Chapter 443: What I Feared the Most All These Years Was That I Couldn’t Give These to You Personally in the End

Grandmother Ruan was so excited after hearing from Ruan Danchen that she failed to muster a reply.

After Ruan Danchen returned the phone to Chen Minxia, Grandmother Ruan asked for their estimated time of arrival before hanging up the call.

…

…

The Ruan family hired a housekeeper since Grandfather Ruan and Grandmother Ruan were getting old now. Unlike the full-time housekeepers who lived in the Qi family, she was an hourly housekeeper whose job was to maintain cleanliness and help with meal preparations in the Ruan family. She would then leave after fulfilling all her duties. Since there was a washing machine in the house, Grandmother Ruan would do the laundry herself.

However, Grandmother Ruan insisted on preparing meals personally because she had finally found her precious granddaughter that the Ruan family had been searching for a very long time.

Grandmother Ruan was out buying ingredients when Ruan Danchen and Qi Chenglin entered the house—the housekeeper had opened the door for them. Since the Ruan family was finally reunited, Grandmother Ruan preferred a celebration without outsiders. Moreover, it was inappropriate for an outsider to listen in on such private family matters. Thus, before leaving to get groceries, Grandmother Ruan told the housekeeper that she was allowed to leave once Ruan Danchen and her family arrived.

Thus, the housekeeper took her bag and left the house after bidding farewell to the Ruan family.

Chen Minxia brought Ruan Danchen to take a look around the house, and just a few moments after they sat down, they heard the sound of a key turning in the door’s lock.

“It must be mom,” Chen Minxia said and stood by the door.

Ruan Danchen then followed closely behind her. The door opened momentarily and an energetic old lady whose short hair was dyed maroon walked in. Her embroidered cardigan was brightly colored but refined, and the bell sleeve and wide hem on the cardigan made her appear especially glamorous and elegant.

Grandmother Ruan was in high spirits and her face appeared youthful too. One would not believe that she was an old lady in her seventies just from looking at her.

Chen Minxia quickly took over the ingredients in Grandmother Ruan’s hands, but it was too much for her to handle. Thus, Grandmother Ruan placed the remaining ingredients on the ground and hurried over to take a look at Ruan Danchen.

“Grandma,” Ruan Danchen greeted uneasily.

Grandmother Ruan was frozen to the spot upon noticing Ruan Danchen. After a few moments of absent-mindedness, she nodded. “Alike, really alike. You look just like Keyu.”

Grandmother Ruan’s arms trembled uncontrollably as she reached out for Ruan Danchen, and nearly stumbled in the process from overwhelming jubilation and excitement.

Ruan Danchen was quick to react and supported Grandmother Ruan instantly. Grandmother Ruan immediately held onto Ruan Danchen’s hands and stroked upwards inch by inch before shifting her hands to Ruan Danchen’s face before saying, “You really… You really look just like your dad. My granddaughter… My granddaughter! After so many years, grandma finally found you. My child!”

Chen Minxia came out of the kitchen after placing all the ingredients and said, “Mom, have a seat first before continuing your conversation with Danchen. I’ll prepare dinner in the meantime.”

“Okay, okay.” Grandmother Ruan went to the living room with Ruan Danchen’s help. Then, she saw Qi Chenglin standing and asked, “This is… your husband?”

Ruan Danchen nodded. “He’s Qi Chenglin. We just received our marriage certificate and the wedding is still in preparation. You can witness our marriage when the time comes.”

The sobbing Grandmother Ruan shed tears immediately. “I didn’t expect… I didn’t expect to be able to witness your marriage. We… We have to prepare a dowry for you.”

“Grandma, there’s no need for that,” Ruan Danchen rejected.

“It’s a must! We’ve never done anything for you for the past twenty-seven years and you want to reject us on this matter too?” Grandmother Ruan insisted.

“How can you say that you’ve never done anything for me? You paid me greatly when you’ve never given up your search for me. Otherwise, how can I see you now if you’ve given up on me?” Ruan Danchen replied but gave up rejecting Grandmother Ruan after realizing that she was trying to repent for her granddaughter.

“We’re useless. We’ve failed to locate you after so many years,” Grandmother Ruan said before asking Ruan Danchen about her life.

Ruan Danchen summarized her life succinctly as she preferred not to make Grandmother Ruan sad. She had also chosen to keep matters between her and Qi Chenglin a secret.

However, Ruan Keshan did not want Grandmother Ruan to assume that Liu Ronghua was a kind woman. Thus, he blurted everything Liu Ronghua did—including those disgusting misconducts and unforgivable sins—to Grandmother Ruan without mentioning the secret between Ruan Danchen and Qi Chenglin.

“She… How do such horrible people exist in the world? She tore a family apart. Karma will find her one day!” Grandmother Ruan yelled angrily but her hands caressed Ruan Danchen’s cheek—her heart wrenched.

