Chapter 125: Father and Daughter Reunited

However, she dared not tell Sheng Yukai about this matter now; the only person she could discuss it with was her mother, but her mother had said she was returning to their hometown and had already been gone for two days, leaving her with no one to consult.

Her father was still hospitalized, so what kind of hometown was she going to at a time like this?

However, her mother was insistent, and Shi Yuke had no other choice.

In truth, what she did not know was that Jiang Yadan had not returned to her hometown, but had gone into hiding.

Her mahjong friends said that Daobalian had committed a crime and been caught by the police; she was afraid he would implicate her, so she hurriedly packed her valuables and fled.

Jiang Yadan dared not take a plane, high-speed rail, train, or long-distance bus; all of these required an ID card, and she was terrified of being wanted.

She dared not drive either; highways and intersections all had surveillance, and it was not much different from taking long-distance public transport.

Thus, she could only take a taxi to Qingcheng, next to Jiangzhou, and find a place to rent that did not require an ID card to hide in.

For these past two days, she had not even dared to sleep; as soon as she closed her eyes, it was as if she could hear police sirens, and she would assume the police had come to arrest her.

……

Shi Youxuan said to Sheng Hanyu, "I want to go to the hospital to see Dad."

"Alright, I will go with you."

When the two of them reached the door of the Hospital Ward, Shi Youxuan did not dare to walk inside.

She felt a bit timid, not knowing what to say when facing her father.

"Afraid to go in?" Sheng Hanyu asked.

She nodded: "Mm."

Sheng Hanyu grabbed her hand and walked inside, not giving her a moment of buffer time!

"Hey, why are you like this..."

It was too late for Shi Youxuan to object; the two stood in the Hospital Ward, and Shi Yucheng stared at her with wide, disbelieving eyes, his lips soon trembling with excitement: "Xuan, Xuanxuan, is it you?"

He wanted to get out of bed and rush toward his daughter, but he forgot he still had an IV drip in his hand; he got out of bed so violently that the needle was pulled out, yet he was completely unaware.

"Xuanxuan, is it you? Is Dad dreaming? Is it really you?"

Shi Yucheng felt as if he were dreaming, yet also felt as if his daughter had never left him; he tremblingly held his daughter's shoulders, and as he looked her over, tears streamed down his face incessantly!

"Dad."

Shi Youxuan threw herself into her father's arms, crying as she said: "It's me, Dad, it's me, I'm Xuanxuan... I'm sorry, Dad, for making you worry about me..."

She now understood why Sheng Hanyu had pulled her inside without giving her time to think.

In truth, she had thought about it for a long time at home, but she still hadn't decided how to explain it when she saw her father—whether to continue pretending to be foolish or to tell him everything.

Continuing to pretend to be foolish was clearly inappropriate, but if her father asked her why she had pretended?

And she had pretended for so many years, how was she supposed to explain that?

Shi Youxuan was very kind; she could not let those who harmed her have an easy time, but she also did not want to let those who loved her be hurt, so it was a dilemma.

However, she now had her answer; Shi Yucheng asked nothing, only holding her and crying.

After crying enough, he asked her if she had been living well during this time and if she had suffered any grievances; he did not mention a single word of the questions that would have made it difficult for Shi Youxuan to answer.

The father and daughter talked for a long, long time in the Hospital Ward; she had originally feared that her father's unstable emotions would be detrimental to his condition, but when she had the nurse take his blood pressure, it hadn't risen at all—it had even dropped to a normal level.

A good mood was more effective than any amount of medicine; since seeing his second daughter, Shi Yucheng's health improved rapidly, and within two days, the doctor announced he could be discharged to recover at home.

Shi Yuke came to pick her father up from the hospital and happened to catch Shi Youxuan and her father chatting and laughing while packing things.

"Sister, let me do it; you don't need to do this kind of work, I'll do it," Shi Yuke offered, stepping forward to curry favor.

She had thought of many opportunities to "accidentally encounter" Shi Youxuan over the past two days, but they had all failed; she had finally bumped into her today, and she would absolutely not miss such a good opportunity.

Handing the things to her, Shi Youxuan stood up to say goodbye to her father: "Dad, listen to the doctor and take your medicine properly when you get home; I have something to do, so I'm heading back."

