After ending the call with Adalson, Blair walked back to Wacian. Her cousin suggested at once, "Wesley's meeting his family here. Let's go say hi before leaving."
Blair was stunned for a moment. This was unexpected. 'Say hi to his family?'
Wacian then explained to her, "Wesley's grandfather and our grandfather are old buddies. And Wesley's father helped me out a lot when I studied in A Country. This is a rare chance. Let's wait a while longer, okay?" Wesley's grandfather—Keith Li, and Blair's maternal grandfather—Gilbert Ji, had been friends for decades. Wesley's father—Baldwin Li, and Adalson had been comrades-in-arms for ten-odd years too. So, the Li family and the Ji family were close. That was why Adalson paid so much attention to Wesley. But most importantly, Wesley was one of the army's finest. So, Adalson always thought highly of the young man and threw a lot of opportunities his way.
Blair nodded, "Okay."
The three of them then walked through the passage together. Wacian formally introduced the two to each other. "Wesley, this is my cousin—Blair Jing. She's studying in London, and just came back for the Spring Festival. Blair, this is Wesley Li, the finest soldier in your uncle Adalson's eyes. To be frank, I'm jealous. I think my father likes Wesley more than me!"
Blair was initially embarrassed with Wesley around. Now she laughed because of Wacian's joke. She tilted her head to look towards Wesley, who was also looking at her. "Hi," he said.
Blair nodded and said calmly, "I know him pretty well. He's a local legend. He saved me when my parents' house caught fire."
With the mention of her parents, the two men naturally fixed their eyes on the pathetic girl, but her face betrayed no emotions. Wacian looked at his cousin with compassion in his eyes. "Oh, I see. I thought you didn't know each other…" He quickly changed the topic and asked, "So, Wesley, your family here yet?"
Wesley glanced over the exit and replied, "They were at the baggage claim just now when I called. They should be coming out… Oh, look, there they are."
The Li family easily spotted Wesley since he was dressed in green camo fatigues, standing out from the crowd.
Wesley frowned. "My grandpa is here too," he said to Wacian.
Wacian was shocked to see the oldest man among the four members of the Li family who were heading their way. "Eighty years young! Man, he looks healthy. And so active," he marveled.
Blair saw Niles lightly holding an old man's arm. The old man was holding a crutch in his other hand but he wasn't really using it. He was actually walking steadily on his own.
Next to them was a middle-aged couple. The man was dressed in a simple, dark-colored coat. He had black, neatly combed hair. The lady wore a knee-length, dark-blue down jacket. Her long, black hair was neatly coiled at the back of her head. Her skin was well-maintained. If you looked at her and Wesley you could see the family resemblance. She was walking gracefully with a polite smile on her face, just like a noble lady in the upper-class circles.
However, the moment she spotted Wesley, her eyes lit up with excitement. The next second, her elegant image collapsed… The lady broke free from the man's arm and lunged at Wesley, exclaiming excitedly, "Wesley, Son! Oh, I missed you so much!"
Helpless, Wesley stretched out his right arm to catch the middle-aged lady. "Mom. I know. Calm down."
Cecelia Shi cupped Wesley's face, her eyes full of love. "I haven't seen you in a year. Did you miss Mom? Oh, you're too skinny again. I heard that you needed to train every day now. But aren't you a leader? Why do you need that much exercise?" "Mom, I—" Wesley tried to say something, but his mom cut him off. "You're too hard on yourself. Why didn't you come back home to see me when you had a holiday…"
Bombarded with a barrage of questions, Wesley felt a headache coming on. He looked over his mom's shoulder and looked at the three men approaching. Baldwin Li was as helpless as his son. He knew his wife well and he could do nothing about it.
Niles winked at Blair, and she returned a smile. Wacian greeted Keith Li and Baldwin Li with great respect.
He saved Wesley from the embarrassment by joking, "Aunt Cecelia, I'm hurt. I've been standing here the whole time and you can't so much as nod in my direction."
Cecelia Shi finally let go of Wesley and spread her arms towards the complaining boy. "Hi Wacian! I told you already, you're like a son to me. Come here, let me hug you."
They hugged warmly and then pulled away. It was then that Cecelia Shi noticed Blair.
Blair was wondering if she should give the bouquet of flowers in her hands to the middle-aged lady when she suddenly met her eyes. Thus, naturally, Blair lifted the bouquet and said politely, "Hi, Grandpa, Uncle, Aunt, welcome to Y City. This is from my cousin." She handed it to Wesley's mom.
Cecelia Shi took the bouquet from Blair's hands with a huge smile on her face. She looked at Wacian and asked, "This girl's cute. Is she your cousin?"
Wacian smiled. "Yes, her name's Blair Jing. She came back from England today. I came to pick her up and then we bumped into Wesley."
Cecelia Shi held Blair's hand, looking her up and down. "Blair, you're pretty. Do you have a boyfriend?"
Niles found a chance to cut in, "Mom, my brother is…"
Blair had a gut feeling that Niles might blurt out something that she didn't want anyone else to know, so she beat him to the punch. "Yeah, I do. Aunt, I'm engaged. My fiance went back to his hometown for the festival. So he didn't come to pick me up today."
Niles' jaw dropped, eyes popped out in shock. He studied her face, but she didn't seem like she was joking. He shifted his gaze to Wesley, who wore an expressionless face.
'Blair's engaged? Am I dreaming? Did my brother say yes?'
"Oh, is that so…" Cecelia Shi sighed. Neither of her two sons had a girlfriend. She was planning to introduce one of them to Blair, so that this beautiful girl would be her daughter-in-law. But it was too late. She was engaged.
Cecelia Shi felt really gloomy. Her sons had no chance to pursue such a nice and beautiful girl.
Keith Li, the oldest man here, looked intently at Blair. He tried to place the girl's face in his mind. Suddenly, he blurted out something that shocked everyone there. "Aren't you the girl who slapped that crazy woman in the car accident. That was you, right?"
Blair's lips twitched. 'He's got a good memory for an old guy! What should I do now? Should I admit it or not?' she thought anxiously.
With the old man's reminder, Cecelia Shi observed Blair's face more carefully. "You look a lot like her! Blair, do you know Wesley? You stepped in and set that woman straight! You know what? I was grateful for that girl, and now I find out she's you!"
Cecelia Shi then stuffed the bouquet of flowers to her husband's hands and held Blair's arms enthusiastically.
Ignoring all the other men, she led Blair to walk forward.
Blair didn't know what to do. She turned around to look at Wesley, signaling to him for help.
He made eye contact with her. But pretending not to notice her signal, he moved his eyes to his grandfather and began to explain what happened that day.
Snapping back to reality, Niles wanted to catch up to the two women walking ahead of him, but Wesley grabbed him by his collar and dragged him back.
"Hey, let go. I have something to ask Blair."