“Did you guys inform your dad about this?” Grandmother Ruan asked.

“Not yet. He’s on the plane at the moment. That’s more than ten hours of flight, so there’s no way we can inform him now. I figured he’ll rush back here immediately without attending any meetings after I tell him about this,” Ruan Keshan answered.

“Naturally. Granddaughter is more important than everything else now,” Grandmother Ruan agreed directly.

Then, the doorbell rang..

Grandmother Ruan brightened up. “Are my grandchildren back?”

Ruan Danchen went to answer the door, and sure enough, Ruan Zeer and Qi Youxuan were standing at the doorway with Xiao Yang standing behind them.

Xiao Yang left immediately after fulfilling his duty of sending the two gentlemen home.

The kid ran forward and hugged Ruan Danchen’s thigh like a little piggy. “Mom, why did you visit Brother Ruan’s grandma’s house?”

“I think it’s for the best for you to break this to Youxuan personally,” Ruan Zeer said.

Qi Youxuan noticed that Uncle Xiao Yang went to the Ruan family’s house directly after fetching Ruan Zeer, and Ruan Zeer merely explained that Qi Youxuan’s parents were at the Ruan family’s house and would be their guests that night.

Ruan Danchen nodded and brought the kid closer. “You can’t call him Brother Ruan from now on. He’s your uncle now.”

The kid was shocked and alarmed at the sudden news. Then, he felt several gazes rested on him and was so overwhelmed by the intense love these gazes radiated—he had no idea what was truly happening.

“Your mom finally found her family. I wasn’t actually born without a family. I was just taken away when I was a baby and that’s why they couldn’t find me after all these years. But they’ve never given up their search for me. Now, we’re finally reunited,” Ruan Danchen explained.

The kid’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Mom, you found my grandparents too?”

Ruan Danchen’s lips twitched uncomfortably. “Your grandparents passed away after I was born.”

“Your horrible mom took you away at that time, right?” Qi Youxuan was as smart as a whip.

Ruan Danchen nodded in response, noticing the indignant look on the kid’s face as she caressed his cheek softly. Then, she brought the kid to Grandmother Ruan and said, “She’s my grandma, so you need to greet her as great-grandmother.”

“Grandma, his name is Qi Youxuan and he’s seven years old now.”

The kid noticed the tears welling up in the old lady’s eyes had started to stream down her cheeks. Thus, he took out a piece of tissue paper from his bag quickly and wiped the tears off Grandmother Ruan’s face with the tissue paper in his chubby hand.

“Great-grandma, please don’t cry. You should smile happily after seeing me.” The kid scrunched up his eyes and grinned at Grandmother Ruan.

“Okay, I’ll smile.” Grandmother Ruan tried her best to smile despite still tearing up.

Grandmother Ruan’s heart melted instantly after seeing the chubby and cute Qi Youxuan who was such a sensible boy with a pink dango-like face. He even wiped the tears off her face with such gentleness!

Grandmother Ruan said quickly, “Let me wipe the tears myself.”

“No. I want to help great-grandma wipe the tears.” The kid then squeezed into Grandmother Ruan’s embosom. “Great-grandma, please stop crying. I won’t have enough tissue papers if you continue crying.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll stop crying.” Grandmother Ruan’s heart melted. Why did she have such a loving great-grandchild?

Then, she lifted the kid and let him rest on her thighs. There was no way Grandmother Ruan could continue shedding tears after having such a cute and smart great-grandson.

“This is my uncle, he’s your granduncle,” Ruan Danchen said.

The kid then greeted him immediately.

Chen Minxia overheard the kid’s voice and came out from the kitchen. When she saw the kid, she recalled his cuteness at that one time in the shopping mall.

The kid was clever enough to greet his grandaunt, and as for Ruan Zeer, he had no choice but to greet him as his uncle now.

Grandmother Ruan then put the kid down on the ground. Ruan Keshan seized the opportunity and hugged him immediately, enjoying the sight of this chubby pink dango and feeling the softness in his embosom. He loved this kid so much.

The kid even used his usual style of handling the elders from the Qi family to coax the Ruan family, which made them so excited that they momentarily lost their sense of direction.

Grandmother Ruan returned a few moments later with a red packet and a mahogany box in each of her hands.

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“Come, this is a red packet from your great-grandma.” Grandmother Ruan stared at the kid enthusiastically.

When Grandmother Ruan received a call from Chen Minxia in the evening stating that her long lost granddaughter had been found and she even had a great-grandson, she had no idea what she should do first amidst the jubilation. Suddenly, she thought of giving welcome gifts, and thus, went to search for leftover red packets she purchased for Chinese New Year and put eight thousand Yuan in it.

The kid noticed that the red packet felt thick after receiving it and pounced straight into Grandmother Ruan’s embrace. “You’re so kind, great-grandma.”

