Meng Jingwei, furious and flustered, grabbed Qiao Ziqian's arm and snapped, "Come in with me."
Qiao Ziqian didn't struggle, allowing Meng Jingwei to drag him into the villa.
"Young Madam, Miss Lan."
The servant, seeing Meng Jingwei and Lan Shu enter, stepped forward, bowed respectfully, and greeted them.
Meng Jingwei nodded slightly, "Has Ye returned yet?"
On the way back, she had called Qing Muye, but Qiao Rui Group still had many matters to attend to, and Meng Jingwei was unsure who would arrive home first.
"The master has returned and is currently in the living room with the old madam and the others," the servant replied.
"Understood."
Meng Jingwei nodded, glanced at Qiao Ziqian beside her, and instructed the servant, "Have the family doctor come to the living room."
"Yes, Young Madam."
The servant glanced at Qiao Ziqian, seeing his bruised and swollen eyes, and understood. She then turned and left.
The three walked towards the living room together. As they stepped onto the stairs, they heard sounds of laughter and chatter from within.
"Haha, our Yi Yi, the little princess, is so smart, much smarter than you were as a child."
"Who would say otherwise? When Jingwei was little, she didn't even know what her mother's sister's name was. No matter how we taught her, she couldn't learn, hahahaha…"
"Is that true? I find Jingwei to be clever and sharp, not at all like you say."
Listening to their conversation, even though they were discussing Meng Jingwei's past embarrassments, Meng Jingwei could feel the warmth of family through their cheerful laughter.
She let go of Qiao Ziqian's hand, quickened her pace into the living room, and teased, "Dad, Mom, are you talking 'bad things' about me behind my back again? You've been caught red-handed."
"Oh, my daughter is back! Why didn't you give us a heads-up? Mom could have prepared delicious food for you." Seeing Meng Jingwei return, Du Juan quickly hugged the little darling Yi Yi in her arms, stood up, and walked towards her.
"Jingwei, you're back. Grandma was just talking about you with your mother."
Qing Old Madam, suffering from Alzheimer's, was unusually clear-headed and remembered Meng Jingwei.
"Mama~"
"Ah wow~ Mama…"
Yi Yi and Yi Hang, the two little ones, looked over upon hearing Meng Jingwei's voice. Their large, grape-like eyes sparkled, and they waved their little hands and kicked their little legs in excitement, uttering indistinct sounds of "Mama."
Meng Jingwei smiled at Qing Old Madam, "I knew you were thinking of me. I hurried back as fast as I could," she said, comforting the old madam.
As she spoke, she walked to Du Juan and took Yi Yi, the little princess, from her arms. She held the child gently, kissing her rosy cheeks. "Yi Yi, have you missed Mommy?"
"Hee hee~ Mama…" Yi Yi happily waved her little arms, kicked her little legs, and giggled.
Du Juan affectionately stroked Yi Yi's hair and said to Meng Jingwei, "This child is so happy to see you."
Suddenly, she noticed the person behind Meng Jingwei and chided, "You, you brought a friend and didn't introduce them to us. How can you still be so thoughtless at this age?"
"Yes. The older she gets, the more thoughtless she becomes." Meng Tianhua walked over, poked Meng Jingwei on the forehead, and then, with a kindly and amiable smile, greeted Qiao Ziqian. "You're Jingwei's friend, right? Come, come, come, sit, sit. Jingwei has a careless personality normally, please don't mind her."
Qiao Ziqian, not knowing them, scratched his head and frowned unhappily, "Hmph, she's not Jingwei, she's Xing Xing."
"Xing Xing?"
Du Juan looked at Qiao Ziqian in confusion, then at Meng Jingwei. "What's going on? When did you change your name without telling Mom?"