Facing this grandmother by blood, Qu Xiangru felt no family affection, only resentment towards her.

But her career was not yet stable, and even with her position as Executive Deputy Governor, she found it difficult to resist the colossal Jiang Family.

She spoke calmly, "I just finished work, I can't come back tonight."

The Old Lady of Jiang seemed not to hear her, calmly saying, "The New Year's Eve dinner at eight, don't be late."

After saying this, she hung up.

Despite Qu Xiangru's usual composure, her emotions were surging wildly at this moment.

She was still like this!

She never respected her!

Recognizing her as the Jiang Family's granddaughter was just because she was capable.

In the eyes of the Jiang Family, she was just a tool.

They raised her only to reap rewards in the future.

Qu Xiangru wanted very much to sever ties with the Jiang Family, but reason told her she couldn't do that.

Qu Xiangru glanced back at the Old Lady who was cooking, pursed her lips, went inside, and said, "Grandma, I have something to do. I can't stay for dinner tonight."

Grandma caught the complex emotions in her eyes and smiled, saying, "Is it about work?"

Qu Xiangru shook her head, not explaining.

Grandma put down the spatula, walked over, and placed her hand in hers.

The Old Lady's hands were very rough, but very warm.

"Come, sit and warm yourself by the fire."

She pulled Qu Xiangru to sit by a small stove, stroked her hair, and said, "Did you have a fight with your family?"

Qu Xiangru had a strong urge to confide, but her usual personality made it difficult for her to speak to someone she'd only met a few times.

Grandma asked, "Was it your mom who called?"

"It was my grandmother."

"Where are your mom and dad?"

"Mom passed away, and dad passed away too..."

Her eyes dimmed a bit.

When her parents got married, the whole family objected.

But her father insisted on being with her mother, leaving the Jiang Family, even going so far as to let Qu Xiangru take her mother's surname.

When Qu Xiangru was two years old, her father died unexpectedly.

Afterwards, Qu Xiangru's mother raised her alone.

Grandma was a clever person; with just a few words and expressions from her, she roughly understood the situation.

"Your family relatives and elders, never helped you when you were young?"

"Mm."

"Lived outside with your mom since you were little?"

"Mm."

"Then don't go back to that family."

Grandma said, "They didn't care for you when you were little, and now they want to be close. There's nothing worth missing in such a family."

Qu Xiangru was a bit surprised at the Old Lady's sharp insight; she'd only said a few words, and the lady guessed nearly everything correctly.

And what she said later surprised her even more.

How could an old lady say such things?

Many young people are not even this open-minded.

"Sit for a while, we'll have dinner soon."

"Stay here to eat, don't go back. Come visit whenever you have free time, let Guan Chao take you fishing, dig some bamboo shoots in the mountains, and really relax."

Grandma's words seemed to have some kind of magic, soothing the childhood wounds stirred up by the Old Lady of Jiang.

She bowed her head and quietly wiped the corner of her eye, saying, "Then I'll go back after dinner."

Grandma, hearing this, didn't persuade further, simply acknowledged with a nod.

Here, New Year's Eve dinner was eaten quite early; by five o'clock, the table was already filled with chicken, duck, fish, and meat.

Grandpa brought over a jug of wine, just about to pour it for Song Guanchao when Grandma said, "Guan Chao, don't drink. Later, Xiao Ru needs to go home, and you have to drive."

Go home?

Song Guanchao furrowed his brow slightly and responded with an "oh".

"Here, have some soda."

Grandma poured drinks for him and Qu Xiangru and raised her glass, "Xiao Ru, happy New Year."

"Thank you, Grandma."

Qu Xiangru stood up and toasted both elders.

After sitting down, Grandma kept serving her food.

She ate a lot at this New Year's Eve dinner and found it very joyful.

After the meal, Song Guanchao picked up the car keys.

Grandpa and Grandma stood outside the courtyard; Grandma took out a red envelope and stuffed it into her hand, but Qu Xiangru declined to accept it.

Grandma said, "Good girl, take it. This is New Year's money. If you don't, Grandma will be mad."

"Thank you, Grandma."