"Alright, be safe on the road."

Shi Yucheng knew his second daughter did not like seeing his eldest daughter; although he hoped his two daughters would get along, he also knew that was impossible.

"Understood."

Shi Youxuan smiled faintly, then walked out of the Hospital Ward.

Shi Yuke wanted to chase after her, but in the end, she didn't dare; that woman was not alone, as she was accompanied by four bodyguards, each looking fierce and menacing, with an air of "strangers keep away."

She watched longingly as Shi Youxuan walked away, only then returning to complain to her father: "Dad, you too; I've told you several times, but you don't take it to heart at all—you just let her leave like that?"

Shi Yucheng pulled a long face: "If I didn't let her leave, what would you want? To play the game of picking up large or small banknotes with your sister?"

The sisters had played that game from childhood until they grew up; how happy Shi Yuke had been then was how annoyed she was now.

She had only realized in the last two days that she had actually been falling for Shi Youxuan's tricks all along; picking up the small-denomination banknotes looked like a loss on the surface, but in reality, she was the one who had suffered the loss.

Accumulating small amounts into a large sum—pretending to be foolish was the biggest winner.

She stomped her feet and acted spoiled toward her father: "Oh, Dad, that was all a childhood matter, why do you still remember it? Don't mention that again in the future, especially not in front of the foolish... sister."

Shi Yuke pestered her father, asking him to put in a good word for her in front of her sister to repair their sisterly relationship... after much wheedling and pestering, she finally got Shi Yucheng to agree.

……

Sheng Hanyu Villa.

Shi Youxuan went downstairs to the dining room to eat; as agreed, she and Sheng Hanyu were to eat all three meals together every day.

The table was, as usual, very rich, and as usual, there was more seafood, but the oil-braised shrimp placed in front of her made Shi Youxuan's eyes light up, and her appetite opened wide!

The oil-braised shrimp made by the chef was a specialty; the sauce was bright red, the outside was crispy, and the inside was tender—it was incredibly delicious.

Aside from the fact that her hands would get oily every time she peeled the shrimp, she loved this dish dearly.

Sheng Hanyu picked one up and peeled the shell; Shi Youxuan was surprised: "Yo, have you had a change of heart? You like eating shrimp now? Who was it that said they didn't eat seafood, and yet couldn't resist..."

He did not eat the shrimp after peeling it, but dipped it in the sauce and then placed it in Shi Youxuan's bowl.

She blushed a little; what a mess this was.

She had just been mocking and using sarcasm, but it turned out he had been peeling it for her.

Forget it, she lowered her head to shovel in her rice, pretending she hadn't said anything just now!

One after another...

Shi Youxuan was eating with great enjoyment but felt a tiny bit embarrassed; Sheng Hanyu took the entire plate of shrimp, peeled them one by one, and then placed them all into her bowl.

The housekeeper saw this and felt happy in her heart, unable to help interjecting: "The Eldest Young Master is truly good to the Eldest Young Mistress; I have never seen him pick up food for anyone else, let alone peel shrimp."

Sheng Hanyu glanced at her: "Go attend to your own business, there is no need to serve here."

Was he annoyed that she talked too much?

The housekeeper agreed and left, but every word she said had been heard by Shi Youxuan.

She thought: He has never picked up food for anyone else, does that include Jian Yixin? That shouldn't be right; Jian Yixin has been dead for five years, yet he still misses her, which shows the two of them had very deep feelings.

The housekeeper saying it like that was probably just to speak well of her Eldest Young Master, just saying it casually.

In fact, what the housekeeper said was true; Sheng Hanyu really had never picked up food for Jian Yixin.

After the meal, Shi Youxuan wanted to go out for a walk to digest, because she had eaten too much; she had finished the whole plate of braised shrimp by herself, and now she was stuffed.

"I'll go with you." Sheng Hanyu followed.

The artificial lake had been refilled with water, the lake water rippled with green waves, lotus leaves trembled slightly on the surface, pink lotus buds were ready to bloom, and a cool breeze blew, making one feel relaxed and happy.

The two walked one after the other by the lakeside, and Shi Youxuan felt amused in her heart.

What happened to the "dating" that was agreed upon?