The Gate to the New World (Part 2)

Tang's mother laughed and said, "Isn't it easy to guess? This style of jewelry couldn't possibly be something you bought yourself. You just don't like wearing things on your wrists. You never wore that expensive jade bracelet your aunt bought you before. And even if you really were going to buy jewelry, it would definitely be... how should I put it... that cartoon character style, like those little plastic figures you used to treasure so much."

As she spoke, Tang's mother pointed to the bracelet on Tang Baona's wrist. "Look at this bracelet of yours again. The material, the pattern—I don't believe you would have bought it yourself. I heard your grandfather say that Xiang Kun is a wood carver, and his knife skills are amazing. I've also seen the Canary Wooden Carving that Xiang Kun gave him; it's really beautiful. If I hadn't been told beforehand, I would have definitely guessed it was the work of some master. I've also heard Tingting say that Xiang Kun often makes small wooden figurines for you, so I think this bracelet of yours, with its rustic style, must have been made by him. Am I right?"

Seeing her mother's smug expression, Tang Baoting couldn't help but pull her younger sister's hand and show the bracelet to her mother. "Mom, take a good look at the patterns first, hehe, this isn't some antique style."

Tang's mother held her daughter's hand, squinted at her for a while, and Tang's father immediately got up to get Tang's mother's reading glasses from the TV cabinet to help her put them on. He also thoughtfully found his own magnifying glass for reading magazines and handed it to her.

"Wow, Xiao Xiang is amazing! He can carve so much on such a small bead. Is he painting? Hey, who is this little girl with glasses? She's quite cute." Tang's mother was also quite amazed after seeing the image carved on the bead.

"This must be Nana!" Tang Baoting insisted. "Xiang Kun gave it to Xiang Kun, so it must be carved to resemble Nana. Mom, look at this bead over here. The cute chubby little girl on it is Little Bell. She's a very good friend of Xiang Kun and Nana."

"Hehe, it really is, she does look a bit like Nana when she was little." Tang's mother nodded repeatedly.

"Sister, I haven't even said who did this yet!" Tang Baona pulled her hand back, saying with a mix of laughter and tears.

"Come on, you just got home and sat down on the sofa. I could tell at a glance that Xiang Kun did this," Tang Baoting said with absolute certainty.

Tang's mother nodded with a smile, "That's right. With your personality, if it weren't true, you would have said so already. This attempt to cover it up is practically an admission!"

"Yes, yes, and Nana, haven't you noticed yourself? You touch the beads on your wrist every few minutes, it's practically a conditioned reflex. What's that saying again? Oh right, you love it so much you can't put it down! You just love it so much you can't put it down! I remember you weren't wearing this bracelet when we video chatted last week. This must be a birthday gift from Xiang Kun Gang, right?" Tang Baoting continued to tease.

Tang's mother pressed on, "Oh, by the way, why didn't you invite Xiao Xiang along for your birthday celebration this time?"

"Why did you ask him to come along? He... he's going on a business trip, he's very busy, I haven't seen him for days!"

"Oh~, so... you were so busy but still took the time to make such an exquisite bracelet for you? Judging from the complexity and intricacy of this bracelet, it must have taken at least ten hours to complete, right?" Tang Baoting chuckled.

Gao Yao, who was craning her neck to look at Tang Baona's bracelet, said with a hint of envy, "More than that. To carve this, you can't do it without micro-manipulation under a stereo microscope. You can't work on it for too long at a time. I estimate that Xiang Kun would need at least three to six months in advance to make this bracelet, from preparation to completion."

Tang Baona was also stunned. "It takes this long?"

"I was just giving a rough estimate. To know exactly how long it will take, we'll have to ask Xiang Kun, or Brother Feng... uh, no, Grandpa Feng, no... Grandpa." Gao Yao blurted out, embarrassed, and instinctively wanted to scratch his head, but then realized he was eating and scratching his head was unhygienic. So he placed his hand on his head with his fingers curled into a claw shape, then quickly took it down, looking even more embarrassed.

Fortunately, everyone's attention wasn't on him right now, and Tang's mother immediately chimed in, "Oh dear, they went to so much trouble to give you this birthday gift, you should at least invite them over for a meal! Why don't you just not go back to Haixi Province yet? Call Xiang Kun and ask when his business trip will end, then fly directly to Shenhai, have a meal together, and then you can go back together. Last year before New Year's Eve, when Yang's daughter came to our house for dinner, you said you wanted Xiang Kun to come over after the New Year. It's been months now, you need to hurry, the Spring Festival is almost here again!"

"Yes, let's have a meal together and let us also witness Xiang Kun's culinary skills. I've heard your grandfather say that Xiang Kun's dishes are indeed delicious, especially his rabbit meat, which is exceptional. I've been craving it for a long time." Tang's father stroked his chin and said with a smile and gentle tone.

