Happy Reunion

Guan Qing and her grandmother, Madam Bai, finally arrived on the 23rd day of the 12th month.

Guan Wan was too excited, so after she left a few instructions for the kitchen, she dragged Song Caitang out of the house with her to welcome them.

Song Caitang laughed as she followed her out.

It was snowing again and it was very cold, so Guan Qing wouldn’t have wanted them to come out of the house. But just like Guan Wan, Song Caitang couldn’t sit still at home either. She kept looking out of the window and really wanted to be the first to see if Guan Qing was still as energetic as before, whether she was still a feisty fighter; whether her grandmother still liked to secretly eat candy or if she was still getting others to hide candies for her.

Song Caitang found herself very strange too. She had been in Bianliang for less than a year and had been separated from Guan Qing for merely a few months. Everyone was always so busy, so even when they were all living in Luanze, they didn’t always get to see each other. Yet her attachment to the two ladies was so deep…

“Let’s go.”

She helped Guan Wan to put on a thick cape and furry arm warmers, made her hold onto a hand warmer, then helped her into the horse carriage.

According to the letter from Guan Qing, they had already gotten off the ship and would stay one night outside the city. They would head to the city first thing in the morning and arrive only after noon. The earliest would be 11am.

But Song Caitang and Guan Wan couldn’t help but leave the house early. They knew their elder sister’s temperament well, so they dared not go too far out in the bitter cold and just waited at the city gate.

Guan Wan started getting anxious as she waited inside the carriage, so she got servant after servant to go outside the city gate to take a look.

“Why aren’t they here yet… why aren’t they here yet… Cousin, where do you think they are right now?”

Song Caitang immediately felt her heart melt when Guan Wan stared at her with those adorable, watery, almond-shaped eyes of hers. Song Caitang fed her some pine nuts. “Wanwan, relax. I’m sure they’re about to arrive.”

This happened a few more times and Guan Wan nearly hopped out of the carriage, but Song Caitang managed to hold her down. She pouted and whined because of how anxious she was. Waiting was really hard.

Finally, the servant who had been sent to take a look returned. “They’re here! Eldest Young Mistress is here! We’ve spotted the carriages of our family!”

Guan Wan couldn’t hold herself back anymore. She squealed in delight and jumped out of the carriage. “Eldest Sis is here!”

Perhaps it was because they had spotted the servants from their family, but the carriages with the Guans’ logo on the outside came into the city especially quickly.

The carriage waiting right in front was the one with Guan Song inside.

“Why did the two of you come out too? It’s so cold, you should have stayed home.”

Guan Song was not Madam Bai’s son, but he had great respect for Madam Bai as his father’s first and official wife. In fact, he had gone two days earlier to personally pick up Guan Qing and Madam Bai from the port.

His expression seemed stern and his brows were straight, so he looked like he was scolding the girls. But his lips were curled upward slightly, so he was really just showing concern for them while allowing them to do what they wanted. Of course Guan Wan and Song Caitang weren’t afraid.

“Uncle, we’re sorry,” they said as they bowed slightly and quickly looked beyond Guan Song. “Where’s Eldest Sis? Where’s Grandmother?”

The curtain of a horse carriage at the back was pulled aside. Guan Qing got out of the carriage.

She was dressed in a fiery reed dress and wore a thick, red fox fur cape. Her snatched waist, pretty eyes and red lips made her look like a walking red plum blossom in the thick snow. She was the prettiest, the most charming and the most fragrant of them all.

And just like how she always was, the first thing she did was to chide her two younger sisters. “Who told you two to come and welcome me? Both of you are always excellent at finding useless things to do! If you end up falling ill over the new year because of the cold, I’m the one who will have to take care of you!”

As she scolded them, she frowned at their clothes too. “Didn’t the merchant send over some high grade ermine fur? Why didn’t you get some clothing made? And why are your faces and hair so bare? If you ran out of money, why didn’t you write to me about it?”

Song Caitang was just a little excited, so she could still control her emotions. But not Guan Wan. Her eyes reddened and she burst into tears. “Eldest Sister…”

The way she called out to Guan Qing was so sweet, yet so heartbreaking.

Guan Qing immediately broke character and pulled her sister into her arms to console her. “Alright, alright, I’m here, I’m here… don’t cry anymore… or you won’t be pretty anymore…”

Guan Wan cried even harder.

Guan Qing sighed. “I know you miss the food from our hometown, so I brought a lot along with me…”

That successfully distracted Guan Wan. “Really?”

There were still tears on her cheeks, but she was clearly excited now.

Guan Qing tried not to sigh loudly.

Song Caitang covered her mouth and chuckled silently. Using food was definitely the best way to deal with Guan Wan.

