Jiang Hongtao and his wife had not come empty-handed. They had brought canned goods, malted milk powder, refined flour, fabric, and many other things. There were so many gifts that even the large table could not hold them all.
After all, they were about to take away the precious daughter the Jiang family had lovingly raised for so many years. It would have been embarrassing to come without bringing anything.
When Jiang Hongtao explained why they had come, Yao Xiulan immediately burst into tears. Jiang Dazhu’s eyes also reddened.
He still remembered the nights after his daughter had first arrived in the village. She had been so tiny and soft, crying through the night, and he would carry her in his arms as he paced back and forth across the room to soothe her.
Later, his daughter slowly grew up. With each passing day, she became more adorable, more beautiful, and more sensible.
How could he possibly bear to let go of such a wonderful child, even if she wasn’t his biological daughter?
But what if she wanted to leave?
The rest of the Jiang family felt the same way. The child was already grown and should be allowed to make her own decision. Those two were her biological parents, after all, and they could give her a better life.
People naturally sought better opportunities, just as water flowed downhill. Wasn’t their own biological daughter unwilling to return to this poor, remote village?
Jiang Wanxi, however, didn’t feel that way at all.
She had absolutely no desire to go to the capital.
She had no grand ambitions and couldn’t be bothered with scheming or calculating. Life in this family was wonderful. Everyone in the extended family doted on her, and she never had to think about how to please them. Their affection for one another was sincere and wholehearted.
In her previous life, she had been an orphan. Now that she had finally been given a family in this life, she didn’t want to leave them.
She wanted to cherish and protect these precious family bonds that had been so difficult for her to obtain.
More importantly, she really didn’t want to become the vicious supporting female character!
“Um… Commander Jiang, if I go back with you, will Jiang Yu come here?” Jiang Wanxi asked, deliberately putting on an innocent expression.
They had only just met. She really couldn’t bring herself to call them Mom and Dad.
Hearing his own daughter address him as “Commander Jiang” left Jiang Hongtao with mixed feelings.
Still, after thinking about it, he understood. Their arrival had been far too sudden. The child hadn’t yet accepted the reality of the situation, so it was only natural for there to be some distance between them.
In fact, if she had immediately acted affectionate and eagerly acknowledged them as her parents, he might have had to question her character.
“Well…” Shen Menglan hesitated. “Xiaoxi, you know that A-Yu has been by our side for sixteen years. We can’t bear to part with her either. But you’re the child I carried for ten months and gave birth to, so of course I can’t bear to part with you either. Both of you are equally precious to me. I truly…”
Unable to hold herself back any longer, Shen Menglan began to sob.
“Besides, A-Yu still can’t accept what happened. I’m afraid she isn’t ready to come back and meet everyone yet.”
“Auntie, I understand how you feel, but my parents also went through countless hardships to raise me. Like you said, both children are equally precious. My parents feel the same way. If I simply left them like this, wouldn’t I be completely heartless?”
Jiang Wanxi continued sincerely, “To tell you the truth, I never considered leaving with you. Just as Jiang Yu doesn’t want to come back here, we’re both confused, helpless, and even afraid right now. We’re afraid that once we leave, we might never be able to return. We’re afraid we won’t be able to fit into a new family. And we’re even more afraid that if we don’t behave well enough, everyone might end up disliking us.”
Jiang Wanxi wasn’t trying to speak up for Jiang Yu. She already knew that Jiang Yu would never willingly return here.
She was simply afraid that if she couldn’t escape the plot and was destined to return to the Jiang family anyway, then she at least wanted them to understand beforehand that she had no intention of competing with Jiang Yu for her place in the family.
“If the child goes back with you, will she be given an urban household registration?” Grandpa Jiang, who had remained silent until now, suddenly asked. “And what about a job in the future? Will that be arranged? This girl is quite clever. She’s ranked first in her class every year.”
“What do you mean by that? Are you trying to send Baoya away? You’re trying to kill me!” Grandma Jiang cried as she pounded Grandpa Jiang with her fists.
She finally understood what was happening.
Their biological granddaughter clearly had no intention of coming back. Although Baoya wasn’t related to them by blood, she had always been incredibly filial and loving toward them.
If Baoya left, would she even get to see the girl again before she died?
“You women only think about what’s right in front of you!” Grandpa Jiang scolded. “That’s the city we’re talking about—the capital! If Baoya can get an urban household registration, it’ll also be easier for her to find a good husband in the future. Do you expect her to spend her entire life stuck here?”
“We can’t give her a better life ourselves, so why shouldn’t we let someone else give her one? Besides, they’re her biological parents.”
Of course Grandpa Jiang couldn’t bear to let her go either.
But they couldn’t keep the child by their side forever just because they loved her, could they?
“That’s right. It’s settled, then. Baoya, you’ll go back with your parents.”
After hearing her father-in-law’s words, Yao Xiulan finally understood as well.
Her daughter was still young. She deserved the chance to spread her wings and fly higher and farther.
As her mother, she couldn’t selfishly keep the girl by her side forever.