Chapter 23 Going Home

Saturday morning, just past nine o’clock. Qiao Yuxian came out of her room, carrying a gift bag in her hand. She greeted Aunt Mei upstairs, then stepped out and saw Gu Yanjing in a suit in the courtyard. "Heading out?" Qiao Yuxian jumped down the steps directly and stood in front of Gu Yanjing. Today she wore light-colored jeans and an apricot-colored baby doll collar shirt. The shirt was silky, long-sleeved, light, and refreshing. Tall and slender, with straight legs and a slim waist. Her hair styled in a princess look, lightly made-up. Her beautiful fox eyes were smiling. Elegant yet playful. Stunning to a point where you couldn’t look away. Gu Yanjing looked at her and noticed her earrings, the ones his father had given her. "Going home?" Gu Yanjing asked calmly. "Hmm." Qiao Yuxian was in a good mood, "It’s my dad’s birthday." Gu Yanjing glanced at the gift bag in her hand. "I won’t be back tonight," Qiao Yuxian said, "I plan to stay at home for the night." Gu Yanjing said nothing. Qiao Yuxian looked at him, blinked slightly. Why did she feel this person in front of her suddenly got colder? Just then, Meng Yan drove over, so Qiao Yuxian didn’t think much of it. Meng Yan got out of the car, opened the door, and Gu Yanjing didn’t move. He said to Qiao Yuxian, "Get in, I’ll take you to the Qiao family first." Qiao Yuxian hesitated for a moment, then smiled: "No need, I called a car, it’ll be here shortly." Gu Yanjing didn’t say anything further, got into the car, and left. After he left, the car Qiao Yuxian called also arrived. Sitting in the car for only a while, watching the streets moving backward, Qiao Yuxian slowly tightened her grip on the gift bag, a sudden wave of nervousness emerging from within. Her impressions of her father mostly stayed at three or four years old. Back then, the Qiao family was still in Yue City, and her father’s work wasn’t so busy. She would wait for her father to come back from work every day, wait for him to hold her, wait for him to bring gifts. But since her father moved to the Capital City for his career, they’ve rarely seen each other. At first, he would come back, bring gifts, and stay with her for a day or two. Later, his work became busier and visits became less frequent, her impression of him grew more indistinct, sometimes even feeling unfamiliar when seeing him. The distance between them grew wider. This situation lasted for over ten years. The Qiao family finally established themselves in the Capital City. And rumors of her father having another daughter also reached Yue City. Afterward, her father married Qiao Lechu’s mother, and not long after, had another child. Qiao Yuxian didn’t respond much to all this; the only thing she felt was her father finally having a family free of her as a burden. Some thoughts run deep; she instinctively felt she was an outsider, never belonging to that home, always feeling unfamiliar. ... The car stopped in front of the Qiao Family Villa, Qiao Yuxian got out and stood outside for a while before entering the villa. Changing shoes at the entrance, she immediately heard playful noises from inside. Entering the living room, she saw Qiao Lechu pinning Qiao Zhiang down on the sofa, tickling his sensitive spots. Qiao Zhiang was helpless, only able to shout. Qiao Zhiang was her seven-year-old half-brother. The sibling’s playful antics were joyful, until they noticed her, and stopped. Qiao Lechu immediately stood upright, tidied his clothes, and smiled obediently at her: "Sis." Qiao Zhiang also sat up and looked at her, then ran toward her. Coming to an abrupt stop, he stood, craning his head to look at her, and called out: "Sister." Qiao Yuxian patted the top of his head: "Hmm." Chen Hui heard the sound, came out of the kitchen with a fruit tray, apron-clad, and upon seeing Qiao Yuxian, smiled: "Yuxian is back." "Auntie." Qiao Yuxian politely greeted her. Chen Hui was the mother of Qiao Lechu and Qiao Zhiang, previously the finance officer at her dad’s company, now almost entirely devoted to the family. She was gentle and also very virtuous. Chen Hui responded with a smile: "Sit down and have some fruit. Your dad and Shuning are discussing something in the study, they should be out soon." "Okay. Thank you, Auntie." Chen Hui placed the fruit down and went back into the kitchen. Qiao Yuxian