Grandmother Yu felt that some people’s ability to be decisive and ruthless was both a natural gift and a result of life experiences.

Like Xia Xiaolan, who at 18 dared to move to the city with divorced Liu Fen to make a living – Grandmother Yu admired her. Yes, admiration came even before affection!

But if Tina couldn’t become “another Xia Xiaolan,” she shouldn’t be criticized for it.

Different people, different life experiences – they couldn’t expect to copy Xia Xiaolan’s personality onto Tina. If Grandmother Yu wanted to accept this granddaughter, she had to accept her innocence and naivety!

Although this wasn’t the personality Grandmother Yu advocated for – she believed girls should be stronger and not rely too much on others. From her personal life experience, one could never predict when life’s mishaps would strike. Without strength, how could one survive life’s lowest points?

Yes, before marriage, one could rely on the father and brothers for protection, after marriage on a husband, and in old age on children.

But what if none of these people could provide protection?

So what use was innocence and naivety? Like ‘kindness,’ it was indeed a beautiful quality, but one that required great effort to protect. With life’s cycles of birth, aging, sickness, death, and various misfortunes, who knew how life would treat a kind person? Rather than counting on others to protect these qualities, better to rely on oneself!

On this point, Grandmother Yu had succeeded.

No matter how bad things got, she maintained her conviction to persist.

But she had achieved this only in middle age, after experiencing many things.

The eighteen-year-old Young Miss Yu Shu couldn’t have done it.

So wasn’t it normal that Tina couldn’t either?

Grandmother Yu hadn’t just softened – she had gained perspective.

She certainly hated Zhang Jiadong and wished she could grind that scoundrel’s bones to dust, but everyone living in this world wasn’t simply black or white. Zhang Jiadong was a villain to her, Xu Zhongyi, and Xu Changle, but to Tina, he seemed to have been a ‘loving father.’

At least right now, not only was Tina bewildered and crying in anguish, but even Grandmother Yu was confused.

With the person dead and unable to explain himself, no one could understand Zhang Jiadong’s thinking. If he later discovered Tina wasn’t his daughter, why did he still treat her well?

Xia Xiaolan quietly left the hospital room, giving Grandmother Yu and Tina space to be alone.

“Perhaps, after watching her being born, raising her, pouring his heart into protecting her, by the time he discovered she wasn’t his biological daughter, the emotional investment couldn’t be taken back…”

Blood ties were important.

Yet blood ties weren’t so important.

Those who raised switched babies, even after finding their biological children, couldn’t bear to part with the children they’d raised.

Adopted children, after learning the truth in adulthood, often remained closer to their adoptive parents, rejecting their biological parents.

Even she, in her previous life, had complained about her aunt – why adopt her if they wouldn’t treat her well, couldn’t raise her as their child? If they had treated her that way, she would have certainly respected them as her biological parents, and would have done even better than a biological daughter!

She was fairly intelligent and good at studying, yet had almost lost the chance for education.

When she was working part-time while studying, she had indeed harbored resentment.

After raising her for ten years, if they had just persisted for a few more years, she could have repaid her aunt and uncle… why give up halfway?

For several years, she had nursed a bitter determination to succeed and make her aunt and uncle regret their decision… Later, when she achieved some success and bought two houses for her aunt in their hometown, that bitterness mysteriously dissipated.

She had no right to blame them.

Being willing to feed an orphan like her and provide shelter was already quite decent.

How could she expect them to value her above their children?

There might be such saints in the world, but her aunt and uncle weren’t among them – they were just ordinary people. One couldn’t hold them to the highest moral standards, yet they weren’t bad people either.

Xia Xiaolan had made peace with this in her previous life.

It was just that Tina made her think of it again.

Xia Xiaolan felt a moment of confusion, but when she looked up and saw Liu Fen standing in the hospital corridor, that confusion immediately vanished.

Tina might be troubled, but she wasn’t – why let these negative emotions affect her when Comrade Fen was always by her side?

“Mom!”

“Hey, is Tina awake?”

“Yes, Grandmother Yu is talking with her inside, so I stepped out.”

“Let them talk. Tina must have been terrified this time. She imagined many scenarios but never guessed the Wilsons could be so evil… After this incident, who knows if Tina will become closer to Grandmother Yu and the others.”

Liu Fen looked somewhat worried.

Xia Xiaolan linked arms with her and smiled, “Her being safe is what matters most. Though this experience was terrible, it might not be entirely bad. Let Grandmother Yu and Uncle Xu handle it themselves.”

That was natural.

Liu Fen was still frightened.

Not just about Tina’s incident – but more importantly about Xia Xiaolan. Call her selfish, but no one was more important than her daughter.

“Your Teacher Mao and the others asked if you still want to visit the museum?”

“Of course, we’ll go today. After visiting the museum, do you still want to play in America? If not, I’d like to return to China too.”

The news of winning the lawsuit had reached China, and the school was very happy.

However, the department had given her leave and special treatment not for touring America. The museum design that was to be jointly reported by two magazines, as agreed with AIA, needed to start soon.

That afternoon, Xia Xiaolan visited the Metropolitan Museum with Mao Kangshan, Professor Wen, and Professor McCarthy.

Indeed, the art collections were beside the point – the three of them took turns giving her an on-site lecture.

During this process, the competition between Mao Kangshan and McCarthy wasn’t particularly fierce – they only exchanged a few hundred moves back and forth. Mutual appreciation? Impossible – until they returned to China, these two would continue to dislike each other.

McCarthy’s last words to Mao Kangshan were:

“If you feel you’re too old to continue teaching her, I hope you’ll make the right choice and not hold her back!”

Mao Kangshan was still angry on the plane, constantly asking Madam Song:

“Am I old?”

“I can still eat two bowls of rice at one meal!”

“I can still teach Xiaolan until I’m 80!”

“No, I’ll live to 90 – he wants to outlive me and take over my disciple? Dream on!”

What could Xia Xiaolan say?

The elderly were like children – having an elder was truly like having a treasure, too formidable to argue with, they could only be respected. And truly, because Mao Kangshan always felt McCarthy was waiting to steal his disciple, after returning to China he became even more careful about his health, showing every intention of living to 99 just to disappoint McCarthy’s expectations.

Xia Xiaolan was very moved.

Whether it was her master, McCarthy, or Professor Wen, she was touched that so many people cared for her.

Even Kissinger, who claimed to prioritize benefits, hadn’t abandoned her at the crucial moment.