Ruan Danchen did not reject the elder’s kind offer too and said, “He’s a little money-grubber who’ll seize every possible opportunity to earn money from his uncles at home or Chenglin’s friends.”

“Our Youxuan is so cute. I can’t wait to give him everything I have.” Grandmother Ruan glanced at the fair and chubby kid with so much affection. She was unwilling to shift her gaze elsewhere.

“I like great-grandma too. I felt your love and kindness on first glance.” Qi Youxuan’s eyes were big and shiny as he put on a smile on his reddened face.

Then, he turned his head to Ruan Keshan and said, “I like grandpa too.”

He even shifted his gaze to Ruan Keshan’s pocket as he spoke.

“Grandpa, it’s our first time meeting each other too!”

Ruan Keshan laughed after being fawned over by the kid—all the discomfort vanished into thin air. Then, he quickly asked for an empty red packet from Grandmother Ruan.

Coincidentally, Chen Minxia withdrew quite an amount of money last night since Ruan Keshan was hospitalized, which they used to give a red packet to the kid.

The kid then sweet-talked them again until they were all beaming with delight.

Grandmother Ruan got up and sat beside Ruan Danchen before opening the mahogany box.

Ruan Danchen noticed a few flannel bags which were functioned to protect the precious items inside the mahogany box.

Grandmother Ruan withdrew one of the flannel bags and took out a pair of small gold bangles that were placed in it. Inside the second bag was a golden lock with the word ‘Fu¹‘ engraved on it, and the third bag had a jade Buddha pendant inlaid with gold around it.

“I bought this for you when your mom was pregnant at that time, thinking that I would gift this to you after you were born, but who would expect…” Grandmother Ruan sobbed, placing the gifts in Ruan Danchen’s palms after noticing Ruan Danchen reaching out to her.

Ruan Danchen noticed that these gifts were small but very delicate. Thus, she understood Grandmother Ruan’s intentions at that time.

She knew the Ruan family was not rich at that time. Grandfather Ruan and Ruan Keshan were just ordinary People’s Teachers, and their identity status and remuneration were not as high compared to the current trend.

Thus, she had no idea how long Grandmother Ruan saved up to buy those expensive gold and beautiful jade.

Looking at the gifts, Ruan Danchen could feel Grandmother Ruan’s love and anticipation at her birth. This kindness was exactly what Ruan Danchen had been yearning for her entire life.

In actuality, she owned it all her life. She just did not realize it yet.

The Ruan family had been giving their very best for her even though she could not receive it.

“I’ve been keeping this ever since your disappearance, and I’ll look at them every day, thinking that we must find you no matter what and give all these to you. What I feared the most all these years was that I couldn’t give these to you personally in the end, but everything’s good now. I’ve finally passed all these to you personally.”

Grandmother Ruan rubbed Ruan Danchen’s wrist gently. “It’s a pity that I can’t witness you wearing all these now. Grandma… Grandma really wanted to see you wearing all these and how you looked like when you were a baby. I wanted to watch as you grow up and take care of you as well. We didn’t even know how you looked like when you were young…”

Grandmother Ruan started sobbing involuntarily and Ruan Keshan was wiping away her tears at the side too.

Their hatred toward Liu Ronghua went through the roof then. The tragedy the Ruan family faced and the agony they endured all these years was all because of her.

How could that lady be so vicious? Grandmother Ruan really hoped that karma would come to her soon.

Who did she think she was to separate them and deprive the Ruan family of their prosperity?

Ruan Danchen understood Grandmother Ruan’s pain and suffering because she experienced the same feeling with Qi Youxuan too. Qi Youxuan lived a good life and the Qi family was especially loving and kind toward him, but now Ruan Danchen regretted that she did not take care of him for the past seven years.

How about the Ruan family? They missed her for twenty-seven years!

They were even in a state of fear and anxiety all these years because her life and whereabouts remained a mystery to them.

The agony they suffered was a hundred times more than when she lost Qi Youxuan!

The Qi family kept a lot of photographs of the kid in his youth—when he was born, during his full moon, and in broad daylight.

There were even video recordings of him learning to sit up, crawling, calling out to his father and grandparents, swimming, and the first day of him going to kindergarten.

Every moment of his life and every detail of his activities were recorded by the Qi family.

Even though Ruan Danchen did not take part in any of it, she saw all the photographs in the end, which offsets the regrets she had to some extent.

However, Liu Ronghua did not take any pictures or record videos of Ruan Danchen during her youth. Ruan Danchen could not remember how she looked like during her infancy, and even when her memory started to develop, the images of her appearance during her childhood had faded away too.

Grandmother Ruan was devoid of any chances to look at Ruan Danchen during her youth.

