But right now, the way Qiu Yixian treated her was countless times better than her own mother ever had. Her heart was made of flesh too; with such an elder who was so good to her, how could she possibly not be moved?

Looking into Qiu Yixian’s concerned eyes, how could she not be touched? Her eyes reddened. "Godmom, actually, in my heart, you’ve always been my mom. Even closer than my birth mother. To say something that doesn’t sound very nice... sometimes I keep thinking, if only you were my mom, how wonderful that would be."

As soon as she said that, Qiu Yixian’s eyes turned red as well. Jian Anning said, "Godmom, if you don’t mind that I’m immature, stupid, and foolish, from now on, I’ll treat you as my mother! I..."

"Good child! Good child!" Qiu Yixian tightened her grip on her hand. "About what happened to you, I actually heard it from Haochen (Qin Xian’s full name) before. But at the time I didn’t know that person was you. If I’d known earlier that you weren’t happy living at your mother’s house, I should have brought you back years ago. Now it proves that we really do have a mother-daughter bond, doesn’t it? After going around in such a big circle, you still ended up becoming my daughter."

"Godmom..." Jian Anning no longer knew what to say. She was a little excited, a little at a loss.

"You’re still calling me ’godmom’?" Qiu Yixian smiled, her face soft with tenderness.

"Mm." Jian Anning answered softly, then lifted her head to look at her, her voice trembling a little. "Mom."

"Yiyi, my daughter." Qiu Yixian called softly. A faint, gentle emotion quickly wrapped around the two of them—slightly sour, a little soft, but mostly sweet.

Overjoyed, Qiu Yixian even pulled Qin Yishu over. "Yishu, we’ve gained another daughter." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Qin Yishu nodded and took his wife’s hand.

"Haochen, come, meet your older sister." Qiu Yixian tugged Qin Xian over as well. Qin Xian blinked and said with a smile, "I’ve known you for so many years, but this is the first time I’m calling you ’Sister.’"

Jian Anning still didn’t know what to say. She was both happy and a little flustered as she called out, "Dad, Haochen."

What did it matter that she had suffered in the past? Having such a "maiden family" to back her up was worth more than anything!

"What are you all crying for? On such a wonderful day!" Off to the side, Shen Lanxiao and the Yu Family were happy for them as well. After searching for over ten years, they had finally found their daughter. Wasn’t this exactly that joking promise back then turning into real family ties?

Back then the two couples had jokingly agreed that if one had a boy and the other a girl, they would betroth them to each other while still in the womb. In the end, they both had boys. Fortunately, now there was Jian Anning, fulfilling the wish of the two families. Otherwise, that joking agreement might never have come true in this lifetime.

"Yes, I’m just happy." Qiu Yixian, rare for her, shifted her body a little, and Qin Yishu helped wipe away the tears at the corner of her eyes. She laughed again. "Come to think of it, you’re the one who profits the most! When Yiyi marries into your family in the future, you won’t have to lift a finger and you’ll become her mother just like that!"

"That’s right!" Shen Lanxiao laughed. Qiu Yixian then put on a stern face and said, "But if you dare treat her badly... don’t blame me for showing up at your door to settle accounts! You hear me?"

"Got it!"

------

Today was both Jian Anning’s thirtieth birthday and the day she got engaged to Yu Zexiao, and she hadn’t expected that by the afternoon she would recognize such a "maiden family" as her own as well.