My Straight Childhood Friend Successfully Pursued Me After The Breakup - Chapter 27.2

In the photo, Zuo Xian was smiling brightly, her eyes curved into beautiful crescents, tightly hooking Liu Xinyu’s neck, not giving her a chance to escape.

Liu Xinyu looked expressionlessly at the camera, but due to her naturally sweet face, her sulking expression was still somewhat cute.

Zuo Xian admired the picture for a while, nodded in satisfaction, and sent it to Tao Ran.

“Who are you messaging?” Liu Xinyu asked.

Zuo Xian: “Curious?”

“After all, my face is in it too.”

Zuo Xian pouted, pretending not to hear her stubbornness, and replied, “I sent it to Ranran.”

“Your childhood sweetheart?”

Zuo Xian curled her lips, very fond of this nickname, as it seemed to emphasize the relationship between her and Tao Ran that others couldn’t intrude upon.

“Didn’t you bring your friend back this year?” Zuo Zhofan also had something to talk about when Tao Ran was mentioned.

Jiang Ningxiu was a very thoughtful person who almost always brought Tao Ran to visit Nanding every year, so the Zuo family was very familiar with both her and Tao Ran.

One year, Jiang Ningxiu was busy with work, and Zuo Xian happened to be unwilling to separate from Tao Ran.

So, that year, Tao Ran spent the New Year at the Zuo family’s home, but on the second day of the Lunar New Year, Jiang Ningxiu, who came to visit, conveniently took her away.

Zuo Xian, who refused to leave her childhood sweetheart, was also taken away.

This, of course, left a deep impression on the Zuo family, and even Zuo Zhofan, who was usually quiet, couldn’t help but tease.

Zuo Xian sighed, “I wanted to bring her back too, but she went abroad for something.”

Liu Xinyu smiled, “The clingy one isn’t going along this year?”

“Hey, Liu Xinyu, I’m your cousin, after all.”

Liu Xinyu: “Oh, the clingy cousin isn’t going along this year?”

Seeing that her aunt and mother weren’t helping her and were just snickering, Zuo Xian could only swallow her frustration.

Fortunately, Tao Ran’s reply came quickly today for some reason.

Tao Ran: Xinyu seems to have grown up a lot.

Zuo Xian: Why only mention her, what about me?

Tao Ran: [A Xian is still the same, your smile is very beautiful.

Ugh.

Why is a straight girl such a flirt?

Zuo Xian’s face flushed, and her heart started fluttering again.

The nearly four-hour drive, neither long nor short, was filled with non-stop chatting.

Zuo Xian noticed that her mother did most of the talking, her aunt listened, and Liu Xinyu occasionally offered a sarcastic remark.

Now, when the topic turned to Jiang Yuhai, the moment his name was mentioned, Zuo Zhofan’s brow furrowed, clearly showing her intense dislike for him.

As soon as her sister mentioned what kind of trouble he had caused recently, her eyes narrowed, and she let out a cold snort.

“Shameless.”

Liu Xinyu’s words were even less polite, “He really acts like he has nothing else to do, even resorting to being a thief. Auntie, did you call the police?”

Zuo Zhimi shook her head. The evidence wasn’t sufficient, so reporting it would be useless. She could only learn from the experience.

Zuo Xian didn’t participate in this topic, resting her chin on her hand and looking out the car window.

As they got closer to Grandma’s house, the surrounding scenery became increasingly rural, with scattered earthen houses nestled among the crowded hills, and the better ones being rural self-built homes.

It was a completely different landscape from the urbanized Lu City.

Around 5:30 PM, the silver car exited the highway at the toll booth marked with the two large characters “Nanding.”

It was already getting dark, and the view was shrouded in a thin layer of yellow, the trace of the setting sun.

Approaching home, Zuo Zhimi became a little nervous. She turned her head and instructed, “Don’t mention Jiang Yuhai’s matter to Mom, alright? Xinyu, you too, don’t tell Grandma.”

Zuo Zhofan glanced at her, “Can you even keep it a secret? Why not just confess honestly? Mom will just scold you, and that’ll be the end of it.”

“I’m this old, how can I still worry Mom with everything?”

Liu Xinyu opened a box of strawberry milk to drink, while handing a bottle of orange juice to her picky cousin, saying, “Grandma won’t blame you, but she’ll probably go knock on Jiang Yuhai’s head with her cane overnight.”

Grandma had encountered a case of medical dispute with a patient’s family years ago. To save a freshly interned young nurse in her department, she single-handedly blocked the assailant and was wounded in the leg by the attacker.

Her Achilles tendon was severed. When she was young, it only meant she couldn’t stand on her toes, but as she got older, she developed a limp and always used a cane when she went out.

Zuo Zhimi, a woman in her prime at forty-four, said, “Then I’d rather she just scold me. It’s too embarrassing to have a sixty-something-year-old limping old lady take her cane to seek revenge for me.”

Zuo Xian, who hadn’t even taken a sip of her orange juice, was laughing non-stop in the back seat.

Soon, they arrived home. The car drove into the town.

Grandma’s house was on a small slope. Below the slope was a large camphor tree that required two people to hug around it.

As soon as Zuo Xian saw the familiar camphor tree, she looked closer and saw Grandma, leaning on her cane, sitting on a long bench under the tree, waiting.

Zuo Zhofan: “Mom came out to meet you.”

“Quick, quick, stop the car, I want to get out.”

Before the car came to a complete stop, Zuo Zhimi’s long legs strode out of the car. Just as she walked up to Li Yugui and was about to give her mother a hug, she was hit on the leg with the cane.

Zuo Zhimi: “?”

Li Yugui said sternly, “You jump out before the car even stops. Do you want to end up using a cane like me?”

“Grandma!” Zuo Xian, who waited for the car to stop properly before getting out, bounced over and hugged her grandmother.

Li Yugui’s tightly furrowed brows relaxed, and she patted the back of Zuo Xian’s head, “Xianzai is back.”

Zuo Zhimi: “?”

“Pay attention to safety next time, you’re a grown-up.” Ms. Li Yugui then pinched Zuo Zhimi’s cheek, “Be a good example for Xianzai.”

“I know.” Being pinched on the cheek at her age, Zuo Zhimi turned her face away and lightly coughed a couple of times, attempting to preserve some semblance of a mature and steady image.

“Mom, next time just wait inside. It’s cold outside.”

Nanding City wasn’t like the coastal Yuzhou City; the altitude was higher, and it was nestled in a mountain valley, so the temperature was much lower.

“I know, stop nagging.”

Zuo Zhimi: “…”

Soon, Zuo Zhofan parked the car and walked over with Liu Xinyu. The group headed toward the house.

Li Yugui originally lived in the unit-allocated housing, but Zuo Zhimi thought it was too small and built a small Western-style house a few years ago.

This way, the whole family could live comfortably when they came back for holidays and festivals.

Considering the difficulty of cleaning, they also hired a housekeeper, making the old lady completely free of responsibilities.

The housekeeper had just finished a table full of dishes, which were still hot, and the family washed up and sat down to eat.

After the meal, they sat in the living room to digest, with a historical TV drama playing on the television.

Zuo Xian occasionally turned on her phone screen to check for messages. She had sent Tao Ran many messages along the way. She figured Tao Ran was busy and hadn’t replied.

She knew that when Tao Ran finished her work, she would reply immediately.

But knowing that fact didn’t stop Zuo Xian from checking every once in a while.

Grandma noticed her actions. After watching for a moment, she couldn’t help but ask, “Xianzai, do you have someone you like?”