina’s world had been turned upside down; how could she not be confused?
“Mr. Zhang is too kind. I merely fulfilled my promise after receiving payment from Grandmother Yu.”
When it came to “noble character,” Xia Xiaolan admitted she couldn’t compare to Zhang Jiading.
With Zhang Jiading’s background, to be able to give up his children and raise Xu Zhongyi’s son and daughter… Xia Xiaolan thought this was truly rare. Most men valued their bloodline so much that Xia Xiaolan couldn’t help but suspect this wasn’t just true love for Cui Yiru, but true love for Xu Zhongyi as well!