Chapter 54: The Return of Griseo's Family
After forcibly putting Klein on leave, Mobius personally supervised Ya Qing as he drove Klein back to the company's residential dorms.
Mobius was indeed the type of capitalist who deserved to be hung from a lamppost, but it couldn't be denied that the benefits she provided for Klein, Cangxuan, and Danzhu were the highest in all of World Serpent. Their salaries were nearly three times that of a corporate drone like Kevin.
It was already past nine in the evening when they returned to the Courtyard. Like thieves, Ya Qing and Mobius tiptoed as they pushed open the main door. Seeing the living room was completely dark, they both let out a synchronized sigh of relief.
BANG!
With a loud pop, the living room lights flashed on. Everyone from the Courtyard jumped out from behind the sofas, firing party poppers at the two of them. Even Kevin and Mei were among them.
"Welcome back!" Elysia's sweet voice rang out with joy.
Ya Qing and Mobius stood there, completely dumbfounded. As their brains frantically tried to process the scene, even their 160-IQ minds couldn't figure out what on earth Elysia and the others were up to.
"Arreh?"
Seeing that it was Ya Qing and Mobius who had walked in, Elysia's eyes went wide with confusion.
Ya Qing silently pulled a red ribbon off his face. He stared at the crowd for a long moment before finally speaking. "We've only been gone for a few hours. There's no need to be this dramatic, is there?"
"Uh..." Kevin and Mei exchanged a look. It was over. They had completely forgotten about Ya Qing and Mobius, assuming the couple wouldn't be coming back tonight.
"So, who were you planning to welcome?" Mobius asked, pulling a streamer from her hair.
"Er..." Sakura awkwardly pointed behind them.
Mobius turned around.
Standing in the doorway was a woman with kind, smiling eyes and shoulder-length light blue hair. Dressed in a long white dress, she exuded a gentle aura. She stepped forward and embraced Mobius.
"Doctor, we're back from our trip to North America."
"Blanca!" A flicker of surprise and delight crossed Mobius's beautiful eyes, though it vanished as quickly as it appeared.
"Brother Ya Qing," little Griseo chirped, running out from behind Blanca with her arms outstretched.
No one could refuse a hug from little Griseo; at least, Ya Qing couldn't. He lifted her into his arms and smiled. "Little Griseo, it's been so long. Did you miss your big brother?"
"I did~" Griseo purred, rubbing her cheek against his.
"Little Griseo, did you miss Sister Mobius?" Hearing Griseo call Ya Qing 'brother,' Mobius leaned in, automatically changing the expected 'auntie' to 'sister.'
"I missed you too, Grandma Mobius," Griseo said, her voice sweet and her smile healing.
Mobius's smile gradually faded. A murderous glint appeared in her eyes as she looked toward a certain pink-haired elf.
The culprit dared not meet the victim's gaze. She began whistling nonchalantly, taking tiny steps closer to pinch Griseo's chubby cheeks.
"Ngh, Sister Elysia..."
"That's not right. You have to call me Elysia-chan~" Elysia said with utmost seriousness, seemingly unaware of how absurd she sounded.
"Elysia-chan..."
Mobius slapped Elysia's hand away. "Don't corrupt little Griseo."
Elysia pulled back her hand, pouting as she looked at the faint red mark on her fair skin.
Kevin and Kalpas helped Atrace carry the luggage into the Courtyard. Atrace collapsed onto the sofa, his head lolling to the side. "So tired. Can someone, anyone, please get me a coke?"
Sakura opened the fridge, took out a can of cola, and placed it on the coffee table.
Atrace grabbed the can, pulled the tab, and took a long gulp. "I'm alive again," he sighed.
Ya Qing held little Griseo, wondering why he had such a natural affinity for children. Whether it was the kids at Aponia's orphanage, Griseo and Rin, or even the twenty-year-old Senti, they all felt incredibly close to him.
Unlike the exhausted Atrace, Blanca was still full of energy. She began unpacking souvenirs from a large suitcase and placing them on the coffee table.
"This is a special gift I bought for the Doctor. Green dinosaur pajamas. Aren't they cute?" Blanca said, holding up the still-packaged clothing and handing it to Mobius.
The air suddenly went still.
Because Ya Qing had the exact same dinosaur pajamas and frequently paraded around the Courtyard in them, everyone knew about it. Now that Blanca had specifically given Mobius a matching set, didn't that make them...
