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Chapter 173

Her older brothers and sisters were all more favored by their father... They sat in front, closer to him, and were always the ones eagerly speaking up to please him.

Today should be no different...

But suddenly her father\'s voice rang out: "An Ying, come here, sit over here."

An Ying looked up in confusion, but obediently went over and sat down.

Her father patted her head with unusual affection and said, "You\'ve done very well."

"She... did something?" An Ying\'s siblings turned to stare at her in unison.

"An Ying finally has her own little circle of friends she gets along with at school. Making friends was never a difficult thing, you just have to try, and you can do it well."

President An said, putting a waffle on An Ying\'s plate.

"Oh really? That is good. I remember An Ying used to be so afraid at every party..."

"And she could never make any friends."

"Even if she got into other circles because of Dad\'s status, no one paid attention to her..."

"Is it because she\'s grown up now? Finally figured it out?"

"It must be Dad\'s good parenting."

An Ying\'s siblings chattered away.

An Ying said nothing. She wasn\'t stupid; she knew they were mocking her.

Not every family is wonderful.

Their family had too many children, all competing for their father\'s attention...

"Give your friend a call today," President An spoke up. "It\'s winter break, you need to keep in touch with friends regularly to maintain relationships. Otherwise, someone else will take your place."

"Mm." An Ying lowered her head and responded.

"Or inviting her over to play is good too. That shows your relationship is special."

An Ying remained silent.

Why was she always so inconspicuous? Why did she prefer to be quiet and unassuming?

It was because every time she heard her father giving her such advice, it made her feel sick.

In the past, seeing her so silent and wooden, her father would frown and walk away.

But today, her father showed no expression.

After breakfast ended, An Ying ran outside and nervously grabbed her phone. Should she call? She should. But she wouldn\'t invite Li Xiaoya here...

This place wasn\'t good at all.

She wouldn\'t like it.

I should go to her place instead.

An Ying carefully dialed the number.

"Hello, this is An Ying. Are you... free today? I was wondering if I could come over to play."

If she\'s not free, should I say I\'m with Zhou Xiaoshu? Would that make it easier for her to agree?

"I\'m not home. I\'m on my way to Jiang City right now."

"Oh, oh, okay." An Ying hung up the phone, disappointed.

Her brother came over and put his arm around her shoulders, asking with a smile: "An Ying, did your friend blow you off? Which family is your friend from anyway?"

An Ying turned her head to see all her siblings standing there.

They had been eavesdropping on her phone call!

An Ying walked away with a cold expression, not saying a word.

Her sister shook her head: "An Ying, I\'ve told you many times, if you keep that cold face and are impolite to your brothers and sisters, Dad will dislike you again when he sees it. Didn\'t you just finally get some praise from Dad?"

"Your new friend must be pretty impressive, right? You\'d better work hard to please them and keep them around. Otherwise, Dad will surely be disappointed," her brother said, letting go of her as they all walked away.

Even as they left, An Ying could still hear them talking.

"I doubt she even has any impressive friends. With her personality, how could she?"

"Anyway, I\'m going skiing with friends. I\'m off."

"Bro, who are you going with? Is it that guy whose family owns a bank? Take me along too."

...

An Ying lowered her head, thinking to herself that they were the ones who couldn\'t make friends.

They would never have true friends!

Meanwhile, Li Xiaoya was rushing to catch her flight, so she had ended the call with An Ying abruptly.

After the plane landed in Jiang City, Li Xiaoya sent An Ying a message.

[Wait for me to come back]

On the other end, An Ying grabbed her phone to look, then couldn\'t help but roll over on her bed.

"Is that Old Mr. Zhang?" As soon as Li Xiaoya\'s group walked out of the arrival hall, they met someone who had come to pick them up.

Clearly, it wasn\'t someone arranged by Sheng Yuxiao.

Although Old Mr. Zhang had just been through a tiring journey, perhaps precisely because he hadn\'t traveled far in so long, this sudden trip felt fresh and invigorating, improving his spirits considerably.

