"Xinyi! Bro!"
Zizi dashed towards the couple and hopped in their hug. "I missed you."
"Zizi!"
Xinyi brightened and hugged her back. "You are back! How was the trip?"
Zizi coughed. "Well…"
Zhiyuan ruffled her head. "Hey sis," his eyes shifted at Yunru who came in, carrying her bags.
Zhiyuan narrowed his eyes and tapped on her head. "Why are you treating him like your servant?"
"I am not! He insisted!" She grinned..
Yunru laughed. "You were tripping and falling because of the bag's weight. You bought the whole Shanghai I feel. I had to insist."
Zizi grumbled and looked away.
"Aunt!"
The sight of the cute, adorable Siying running towards her with his short legs and his arms stretched wide to hug her, melted Zizi's heart. He clung on her legs like a koala and stared up at her with his sparkling eyes. "Aunt! I missed you!"
"Aiya! I missed my nephew too! I missed you the most actually!"
She picked him in her arms and twirled him around. Siying giggled and kissed her cheek. Holding his fluffy warm body in her arms made Zizi feel at peace.
"Aish this is happiness…" she playfully rubbed her cheek on his chubby ones. "Hmm, I see you have gotten a little fat."
Siying heavily pursed his lips. "I am not heavy!"
Yunru curiously raised his brow. "Since when did Siying start to worry about his weight?"
Zizi looked away.
Xinyi chuckled. "It's the Zizi effect."
Zizi cleared her throat. "I am glad to see that Siying is healthy. That is what is important."
Zhiyuan pinched his cheek. "Well, he is a growing boy."
Siying sheepishly grinned.
"Uncle!" He waved his arms towards Yunru.
"Yo, buddy. Did you miss your awesome Uncle?"
Siying furiously nodded. "I missed Uncle! Where are the gifts?"
Siying was eagerly waiting for the gifts that Yunru and Zizi had promised to bring from Shanghai.
"I see. You missed the gifts, not me," he narrowed his eyes.
He pouted. "Uncle promised!"
"And I have fulfilled it," he proudly said.
"Yay! Gifts! Gifts!"
The atmosphere was warm and loving with their return.
The elders, Han Huizhong, Han Tian and Xia Liqin were also seated at the breakfast table. Han Huizhong instinctively wanted to join in, but then he suddenly remembered how the situation was between him and everybody else.
He snorted.
Whatever.
Xinyi noticed something odd in her face and her eyes widened. "Zizi. What happened to your cheek? How did you get hurt?"
The elders froze.
"Zizi?" Han Tian and Xia Liqin worriedly rushed towards her. "Xinyi is right. What happened?"
Zhiyuan glanced at Yunru and he saw the grim expression on his face. "What happened?"
Yunru sighed. "It's a long story. The conference was attacked by a terrorist."
Xinyi sharply gasped. "What?"
"Yes."
Yunru explained everything in short about the almost bomb blast that threatened to take everybody's lives.
Han Huizhong gritted his teeth. "Hah! Did some ghost enter Zizi? Since when did Zizi become so heroic that she followed a terrorist on her own?" He sneered. "As always, you only know how to cause trouble."
Zizi glared at him indignantly. "Y-You you!"
Yunru held her back and shook his head. "He is just worried about you. After all, you are his granddaughter, right? He will not show it, but he must be shaken up."
Xinyi slowly nodded. "You know how Grandpa is. He is not very expressive about emotional things."
Zizi pursed his lips. "I don't need him to worry about me!"
Han Huizhong paused. There was a slight flicker that passed by his gaze before he shrugged as if he didn't care at all.
Xia Liqin checked her up and down and hugged her. "I am so glad that you are safe!" She trembled.
Zizi was hesitant for a moment but then hugged her back too. It was difficult to see her parents now acting all caring but...she could see that they were truly worried about her.
Han Tian asked, "Why didn't you say anything before? Such a huge thing happened and…" He was also relieved to see her safe and sound.
Yunru sighed. "Everything was a mess last night. Then we got tired and went straight to sleep."
Zhiyuan coldly asked, "What about the terrorists?"
"We have caught every last one of them. They are gonna suffer harsh punishment."
He seriously nodded.
Zhiyuan inwardly also decided that he would make Milo's life hell in prison until he would be hanged. He dared to kidnap his sister and even get violent with her. Of course, Zhiyuan would take his own revenge.
Xinyi said, "Anyway, let's all forget about the bad stuff. Everybody is safe and that's what matters. Zizi and Yunru should go and freshen up and then we can have breakfast together!"
"En!" Siying happily waved his arms too. "I am hungry too!"
Yunru scratched his chin. "Ah, no. I will head back. I want to meet Dad…"
He gently smiled. After he decided to spend more time with his father, he couldn't wait to see him again.
Zizi understood with a single glance. She nodded. "En. Yunru should go back. Uncle will be missing him."
Zhiyuan and Xinyi agreed.
After the breakfast was over, Han Huizhong retired to his room while Han Tian and Xia Liqin stayed back. As always, they ignored each other.
Xinyi glanced at Zhiyuan and he understood. It was time they asked them about Han Zongying.
Zhiyuan cleared his throat. "Mom, Dad. We want to ask you something."
They were surprised.
"Yes?"
Xinyi said, "Yesterday at the Summit, we met Grandpa Liao Junjie."
Han Tian beamed. "Oh, Uncle Liao! How is he? Haha, I still remember how he and Dad used to fight a lot," he sighed, "Sometimes their fights would be so petty that I used to wonder if they were rivals or best friends."
She smiled. "Grandpa Liao is fine. He was in good spirits."
He nodded. "That's good to hear. I think he has a grandson about Zhiyuan's age, right?"
Zhiyuan sneered. "Liao Yuan. Yeah, he is good too...if he stayed within his limits that is…" he whispered the last part to himself.
Xinyi coughed. "Yes, we met him too. And we also... met Uncle An Guoting."
They visibly froze.
"That's what we want to ask you about. I heard Uncle An and Grandpa Liao talking about...Han Zongying."
They slowly widened their eyes and the color slowly drained away from their faces.
"I heard that Han Zongying was Grandpa's daughter. But we never heard about her from him. You must know about her, right? Can you tell us who is Han Zongying?"