Chapter 221: Chapter 138: First Arrival at the Wen Family
The airplane slowly started its run and then swiftly taxied, soon spreading its wings and soaring through the vast sea of clouds. In that moment of severe turbulence, Wen Xin felt her heart was about to jump out of her throat. She had prepared for so long and thought she could face it calmly, but the instant she truly embarked on the journey, her heart felt as if it had been thrown into a tempestuous sea, rising and falling without a place to land.
Sensing Wen Xin’s nervousness, Luo Ye tightly gripped the clenched fist of her mother’s hand to pass on some confidence.
To be honest, she was nervous too. The travel plans had been made long ago, and she had Wen Tong inform the Wen Family in advance. However, no news had come since then. If it weren’t for Mom’s determination to confront the situation, the journey home might have been aborted.
Dad had just taken office and was busy getting things in order, yet he took two days off to accompany his wife and children in facing this. Luo Ye deeply admired and respected her father for this; such courage was not something ordinary people possessed.
For a man to drop everything and accompany his wife and children on a trip at such a critical time indicated only one thing: family was the most important thing in his heart!
The moment the airplane landed, Wen Xin’s face turned somewhat pale. After the plane steadied, Luo Ye embraced her mother with concern: "Mom, we’re here for you."
"Let’s go." Wen Xin nodded with a forced smile, pulling her daughter along as they followed her husband and son, walking silently out of the plane.
October in Sha City is the most comfortable season of the year, with good sunlight and pleasant temperatures, though slightly dry. Stepping out of the cabin, a cool breeze hit them in the face.
"Mom, the autumn in Sha City is even more radiant than in Island City." Luo Ye made small talk to ease the tension, but now that they had arrived, her heart also uncontrollably began to pound.
"Yeah, it’s just a bit dry," replied Wen Xin, her heart not quite in the conversation.
Luo Zhenggang stopped walking and turned back to look at the mother and daughter: "Wen Xin, we’re already here, and we’ve notified them in advance. Relax a little.
If you keep on like this, by the time we reach the Wen’s Mansion, you and your daughter might be all tongue-tied. Imagine what Grandpa will think if he sees that after marrying his daughter, I’ve become foolish, and brought back a half-wit granddaughter to boot, although the grandson is just about bearable but doesn’t speak. What do you think, would he be pleased?"
Knowing Dad was joking, but Luo Ye still felt a little annoyed, "Dad, what do you mean by ’half-wit’? I’m just saying a few things to calm down. Hearing how you describe Grandpa as being so stern, is it wrong for me to be a bit nervous?"
Luo Feng quickly went to comfort his slightly ruffled sister: "Ye’er, if you’re half-wit, then I’m completely witless, okay?"
"Stop it!" Luo Ye laughed and playfully slapped her brother: "You know that’s not what I meant."
"Alright, everything will be fine with me here; you all relax. If there’s any scolding or beating to be done, I’ll take it upfront..." Luo Zhenggang pulled Wen Xin into his embrace: "I promise, even if Dad slashes my neck and blood sprays everywhere, I’ll take it without a word."
"My dad is not as fierce as you say," Wen Xin chuckled, amused by his words.
"Good, that’s more like it. If a whole family shows up with frowns on their faces, that would upset anyone. Everyone, just relax."
...
Peering through the car window, searching for past memories in the fleeting scenes, Wen Xin’s expression was grave yet filled with excitement. No one from the Wen Family had come to pick them up at the airport, which probably meant that her father had not forgiven her yet?
She had notified them of her return date well in advance, but after the family of four left the airport terminal and circled around a few times, they didn’t see anyone from the Wen Family come to meet them, so they had to take a taxi to the home she had dreamt of returning to countless times.
The camphor trees lining the roads were in full leaf, and the appearance of the ancient grey-tiled mansion courtyard loomed faintly ahead. Tears began to pour from Wen Xin like beads off a broken string.
Twenty years had passed, and the scenes of frolicking with her sister were still so clear. She didn’t dare to return, not only because of the fear of her father but most importantly due to the guilt towards her sister.
What she had been avoiding was the memory of her sister, but upon truly arriving, she found that she had always longed to return, deeply loving this place in her heart!
Luo Ye and Luo Feng understood their mother’s emotions, tightly holding her from left and right. At this time, letting out a good cry was better than anything else. Previously, they had urged Mom to relax, but upon actually arriving here, the siblings could feel their mother’s strong emotional fluctuations, which were ultimately uncontrollable.
Although they had opened up about the issues previously and Mom had been adjusting all along, without truly coming here and touching the source of the wound, it was likely impossible to fully heal. Thus, crying was also a form of medicine for the soul.
The taxi driver threw a surprised glance at Wen Xin through the rearview mirror, raised his eyebrows, lips moved, but in the end, he held back and said nothing.
Luo Zhenggang gave the driver a glance: "Mr. Driver, just speak plainly."
"It’s not that... I often bring guests to visit the Wen Family Mansion, and it’s really the first time I’ve encountered someone as excited as you," he chuckled.
"Can anyone just walk into the Wen Family Mansion for a visit?" Luo Zhenggang was full of doubts, and Wen Xin also stared at the driver in surprise.
