Chapter 822 - Lin Nuan Sniffed Something Unusual
You Nainai nodded at Bai Xiaonian’s father then went to open the trunk…
Bai Xiaonian’s father watched as You Nainai effortlessly lifted the luggage that even he struggled to carry, then placed it into the trunk. His eyes widened. “Is this young lady also Xiaonian’s friend? In the past, I’ve never seen her before… She looks quite thin but has enormous strength!”
You Nainai was about to explain that she was Lin Nuan’s bodyguard and assistant, but Bai Xiaonian admitted to it before she could speak. “Right… my new friend!”
You Nainai smiled, a little embarrassed.
“Old Bai, you don’t need to send me off!” Bai Xiaonian said to her father. “It’s enough with Nuan Nuan and Nainai sending me off. Don’t go and add to others’ trouble, lest they have to send you back again later!”
Bai Xiaonian’s father pursed his lips. He knew his own daughter too well. She was afraid that if he were to tag along, he might embarrass her in front of her friends because he wouldn’t be able to hold back his tears after she passed the security check before boarding the plane.
But he only had this one daughter. Now that she was going to America, although they could see each other over video calls every day, there wouldn’t be much time for him to see her in person again. He couldn’t bear it…
Lin Nuan understood Bai Xiaonian’s feelings. She also understood Bai Xiaonian’s father’s feelings.
A middle-aged man came out of the building for his morning run. When he saw Bai Xiaonian holding her luggage, he turned to look at Bai Xiaonian’s father, smiling as he rubbed his face and said hello. “Yo, Old Bai, are you sending your daughter to the airport?”
Bai Xiaonian’s father smiled and nodded. The man stayed one story below them and was a chess buddy of Bai Xiaonian’s father.
“Old Bai, your daughter is really capable! She’s even going to work in America now, unlike that rascal in my house, he’s already thirty and still living off his parents at home! Xiaonian, work hard when you get there! Remember to do our country proud and not let others bully you! Take care of yourself!”
Bai Xiaonian smiled and nodded at her father’s chess buddy. “Got it, Uncle Qian. Don’t worry!”
“Then, I’ll go for my run!”
Watching as the man called Uncle Qian jogged away, Lin Nuan said, “Let Uncle come along!”
Bai Xiaonian opened her mouth. Seeing Old Bai’s tense face as he forced himself not to cry, she felt awful, so she nodded. “Then get into the car! We agreed on this… you’re not to cry!”
On the way to the airport, Bai Xiaonian’s father was quiet, which was unusual behavior for him. On the contrary, Bai Xiaonian was the one reminding her father to take his medicine on time, to lock the door properly at night before he rested, and to eat his three meals well in order to stay in good health.
Lin Nuan, who was seated in the front passenger seat, smiled slightly as she looked at Bai Xiaonian and her father in the rearview mirror.
When they were at the airport checking in, Bai Xiaonian’s father kept asking Bai Xiaonian whether she brought this and that, and Bai Xiaonian took out said items to reassure her father that she did.
Only when he saw that Bai Xiaonian would be late if she still didn’t go for the security check did he hurriedly close up her luggage. It was then that he whipped out a card from the pocket of his down jacket and handed it to her.
Bai Xiaonian paused. She picked up the scarf that she had dropped to the ground, patted it, and asked with a frown, “Old Bai, what’s the meaning of this?”
“You’re going to need money when you go overseas! Take it!” Bai Xiaonian’s father raised her hand and stuffed the card into it. “The password is your birthday!”
Bai Xiaonian had originally thought that she could put up a good pretense, that even after the security check, she could wave goodbye nonchalantly and not cry a single tear. However, one bank card caused Bai Xiaonian to be unable to conceal the dampness that was welling up in her eyes.
She frowned and refused. “Don’t you know that you need to take medicine now! I should be the one giving you money. Why are you giving me money instead? It’s not as if I don’t have money of my own. Can you not… make me worry like that?”
Bai Xiaonian’s voice sounded choked. She was unable to stop her voice from trembling as she gently spoke the last five words.
She had pretended to be impatient precisely because she feared things would end up this way. She kept telling herself not to cry, but she couldn’t hold it in until the end.
“Take it! Don’t let me worry!” Bai Xiaonian’s father’s eyes were also reddened.
The father-and-daughter duo had been depending on each other all these years, and now his only daughter was leaving his side…
Bai Xiaonian had been used to being lazy since she was young, not even putting her clothes into the washing machine after taking them off. She also had no idea which brands and types of fabrics shouldn’t be placed in the washing machine and had to be hand-washed or sent for dry-cleaning!
Bai Xiaonian’s father then wondered whether, with no one by her side to take care of her… she would get to eat three piping hot meals a day, which caused his heart to feel as if it was being pricked by needles.
Bai Xiaonian let go of the handle of her luggage, then stuffed the bank card into her father’s down jacket pocket and helped him straighten his jacket. “Dad… keep this yourself, and don’t let me worry! If I need it, I’ll surely ask you!”
Bai Xiaonian’s father’s eyes turned red, and he finally nodded after a long while.
Lin Nuan handed Bai Xiaonian a square box. Inside was a pair of gloves. Bai Xiaonian gazed at Lin Nuan with watery eyes.
“I know you don’t have the habit of wearing gloves, but I still felt that I ought to prepare a pair for you!” Lin Nuan laughed lightly.
Bai Xiaonian stuffed the gloves together with the box into the bag that Lin Nuan had given her and nodded. “I’ll surely wear gloves in the future!”
Lin Nuan hugged Bai Xiaonian. Perhaps because Bai Xiaonian’s father was more reserved by nature, he merely waved at her and didn’t hug her, reminding her to put safety first.
You Nainai wasn’t used to being too close with others. After some hesitation, she stepped up to shake hands with Bai Xiaonian, which tickled the latter with laughter.
As they watched Bai Xiaonian pass the security check, Bai Xiaonian’s father spoke first. “Let’s go!”
By the time they emerged from the underground parking lot in the airport, the skies were no longer dark.
On the way back to Bai Xiaonian’s father’s place, he didn’t speak a word more, merely staring seriously at the planes taking off as the car drove away from the airport.
“Uncle, in the future, if you miss Xiaonian, you can go to America to visit her. Or you can wait for her to come back on vacation…” Lin Nuan consoled Bai Xiaonian’s father.
Bai Xiaonian’s father nodded. He smiled and joked with Lin Nuan, though he couldn’t hide the desolate look in his eyes. “From today onwards, I’m considered an empty nester!”
After sending Bai Xiaonian’s father back, on the way to Jinjiang TV Station, Lin Nuan received a call from Lin Ran.
Lin Ran said that Lin Jingquan’s birthday was in a few days. Liang Mulan said that they would just eat together as a family at home and not make it a grand affair this time around. She beat around the bush for a bit, then said to Lin Nuan that if she was free on that day, she could come to the Lin residence with Fu Huai’an and Tuan Tuan. She would also like to fetch Ji Yun to the Lin residence then, and Liang Mulan and Lin Jingquan had already consented to it.
Lin Nuan was no fool and could tell whether Lin Ran was sincere in inviting her. Detecting the sincerity in Lin Ran’s voice, Lin Nuan thought about it, then agreed to go.
Before hanging up, Lin Ran seemed to recall something. She said to Lin Nuan, “Gu Shaoting will be coming over too!”
Lin Ran had said that they were eating as a family, then later, she mentioned that Gu Shaoting would be there too. Lin Nuan sniffed something unusual…