He waved his hand at the man: "Didn\'t I tell you? You didn\'t need to come pick me up personally. Just finding us a local guide would have been fine."

The man said: "How could that be okay? Of course I had to come pick you up myself and take you to my place. It\'ll be convenient for you to stay with me, the scenery is nice there, and the air is good..."

Old Mr. Zhang wasn\'t picky about these things, but he thought since he had brought a child along, he should take good care of her.

"Alright then, now we\'ll..."

Halfway through his sentence, Li Xiaoya tugged on his sleeve: "You can go stay there, but we need to stay at the Golden Osmanthus Hotel."

"Why so formal? This uncle\'s home should be very fun..."

"That\'s right, little one." The man, though unsure of Li Xiaoya\'s identity, also tried to persuade her: "The Golden Osmanthus Hotel was somewhat famous in Jiang City a few years ago, but it\'s not doing well these past couple of years. The decor is old, the service quality has declined, it won\'t be a good experience staying there."

"By old decor, do you mean it hasn\'t been renovated?" Li Xiaoya looked up and asked.

"Yes, even the wallpaper is peeling off."

Li Xiaoya immediately broke into a smile: "Then I want to go there even more, because that\'s where Mom and Dad once stayed, everything is still the same as it was then..."

Hearing this, Old Mr. Zhang\'s eyes reddened slightly.

It was one thing for an old man like him to be stuck in old memories, but how could a child be unable to move on as well?

He must help her find her mother\'s belongings properly.

"Go ahead then." Old Mr. Zhang knew his own physical limits well enough not to cause trouble. "I\'ll stay at the uncle\'s place, you keep in constant contact with me."

"Don\'t worry, I\'ll be by Little Duck\'s side the whole time," Sheng Yuxiao interjected.

Qin Sui added: "We will."

Old Mr. Zhang couldn\'t help but smile. Children were so interesting...

And so they parted ways briefly at the airport.

The man looked back at Li Xiaoya a couple more times. What was this child\'s background?

But since even Old Mr. Zhang had accompanied her here... He immediately committed her appearance to memory.

Worried that the reception in Jiang City might not be up to par, he even personally called the Golden Osmanthus Hotel.

After receiving the call, the Golden Osmanthus Hotel staff were a bit dazed: "How did such a big order fall into our laps?"

After their boss\'s failed investment, they no longer had the means to renovate the hotel. Its former glory quickly faded...

"What\'s the matter, Manager?"

"Everyone get moving! We have important guests coming from Jin City!"

"Where are the greeters? Keep standing at your posts..."

Just as Li Jiang had described.

When the car arrived at the hotel entrance, the doormen eagerly came forward, opening car doors, carrying luggage, helping to park.

Their mouths were full of bilingual welcoming phrases.

A red carpet was laid out on the ground, though it was a bit worn.

Li Xiaoya stepped onto it, closing her eyes slightly. She held Sheng Yuxiao\'s hand in her left and Qin Sui\'s in her right, walking forward step by step, just as her mother had walked this path years ago.

How happy she felt.

Although this was where she had met Li Jiang... back then, when her mother rushed here to meet her father, she must have been so happy!

"This little girl is quite strange, she likes to touch everything..." a server remarked.

"Who are you calling strange?" Sheng Yuxiao, holding his phone in one hand, turned his head with an icy gaze.

The server shuddered: "I\'m sorry, I shouldn\'t have commented on the guests."

Only then did Sheng Yuxiao continue his phone call.

After finishing, he returned to Li Xiaoya\'s side.

"Got an address. Although we\'re not sure which specific sanatorium they stayed at back then, we know who Little Duck\'s grandmother remarried," Sheng Yuxiao said.

"Did Secretary Wang find this out?" Li Xiaoya asked curiously.

"Yes."

Li Xiaoya nodded thoughtfully.

Sheng Yuxiao placed his phone on the table, allowing Qin Sui to see the address clearly as well.

"Little Duck\'s grandmother remarried a chairman of a business association, but this chairman has also passed away. If we can\'t get in the front door..."

"Then please ask Grandpa Zhang to take charge."