Chapter 488: Family Reunion

"You've lost weight?" Sheng Hanyu frowned.

The little girl hugged her father's neck and acted spoiled: "I'm on a diet."

Sheng Hanyu:...

She wasn't even fat to begin with, what diet was she on?

The little girl was sensible and didn't want to make her parents worry.

Although Shi Youxuan was touched, she became picky: "You only greet your father and not your mother; are you being biased?"

"You have such a big belly, I was afraid of squashing my little brother. Why are you being so unreasonable?"

The mother and daughter started bickering the moment they met.

This was the normal state for Shi Youxuan and her daughter.

During the five months Sheng Hanyu was missing, the mother and daughter were completely harmonious, considerate of each other, and looked after one another.

Shi Youxuan achieved the standard model of a loving mother in front of Shi Ran, and Shi Ran was also so well-behaved it was as if she had turned into a different person.

Now, it had switched back.

Once the mother brought the father home, the roles in the house immediately returned to their places!

The one who was originally strict immediately became unreasonable, and the one who was originally naughty immediately exposed her true nature...

The mother and daughter came out bickering.

Aunt's lips quivered twice; she opened her arms but stood where she was, not moving.

When excitement reaches a certain level, it turns out there really are no words to say!

Sheng Hanyu strode forward and hugged his aunt: "Mom, what delicious food did you make for me?"

This was a form of address he had actually wanted to use all along.

But he had been used to calling her "Aunt" since he was small, so he had never changed it.

Returning this time, Sheng Hanyu had thought it through on the way.

Some people, once missed, are easily missed for a lifetime.

Some things, if not done, might never have a chance again for a lifetime!

His "Mom" made his aunt freeze.

In an instant, tears filled her eyes; Wang Yinghao's voice trembled with excitement: "What did you call me? Can you say it again?"

He thought she didn't care, and she had thought the same.

It turned out, she did care!

"Mom, I want to eat the braised pork ribs you make."

"Okay—"

Wang Yinghao wiped her tears while answering repeatedly: "Okay, okay, let's go, let's go home, let's go home, Mom will make you braised... ribs!"

Her tears couldn't be stopped, gushing out endlessly.

With so many people watching, Wang Yinghao felt a little embarrassed.

Shi Youxuan stepped forward to support her mother-in-law and said with a smile: "Mom, I want to eat braised pork ribs too, and sweet and sour fish, and I want a red envelope."

"Yes, you'll have it all."

Wang Yinghao dotingly poked Shi Youxuan's forehead with her finger and chided: "Running all over the world with such a big belly, yet your complexion is getting better and better. In the future, if my grandson is a naughty one, you aren't allowed to hit him; it's all the mother's fault for not setting a good example, you can't blame the child."

"You've suffered out there for a while, you need to nourish yourself well when we get back..."

A light, understated reproach, followed by nothing but deep heartache.

Yun Zhehao stepped forward and punched him on the shoulder: "You finally came back. I've been doing manual labor for you for half a year; I don't care, I want a long vacation for the second half of the year, you have to make it up to me."

Sheng Hanyu responded with two words: "Dream on!"

Jian Yining came up and gave him a big bear hug: "Hanyu Ge." He was just like he was when they were kids.

When he did something wrong as a child, Sheng Hanyu would take the blame for him; this was Jian Yining's way of saying thank you.

Now that they were both adults, acting spoiled like this was a bit... you know!

Sheng Zerong pulled the two of them apart and protested: "Hey, hey, that's enough. There are so many people here; even if you aren't disgusted, you should mind the impression you're making."

Then he hugged his older brother: "Big brother, you finally came back."

At the airport, almost everyone who should have come and who shouldn't have come, had all come.

But he just didn't see Sheng Jiang.

He didn't ask when he didn't see him; everyone crowded around Sheng Hanyu and Shi Youxuan as they walked outside, chatting and laughing.

Along the way, Sheng Hanyu always felt like he had needles pricking his back, as if someone was following them.

He called Lao Qi over and whispered a command in his ear.

