Chapter 318 - 204: Meeting Her Parents with Yixia! Clearing the Air?

Chapter 318: Chapter 204: Meeting Her Parents with Yixia! Clearing the Air?

She all but ran into the house, pushing open the door to the main room breathlessly. She found Pan Lanfang lying on a chair with one foot propped up, a hot water bottle beside it.

"Mom!" Jiang Yixia rushed over, squatting in front of her and looking her up and down. "How are you? Is it serious? How on earth did you twist it?"

Seeing her daughter’s frantic expression, Pan Lanfang’s heart felt both warm and guilty.

She explained in a small voice, "I was just out working in the fields, and I accidentally stepped on a rock and twisted it a bit. It’s nothing serious. I’ll be fine after a little rest."

Jiang Yixia examined her foot closely. It was indeed a little swollen, but it didn’t look too serious.

She breathed a sigh of relief, but her heart still ached. "It’s this swollen and you still say it’s nothing? Let’s go to the hospital."

"No, absolutely not. The hospital is so far, why go through all that trouble? I’ll be fine after lying down for a couple of days," Pan Lanfang said resolutely, waving her hand.

Jiang Yixia grew frantic, her voice rising. "You’re in so much pain, and you still won’t go to the hospital? Then why did you ask me to come back?"

Her daughter’s words made Pan Lanfang so guilty that she couldn’t bring herself to look up.

Jiang Guoqiang, watching from the side, sighed. He walked over and tugged on Jiang Yixia’s sleeve. "Yixia, come outside for a minute. I need to talk to you."

Jiang Yixia followed him out into the yard.

Jiang Guoqiang stood there, wringing his hands. He hesitated for a good while before finally speaking. "Yixia, your mother asked you to come back because... well, she actually wants you to meet someone."

"Meet someone? Who?" Jiang Yixia was stunned.

Jiang Guoqiang forced himself to explain, "It’s that young man we told you about. He’ll be here in a little while."

The moment Jiang Yixia heard this, her expression changed.

She finally understood. Pan Lanfang had tricked her.

The sprained ankle, the excruciating pain—it was all fake.

She took a deep breath, looked at Jiang Guoqiang, and said with a tone of helplessness, "Dad, I really don’t want to be set up on a blind date. I’m doing perfectly fine on my own. All of my energy is focused on the flower shop and my two kids. I don’t have time to get into a relationship. And I don’t want to get married."

"Yixia, please, just listen to your parents this time," Jiang Guoqiang said urgently, grabbing her hand. "That young man is a really good person. You know I hardly ever praise anyone, but he’s genuinely wonderful. He’s on his way here now. For the sake of all the years your mother and I have worried over you, can’t you just stay and meet him? Please?"

Jiang Yixia opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

She desperately wanted to tell Jiang Guoqiang that she had already reconnected with Lu Fan—Silu and Sifan’s biological father.

If she were to choose someone to spend the rest of her life with, it would only be Lu Fan.

But looking at Jiang Guoqiang’s face, etched with wrinkles, she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

She remembered how, when she was a child, Jiang Guoqiang had doted on her more than anyone.

Later, when she came back to the village pregnant, the villagers’ gossip had made Jiang Guoqiang so furious he’d nearly gotten into a fistfight.

All these years, he had harbored a bone-deep hatred for the bastard who had "ruined" his daughter.

’If he found out that bastard was Lu Fan...’

Jiang Yixia shook her head, suppressing the thought.

’I can’t tell him. At least, not right now.’

Just then, Pan Lanfang walked out of the house.

Her eyes were red. She walked over to Jiang Yixia and took her hand, her voice trembling. "Yixia, I know it was wrong of me to trick you into coming home, but I was at my wit’s end."

Looking at her mother, Jiang Yixia felt both angry and heartbroken.

Wiping away her tears, Pan Lanfang continued, "Your father and I don’t care about the gossip. We’re old now, what’s there to be afraid of? But I’m so scared that you’ll be lonely. One day, your father and I will be gone. Your children will grow up and start their own families. You’ll be all by yourself, all alone. I just can’t rest easy thinking about that."

Hearing those words, Jiang Yixia’s eyes instantly welled up.

She looked at Pan Lanfang’s face, full of wrinkles, at her white-streaked hair, at her hands, rough from a lifetime of labor, and felt a painful clench in her heart.

"Mom, please stop..." Her voice choked, she stepped forward and hugged Pan Lanfang tightly.

Pan Lanfang hugged her back. Mother and daughter stood there in the yard, tears streaming uncontrollably down their cheeks.

After a while, Jiang Yixia pulled away, wiped her tears, and softened her tone. "Mom, I came rushing back in a panic today because you were hurt. I’m staying a bit longer to be with you, not to wait for this supposed blind date. I’ll leave when I feel it’s time. If he still isn’t here by then, well, I’ll take that as a sign from fate."

Pan Lanfang’s face broke into a smile. She nodded eagerly. "I know, I know. The young man will be here very soon, you’ll see."

Jiang Yixia said no more, simply helping her mother back inside the house.

The three of them sat in the main room, chatting idly.

Jiang Guoqiang poured a cup of tea for Jiang Yixia and said with a smile, "You know, Yixia, that young man has helped our family out immensely. The village’s irrigation ditch was broken, and the local officials didn’t care. But he showed up, had a few words with the village chief, and convinced him. They started repairs the very next day and got it fixed."

"Isn’t that the truth!" Pan Lanfang chimed in. "He also helped your father sell his fish. The dealer was trying to lowball him, but the young man made one phone call, brought in a friend, and got a price that was even higher than market value. Your father was overjoyed. He said he wishes that boy were our son."

As Jiang Yixia listened, a strange feeling crept over her.

’The irrigation ditch, selling the fish, all this helping out...’

’Why does all of this sound so familiar?’

Pan Lanfang went on, "And he’s so handsome! Tall and sturdy, and so polite. The very first time I saw him, I thought to myself how wonderful it would be if he were our son-in-law."