All Grown Up in the Blink of an Eye

Qi Shenbai explained, “What if Grandmother comes over someday and they call you by the wrong name? Our act will be exposed. That’s why I told them to change their terms of address first. You should get used to it, now.”

Xu Jiaojiao thought about it. Qi Shenbai’s argument made a lot of sense! To think he was so meticulous about these things!

Qi Shenbai was very busy with work and often worked overtime or socialized at night. Xu Jiaojiao only had to guarantee his breakfast. Occasionally, he would send Xu Jiaojiao a message when he came back early at night. Xu Jiaojiao would then ask the butler to prepare the ingredients for whatever she wanted to do. She was only responsible for cooking, and someone else would take care of everything else.

Unknowingly, the month of August had passed. Before they knew it, it was Xu Jiaojiao’s birthday. Just after dawn, her phone started ringing. Xu Zhengyang and Su Luo had both sent her red packets and birthday blessings. Xu Jiaojiao accepted them one by one and then replied to thank them.

Xu Jiaojiao had no classes during the day, so after making breakfast for Qi Shenbai, she went back to sleep. She slept until ten o’clock, then got up, washed up, changed into a white dress, and returned to the Xu family home. Mrs. Xu had called her a week in advance and asked her to come home for dinner on her birthday. Mr. Xu also canceled his work appointments and stayed at home to celebrate her birthday with her.

“Your father and I specially picked this out. Happy birthday, baby.” Mrs. Xu gave Xu Jiaojiao a luxury backpack. It looked very nice.

“Thank you, Dad, Mom” Xu Jiaojiao immediately took a fancy to this bag. It was her favorite style! It even matched her little white dress today!

“Your grandmother wasn’t feeling well last night. Your father and I told her not to go back and forth,” Mrs. Xu explained. Otherwise, Old Madam Xu would definitely be there today.

The smile on Xu Jiaojiao’s face immediately disappeared. “Is Grandma alright? I’ll go and visit her in the afternoon.”

“No need, no need.” Mrs. Xu quickly refused. “She just caught a cold. It’s not a big deal. She didn’t tell you because she was afraid that you would be worried.”

“But Grandma is…” Xu Jiaojiao wanted to say something but hesitated. Ever since Grandma fell sick, she had never been allowed to visit her in the hospital.

“Today is your 20th birthday, but we couldn’t throw a huge party because of your grandmother’s condition. If you end up celebrating your birthday at the hospital, she will feel terribly guilty.” Mr. Xu persuaded, “You know how much your grandmother dotes on you. Today is your birthday. If you’re really worried, why don’t you go to the hospital to visit her tomorrow?”

When Xu Jiaojiao heard her father’s words, she could only nod obediently. In the afternoon, Xu Zhengyang was busy with work and did not come back. Xu Jiaojiao had lunch with her parents, and Mrs. Xu personally made her a cupcake and longevity noodles.

Mrs. Xu knew that Xu Jiaojiao had an appointment with a friend to go out and play, so she did not stop her. Instead, she stuffed a credit card into her hands.

“Dad, Mom, you’ve already given me a birthday present. I don’t need this card anymore,” Xu Jiaojiao refused. She did not want to take any more of her parents’ money.

Mr. Xu pressed the credit card into Xu Jiaojiao’s palm. “The bag is a gift, and so is the credit card. We were already very worried that you wouldn’t be staying at home. Although Mr. Qi is your brother’s friend, we can tell from the way he dresses that he’s no Average Joe. You’re staying at his house now, so there are many things you need to spend money on. Be good and take it.” He was afraid that Qi Shenbai was too rich, and Xu Jiaojiao would not feel comfortable staying with him.

“Dad…” Xu Jiaojiao wanted to say that she did not need to spend money while she was staying with Qi Shenbai, but Mr. Xu interrupted her just as she opened her mouth.

“Be good and take it. Besides, aren’t you going out to play with your friend tonight? You need to spend money on these things.”

Xu Jiaojiao bit her lip and was still hesitating when Mr. Xu added, “It’s your birthday today, so just have fun. Buy whatever you want to buy and eat whatever you like. Don’t think about saving money. This credit card has a limit of 200,000 yuan. If it’s not enough, you can ask Dad for it.” In any case, his daughter had already suffered a lot. She was not going to suffer even more because of money!

“…” She suspected that her father had a misunderstanding about university students these days! It was just her birthday. How could she spend so much money?!

Mr. and Mrs. Xu walked Xu Jiaojiao to the car and told her to have fun with her friends. At the same time, they reminded her not to drink too much and to be careful. Xu Jiaojiao nodded in agreement to reassure them.

The car disappeared from sight. Mrs. Xu sighed. “In the blink of an eye, Jiaojiao is all grown up.”

Mr. Xu echoed, “That’s right. She’s really grown up so fast.”

Mrs. Xu thought of something and her eyes were filled with worry. “Do you think Jiaojiao is normal now? Will she…?”

Mr. Xu said with a straight face, “Don’t talk nonsense. Jiaojiao has always been a normal girl. Everything that happened in the past was nothing but a coincidence.”

Mrs. Xu lowered her eyes and did not speak, but she still felt uneasy.

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