Attention Sir, I Have Your Heart Handcuffed!-Chapter 632 - 470. Dad, we are all back (Part 3)

But he also knew he couldn’t possibly be here.

Shi Nian struggled to control her emotions, turned her head and said to Qi Xiuqi with a flushed face, "It must be your doing."

This truly was a huge surprise.

Qi Xiuqi, holding Jieyou, looked a bit embarrassed: "It wasn’t my arrangement."

Shi Nian almost burst into tears again. So, it must be that these old friends heard that Mom and she were coming back, and thus gathered here on their own?

Many of them were no longer local, even some of those former delinquent youths who later made something of themselves had gone abroad for business, yet they all managed to gather here today from miles away, which is indeed extraordinary.

Qi Xiuqi also understood her thoughts, approached holding Jieyou, and muttered unwillingly: "Not all of them came of their own accord. For those who were out of town or abroad, they were notified."

Shi Nian wanted to cry yet felt annoyed, and couldn’t help but want to step on Qi Xiuqi’s foot.

"Just now you said it wasn’t your doing, now you say you notified them?"

Qi Xiuqi couldn’t help but free a hand to flick her forehead with his knuckles: "When did you become so dull? Someone arranged it, but it wasn’t me, understand?"

Everyone inside watched Shi Nian, but she stood outside the doorway for a moment, unable to enter.

Everyone understood her feelings, yet they were all filled with anticipation.

Even Xu Xinzhen came over and reached out to Shi Nian: "Nian Nian, there are so many guests at home, come in quickly. What are you thinking about?"

Shi Nian quietly clenched both fists, encouraging herself: Go inside, you can do it.

At that moment, a lazy voice came through the crowd: "She’s looking for someone."

The voice wasn’t loud, but it made Shi Nian’s ears instantly buzz.

Was she hearing things? How was it possible?

She looked up and saw a tall figure emerge from between the people. He was wearing an apron around his neck.

Jieyou cheered loudly: "Little Swallow!"

Shi Nian was dumbfounded.

Her just-clenched hands quickly lifted to wipe her eyes.

The person approaching her lazily, who else could it be but Tang Yanqing?

The distance in the doorway was actually short, and with his long legs, he reached right in front of her in a couple of steps. Shi Nian’s vision was still blurry when her wrist was caught by him. He hummed lightly, and with steady fingers, pulled her across the threshold.

The distance to step back into memory wasn’t a long six years, or far across the ocean, but merely a single step.

Dad, and my former self, I’m back.

I’m doing well, are you too?

.

Shi Nian stepped over the threshold, and everyone came to greet her. She shook hands, bowed, and expressed her greetings to each. He didn’t feel out of place at all, staying by her side generously, and smoothly took Jieyou from Qi Xiuqi’s arms.

After speaking with Shi Nian, the old friends naturally asked about Jieyou, and he naturally explained: "Our daughter."

After exchanging pleasantries, the guests finally left one by one. Shi Nian still felt a bit dizzy, glancing back at him, always feeling as if it was some dreamlike unreality.

He then smiled and raised an eyebrow: "Need to pinch me?"

Shi Nian blushed and lowered her head, asking: "How did you come? How could you come?"

Even if his work over there didn’t trouble him, surely as a police officer entering the country openly, he would need a reason, right?

Qi Xiuqi, after seeing off the last guest at the door, came back and locked the door, rolled his eyes at Tang Yanqing, and then came over to boast: "I wrote a report to the bureau to invite him over. Who knows that guy is a famous young Chinese behavior analysis expert of the M Country police, and we just started related courses here, so I invited him to give a couple of lectures."

"He has a good background, the bureau also wanted to give face to his second uncle; plus because of Father’s matter back then, we’ve cooperated on both sides, so this was easily approved."

Qi Xiuqi said as he leaned close to Shi Nian’s ear: "Of course, there still must be discipline, so the bureau requires someone to ’accompany’ him 24 hours a day."

Shi Nian raised an eyebrow: "Where are they? Who accompanied them?"

Qi Xiuqi sighed deeply: "Naturally, it’s the unfortunate me." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

He put on a crying face: "Junior sister, do you think I’m making wedding clothes for others?"

After Qi Xiuqi had sung, recited, and acted enough, Tang Yanqing couldn’t bear to watch anymore. He stepped forward and separated Qi Xiuqi with his shoulder, saying, "That’s right, Qiqi’s embroidery is excellent, comparable to Dongfang Bubai."

