The Tender Beauty is Sweetly Doted in the 20th Century Novel!-Chapter 255 - 253: Why Haven’t You Come Home So Late?
"Alright."
Xia Yu’an naturally bent her elbow slightly, and Jiang Yuan immediately gleefully hooked onto her arm. The four walked together side by side.
According to the plan set last night, they went for lunch first. Afterwards, they spent a good half day strolling in the mall nearby, where each person bought quite a lot of things.
Among them, Jiang Yuan and Ye Manman bought the most.
Cheng Yuan just bought a set of clothes and some stationery, hair ties, and hair clips. Xia Yu’an kept it simpler; after trying on a set of clothes, she bought it directly and didn’t buy anything else.
Ye Manman had originally intended to buy some stuff for He Chen, so she ended up carrying quite a lot of big and small bags.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yuan, who had just arrived in Jing City, found many novelties she hadn’t seen before. Coupled with earning quite a bit in recent months, she had enough money to buy even more than Ye Manman.
Just as Xia Yu’an said, the two pregnant women were overwhelmed. Lots of big and small bags ended up with the two unmarried girls.
Cheng Yuan carried a heap, while Xia Yu’an’s long arms carried a bunch. Her arms even had several bags hanging, almost turning into a human luggage rack.
By this time, the sky was gradually darkening, so they quickly took a bus back to the Liu Family.
On this outing, they had another cute and tall girl with them. Liu Gaoyuan simply asked a couple of questions and enthusiastically invited them inside.
After dinner, Jiang Yuan happily took out her spoils one by one.
"Ji! I bought you lots of clothes and shoes today. Come and try them to see if they fit!"
She first took out a set of clothes and shoes for Liu Jitong. While Liu Jitong gleefully ran to the second-floor guest room to change, she took out a set of tea ware and respectfully placed it on the table.
"Grandpa, we came yesterday in a hurry and didn’t have time to prepare a gift for you. I noticed you seem to enjoy drinking tea, so I thought of buying you a new set of tea ware. I hope you like it. Thank you for having us these days."
Getting the ball rolling, Cheng Yuan quickly took out her gift, a bit shyly saying.
"Grandpa, Anan and I weren’t sure which tea you preferred, so we took the shop assistant’s advice and boldly bought some black tea. We hope you’ll like it."
As someone who had only just met, Xia Yu’an wasn’t initially supposed to buy any gifts. But Cheng Yuan insisted on adding her portion of tea leaves to Xia Yu’an’s, so in the end, she couldn’t refuse. At this point, she could only grin dryly along with Cheng Yuan.
Liu Gaoyuan almost couldn’t react for a moment, stunned for quite a while. Then his expression fell abruptly.
"Oh dear, you kids, coming to Grandpa’s house for fun is gift enough. I told you to spend money on food instead, sigh..."
Despite his words, the smile on his face gradually broadened, clearly delighted.
"You mustn’t bring gifts anymore, okay?"
"If you bring gifts again, Grandpa won’t let you in, just this once!"
Jiang Yuan stuck out her tongue, "Got it~"
Cheng Yuan, too, smiled shyly.
Ye Manman helped Liu Gaoyuan take the gifts inside, then took out the things she had bought.
Liu Gaoyuan was smiling as he stroked the new teapot when he saw her spread out a piece of clothing.
"Grandfather, the weather is going to cool soon. I bought you two sets of warm wool sweaters, so once it gets chilly, you should wear them right away."
Ye Manman understood well how indifferent men could be towards their clothing and living conditions, thanks to seeing He Chen. He likely didn’t know how long he would continue wearing those old shoes if she hadn’t realized.
Although Liu Gaoyuan seemed pretty good at taking care of himself, without a companion to watch over him, there would inevitably be times he wouldn’t tend to himself well.
That’s when grandchildren become crucial.
She had to prepare warm garments in advance to gradually add as the weather changed.
"Oh dear, you girl, why are you following their lead?"
Liu Gaoyuan deliberately said sternly, but the speed he took the warm clothes was faster than anyone, almost snatching them out of her hands.
The wrinkles on his face gathered with his joyful smile.
"These clothes are good. The quality is really nice, and they feel comfortable to the touch. My granddaughter has really good taste!"
"I’ll wear them when it gets cold. Ah, my granddaughter is so thoughtful; my son doesn’t care if I’m cold or warm and is out working all the time..."
Old people do tend to gripe endlessly, but Liu Gaoyuan knew there were guests present, and after some complaints, he stopped. His face beamed as he invited them to go upstairs and have fun.
Since Jiang Yuan and Liu Jitong were trying clothes in the guest room, the girls all went to the room which used to be Liu Rulan’s on the third floor.
Ye Manman stayed and chatted with them for a while, thinking about how busy Jiang Yuan was with trying on clothes with Liu Jitong, and she dearly missed He Chen.
She wondered if he was alright at home alone.
Was he eating, showering, and sleeping well?
Did he miss her?
She wasn’t sure if the clothes she bought would fit him...
"Manman, why don’t you go home for a bit?"
Cheng Yuan suddenly called out to her.
"You bought a lot of clothes and shoes today. Maybe you should go home and have He Chen try them on. If anything doesn’t fit, you can go with Jiang Yuan to the mall tomorrow to exchange them."
Ye Manman snapped out of her reverie upon realizing she was distracted during the conversation.
Cheng Yuan and Xia Yu’an were both looking at her.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, she acknowledged.
Because she truly yearned to go home.
"Then I’ll inform Grandfather, and you two can sleep in this room tonight. I might not return tonight and will probably come back tomorrow morning."
"Sure, no problem. Go ahead, it’s unsafe to head back alone too late."
Receiving their understanding, Ye Manman felt a bit relieved and happy.
Her steps became lighter.
She went downstairs to inform Liu Gaoyuan about the matter, and he immediately decided to send her home himself, insisting she not take the bus alone.
Ye Manman had no choice but to agree.
Loading their bags into the car, the vehicle started, and familiar buildings quickly disappeared into the night. She felt a rather peculiar sensation.
Though it’s only been one night since leaving home, it felt as though she had been away for a long time.
Her heart was excited, eagerly anticipating the moment of returning home.
He should be very happy, right?
Definitely.
After getting out of the car, Ye Manman happily carried all the stuff back inside with Liu Gaoyuan, only to find He Chen wasn’t home yet.
Ye Manman’s smiling lips froze.
She suddenly had a foreboding feeling.
Not wanting to dwell on it, she let Liu Gaoyuan go home first.
Entering the house, Ye Manman first scanned the living room.
The living room remained unchanged; it was just like how it was before she left the day before yesterday.
Opening up the door, everything inside seemed untouched.
Clean and tidy.
Except the quilt on the bed wasn’t folded; it was crumpled up, which seemed a bit out of character for He Chen.
Back in the town, she always got up late, but whenever he noticed, he would definitely fold the quilt neatly.
Since moving here, he has always left early, and indeed it’s hard for him to fold it daily as she is usually still sleeping at that time.
But if he slept alone, how could he leave without folding it?
As she pondered if anything had happened to He Chen, why he hadn’t returned so late.
The sound of the door opening came from the entrance.
