Cici's question caught all three of them off guard!
"Ahem." Rona Muir suddenly stood up. "I just remembered the bedsheets are still in the washing machine. I need to go check on them."
"Ahem." Ethan Yin stood up as well. "I just ordered takeout online, I need to check how it's going."
"Ahem." Miles Gu immediately stood up. "Oh no, I scheduled a call for someone to fix the front door. Why aren't they here yet? I need to ask! Otherwise, it's dangerous at night!"
Cici watched as the three of them left, leaving her alone.
What just happened...?
Do they know or not?
"Hey, you three... Hey, are you all ignoring me now?" Cici felt frustrated—what was that supposed to mean?
The three of them turned and walked away quickly, not giving Cici any chance.
After a short while, the person to fix the door actually arrived.
With a few clangs, the front door of Cici's house was quickly repaired and given a fresh coat of paint.
Cici changed her clothes and went to fix up the destroyed vegetable garden, smoothing the soil and planting new seeds.
Although security isn't great here, no one actually bothers to steal vegetables.
Besides, it's pretty isolated—there aren't many people living nearby.
So the vegetables Cici planted in the yard actually grew quite well.
After a busy morning of watering, she could finally take a break.
"Wendy, you're here!" Rona Muir greeted her with a cheerful smile.
"Don't worry about it. The CEO treats partners and staff really well. Look at me—I've worked for him for years and never thought about leaving. So just think of it as an employee benefit!" Wendy finally got her act together and smoothed things over.
"No need," Alex replied. "The CEO said to treat these as an advance for your UK trip." Alex, ever thoughtful, helped Cici put away the watering hose and added, "The CEO asked me to let you know you'll be leaving for the United Kingdom in two days, so please get ready."
"There's really nothing to prepare, I've already packed my luggage ages ago," Cici replied quickly. "So I can bring the kids with me, right?"
"The CEO said you can just take the kids and fly straight over, Miss Cici. He'll head there first, and when you arrive, someone will be there to greet you," Alex said with a smile. "To make it easier for you to take care of the children, the CEO will assign you a personal assistant to help with your daily routine. Please don't refuse—it's just a little gesture from him."
Cici felt uneasy. After all the crazy things she'd done last night, he didn't even mind—he sent her vegetables and now an assistant...
Why did it all feel so off?
After helping Cici finish up, Alex left respectfully.
Around noon, Wendy showed up dragging a suitcase.
"Young Madam... ah, Miss Cici, I'm here!" Wendy greeted Cici with a bright smile. Seeing Rona Muir, she also greeted her, "Miss Muir, it's been a while!"
"Wendy, you're here!" Rona Muir greeted her with a cheerful smile.
Cici looked at them suspiciously. "You two know each other?"
Wendy and Rona Muir both froze for a moment!
Oops, totally forgot about that!
Rona Muir thought fast and said, "Of course we know each other! She's part of the Yin Enterprises assistant team, and I used to be Vice President at Odyssey Corporation! I've dealt with Yin Enterprises plenty of times—there's not an assistant around Charles Yin I don't know!"
Wendy quickly caught on and replied, "Yes, yes, that's right!"
"You know how busy Charles Yin is—he can't handle everything himself, so the assistants do a lot! I see the assistant team all the time, right Wendy?" Rona quickly shot Wendy a look.
"Yeah, yeah, exactly," Wendy nodded enthusiastically. "That's it!"
Cici couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about them...
Still, the explanation seemed plausible enough.
Cici smiled gently, stroking their heads. "Most people think the Grant Family's history is only four hundred years, but that's a mistake. Our family's story actually goes back more than three thousand years, all the way to the Spring and Autumn Period—a major era in ancient China, around 770 to 476 BCE. I'm the 1,111th generation. Pretty ancient, huh? In times of war, generations changed quickly, so our family is truly a great old clan."