"Don't get the wrong idea! Xiang Kun and I are business partners and good friends now..." Tang Baona quickly said.

"I didn't mean anything by it. We just wanted to invite your good friend and business partner to dinner to thank him for taking care of our daughter. What are you thinking? What kind of 'misunderstood' would you mean?" Tang's mother widened her eyes, giving her a "How strange you are to say that" look.

Mr. Tang nodded with a smile, "It's about inviting friends, good friends."

Tang Baoting nodded, "The first time I brought Gao Yao home, it was because we were good friends."

Gao Yao paused for a moment, put down her chopsticks, opened her mouth as if to say something, but after a second, she simply nodded.

"I give up! Xiang Kun is very busy right now, we'll talk about it later. Besides... Dad, Mom, shouldn't your focus be on my sister and brother-in-law right now? When are they getting married?" Tang Baona said, launching another attack on her older sister.

Sure enough, Tang's mother finally turned to Tang Baoting and Gao Yao and asked, "By the way, Tingting, Little Gao, how's it going with the wedding arrangements we discussed? We can work on the details later. Your father and I will meet with your future in-laws to set a date first. Didn't we say we'd try to get it done before the new year? Tomorrow we're going to your cousin Luo's wedding; lots of people will be asking about it, everyone's waiting."

Upon hearing this, Tang Baoting's cheerful smile froze on her face, and Gao Yao next to her also subconsciously lowered her head.

"Mom, Gao Yao and I have thought about it and decided to get our marriage certificate first, and then just the two families and maybe a few relatives and friends have a meal together. There's no rush for the wedding; we can have it in a few years," Tang Baoting said with a smile.

"Huh?" Tang's mother was taken aback, quite surprised, and looked at Gao Yao: "Is it... the opinion of my in-laws?"

Gao Yao took a deep breath, as if he had made a decision, and was about to speak when Tang Baoting interrupted, "No, no, it's just a decision we made together. His parents don't know yet. I've been quite busy with work lately, sigh, from after National Day to before the Spring Festival, there's just too much to do. Gao Yao's workplace is the same, lots of things to handle, and it's a crucial time right now. His boss values him a lot... so the wedding can be postponed. We've already got the marriage certificate, we're family now. You see, Gao Yao has already called you two 'Mom and Dad'."

Tang Baona quickly added, "Actually, there's no need for you to rush into your sister and brother-in-law's wedding. These days, young people usually go on a honeymoon first."

She realized that her initial attack had been misdirected. However, by sensing the Emotional Melody and observing the changes in her sister and brother-in-law's expressions and subtle movements, she knew that they had originally planned to tell their parents about this tonight.

Furthermore, she could deduce that her sister and brother-in-law's reluctance to hold a wedding so soon wasn't due to problems with her and Gao Yao's careers, as her sister had mentioned. Of course, it wouldn't be because of Gao Yao's parents either; she had met the elderly couple and they were very kind people who adored Tingting. Therefore, the reason must lie with Gao Yao, a fact evident from his subtle reactions.

As for the reason, Tang Baona had a rough guess. Her brother-in-law was good in every way, but he had some social anxiety. She guessed that he was afraid of the large social scene of the wedding.

Mrs. Tang still frowned, as if she wanted to say something more, but Mr. Tang immediately said, "Perfect timing! I was originally planning to go to Qiongzhou for two months this winter. If Tingting and Little Gao were to have their wedding, we definitely wouldn't be able to go, but now it's possible, hehe."

Tang's mother naturally understood his purpose in saying that, but she couldn't help but roll her eyes at him and scold, "You're thinking of going to the beach to see beautiful women in swimsuits, aren't you?"

"Hehe, you can wear the swimsuit I bought you last year, it'll definitely look good," Tang's father said with a smile.

"Be careful, the children are all here!"

Seeing that the matter had been resolved, Tang Baona, Tang Baoting, and Gao Yao all breathed a sigh of relief.

After dinner, they cut the cake together. Around nine o'clock, Tang Baoting and Gao Yao prepared to go back to their little apartment. As for Tang Baona, although she had her own place to live, Yang the Third didn't come back with her. She would be lonely and cold by herself if she went back, so she stayed at her parents' place. Anyway, she had a room.

Tang Baona saw her sister and brother-in-law off at the door. While waiting for the elevator, she glanced at her parents, who weren't there yet, and whispered, "You didn't even tell me you didn't want to have the wedding yet. I almost became a liability."

Tang Baoting whispered, "It's okay, we've already got the marriage certificate and convinced both sets of parents, it's a piece of cake."

Gao Yao whispered, "Actually, I've been thinking about it lately, and weddings aren't so scary... Like Chang Bin's wedding, Xiang Kun helped with everything, and it was all very well organized. Anyway, he'll probably be our brother-in-law in the future, so when we get married, we should be shameless and ask him to come and help out."