Lao Qi left the crowd and quickly caught someone from a corner—Sheng Jiang!

Sheng Jiang was brought before Sheng Hanyu, who felt both annoyed and amused: "What are you doing? Why are you acting so sneaky?"

Sheng Hanyu had found it strange not to see his father; logically, a son who had been missing for a long time returning to the country was a great event, and he should have come to pick him up.

Even unrelated people had come, yet Sheng Jiang hadn't.

Although he was a little disappointed, it was only a little, and he soon stopped thinking about it.

So his father had come after all.

Wasn't a father coming to the airport to welcome his son a perfectly open and above-board thing to do?

Yet he had made it look like he was a thief.

Sheng Jiang started to fidget as soon as he was brought out by Lao Qi, and became even more flustered when asked by his son, not knowing what to say: "I, I just came to take a look; if you don't like it, I'll leave right away."

As he spoke, he was about to leave, but Shi Ran took his arm: "Grandpa, let's go back together. Dad is very happy to see you here."

"Yes, Hanyu was just asking why you hadn't arrived yet, and here you are," Shi Youxuan chimed in.

Sheng Hanyu had never asked, but he did not offer an explanation either.

Lady Jian hosted a welcome banquet for the two of them at the hotel, intending to receive them with great ceremony.

Shi Youxuan had originally intended to decline.

She was heavily pregnant, the long journey had been exhausting, and now she only wanted to go home, take a bath, and rest properly in her own comfortable bed!

Fang Jie and her mother-in-law were both excellent cooks, and delicious meals would naturally be prepared whenever she was hungry.

However, before she could voice her refusal, Lady Jian had already blocked any such possibility.

She had not only prepared a sumptuous welcome banquet at the hotel but had also arranged a room for them to rest in temporarily, and had even invited the doctor who handled Shi Youxuan's prenatal checkups to the hotel.

It had to be said that the arrangements were extremely thoughtful.

Furthermore, her attitude was incredibly enthusiastic—the kind of enthusiasm that made it impossible to refuse.

Since everything was already prepared and there were no outsiders, just their own people, they decided to go.

Everyone had a lively meal together at the hotel.

The liveliness was all due to Lady Jian; feeling guilty because she had strongly opposed her own children going out to sea to search for people, she was worried that Sheng Han might hold a grudge against her children.

She kept explaining herself incessantly.

In reality, if she hadn't explained anything, there would have been no issue at all; Sheng Hanyu was not a petty person and had not even thought in that direction.

No one else brought it up either; the past unpleasantness was over and done with!

But she insisted, and had to explain to Sheng Hanyu: "Hanyu, I didn't mean to pick a fight with Xuanxuan back then; I was just acting out of love for my children. You can understand your aunt's feelings, right?"

Sheng Hanyu's face turned cold immediately.

He questioned Shi Youxuan: "She gave you a hard time? Why did you never tell me?"

Lady Jian:...

How she regretted it!

She regretted bringing it up at all; the main thing was that she had never imagined Shi Youxuan wouldn't have mentioned it.

"Ah, it wasn't really a fight, it was just questioning... no, that's not right, discussing..."

She couldn't keep making it up.

At the time, in order to keep Jian Yixin and her brother from going, Lady Jian had used every method to obstruct and stop them; now, trying to whitewash it was not so easy.

Seeing Sheng Hanyu's gaze growing colder and colder, she could only regret it in vain.

It was Shi Youxuan who rescued her from the awkward situation.

Shi Youxuan whispered just one sentence in Sheng Hanyu's ear, and his expression became less cold.

She said softly: "I didn't suffer any losses."

Consequently, Sheng Hanyu did not embarrass Lady Jian to her face.

The welcome banquet was eaten in a state of trepidation!

Lady Jian had gone to great lengths, originally intending to curry favor with Sheng Hanyu and Shi Youxuan to mend their relationship.

As it turned out, she had ended up exposing herself instead.

If she had known it would turn out like this, she wouldn't have held any welcome banquet for anything; she had spent money and effort only to get no thanks.