139 Aunt and Niece (1/2)

Long Tengfei and his wife were tense as Iris finally started interacting with Yang Jiahui. They knew how Iris hated her father's third wife and how she repeatedly rejected Yang Jiahui's attempts to have a cordial relationship with her.

Iris caught Yang Jiahui's almost unnoticeable change in expression. She tilted her head to side, wondering what could be the reason. She didn't think that she said anything hurtful to the older woman just now. Since she had no idea, she decided to ask directly.

”Did I say something to make you unhappy, Madam?”

Yang Jiahui's smile stiffened and quickly shook her head. ”No, no. I'm very happy that you're here with us today, Xiulan. Please don't think that I'm unhappy with you.”

Iris continued to observe Yang Jiahui's expression, making the older woman almost squirm. Long Tengfei and his wife were beginning to feel nervous, fearing that Iris might start raging again like before. Unknown to them, Iris was just pondering whether she made a mistake interpreting Yang Jiahui's earlier change in expression.

The young woman beside Yang Jiahui couldn't take the strained atmosphere any longer. She stepped forward and blurted out, ”My aunt is just upset that you're calling her 'Madam'. She wants you to call her 'Aunt Jiahui'.”

”Xiao Mei!” Yang Jiahui pulled the young woman back. Then she looked nervously at Iris. ”Don't listen to my niece. You can call me however you want, Xiulan.”

”Auntie, was what I said wrong? I heard you tell Uncle Tengfei before that you're hoping for Xiulan to treat you like family and call you 'Aunt'. I know what I heard.”

”You!” Yang Jiahui's face was red. She almost couldn't look at Iris anymore.

”Hmm…Is that all?” Iris' calm voice interrupted them. ”Why didn't you say so? Aunt Jiahui, you just had to ask me. There's no need to feel so shy.”

Both Yang Jiahui and Long Tengfei looked stupefied.

The young woman also looked surprised at first but then beamed.

”W-what did you just call me?” Yang Jiahui stammered.

”Hm?” Iris was confused. Why were they reacting so weirdly over such a simple matter? ”Aunt Jiahui?”

Tears escaped from Yang Jiahui's eyes, but she quickly wiped them and smiled widely at Iris.

Iris became even more confused. Why was she crying? She turned to the young woman, silently asking her.

The young woman giggled. ”Don't worry. Auntie is just happy that you finally called her 'Aunt'.”

”Oh, okay.” Iris turned to Yang Jiahui again and handed the other present to her. ”This is for you, Aunt Jiahui.”

”Oh. You didn't have to bring me anything, Xiulan.” Yang Jiahui's attempt of rejecting the present was weak. It was obvious that she was excited and emotional.

Iris didn't reply, firmly pushing the present to the older woman.

Yang Jiahui sniffed. Her eyes were still watery but her smile lit up her face, making her pretty in a special way that couldn't be explained by mere outer appearance alone. ”Thank you, Xiulan. Do you mind if I open it now?”

”No. Go head, Aunt.”