Qi Xiuqi, not one to stand on ceremony, grabbed Tang Yanqing’s apron and asked, "Your cooking isn’t bad either. Truly, you can manage both the living room and the kitchen. Don’t just talk, how about it? Is the meal ready?"

Shi Nian blushed, her eyes bright as she watched them bicker. After watching, she hugged Jieyou and left, accompanying her mother, ignoring the two chattering men.

.

The first night back home, despite Tang Yanqing’s bright eyes, Shi Nian didn’t pay him any attention, opting to sleep with her mother.

The mother and daughter, along with Jieyou, slept in the master bedroom that used to belong to her parents while giving her room to Tang Yanqing and Qi Xiuqi.

Poor Qi Xiuqi had promised the department he would "accompany" 24 hours a day, so he also had to share a bed with Tang Yanqing at night.

The night grew deep, but aside from Jieyou, truly, no one could sleep.

Shi Nian gently held her mother’s hand: "Mom, we’re home. Isn’t it wonderful?"

Xu Xinzhen lightly choked out a sound: "I used to be afraid to come back because it felt empty here without your dad... but after coming back, I realized your dad is still here, in a way."

Tears once again rolled down Shi Nian’s face.

With everything that had happened regarding Huangfu Huazhang, it made her feel her mother’s words were true.

The two talked about the past, spoke of their father, shared tears, laughed, and sighed together. Finally, worn out from talking, Shi Nian suddenly spun around, focusing on her mother’s eyes in the moonlit night.

"Mom... you remember everything; and said it all so clearly."

Xu Xinzhen was momentarily embarrassed, wanting to turn away, bashfully like a young girl. Shi Nian, however, grabbed her, laughing softly: "Mom, I wasn’t wrong, was I?"

"Actually, when Mom accidentally mentioned Duan Shengxuan, it made me notice he might have been the one working with Huangfu to deal with Old Buddha... I then realized Mom might have recovered; or at least wasn’t as ill as she showed."

In the moonlit night, Xu Xinzhen sighed deeply.

"Finally coming home allowed me to speak the truth: Yes, I’m well now. The first year I was very ill, but knowing your father was gone, I realized if I fell too, no one would be there to protect you. I kept telling myself I had to recover, quickly."

"But after I recovered, I saw you had married Xiang Yuan. You seemed to love and rely on him a lot. So, I thought perhaps it was alright then..."

Shi Nian nodded, recalling what Huangfu Huazhang had left her in "Reverb." It helped her understand her mother’s actions better.

"Mom, I know that Xiang Jingsheng was always of two minds, he was someone with his own calculations... But during four years with the Xiang Family, he really did protect me, preventing Guo Zhengmei from harming me more. Looking back, I think Mom saw all this clearly early on, using your illness to make Xiang Jingsheng feel compassionate, ensuring your daughter’s safety, right?"

Xu Xinzhen gently closed her eyes: "...And also, when I found out that Xiang Yuan came to China to study under your dad, I never expected he was Xiang Jingsheng’s son. When I arrived in M Country and learned of this connection, I became wary of Xiang Jingsheng. At first, I even thought the events of the past had some connection to him, so I continued feigning illness to observe Xiang Jingsheng."

Shi Nian nodded deeply and hugged her mother: "Mom, it’s all in the past... We no longer need to live in fear, nor dwell in the nightmares of the past. If Dad were still here, he’d hear this too. Mom, sleep peacefully."

.

The next day, Shi Nian’s family visited Shi Haoran’s grave.

Shi Haoran died in the line of duty, posthumously receiving the status of a martyr. Buried in this cemetery are people of noble character, offering some comfort to Shi Nian.

Shi Nian first brought Jieyou to the tombstone, telling Jieyou, "This is your grandpa," then she said, "Dad, your unfilial daughter has returned. Look, this is Jieyou; she’s my daughter. Dad, your daughter has a daughter now, and you’ve become a grandfather."

Jieyou was easy enough to introduce, but when it came to Tang Yanqing, Shi Nian hesitated a little.

Back then, he was still Yan Qi, and if everything was as he claimed, that she was captured by Gu Yong and the others at his behest... then her father’s sacrifice couldn’t be unrelated to him.

How should she explain this to her father in heaven, or to her mother?

Tang Yanqing noticed her dilemma and approached.

Today, he was formally dressed in his full police uniform, wearing all the medals he had been awarded. He removed his hat and solemnly saluted Shi Haoran’s tombstone.

Then, holding his police hat, he knelt down on both knees before the tombstone.