Chapter 124: Can’t Pass

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Jiang Zhen did not expect Tan Ming to say such an old-fashioned sentence. A hint of helplessness flashed across his face at her sudden sense of seniority.

Tan Ming looked at the scenery outside the window. It felt different from when she came, but she didn’t think too much about it until Jiang Zhen drove her to a three-story villa in a small district.

Tan Ming stuck her head out to take a look. “Where are we?”

Jiang Zhen unbuckled his seatbelt. “This is my house. Sit in the car and wait for me. I’ll go get something.”

Tan Ming nodded and looked around the neighborhood. It didn’t look like a cheap house.

After waiting for less than 10 minutes, Jiang Zhen got into the car with a big bag. “On the day of your 3rd birthday party, 1 promised to celebrate your birthday with you every year. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to do it. However, I prepared gifts.”

Upon hearing Jiang Zhen’s words, Tan Ming was stunned. She took the big bag and opened it to see gift boxes of various sizes stacked inside.

Tan Ming casually took out a gift box that was closest to her hand. When she opened it, she realized that it was a handmade hair clip. The hair clip was wrapped in white satin. White lace and pink organza were stacked with a few flowers as decorations. There were also a few plump and bright pearls embedded in it. From the looks of it, it was more suitable for a little girl to wear.

The workmanship was not particularly good because Tan Ming realized that there were some small details on the hair clip that had not been handled properly. She took a guess, looked up and asked suspiciously, “Did you make it by hand?”

Jiang Zhen coughed uncomfortably. “This is your 8th birthday present. It’s my first time making it. It’s not perfect.”

Although Tan Ming didn’t remember what happened before she lost her way, it didn’t stop her from feeling Jiang Zhen’s care for her this morning. Based on this familiarity, Tan Ming believed that if she hadn’t lost her way back then, she would have grown up with her three brothers and Jiang Zhen.

Since the children from both families have had a brother-sister relationship for so long, Tan Ming didn’t stand on ceremony. She revealed a sincere smile and said gently, “Thank you, Brother Jiang Zhen. This hair clip is very beautiful. Although it’s not suitable for me to wear now, I can leave it for my daughter.”

Tan Ming opened the other 22 gift boxes one by one in front of Jiang Zhen. There were cloth dolls, jewelry, and all kinds of trinkets.

What caught Tan Ming’s attention was a handmade ceramic mug. The image on the body of the mug was created with Van Gogh’s Starry Sky and sunflower paintings as inspiration. There was a little girl wearing a straw hat sitting happily in the middle of the sunflowers with a grin.

Tan Ming turned the cup and took a closer look. Her eyes were filled with love. “This cup is so beautiful! Did you make it yourself?”

Jiang Zhen nodded and looked at the mug in Tan Ming’s hand. “This is your 16th birthday present. It’s the scene of you seeing sunflowers when you went to someone else’s house to attend a banquet when you were young. I edited it a little.”

Not long after that banquet, Jiang Zhen learned about An’an getting lost from his father. As time passed, the scene Jiang Zhen saw of An’an in the sunflower bushes became clearer in his mind.

The tips of Tan Ming’s ears were a little red. She felt that she couldn’t get over this story of looking at sunflowers at someone else’s house.

Tan Ming cleared her throat and held the cup lovingly. She smiled at Jiang Zhen and said sincerely, “1 especially like this cup. Thank you, Brother Jiang Zhen, for always preparing gifts for me so diligently. I will keep these things well.”

Jiang Zhen looked at Tan Ming’s chubby cheeks and stretched out his fingers, wanting to scratch her face like when she was young.

Tan Ming subconsciously dodged. Jiang Zhen came back to his senses and realized that the two of them had been separated for 23 years.

Jiang Zhen took a tissue and handed it to Tan Ming. He calmly found an excuse for his abnormality. “Your face has a little dust. Wipe it.”

When Tan Ming heard this reason, she did not doubt him. She wiped her face and looked at Jiang Zhen. “Is it still there?”

Jiang Zhen looked at Tan Ming’s face, which was slightly red from using the tissue to wipe it forcefully. He shook his head. “It’s clean. It’s lunchtime. I’ll bring you to eat something before going home.”

Only then did Tan Ming realize that they had been out for the entire morning. “No need. You can just send me home.”

Jiang Zhen did not insist and sent Tan Ming back to the Jiang family’s ancestral residence.

Tan Si, who was still in the shop, did not accept her losses and bought a few more raw stones. She only began to come to a realization after spending all five million yuan.

Looking at the raw materials in her hand, Tan Si grabbed Boss Yu and asked, “Isn’t your shop accepting raw materials?! Just now, you said that these raw materials are worth more than 1.3 million yuan.. 1’11 sell them to you now!”