"You told your grandparents that we'll be coming over, didn't you?" Xu Yilan asked.
The mother and daughter left the cemetery area just before noon and had the driver to return to the hotel. After they have freshened up and had their lunch, the two of them were now heading towards the hospital.
A few days ago, Mother Han had surgery and the operation has been successful. As Mother Han was staying in the hospital to recuperate, Xu Yilan wanted to go over and accompany her friend for a chat.
Meanwhile, Li Qin Yao planned to walk around the city with Han Yue Xiu.
Hearing her mother's question, Li Qin Yao looked at her mother cautiously and asked, "Ma, are you angry?"
Xu Yilan smiled at her daughter before she patted her on her head. "Of course not."
Li Qin Yao heaved with relief at her mother's answer. "What did you guys talk about?"
"Just something from the past."
Seeing that her mother did not want to talk about it, Li Qin Yao knew that she should not pry into the elders' matter.
Xu Yilan leaned back on the seat and closed her eyes. She did not expect to meet Li Qin Yao's grandparents at the cemetery. When she saw the two elders behind her, Xu Yilan was thrown off her guard.
How many years ago since the last time she had seen the elders?
Back then, her daughter was still in high school. Although the separation between her and her ex-husband was mutual and peaceful, there are still some matters that they could not be said.
In her early marriage, Xu Yilan was very happy. She knew from the very beginning that Li Qin Yao's father was someone who would always be busy with his work and had long accepted that. Li Xuan, her ex-husband was the eldest son and was expected to run the company once his father-in-law stepped down.
However, it was after their son's death that everything started to change. It was the time that she needed her husband the most, but coincidentally, the company was facing a problem and required his attention. Her parents-in-law could only ask her to be tolerant and she could only let him focus on the company.
Suddenly, living in high society felt very difficult. Suddenly, Xu Yilan minded what others had thought and said about her. Everything turned worst after she gave birth to Li Qin Yao. Just at the sight of the baby girl made her upset. Fortunately, her in-laws were around to look after her.
She had tried very hard to stay with Li Qin Yao's father. But in the end, she still chose to separate.
Although she might have hurt her daughter with her decision, Xu Yilan knew that it was the best decision with her body condition. She loved Li Qin Yao's father, but if she had to choose again, she would still choose to separate.
Fortunately, her daughter had never blamed her.
Since then, she had not seen Li Qin Yao's grandparents.
Just now, the two elders had said a lot of things to her. Among those things were how they were sorry that they could not let their son stay with her during her hardest time.
Their son passed away alone in his room from a heart attack. It was during this time that the two elders regretted that they had forced their eldest son too much.
Fortunately, they let Li Qin Yao arrange this meeting and the three of them had met and said what they wanted to say. Or else, the two elders did not know whether they would be able to die without regret.
Xu Yilan snapped out of her trance as the vehicle finally stopped. She opened her eyes and saw that they have arrived at the hospital. She took a deep breath and pretended that everything was alright.
The mother and daughter went straight to Mother Han's room to visit her. Once Xu Yilan met with her friend, her mood began to improve, and soon, the two old friends started to chat, ignoring their daughters at the side.
Li Qin Yao looked at her mother's mood and excused herself to go out with Han Yue Xiu.
"Why does your face look so bad?" Han Yue Xiu asked as they walked along the corridor. "I thought you would be over the moon since Mister Zhang was supposed to arrive in Capital City tonight."
Li Qin Yao heaved a sigh of relief. "My mother and I visited my father this morning and we run into my grandparents."
Han Yue Xiu stared at her friend and stayed silent. She had heard about Li Qin Yao's parents when they were still young and thought that the ȧduŀts' relationship was too complicated.
The two of them walked around the hospital garden as they were heading towards the main road. Li Qin Yao looked around and frowned. "Why don't I see your man around here? Usually, he's always hanging around this place."
Han Yue Xiu rolled her eyes. "What's my man? I don't know where that person went to. Earlier, he was on the phone and suddenly he disappeared. Let's not talk about him. Yao Yao, you promised to take me and eat delicious food today."
Li Qin Yao laughed. The two of them boarded a taxi and headed towards a popular shopping center in the city. The two friends had a meal at some cafe in the place before they decided to walk around and window shop. Anyway, walking after eating would help their digestion.
They went from shop to shop and floor to floor while chatting. Meanwhile, Li Qin Yao kept glancing at the time. She had the plan to return to the hotel before Zhang Yu Han and the others had arrived.
"Look at you, is spending time with me that unbearable now?" Han Yue Xiu pouted playfully.
Li Qin Yao quickly held on Han Yue Xiu's arms and laughed. "You know it wasn't like that."
"I know. I know. You're waiting for Mister Zhang to come right? What is it? You missed him that much that you can't wait to see him again."
"Un," Li Qin Yao nodded. "We haven't seen each other for almost two weeks."
Han Yue Xiu stared at her friend in disbelief. Suddenly, she got shiver all over her body. Han Yue Xiu rubbed her arms and spoke again, "Li Qin Yao, you were never like this before! You're saying things that only a lovesick school girl would say. Where's my best friend, Li Qin Yao? Return her to me immediately!"
Li Qin Yao laughed at her friend's dramatic act.
As she was alone, Li Qin Yao walked around at the shop browsing through this and that. Her steps paused as she reached the glass rack around the counter. As she stared at the rows of men's accessories on display, Li Qin Yao was suddenly reminded of Zhang Yu Han.