"What's wrong?" Blanca asked, looking at the others who were trying to stifle their laughter.
"It's nothing. I. Love. It." Mobius accepted the gift with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Then, where no one could see, she stomped hard on Ya Qing's foot.
Little Griseo looked on in confusion, not understanding why Grandma Mobius had suddenly stepped on Brother Ya Qing.
"This is a gift for Mei, a necklace I bought in Paris," Blanca said, presenting a small red box.
"I love it, Sister Blanca," Mei said as she accepted the gift.
"And this is for Kevin..."
Blanca distributed the gifts one by one. Since Eden was on a world tour, she joined via video call, with Elysia accepting the gift on her behalf. Aponia had not yet returned to the Courtyard.
"And the last gift is for Ya Qing," Blanca announced with a smile.
"Oh, you got one for me? I was worried you'd forgotten about me since I was gone for so long," Ya Qing joked.
"Of course not," Blanca chided gently. She brought out a carefully wrapped gift. "This is a picture frame from Paris. I heard it's a work of art. And the painting inside was done by little Griseo herself."
As the canvas was unrolled, the burnished gold wooden frame immediately gave off an ancient, distinguished air. But what drew everyone's eyes was the oil painting within. It depicted a man sitting and reading a book, warm sunlight streaming through a window and bathing him in a gentle glow. Complemented by the fruit on the table, neither the color palette nor the composition had a single flaw.
"It's beautiful," Sakura couldn't help but gasp.
"Did little Griseo really paint this all by herself?" Rin couldn't believe it was Griseo's masterpiece. Knowing Griseo would be starting middle school next year, she could already imagine her older sister using this to lecture her.
"It's a painting of Ya Qing... right?" Kevin asked, uncertain.
"Brother Ya Qing, does it look like you?" little Griseo, now down from his arms, looked up and asked with pure innocence.
Ya Qing gently traced the texture of the oil painting, his thoughts instantly pulled back over a decade. Back then, his older sister would often show him photos of their parents. One of them was strikingly similar to this painting.
His sister had told him that their father disliked having his picture taken, so her secret snapshot was the only one that existed, the only remaining image of him in the world. Ya Qing could only look at the photo; he had no memories to go with it.
His sister told him this was their father, but why couldn't he remember?
He had never even met his father.
All he remembered was his sister, in their early years when they only had each other, tightly clutching a family photo that didn't include him.
"Daddy said that when his little brother or sister was born, we'd take another family photo... But why, why couldn't he keep his promise...?"
He didn't understand why his sister was crying, but he knew the man in the photo was his family. His father.
"Brother Ya Qing..."
Griseo's voice pulled him back to the present. Seeing the worried looks on everyone's faces, he realized that tears had begun to fall from his own eyes.
"Ya Qing, are you alright?" Su asked with concern.
"I'm fine," Ya Qing said, smiling as he wiped away the tears. He gently ruffled little Griseo's soft hair. "Little Griseo, I'm just moved, that's all. I love this gift very much. I'll be sure to hang it by my bed and admire it every single day."
Ya Qing carefully picked up the painting, as if terrified of damaging it even slightly.
Watching his retreating back, little Griseo's mood fell. She could naturally sense the shift in his emotions.
"Did I do something wrong?"
"Little Griseo, you didn't do anything wrong," Mobius said, crouching down to comfort her gently. "He... he probably saw the painting and was reminded of someone."
"Something's not right with Ya Qing," Kevin said, his tone no longer teasing but completely serious. "He cried. I've never seen him cry before. Not even when he broke his arm during the school sports festival, he didn't shed a single tear."
"Kevin, this is different from that time," Su, as a doctor who had seen too much of life and death, recognized the depth of Ya Qing's sorrow. He clapped Kevin on the shoulder. "That was physical pain. This is emotional."
"Is someone going to go comfort him?" Mei asked.
"I'm no good at comforting people," Kalpas was the first to refuse. He turned to leave but then paused. Without looking back, he said, "Hmph. I suddenly feel like making dessert. If you want, you can bring some to him."
"Kalpas is so kind, isn't he~?" Elysia cooed.
"Hmph," Kalpas didn't bother to argue, or perhaps, disdained to.
"Then it's time for the expert to take the stage."
"Let the lovely elf go and comfort him."
Vill-V and Elysia spoke at the same time.
But no one noticed that Mobius had already vanished from the living room.
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