Jiang Yucheng was a man who only ever appeared in finance magazines or on lists of the world's wealthiest people. Even on an average day, he was meticulously dressed and strictly professional. Yet, Jiang Xuxu had managed to change his entire wardrobe with a single sentence, making him dress down like a younger man.
Even if he drew a few extra glances on the street, he didn't feel the slightest bit of embarrassment.
On the contrary, looking at the two children beside him, he was suddenly reminded of many years ago. When Xuxu was born, he had once envisioned taking his wife and their two children out for shopping and spring outings together.
Now, that vision was three-quarters complete.
He just didn't know when the remaining quarter would finally be reunited with them.
Thinking of his wife, a hint of deep gloom and loneliness flickered in Jiang Yucheng's eyes, though his face remained as expressionless as ever.
The three spent the afternoon shopping and wandering through the mall's gaming zone. The two men acted as if they were determined to make up for every regret Jiang Xuxu might have had from her childhood.
Jiang Xuxu could only think: ...
It was a bit exhausting.
Exhausting even than drawing twenty Talismans in one go.
And yet, she felt a faint sense of gratitude and genuine liking for it.
It wasn't until the three had finished dinner and admired the night view that Jiang Yucheng suddenly stopped in his tracks while passing a photography studio.
"We haven't taken any photos since Xuxu came home."
Jiang Yucheng's voice was soft. Compared to his usual reserved self, he sounded somewhat moved.
Jiang Huai smiled and looked at Jiang Xuxu. The two met eyes, and naturally, she didn't refuse.
After spending the entire day together, Jiang Xuxu's experience of her identity as a member of the Jiang family seemed to have shifted.
Photos usually required an appointment, but for Jiang Huai, that was a non-issue.
He contacted a photographer at a private studio directly, and the three of them took a family portrait.
The moment the photo was taken, Jiang Xuxu could vaguely see the thin threads connecting her to the Jiang family members beginning to solidify.
She knew what that represented, and she no longer resisted it.
After the shoot, Jiang Huai made the photographer work overtime to retouch the images immediately.
Later that evening, Jiang Su was curled up on the living room sofa, bored out of his mind and scrolling through his WeChat Moments, when he unexpectedly saw two updates.
One was from his eldest uncle, Jiang Yucheng.
This Business Titan, who usually only occasionally shared industry reports, had actually posted a rare personal update.
The post contained only a single photo of the three of them.
There was no text, but the image spoke a thousand words.
The other post belonged to Jiang Huai.
His content was much more lively than Jiang Yucheng's.
Aside from the formal family portrait his father had posted, he had also uploaded a nine-grid of candid photos of the three of them shopping and drinking milk tea.
It was accompanied by the caption:
[Father insisted on taking me and my sister on a shopping spree.]
Although Jiang Xuxu hadn't posted anything herself, she had obediently liked both of their posts in order.
With just one look, Jiang Su's eyes turned red with envy. He jumped right off the sofa.
"Oh, my god! My sister went out shopping and didn't even take me!!"
His sudden howl startled his father, who had just returned home after working overtime. He instinctively asked, "Which sister?"
Jiang Su was still fuming. "Which other sister do I have? My biological cousin! Sister Xuxu!"
As he spoke, he frantically took screenshots and fired them into the family group chat.
Aside from the younger generation, the rest of the Jiang family rarely checked Moments, so they wouldn't have noticed otherwise.
Opening Jiang Su's screenshots, the various members of the Jiang family fell silent for a moment.
Forget the youngsterseven the brothers, Jiang Yutong and Jiang Yumin, found the sight difficult to describe.
Their eldest brother, who was usually terrifyingly serious, had actually accompanied his kids shopping.
Shopping was one thing, but he was drinking milk tea!
An old-fashioned man who barely even drank coffee and strictly stuck to tea was actually drinking milk tea!
He was even dressed like a young lad.
The two younger Jiang brothers felt that perhaps they didn't know their eldest brother as well as they thought.
Forget the adults; the younger generation of the Jiang family looked on in utter disbelief.
But compared to their uncle's sudden accessibility, Jiang Han was more observant. He pointed at Jiang Su and asked, "You can see Jiang Xuxu's likes... you added her as a friend!"
Lu Xuexi's gaze was fixed intently on the three people in the photo. Hearing this, her eyes dimmed as she looked toward Jiang Su.
Her gaze held a subtle and inexplicable hint of reproach.
Jiang Su felt inexplicably annoyed catching her look, but he didn't want to talk to her. He turned to Jiang Han and snapped, "I added her long ago. She's my sister; am I not allowed to add her?!"
Jiang Han finally remembered that this guy had previously transferred money to her to buy a Talisman. The way he looked at Jiang Su now was as if he were looking at a traitor.
But deep down, he felt a surge of indignation.
Why did Jiang Xuxu only add Jiang Su and not her other brothers? Did she look down on them?
Jiang Su's mother, Xue Ningyu, ignored the children's bickering. Instead, she said with a smile, "It's rare for Eldest Brother to be in such a mood. It's so nice to see the three of them getting along like this."
She and Jiang Yutong were both busy, and they rarely had time to take Jiang Su or Jiang Cheng shopping or playing.
Seeing Jiang Su staring at his phone with such envy, she suddenly felt she owed the child something.
Yao Lin, standing nearby, didn't say a word. She simply stared at the three people in the photo with her beautiful eyes. Her long hair fell slightly, perfectly masking the crazed coldness in the depths of her gaze.
One photo, yet everyone in the Jiang family had a different reaction.
But none of that had anything to do with Jiang Xuxu.
Because it wasn't too late when she got home, she was still thinking about the small Infant Spirit in her backpack. She decided to send it off tonight.
When it came to the reincarnation of ghosts, Buddhism focused on "Transcendence," while Daoism wasn't as specialized in those rituals. Thus, Jiang Xuxu usually just summoned an Underworld Messenger to collect them.
Taking the Infant Spirit behind the greenhouse downstairs, Jiang Xuxu calculated the time and pulled out a Yin-Summoning Talisman.
First, she swept the Talisman paper over the Infant Spirit. After confirming it was stained with the little fellow's Yin Qi, Jiang Xuxu held the yellow paper between her fingertips.
With a Daoist Incantation chanting from her lips, she flicked her wrist, letting the Talisman fly into the air.
However, before the yellow Talisman could even ignite, the previously docile Infant Spirit suddenly perked up. Completely ignoring Jiang Xuxu, it kicked its short little legs and zoomed off in a certain direction.
Jiang Xuxu: ...
What was this familiar behavior?
She had a very bad feeling about this.
Sure enough, when Jiang Xuxu chased the Infant Spirit out of the Jiang family villa, she happened to see a Maybach flashing with a golden light passing by in the distance.
Inside the car, Chu Beihe was casually flipping through his phone when he happened to see the Moments post Jiang Huai had madeone that could only be described as showing off.
Possessed by some strange impulse, he clicked on it. He was scanning through it unconsciously when his dark eyes suddenly landed on a specific spot in the photo.
His handsome brow twitched. Just as he intended to take a closer look, he sensed something rapidly approaching him.
Chu Beihe's mind sharpened instantly as he instinctively looked toward the source of the sensation.
In mid-air, a familiar Ginseng Doll came pouncing toward him, flying straight through the half-open car window.
With a splat, it landed directly in his palm.
Chu Beihe: ...
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