Chapter 384

One hundred and eighty-second page A young girl wants to be the principal

At her words, Xiao Hai Tang exclaimed,

“This is absurd! How can there be a principal at the age of seventeen!”

“Alright, alright, repeating the same joke won’t help those who don’t understand anyway!”

I waved my hand at her and then turned to look at my grandmother.

“It’s simple for you to want to be the principal; as long as Aunt Zhen agrees, the rest of the Huángfǔ family won’t object. But gaining the trust of students and others isn’t so easy. You must earn the recognition of today’s guests. Otherwise, Bìyáng Girls’ School might lose important student enrollment and social credibility, even shaking the foundation of the Huángfǔ family… right?”

Grandmother put down her teacup and patted me on the back. Although she was my grandmother, being treated like a junior by a girl close to her in age still felt somewhat odd.

“Xiao Ying, you understood quickly? No wonder you’re from the Huángfǔ family.”

“It’s not that I understood quickly; Lǐn Huā had explained most of it to us before we came up. If I didn’t get it, wouldn’t I be an idiot?”

Lǐn Huā turned to ask the red-haired girl next to her,

“Sister Lěi, did you understand?”

The foolish girl blinked and then smiled, “Isn’t it great if the principal becomes the principal again? I fully agree; why would anyone oppose?”

No one answered her, only Lǐn Huā patted her shoulder to comfort her…

No, that expression seemed more like relief, as if she was saying, “It’s good that you’re an idiot.”

I looked at Grandmother and said seriously, “Grandma, I will try my best not to hinder you on stage later.”

Upon hearing this, Grandmother was somewhat puzzled.

She asked, “Xiao Ying, what do you mean by hindering me?”

“Lǐn Huā said I would be going on stage with you. If my performance is poor, it will affect how people view you. I need to showcase myself well.”

Grandmother looked at Lǐn Huā, who was whistling and pretending to look around.

“Huh? Xiao Lǐnhuā, what scheme are you planning now?”

“Well, I just wanted to give Yīng some encouragement. If she can attract guests to propose marriage, then our cards…”

“Stop!”

I made a stop gesture.

“Propose marriage? So, you were planning to sell me off?”

Thinking of her teasing expression earlier, I felt annoyed.

Lǐn Huā came closer to comfort me, “No selling, Yīng is too good. Where would I have the heart to sell her? This is just bait!”

“I’m your cousin, and you’re scheming against me? Why don’t you use yourself as bait?”

Lǐn Huā raised her hand, measuring herself up and down, “I don’t have that kind of appeal. In terms of looks and figure, Yīng is better. Today’s guests include eligible bachelors, who knows, someone might fancy you!”

“So what if they fancy me? I could never fancy them.”

“Yīng, you just haven’t met your destined one yet~”

Before I could get angry, Lǐn Huā’s frivolous answer made Grandmother smile. She brushed her bangs behind her ear and said, “Xiao Ying, you don’t need to worry too much. Just stay by my side when Zhen introduces you. There’s no need to do anything else. After all, you and I are different. You don’t need to gain their recognition. Just be yourself.”

Yīng dared not object to Grandmother’s arrangement, but I said, “But if they don’t like me, they’ll also lower their opinion of you.”

“Xiao Ying, look at yourself. Anyone meeting you for the first time wouldn’t form a bad impression… unless they’re jealous women.”

Grandmother’s words were affirmed by everyone. Qiǎnxià ran over from her mother and hugged my waist, “Qiǎnxià likes Yīng the most! She liked her the moment she saw her!”

I pinched her little nose.

“You talk sweetly, but when you meet other sisters, you’ll forget about me, right?”

She was the type to like whoever she met, so her “favorite” wasn’t worth much. Everyone was her “favorite,” making her truly DD.

And the first person she met should be Xiǎo Kǎi.

I took Qiǎnxià’s hand and asked, “Grandma, when does the memorial service start?”

“At ten o’clock. There’s still over an hour, but introductions might wait until noon since today is a memorial service, and here, the deceased takes precedence.”

“Then I’ll take Qiǎnxià downstairs for a walk, say hello to Aunt Zhen, and introduce her to Little Sister Jīng…”

“Hold on, let Xiao Lǐnhuā take Xiao Qiànxià downstairs. I still have something to tell you.”

Grandmother stopped me.

“Alright, Qiànxià~ Sister will introduce you to another big sister. Grandma will come later.”

Lǐnhuā took Qiànxià out of the lounge, and I looked at Grandmother.

“Is there anything else you want to say?”

She continued, “Huángfǔ Yuèhuá is in the past. I want to talk about my future identity…”

“Are you going to take the Lu surname?”