"Let's talk about that later. Getting married is a happy occasion, so we should definitely do it during the happiest time of the year. Don't treat it like an exam or a task," Tang Baoting said, patting her fiancé on the shoulder.

Gao Yao's expression shifted, a mixture of gratitude, joy, embarrassment, and guilt. He then reached out and put his arm around his fiancée's waist, whispering, "Marrying you is the happiest thing that has ever happened to me."

After her sister and brother-in-law entered the elevator, Tang Baona, who had a "motherly smile" on her face, suddenly realized. "Wait a minute, what does 'our brother-in-law' mean? How did Xiang Kun become 'our brother-in-law'?"

But the elevator doors had already closed and started descending. Tang Baona, feeling both amused and exasperated, could only mutter to herself that her brother-in-law had been corrupted by her sister, before heading home.

In the living room, Tang's parents were playing the Switch Ring Fit Adventure, wiggling their hips and having a great time.

Tang Baona watched with a smile in the living room for a while, then went back to her room, sat down at the desk she had used for several years before going to university, turned on the desk lamp, and carefully examined the beaded bracelet on her wrist.

The beaded patterns on this are so intricate and detailed. Although she has looked at it countless times and played with it for several days, she always discovers something new each time she looks closely, which is particularly interesting.

She became increasingly adept at perceiving the Emotional Melody of her surroundings through this bracelet. At night, she used this perception to successfully predict other people's behavior and intentions, which gave her great excitement.

However, she also realized that when her own emotions were affected, such as when others talked about things related to her, she found it difficult to consistently perceive and predict through the melody.

Just as Tang Baona was engrossed in looking at the beads, she suddenly heard a scream from the living room. Startled, she rushed out without thinking, because she recognized the voice as coming from her mother.

As soon as she stepped out of the room, Tang Baona was horrified to find her father lying on the floor, clutching his chest, his eyes closed, and his face contorted in pain.

Tang Baona was terrified; she had never seen her father in this state or with this expression before.

"What's wrong! Mom, what happened to Dad?" Tang Baona rushed over, knelt down, and helped her mother support her father.

"I don't know... It just happened so suddenly... Old Tang, what's wrong with you, you..." Tang's mother was very flustered, her voice trembling with tears.

"Mom, calm down, calm down. Dad, does your heart hurt? Mom, Dad has heart disease?"

"No, your dad doesn't have heart disease."

Seeing that her father was no longer able to respond and his complexion was changing drastically, Tang Baona immediately took out her phone and dialed the emergency number.

At this moment, Tang's mother also suppressed her panic, got up and ran towards the door. "Old Lu's wife downstairs is a doctor, I think she's in cardiology. I'll go see if she's there and ask her to come and help."

After her mother went to find someone to help, and the ambulance said it would be there soon, Tang Baona looked at her motionless father and tried hard to recall the first aid articles she had read before, hoping there was anything she could do. But her mind was a jumble of thoughts, and she didn't dare to do anything she thought of. So she picked up her phone, instinctively wanting to call Xiang Kun, feeling that he could help and guide her on what to do.

"Sister Nana, Sister Nana, put your hand on your father's chest."

A somewhat abrupt yet familiar voice suddenly came from the phone in her hand.

Tang Baona was stunned for a moment. This should have been a very strange thing, something that would have scared her so much that she would jump up in fright, but she suddenly felt a strange sense of relief.

So she subconsciously placed her hand on Tang's father's left chest, and instinctively used her left hand, which was wearing a bracelet.

The instant she placed her hand on her chest, a pretty little girl in a white dress knelt down opposite her, on the other side of Tang's father, and placed her hand on hers.

The little girl looked up at her, her eyes as beautiful as starlight and jewels, and said, "Sister Nana, it's alright."

The little girl in the white dress disappeared in the next instant. In the moment she was stunned, her father's voice rang out. "Nana, help me sit up."

Tang Baona looked down and saw that her father had opened his eyes, his complexion had returned to normal, and he was breathing slightly, looking a little weak, but no longer in the frightening state he had just appeared in.

"Dad, are you alright?" Tang Baona quickly helped her father up and sat him down on the sofa.

"Phew... it feels like I just escaped death. I saw a bunch of strange and bizarre things, phew..." Tang's father also looked lingering fear.

At this moment, Tang's mother brought the doctor who lived downstairs upstairs and asked him to examine her first.

Tang Baona stood to the side, observing her father's condition while touching the back of her left hand.

The little girl who suddenly appeared just now is the same little girl in the white dress who appeared on the wing when the passenger plane was hit by a flock of birds!

It's the picture Yang Zhen'er showed her of what Lao Xia looked like when he was a child!

Judging from the voice, it was the "Little Sprite" who hugged her leg from behind one night and prevented her from falling down the stairs!

Did this really happen? Did she really appear? Or was it a hallucination?

Tang Baona touched the back of her hand, recalling the soft, fleshy touch of the little girl's hand on hers just now—it felt so real.

She called me... Sister Nana?