Chapter Thirty: Returning Home

Sheng Jiaoyang checked her phone and saw several missed calls. Except for one from Xu Qing, the rest were all from her ex-boyfriend.

She ignored the missed calls and instead checked her text message history. Sure enough, she found a message sent to Xu Qing, exactly as Ning Xiaoruan had described.

"Hey girl, aren't you scared being kidnapped here?" Ning Xiaoruan, who was driving, asked.

Sheng Jiaoyang glanced at him sideways. "I'll kidnap you and let you experience it."

"No way!"

"I'm telling you guys are really bored. Why can't you talk to me properly? Why do you have to kidnap me like this? How do you know I won't cooperate?" Sheng Jiaoyang said irritably.

Cough cough… Ning Xiaoruan choked on her own saliva.

"Don't blame me, it was all Brother Nan's idea," Ning Xiaoruan quickly said, trying to extricate herself.

Sheng Jiaoyang chuckled, "At such an old age, all you've grown is your height, not your brain. How childish!"

She was now incredibly confident, not afraid of being investigated at all. No one would believe that something like this could happen to her, and the fact that this body belonged to Xu Jiaojiao was undeniable.

"I see now, you really are a brainless fan of Jiaoyang, even your sharp tongue is exactly the same," Ning Xiaoruan sighed.

Sheng Jiaoyang suddenly thought that this idiot might know about her own physical condition, so she asked, "How is my idol now?"

"You've ruined her life, she still hasn't woken up."

Did Xu Jiaojiao disappear? Sheng Jiaoyang frowned slightly, thinking of Xu Qing at home, feeling a little sorry for her.

But having finally caught this idiot, she needed to know more about her family. Sheng Jiaoyang asked again, "Grandpa... I mean, is Jiaoyang's grandpa alright?" "I

haven't heard anything bad about him. With Jiaoyang in her current state, how could Grandpa Yang dare to have anything happen to him?"

Sheng Jiaoyang fell silent.

“If you weren’t a fan of Jiaoyang, your cousin would definitely kill you.”

Sheng Jiaoyang remained silent.

The car was so quiet that Ning Xiaoruan felt uneasy.

“Why are you suddenly so quiet?”

“I have nothing to say to you.” Sheng Jiaoyang said indifferently.

“…”

Ning Xiaoruan muttered, “You little brat, why don’t you learn anything good, only Jiaoyang’s bad habits!”

“Does my idol have bad habits?” Sheng Jiaoyang glared fiercely at Ning Xiaoruan. Dare to say yes, and I’ll kill you!

Wow! Ning Xiaoruan felt uneasy under his gaze, thinking to herself, this girl truly is a die-hard fan of Jiaoyang; she won’t tolerate a single bad word about him.

When they arrived at the entrance of Minghua Garden, Sheng Jiaoyang got out.

“Hey, you still haven’t told me how you knew Jiaoyang didn’t like my cousin?” Ning Xiaoruan pressed the car bell and said to Sheng Jiaoyang.

“Of course she told me!”

“She doesn’t know you. Hey, don’t go—”

Sheng Jiaoyang walked into the residential area without looking back.

When Sheng Jiaoyang entered the house, she noticed the living room light was still on.

"Jiaojiao, you're back!" Xu Qing woke up with a start at the sound of the door opening and stood up from the sofa.

"Why aren't you asleep yet?" Sheng Jiaoyang glanced at the clock; it was already one in the morning.

"I was waiting for you to come back."

"Didn't I already text you to tell you not to wait for me?"

Hearing her daughter's stern voice, Xu Qing felt uneasy, clutching the hem of her clothes and stammering, "I made you some red bean porridge..."

"Have you had dinner?" Sheng Jiaoyang's tone softened.

"Yes, yes, you sit down first, I'll get you some." With that, Xu Qing went into the kitchen.

To be honest, Sheng Jiaoyang was really hungry. She hadn't eaten all night, had had a vial of blood drawn, and was currently on her period; she was practically exhausted.

After finishing a bowl of soft, sticky red bean porridge, Sheng Jiaoyang was almost moved to tears.

It truly proved the saying, "A child without a mother is like a blade of grass, a child with a mother is like a treasure." She used to have a nanny to take care of her, but it was an employment relationship; no matter how good the nanny was, she could never truly treat her like her own child.

Although this bowl of porridge was very ordinary—red beans and glutinous rice cooked with a little brown sugar—it required no special skills, and the taste was just home-cooked, but it was precisely because of its home-cookedness that it seemed precious, because it tasted like home to her.

"Go to sleep quickly, don't waste your beauty treatment," Sheng Jiaoyang urged.

"Okay, then you should wash up and rest early too." Xu Qing didn't wait for Sheng Jiaoyang's reaction before picking up the empty bowls and spoons and going into the kitchen to wash them.

Sheng Jiaoyang smiled slightly, her bad mood from the inexplicable ordeal she had suffered improved. She

slept soundly through the night.

When she woke up in the morning, breakfast was already prepared and laid out on the table.

"So early!"

"Didn't you say you were going back to continue the competition this morning?"

"Yes." Sheng Jiaoyang smiled.

"How are you feeling today? Do you want to take a day off?" Xu Qing asked with concern.

Sheng Jiaoyang peeled an egg, took a bite, nodded, and mumbled, "I feel much better today."

After breakfast, she leaned against the kitchen doorframe, watching Xu Qing wash the dishes.

"Don't go working there anymore."

Xu Qing paused, turned her head, and asked nervously, "Jiaojiao, you know?"

Oh, there really is something going on. Sheng Jiaoyang raised an eyebrow slightly and said calmly, "You didn't tell me anything, so I had to find out myself."

She told Xu Qing not to work because when she saw Xu Qing the day before yesterday, she sensed that Xu Qing had something on her mind, and these days Xu Qing had been working, so anything on her mind must be related to her workplace.

"I'm sorry, Jiaojiao, Mom didn't mean to hide it from you, I just didn't want you to be unhappy."

"You didn't tell me, so I'm even more unhappy." Sheng Jiaoyang said with a sad face, silently giving herself 32 thumbs up for her acting skills.

Xu Qing immediately became anxious and said, "I promise I will never hide anything from you again."

"Hmm, then you should confess this time too!" Sheng Jiaoyang said lazily.

Xu Qing was stunned for a moment before realizing her daughter had tricked her into revealing information. She smiled helplessly, but she didn't know where to begin.

Seeing the conflict on Xu Qing's face, Sheng Jiaoyang pondered for a moment. What could possibly upset her?

Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind.

Could it be…?

"Don't tell me you're working as a nanny at that scumbag's house!"

Xu Qing cautiously looked at her daughter, seeing her daughter's ambiguous smile, she felt very uneasy.

"Jiaojiao, I won't go there again."

Sheng Jiaoyang wanted to grab Xu Qing's ear and give her a good scolding. How could she be so heartless? Even if she wanted to find a job, she didn't need to go to her ex-husband's house to work as a nanny! If it were her, if things really came to a standstill, she would just throw a paternity test in the scumbag's face and make him obediently hand over all the alimony he'd paid over the years.

Dare not pay? She'd make a huge scene!!!

“Remember what you said, don’t go again. I’ll sign you up for a yoga class, no, I’ll sign you up for a tour group first. You can go on a tour for a while and relax.”

Sheng Jiaoyang acted immediately, going back to get her phone to check travel agencies.

Xu Qing opened her mouth, but didn’t know what to say, so she could only let her daughter have her way.

The decisive Sheng Jiaoyang packed Xu Qing up and sent her to the travel agency in a very short time, while she herself arrived at the meeting point designated by the program crew, feeling completely relaxed.