My question left Grandmother stunned, then she laughed, “Bìfāng already told you my new identity? I specifically said I would reveal it myself.”

“No, she didn’t tell us details. I guessed randomly, and you really took the Lu surname?”

“My name is Linglan. As for the surname, it’s still Huángfǔ.”

Grandmother, Huángfǔ Linglan, took out a brand-new ID card from her pocket to show us.

Xiao Hai Tang said, “Such a small flower like Linglan doesn’t suit the principal…”

“But I’m just a small flower now. The meaning of Linglan is happiness returning, regaining life is happiness. I hope those two kids will return soon…”

Grandmother reached for her teacup, but her wrist turned in mid-air and grabbed Yuèzi’s neck, lifting her onto her lap.

“Oh?”

Yuèzi, as a fluffy little animal, could win over any woman with her cuteness.

I asked, “You kept me here for another reason, right?”

Grandmother stroked Yuèzi’s fur and nodded, “Xiao Ying, does your grandfather still have a chance to come out from the cellar of the stationery shop?”

It was still a temple, but the term “cellar” sounded quite cheap.

I answered honestly, “Once she ceases to be a deity, she can leave that temple. But her altar is meant for Xiǎo Kǎi. He won’t let it fall into his hands.”

“That’s right. To come out, he needs to save Xiǎo Kǎi first. No wonder he hasn’t visited me in so many years…”

Grandmother had stayed in the southern part of the city for many days last week. Clearly, she understood her husband’s situation and thus asked such a question.

This was a good sign. Perhaps after the transformation, and after losing her daughter and grandson, she reflected on her past actions.

“Grandma, though his way of expressing himself is clumsy, Grandpa hasn’t forgotten you all these years. Since you’ve let go of the name Huángfǔ Yuèhuá, can you forgive him?”

“Do we still need to talk about forgiveness now?”

Grandmother carried Yuèzi to the terrace. The cold wind made Yuèzi shrink into her arms.

Grandmother leaned against the iron railing, facing away from the garden and smiling at me, “Xiao Ying, I’ve let go of my hatred, so there’s no need for forgiveness. Let everything start anew. I give him a chance, and I give myself a chance.”

“So should I continue calling you grandma, or should I call you Aunt Linglan?”

“I’ve said it before. No matter how age or status changes, our kinship remains the same. You can call me however you like; we are always family.”

Grandmother sorted out the messy family dynamics with one sentence. Rank, gender, and age didn’t matter; as long as we were family, it was enough.

I gathered my courage and asked, “Can I call you Sister Linglan?”

“Haha, of course not.”

Oh, still not allowed?

————–

Before the memorial service began, I decided to go downstairs and explore the surroundings.

But beside me was only a foolish younger sister with nowhere to go.

Lǐnhuā had long taken Xiao Qiànxià away, probably to play with Little Sister Jīng;

Yuèzi curled up in the lounge, unwilling to move, becoming increasingly inactive as the weather cooled, perhaps due to hibernation habits;

Xiao Hai Tang pulled Orange to find Senior Shén Guāng. Since the Long family, friends of the Huángfǔ family, would naturally attend the memorial service, regardless of whether they were informed or not, both Senior Shén Guāng and Aunt Long would surely understand the situation when Grandmother appeared as Huángfǔ Linglan;

Dog Sister stood guard-like beside Grandmother, and Mù Xī followed her. The nervous teenage girl feared breaking anything here;

Mother was tied to Grandmother. She had cared for Grandmother in the underground research institute, so Grandmother held a good impression of this “cheap daughter-in-law.” Yet, despite the harmonious mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship, Mother herself was absent…

“Sigh.”

Thinking of that, I couldn’t help sighing.

Sister Lěi asked, “Yīng, are you thinking about Chairman again?”

“Mm, whenever I calm down, I can’t help but think about it.”

“I feel the same. But as long as there’s a possibility for Chairman to return, I won’t sigh. Because I don’t want to give up any hope…”

I knocked her forehead lightly with my hand, producing a “clang” sound.

Hmm? Is her head hollow?

She rubbed her forehead and complained, “Why did you hit me, Yīng?”

“You make me feel like a failure, so stop talking.”

“How can you be like this!”

I poked her puffy cheek, which was springy like a fish eye.

If Xiao Kǎi doesn’t return, such a cute girl will belong to me?

I suggested, “Sister Lěi, I can sense Xiao Kǎi’s five senses through the core of the temple. Maybe you can do it too. Do you want to try?”

Since I knew the connection to the temple core, I had some experiments in mind, and there was a willing test subject right beside me.

“Oh! I want to try!”