Guan Qing noticed Song Caitang laughing at her, so she poked her forehead with a slim finger.

Song Caitang pretended to clutch her forehead in pain and ran to the side.

She was happy to see that Guan Qing still looked the same. They could always find time to catch up later. She wasn’t going to burst out crying in public like some child.

The curtain was drawn back again and Madam Bai stuck a hand out to wave Song Caitang over with a smile. Song Caitang ignored the cold and ran over. “Grandmother!”

“My granddaughter…” Madam Bai responded cheerily with a pretty smile on her face. She was very energetic and she even got a hand warmer for Song Caitang. “Come here and enjoy some warmth with me.”

Song Caitang waited till her clothes weren’t cold anymore and she felt warmer before leaning over to speak to her grandmother.

During this time, the snow got heavier and heavier, as though it was raining goose feathers. Cao Zhang rode on a horse and came from behind. When he got closer, he hopped off his horse with flair and held an umbrella in his hand.

He opened the umbrella and walked beside Guan Qing to shield her from the snow.

But Guan Qing didn’t seem to care for it. She frowned and chased him away. “I’m already home, so why are you still here? Shoo, shoo! Go away!”

Cao Zhang frowned and pursed his lips. His gaze was sinister and he looked very unhappy, but the moment Guan Qing threw him a glare, he shrank back and the look of aggression on his face turned into an aggrieved expression instead. “I mean… I’m strong, so I thought I could help you with carrying stuff or something…”

Guan Qing paused to think, then said, “You’re right. If you help to move and carry our things, then I’d save money on tipping the servants here.”

She began to seriously consider this option.

But as for the umbrella.

She pushed it aside.

“Stop being a country bumpkin! It’s snowing, not raining! Can’t you see? Nobody in Bianliang’s carrying umbrellas! Shoo! Go further away from me!”

Cao Zhang looked upset, but he didn’t dare to nag at her. He just quietly added, “Then… at least put the hood on.”

Then, he obediently rode his horse to the back of the entourage.

Song Caitang watched all of this in disbelief.

The leader of the notorious Green Gang, a man famous for clever and complex schemes, a man well-known for his vicious and cruel methods, a man who dared to do anything in the world. Such a man listened to Guan Qing just like that?

Also, the way Guan Qing seemed to only care about how useful he was to her at the time and chased him away when she didn’t need him…

Song Caitang really didn’t want to think of her cousin this way, but it did seem like Guan Qing was being quite the douchebag.

The Guans didn’t lack money and had huge horse carriages. It looked plain and simple from the outside, but it was fully furnished on the inside and warm, and it could definitely take another two more people without any problem. And so, Song Caitang and Guan Wan got into the carriage with Guan Qing and Madam Bai and chatted all the way home. The air was filled with merriment and warmth.

Once they got home, it was time to have dinner. The table was covered in all sorts of fancy dishes, since the new year was almost upon them. Everyone was relaxed and was having lots of fun. Even Guan Lang stopped holding onto a book and helped to put food in Madam Bai’s bowl several times, which made her smile and laugh throughout dinner. She gave him a huge box of gifts too, saying that her grandson was all grown up now and was the hope of the family.

Guan Qing and Madam Bai had brought a lot of things with them from Luanze and were extremely well-prepared. Their concern for Guan Song and Guan Lang were no less than Guan Wan and Song Caitang, and perhaps they valued the two men even more. But Guan Song was still very magnanimous about everything. His father’s first wife and his eldest niece were both already here, so he declared that he wouldn’t have to take care of the things at home anymore and could concentrate on work. Madam Bai could take care of things at home and teach Guan Wan along the way, while Guan Qing focused on the business. He even asked Guan Qing very sincerely about her opinions on the business.

When it came to gifts, he didn’t want to spend time thinking of what to buy and just gave everyone money. With money, you could buy anything you wanted, after all.

Guan Lang was very respectful toward Guan Qing and Madam Bai too. The academy was taking a break over the new year and he didn’t need to go to school. He would greet his grandmother in her room every morning without fail.

After such a long time, Song Caitang finally got it. Everyone in this family was kind-hearted, but somehow Madam Zhang didn’t get the memo.

Madam Zhang… Song Caitang wondered why she was like this.

Before long, it was the night before new year’s.

Guan Song brought Guan Lang and the butler to pay respects to the family ancestors, while Guan Wan took charge of the kitchen to prepare the reunion dinner for the night. Guan Qing was in her room checking the last stack of accounts for the year. Song Caitang was the only one who had nothing urgent to do, so she accompanied Madam Bai in making sure nothing was overlooked and to prepare the little games to keep themselves awake while waiting for the new year.

