While Susie and the other two officers left London, they were relieved to have some break before Deming asked them to watch over Xunyi again. Deming arranged for his parents and Xunyi's grandparents to visit Xunyi in London. He has his hands full now so he will skip the visit. As long as Xunyi is safe and healthy, he can focus better. Like Xunyi, he doesn't want her to rush into a relationship. He can wait for her no matter how long it will take her to accept him.
Two weeks passed and summer officially arrived in London, Xunyi wasn't able to find a job on campus but she started to work part-time at a local bookstore as a store cashier in London. The manager of the bookstore was very kind to Xunyi and accepted her for a summer position. Xunyi also worked extra hard on her studies since the second year will be more challenging. The manager, who wants to be called Lizzy, told Xunyi to take a longer break in between work because she saw how hard-working she was.
"You've been working so hard, Mia. I'll take over, please take a longer break. I don't want you to be too stressed." Lizzy said and Xunyi nodded, "Thank you so much! I'll be back in an hour."
_____
During her break, she walked around London and saw a group of people gathering in a particular spot. She doesn't really like being in a crowd so she walked past them. She stopped at a park and took off her sunglasses. The warm breeze and the sun made her feel alive. After several minutes, she heard someone calling her name.
"Xunyi! Long time no see!" Yuyue, Deming's mother, along with Yuhan were all glad to see Xunyi doing well. Yuyue gave Xunyi the biggest hug. Xunyi wasn't a fan of that due to her trauma, but she accepted it since rejecting the hug won't be too nice.
"Auntie! Uncle, it's so nice seeing you guys! Are you guys out for a vacation?" Xunyi asked. Yuyue smiled and said, "You have some visitors. Want to come with us?" Yuyue took Xunyi's hand as if she were already their daughter-in-law. Xunyi followed them blindly since she trusted Deming's parents. She was on the verge of crying when she saw her grandparents. They were sitting at a cafe since the summer sun was quite strong.
"Grandma! Grandpa!" Xunyi ran to them and cried with happiness. She couldn't believe her eyes, she was glad that heavens did not abandon her.
"My Xunyi, we missed you a lot. You're skinnier now, you should take care of yourself." Her grandma touched Xunyi's cheeks and her smooth long brown hair.
"Happy birthday, our granddaughter. We prepared a simple gift for you. Hope you will like them." Xunyi's grandpa handed her a small gift bag. Xunyi almost forgot her own birthday so she acted surprised for a few seconds. She opened up the bag and the small box.
"A necklace! Thank you so much!"
"Thank you! You did not have to do this. Auntie, Uncle...thank you for bringing my grandparents here." Xunyi thanked them but Yuhan replied, "Xunyi, it wasn't our idea. Our son arranged it." Yuyue nodded, "The person you should thank is Deming. He's very busy every day so he wasn't able to come and visit you. But he remembers your birthday so he wanted to surprise you."
Yuhan cleared his throat and said, "Xunyi, this is our gift to you. Wish you success and hopefully, you can join our team one day."
Xunyi opened up the envelope and she was surprised to see an early acceptance letter from Oxford Law School. She was speechless because she totally didn't expect this much of a surprise.
"How?" She asked Yuhan and he replied, "When I heard that you went here to study law, I was surprised. So I asked my friend to grant you an early acceptance because of my special relationship with you and him. He would love to accept you as his student. You're going to be a great lawyer one day, even better than me."
Xunyi didn't know what to say, "Wow, this is a lot to process. I have a question, was Deming involved in this?" As she pointed to the paper, Yuhan shook his head.
"It was my idea because I believe you will be a great lawyer one day. But your grades are still important even though you are eligible for early acceptance." He said.
"Of course, I will work twice as hard." She was extremely ecstatic. Yuyue smiled, "Xunyi, where are you living now?"
"I still live in the dorm, it's not too far from here." She replied.
"Xunyi, we do have a house in London so you can stay there for a couple of days to spend some time with your grandparents. Yuhan and I will book a hotel if you decide to stay there. Our house has most of the essentials but if you're missing anything, let me know." Yuyue explained and Xunyi asked her grandparents whether they wanted to stay at the house or not.
"You're too generous, Ms. Jiang. Will it really be okay to stay at your place?" Xunyi's grandma asked and Yuyue gave them the house key.
"Of course."
Xunyi asked for three days' leave and Lizzy immediately agreed, "Go and spend time with your grandparents. You need a good break." As they got onto the white BMW SUV, Yuhan drove to their house in London. Yuyue whispered to Xunyi, "My son purchased this house a few years ago and he said that one day, he wants to live there with his future wife." Xunyi didn't know what to say but instead, she thanked Yuyue for letting her live in there for a couple of days.
Xunyi felt like she didn't deserve any of this but she's always thankful. She didn't want to take them for granted, Deming's parents were very loving and supportive. She adjusted her sitting position and looked out the window. She thought about Deming once again and she felt even more thankful. She didn't deserve Deming at all, his kindness, his generosity, and most of all, his loving parents.
"Does he have any brother or sister?" Xunyi asked.
"Younger sister, but she's too spoiled. She's a few months younger than you." Yuyue replied but she looked kind of disappointed, "I don't know what it is but recently, she's been upsetting us. To me, my husband, and her brother."
Xunyi nodded. She didn't want to pry into other people's lives so she stopped asking questions.
"Xunyi, if she was here, would you mind being her friend? We all don't know what she is struggling through but it can bring us a piece of mind if you can try and talk to her whenever she comes back. Will that be okay for you?" Yuhan asked, "I hope it isn't a burden for you."
"If I see her one day, I will try my best to be her friend." Xunyi smiled again. She cannot wait to meet Deming's younger sister, she must be a more rebellious teenager, she thought.
"Thank you, Xunyi. It must be hard for you after that incident, I'm glad you are doing well in England." Yuhan replied.
"Thanks to your son that I have this rare opportunity to study overseas. I hope one day I can be a good lawyer like the two of you." Xunyi replied and Yuhan chuckled, "I hope so, too."