The driver shook his head repeatedly: "No, no, that’s absolutely not possible. You can only look at it from the outside. I come here at least a dozen times a month. How about this? When we get to the entrance, we won’t stop the car. We’ll just make a turn, and you can tell me which spot you like. Then I can drive you there to slowly check it out.
Coming here, you can’t miss a detailed look at Wen’s Mansion. This is a key protected building in Sha City. There were suggestions to tear it down before, but not long after that, the person proposing it got transferred away.
There’s some stuff going on here. The Wen Family’s background is one aspect, but the most crucial point is that this building holds research value. Not to mention that the foundations of the house are dug extremely deep, the walls are made by tamping sticky rice and clay together, which can withstand floods and earthquakes.
It is said that the province wants to buy Wen’s mansion and develop this area into a tourist attraction. The offer is to buy it at the market price and compensate the Wen Family with a property three times larger in the same district to reconstruct their mansion. Who knows if this is true or not."
"They would never agree!" murmured Wen Xin.
"Oh, looks like you have deep feelings for this place. Well, this is a private residence, and vehicles from outside are not allowed to approach within 500 meters of the main entrance. Should we go around the mansion or get off here?"
Luo Zhenggang handed the fare to the driver: "We’ll get off, thank you, master."
The driver looks at the time, "It’s almost mealtime, I’ll stick around here a bit. Maybe I’ll get to pick up tourists for a return trip." After taking the money, he parked the car by the roadside and called out again, "Are you sure you don’t want to take a ride around? It’s not much money."
Luo Zhenggang turned his back, waved his hand, and gave his mother and daughters an encouraging hug, "Let’s go in. For anything at all, you’ll never know what the outcome will be without taking the first step. In the past, I was too cautious and nearly made a terrible mistake. This time, I can’t afford to make another mistake."
"Alright, let’s go in," Wen Xin said as she walked in, but she was so excited she couldn’t lift her feet. She was so overwhelmed she couldn’t control her movements, and Luo Zhenggang nearly had to carry his wife as they walked into the mansion.
Luo Ye and Luo Feng, carrying luggage, hurried to follow. The cab driver, sympathetically covering his eyes, remembered tourists who had ignored advice in the past and insisted on getting closer, who ended up being carried out by burly bodyguards.
However, after the driver opened his eyes, he was surprised to find the people gone. Disbelieving, he pinched himself and looked at the sun outside, then excitedly took out his phone and dialed: "I’ve got big news for you. Some tourists just got let into the Wen Family Mansion. The Wen Family might agree to sell the mansion. Our jobs here are going to get busier... Haha... Of course, I’m not lying. Would I make this up? Just wait and see; this will definitely be announced soon..."
Cough... That’s how rumors are started!
The towering doorman at the entrance, smiling, let the family of four into the mansion. Excited, Wen Xin shook Luo Zhenggang’s arm: "This must have been dad’s doing, or else they wouldn’t dare to let anyone in, absolutely not!"
Luo Zhenggang quickly soothed his wife: "Wen Xin, stay calm. I told you, we shouldn’t worry too much. Dad is just too proud to give in easily; he still misses you, and of course, he misses his grandchildren too."
Stepping into the Wen Family Mansion was like entering another world, with its ancient traditional architecture, door and window carvings made of red teak wood, gardens, fields, and fruit orchards in the courtyard. Strangely, there were no people around, and it was eerily quiet.
With such an atmosphere, even someone with a strong mentality would get a bit uneasy. Finally moving (the pace and speed could only be described as shuffling) to the main house, Luo Zhenggang gently knocked on the carved outer door, and at last, a commanding "Come in!" resounded from inside.
Pushing open the outer door, there was a delicate openwork screen door inside. Walking in and seeing a roomful of people, Luo Ye felt suffocated, no wonder there had been no sign of anyone before.
"Dad... Mom..." Wen Xin called out with a trembling voice and then "thumped" down to her knees. Luo Ye felt dizzy and couldn’t distinguish who was who, so she simply pulled her brother down with her, also "thumping" to kneel down, bowing her head: "Grandma, Grandpa, Eldest Uncle, Second Uncle, Little Uncle, Eldest Aunt..." She called out a series of names based on her memory, then kept silent. At this point, saying more would mean more mistakes; silence was the safest option.
"Dad, Mom, it’s all my fault. Over the years, it’s me who has been blocking Wen Xin from coming home. Please forgive her, and you can punish me as you see fit. Your son-in-law will absolutely not say a word against it," Luo Zhenggang also knelt down.
The family of four knelt at the entrance of the main hall, Wen Xin cried inconsolably, yet there was still no word from anyone of the Wen Family.
Luo Ye glanced up curiously and observed that the roomful of people was staring at their family of four. From what she could gauge, those standing on the sides were probably the servants, the seated ones must be the children and grandchildren, and the slender old man and the plump old lady in the center must be Grandma and Grandpa.
The old lady’s face was already streaming with tears, her lips trembling unable to speak, while the old man, frowning with a stern face, swept his gaze over upon seeing her sneaky look, causing a chill in Luo Ye’s heart, and she quickly lowered her head.
Nuajin was too tired today, so let’s leave it at one installment. Before 6 pm tomorrow, there will be a continuous release of three Chapters totaling 9000 words to make up for today’s. (To be continued. If you want to know what happens next, please visit . There are more Chapters there, support the author, support genuine reading!)