This was a very, very long new year’s eve dinner.

They ate, they drank, they played all sorts of games. Some games were games that children played, some were games you would see at carnivals, some were team games. Even though nobody told stories or sang songs, Madam Bai never stopped smiling and laughing throughout, her face flushed red with happiness.

By the time they finally finished eating, they realized it wasn’t 11pm yet, so they decided to sit down and chit chat.

Madam Bai talked about the plays and stories she had heard. The stories with twists and turns and sometimes unbelievable plots were extremely interesting. Guan Qing and Guan Song spoke about some of the unwritten rules in doing business, the dangers of working with both the authorities and the gangsters. Guan Wan and Guan Lang listened attentively, with Guan Wan being the best audience member for gasping at the right moments.

After all of that, they started asking Song Caitang to talk about criminal cases and about dissecting dead bodies.

That put Song Caitang in a spot. It didn’t seem appropriate to speak of such a subject on a day like this.

But she eventually gave in to their demands and picked out cases which weren’t too frightening but still full of unexpected twists to tell them as stories.

Some of them were full of excitement, some of them were horrified. But their eyes sparkled brightly as they listened and they gave her their full attention.

This was a really interesting new year’s eve.

And when it was finally midnight, firecrackers were set off and everyone went back to their rooms to rest.

Song Caitang walked toward her own residence, but instead of walking into her room immediately, she took a few steps back and started walking around her residence while keeping an eye on the roof. And…

She finally spotted Zhao Zhi.

She didn’t know why she felt this way, but she had a feeling that he would come.

The snow billowed, the lanterns glowed a warm red, and firecrackers could be heard in the distance. In this air filled with the sights and sounds of the new year, Zhao Zhi and Song Caitang, one on the roof and one standing along the corridor downstairs, stared at each other.

Zhao Zhi’s hair and clothes were all covered in snow, including even his brows and eyelashes, and he held a flask of wine in his hand. He sat on the rooftop like a cold and lonely statue.

Song Caitang’s eyes were as pretty as a painting and her cheeks were red from the warmth in the room. Her tiny, elegant chin was buried in the furry collar of her cape.

“Did you bring me something to eat?” Song Caitang looked up at Zhao Zhi with a charming little smile on her face. “I doubt you did, which is a good thing, because even if you brought food, I’m too full to eat anymore.”

Zhao Zhi stared at her as though his eyes were filled with the stars.

Song Caitang went on, “Isn’t it boring to drink by yourself? I’ve got a nice, warm fire going in my room, so we can sit inside together.”

Zhao Zhi didn’t budge.

Song Caitang raised an eyebrow, but because she was in a really good mood, she threw him a cheeky look and said, “Are you coming or not? If you aren’t, I’m going to bed then.”

Zhao Zhi leaped into the air and landed silently in front of her.

She didn’t ask him why he didn’t stay home on new year’s eve and didn’t ask why he was here, and just dragged him inside.

Once inside, she didn’t call for anyone to serve him. She sat down lazily on a chair and clutched her forehead. “I lost the games earlier and drank quite a bit, so I think I’m a little drunk. Make me a pot of tea. I want it as strong as possible.”

Zhao Zhi frowned at her.

Song Caitang seemed to have lost all her energy as she leaned forward, bent over a table and rested her chin on the back of her palms. She looked up at Zhao Zhi with a sad look in her eyes. “No?”

Zhao Zhi sighed inwardly. Fine! I’ll make you tea!

He wasn’t as used to doing this as the servants and wasn’t well-versed in how to make the finest tasting tea, but he could make sure the tea was really strong.

But even after he brought the tea to her, she wasn’t done torturing him.

She frowned as she took a sip. She wasn’t satisfied because it wasn’t warming up her hands sufficiently, so she instructed him again, “Go in and get my fur coat. I’m very cold.”

Zhao Zhi didn’t really want to enter her bedroom.

Not that he really didn’t want to, but he was afraid of his own fantasies.

The bedroom was her most private room, after all.

But he went in and got her the coat anyway, and pulled it around her. She let out a happy sigh, but she wasn’t done. She raised her empty hands and said, “I’m still missing a hand warmer.”

The veins on Zhao Zhi’s forehead nearly burst. “Are you quite done?”

Song Caitang grinned at him. “You find me annoying?”

Zhao Zhi pursed his lips and didn’t dare to say yes. “Tell me what you want all at once. That will make things easier for me.”

Song Caitang burst out laughing.

It was so rare to see real frustration on Zhao Zhi’s face. Now he looked so much more expressive and alive.

“Not upset anymore, right? Do you still feel lonely?”

Zhao Zhi stared at her brilliant smile and was stunned.