took Qiao Zhiang to the sofa side, and as she was about to set down the gift, the door of the upstairs study opened. She looked up and saw Qiao Shuning coming out. Their eyes met, Qiao Shuning curled her lips into a smug smile, with a sly hint to it: "Qiao Yuxian, Uncle wants you in the study." Qiao Lechu sensed something amiss and looked toward Qiao Yuxian. Qiao Yuxian’s expression was calm, she ignored Qiao Shuning, and with the gift in hand, went upstairs. ... The Study Qiao Yu sat at the desk, wearing a gray vest, white shirt, with a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. Today marked his fiftieth birthday. But his appearance seemed only around forty. His physique was well maintained, his looks handsome, carrying the mature charm of a man of this age. Qiao Yuxian bore quite a resemblance to him in appearance, but possessed feminine allure and gentleness. In Qiao Yu’s expressions, gentleness was tempered by firmness and sharpness. Qiao Yuxian ignored the stiff atmosphere in the air, walked to the desk, placed down the gift, and said: "Dad, happy birthday." He had brought a birthday gift on a business trip, and Qiao Yuxian happily returned to brag about it to Gu Yanjing. But when facing Qiao Yu directly, she was obedient, honest, steady, polite..... but lacked familial closeness. Her psychologist friend told her. Her father’s affection delighted her because of her childhood impressions of him. The current father was different from before. The current father carried over a decade of unfamiliarity, had his own complete family. So, when truly facing her father, she felt a distance inside. Qiao Yu had a stack of photos turned upside down beneath his right hand. He didn’t lift his head to look at Qiao Yuxian, his gaze rested on the gift. Seeing him look, Qiao Yuxian took out the gift. A box made from pear wood, upon opening it was an ink stick inside. The ink stick had a design of double dragons playing with a pearl. It was Dragon Fragrant Jade Ink, an antique ink stick over two hundred years old. During his leisure time, Qiao Yu liked to write. Qiao Yuxian sought out great effort to contact a collector, bought it at a high price. As far as known, besides the piece she acquired, another was preserved in a museum. Qiao Yuxian placed it in front of him. Qiao Yu didn’t touch it, only looked. He was quite versed in these, naturally able to distinguish authenticity. As he looked at the ink stick, the hand resting on the table trembled slightly, his emotional waves surged in his eyes. After a while, he asked: "Where did you get this?" Qiao Yuxian glanced at him, sensing something amiss but still obediently answered: "Bought it through a friend." Finally, Qiao Yu raised his gaze to her, sharp hostility pierced through the lens. Qiao Yuxian’s hand that hung clenched slightly, she looked at him calmly. This was the first time her father showed her such an expression. "Yuxian, did the school suspend you?" Qiao Yu’s tone was clearly suppressing anger. Qiao Yuxian gently furrowed her brows, paused, and said: "How do you know?" Qiao Yu took a deep breath, flipped over the stack of photos under his hand, pushed them in front of her. Qiao Yuxian picked them up and took a look. All were screenshots of forum content. Photos of her with Meng Yan, Shang Chenjiang, Jiang Shouzhuo, and various comments, screenshots of posts. All were berating her, with all sorts of nasty remarks. She had seen almost all of these. The only one she hadn’t seen was a post saying she was suspended. The screenshot comment was someone having called the foreign languages college to verify, indeed suspended. After that post appeared, her chaotic private life seemed confirmed. Qiao Yuxian looked through these photos one by one, then set them down, looked at Qiao Yu. Her demeanor remained obedient, with something subtly brewing in her eyes. "Don’t you have anything to explain?" Qiao Yu asked. "Explain what?" Qiao Yuxian retorted. Qiao Yu’s pupils quivered significantly, his grip tightened, expression taut, words squeezed from gritted teeth: "So... do you admit these things?" "So, do you believe the things in these posts?" Qiao Yuxian retorted again. "I don’t want to believe any of it. But your school suspended you. I’ve already called and asked." Qiao Yu’s anger was hard to suppress, "How am I supposed to think?"