Qu Xiangru blushed slightly; she was already 31 yet still received New Year's money.

"Okay, go on. Guan Chao, drive slowly and make sure to get Xiao Ru home safely."

"Got it, you all go back inside, don't catch a cold in this festive season."

As they drove onto the town road, Song Guanchao asked, "Provincial City?"

"Mm."

Normally, she would let Song Guanchao drop her off at the City Committee, and she would drive herself home.

But now, it was almost six o'clock, and time was tight.

Song Guanchao glanced at the red envelope in her hand and said, "Half each."

"Hmm?"

Qu Xiangru was stunned for a moment, and Song Guanchao said, "I mean, the New Year's money my grandma gave you, we should split it half each."

Qu Xiangru half-confusedly asked, "Why?"

"There's no particular reason."

"No way!"

Qu Xiangru stuffed the red envelope into her bosom and suddenly found it a bit funny.

On New Year's Eve, the road was clear.

At 7:20, the car arrived at the Provincial City.

The place Qu Xiangru was headed to was a high-end yet low-key villa area in the city.

At 7:40, the car arrived at the villa area.

The car stopped outside one of the villas, and Song Guanchao looked at the huge villa and couldn't help but click his tongue, "Your Jiang Family sure is wealthy."

Qu Xiangru coldly corrected, "It's the Jiang Family, it has nothing to do with me."

Song Guanchao cleared his throat, and Qu Xiangru opened the car door, saying, "Thank you."

Thank you?

Song Guanchao raised an eyebrow; was she really thanking him as if they were strangers?

He could tell that Qu Xiangru was always trying hard to keep her distance from him.

But the problem was, Song Guanchao didn't want that distance.

He was too lazy to argue with her.

"Hey," Song Guanchao said, resting his hand on the car window, "it's my grandma's birthday on the second day, want to come and have some cake?"

Qu Xiangru paused her steps and said, "I'll think about it."

Watching her enter the villa, Song Guanchao then turned the car around and left the neighborhood.

Inside the villa.

A middle-aged man in his forties approached the elegant Old Lady with a head full of silver hair sitting in the main seat of the living room sofa and whispered, "The one who brought Qu Xiangru back had a Lingjiang license plate, the driver was a young man, quite handsome."

The Old Lady said, "Go give him a warning."

"Understood."

After the middle-aged man left, Qu Xiangru walked in.

The living room was full of people.

The Jiang Family was a big family, branching out widely, involved in various fields and industries.

Even as an Executive Deputy Governor, Qu Xiangru was not considered exceptional in the Jiang Family.

Unfortunately, her parents divorced when she was young, and she also followed her mother's surname, only recognized by the Jiang Family after graduating from college.

Without the bonds formed from being together since childhood, naturally, the Jiang Family's attitude toward her wasn't particularly friendly.

Some male cousins even had some indecent thoughts about this suddenly emerging relative.

The Jiang Family's genes were excellent, with no shortage of handsome men and beautiful women, and Jiang Yiren was among the outstanding ones.

But compared to Qu Xiangru, she lacked a bit of the aura and mature feminine allure.

When she appeared, everyone looked over.

A tall man walked over, smiling, "Cousin, you're late, you owe a drink as a penalty later."

Qu Xiangru gave him a glance that was cold to the bone, ignored him, and went straight to the Old Lady, "Grandma."

The Old Lady held her teacup, blew off the steam, and seemed not to hear her, leaving her standing aside.

Jiang Yiren came over to help her out, "Cousin, was the road very congested?"

Qu Xiangru said coldly, "No."

At this moment, another woman said with a sarcastic tone, "If there wasn't traffic, why are you arriving now? You wouldn't happen to be deliberately stalling to give Grandma a hard time, would you?"

Qu Xiangru approached the woman, who crossed her legs and met her gaze without any hint of fear, with a face full of arrogant disdain.

"Slap!"

Qu Xiangru slapped her across the face.

This slap took everyone by surprise, even the Old Lady was momentarily stunned.

Qu Xiangru calmly said, "Are you trying to sow discord between me and Grandma?"

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