Tears spilled down Ruan Danchen’s cheeks. It was just a simple request, but Ruan Danchen was unable to complete it, and thus, it became an eternal regret to Grandmother Ruan.

Ruan Danchen passed the jade Buddha pendant to Grandmother Ruan. “Grandma, I can still wear this pendant. Can you please help me put it on?”

Grandmother Ruan nodded vigorously. Tears continued to flow down her face but her smile remained gratifying.

At least there was something she could put on her granddaughter personally.

The jade Buddha was attached to a gold chain which was incomparable to the platinum chain in the current market, and its craftsmanship was from decades ago too. Thus, this pendant was considered old-fashioned compared to current trends.

However, Ruan Danchen did not care at all.

Grandmother Ruan took the jade Buddha pendant and put in around Ruan Danchen’s neck. Then, Ruan Danchen kept the jade Buddha under her shirt carefully to carry it closely with her at all times.

“Even though I can’t wear these now, I can keep them for my daughter.” Ruan Danchen touched the delicate small gold bangles and golden lock.

Grandmother Ruan was frozen to the spot. Feeling pleasantly surprised, she fixed her gaze on Ruan Danchen before shifting it again to Ruan Danchen’s abdomen. “You…”

“I’m pregnant for more than one month now. The fetus’s gender can’t be determined yet but I hope that I’ll give birth to a baby girl. She can wear all these after she’s born.” Ruan Danchen grabbed Grandmother Ruan’s hand and placed it on her abdomen.

Grandmother Ruan rejected despite the nods, “That’s yours, not the child’s. I’ll buy again when your baby is born, and this time, we’ll… we’ll take good care of your child.”

Ruan Danchen nodded in response.

Chen Minxia served the dishes and said, “Come, dinner is served.”

All of them gathered around the dining table and sat down accordingly while Grandmother Ruan dragged Ruan Danchen to sit beside her. “I have no idea what’s your favorite dish and I forgot to ask you just now because of all the excitement. I thought about it and figured that we could just prepare dinner based on Keyu’s preferences. Try these, and tell me which dishes you dislike. I’ll be sure to remember them.”

Ruan Danchen glanced at the food on the table and said sincerely, “All of them are my favorites.”

“Even the taste too?” Chen Minxia asked doubtfully as she stared eagerly at Ruan Danchen. “I think you’re unfamiliar with Keyu, that’s why I cooked these based on his preferences. That way, you can get to know your dad further, but tell me what’s your preferences too and we’ll cook everything based on yours in the future.”

Before Ruan Danchen could muster a reply, the kid answered, “All of these are my mom’s favorites, and mine too.”

Then, he grabbed a pair of chopsticks with his chubby hands and stared at the food eagerly. He was taught since young to start eating only when the elders did.

“This kid isn’t a picky eater, and everything palatable is considered his favorite,” Ruan Danchen explained with a smile and felt worried too. Why did the kid remain chubby despite his persistent effort in losing weight?

His chubbiness was considered cute since he was only seven years old, but that would not be the case if his chubbiness persisted when he grew older.

“Then eat more. What’s your most favorite food?” Grandmother Ruan asked, but she had already placed a piece of chicken drumstick into his bowl. Then, more food was put on his bowl and all of them were meat, which exhilarated the little kid.

“Meat. Any meat will be my favorite!” Qi Youxuan’s chubby hand grabbed the chicken drumstick and started munching on it, smearing a layer of oil across his mouth.

Ruan Danchen stared at them grudgingly and wondered why the elders in both families had the same tendency to make the little kid grow fatter.

Fortunately, Grandmother Qi and Guan Liya had reduced the kid’s calorie intake as they figured that it was unwise for the kid to continue growing horizontally.

“Grandma, he needs to lose weight now. It’ll be awful if he’s still fat after growing up,” Ruan Danchen whispered to Grandmother Ruan, worrying that she would be angry about this since it was a display of love and care toward a child.

Luckily, Grandmother Ruan was a reasonable individual who would not scold youngsters for their own children’s education. Moreover, she recognized her granddaughter just a few moments ago and thus, she would not rebuke on Ruan Danchen when their relationship was not close yet.

Grandmother Ruan treated Ruan Zeer the same way too. Even though Ruan Zeer was her grandson, she would not comment on the way Ruan Keshan and Chen Minxia educated their own child.

Looking at Qi Youxuan’s chubbiness now, Grandmother Ruan realized that persistent fat accumulation was detrimental to his health in the long run despite his cuteness. Thus, she refrained herself from adding more meat in the kid’s bowl.

The situation became unfavorable when the kid noticed that his great-grandmother had decided not to support him further on his carnivorism, so he gulped down the chicken drumstick in a hurry.

However, Qi Chenglin transferred more than half of the meat in the kid’s bowl to his own in a leisurely manner while the kid was busy chewing on the drumstick. In the end, there was only one piece of each type of meat left in his bowl.