"The Grant Family has always followed Confucian teachings and valued moderation—the doctrine of the Mean, a key principle in Confucian philosophy. That's why our family members never pursued official positions or tried to climb the political ladder. Even if someone became a minor local official, they never entered the imperial court. About five hundred years ago, that tradition was broken when a true genius emerged and formally established the Grant Family. He was the first—and only—one to leave scholarly pursuits for politics."
"Later, war broke out and the Grant Family achieved great military success. There's a Chinese saying: 'When the cunning rabbit dies, the hunting dog is cooked; when all the birds have flown, the bow is put away.' It means that when someone is no longer useful, they might be discarded. Because of these achievements, the emperor grew wary of our family. The family head sensed the emperor's suspicion, so he surrendered most of our wealth and titles, leading the family away from politics. That's how our thousand-year legacy survived."
"To thank the Grant Family for their service and humility, the emperor officially established our clan and our ancestral temple—a traditional place for honoring ancestors in Chinese culture. That's when our true prominence began. From then on, our family's cultural status was recognized, and we provided many talents to the court, earning praise. But we always followed one rule: never get involved in politics."
Cici smacked her forehead. "Right, how could I forget something so important? Oh man, that's on me! Wendy, thank you! I'll be counting on you these next few days!"
Wendy replied with a bright smile, "Please, don't mention it! It's my job to take care of them!"
Cici said sincerely, "Alright, it's settled then! Please help me look after the kids these next couple of days. I'll go shopping for some things to get ready for the UK!"
"If you need to shop, just give me a list and I'll handle it," Wendy said gently. "That's my job as your assistant—you just give the orders, and I'll take care of the rest!"
"Huh? Is that really okay?" Cici looked uneasily at Rona Muir.
Rona Muir nodded with a warm smile.
"Alright then, thank you so much!" Cici still felt a little guilty about it all.
After all, Wendy is Charles Yin's assistant—was it really okay for her to order Wendy around like this?
Still, she wanted to see what Wendy could do, so she made a long shopping list and asked Wendy to handle it.
In just an hour, a car appeared at the front door.
Everything Cici asked for was bought—nothing was missing!
She even managed to find a bunch of rare and hard-to-get items!
Cici was absolutely stunned!
What an amazing assistant!
But was Wendy really that amazing? All she did was send the shopping list back, and everything was taken care of instantly!
Cici spent the whole day packing, and by evening, she'd filled up four big suitcases.
Most of the space was taken up by the kids' stuff—her own things only filled a small suitcase.
Ethan Yin and Miles Gu saw Cici preparing several outfits for them and couldn't help but run over, hugging her legs and whining, "Mommy, you're working so hard!"
Cici knelt down and hugged Ethan and Miles, saying, "We're leaving for the UK the day after tomorrow. Promise me you won't cause trouble, don't run off, okay?"
"Okay!" Ethan and Miles grinned proudly.
Heh, the UK was their home turf.
Once they were in the UK, no one would dare mess with them!
"Alright, it's getting late. Come on, let's get washed up and go to bed!" Cici led her two little ones to bathe and rest.
Rona Muir had already driven off by evening.
She was determined not to give Sean Kerr any chance to find her!
They promised five years of no contact—what happened to trust between people?
It's only been three years!
Yet Sean Kerr couldn't help but come to France to look for her!
Good thing she escaped quickly, or she'd really have been caught!
So, after Wendy took over her duties, Rona didn't stick around for even a minute—she drove off in a flash!
That night, Wendy rested in Rona Muir's room, while the two little ones stubbornly clung to their pillows and jumped onto Cici's bed, insisting on sleeping with their mommy.
Cici's heart ached for her kids. Thinking about everything that had happened lately, she let them stay.
As usual, it was story time before bed.
"Mommy, tell us about the Grant Family," Miles said with a bright smile. "We love hearing stories about the Grant Family."
"You like stories about the Grant Family? Sure, tonight I'll tell you about our family's origins," Cici replied with a smile. "Only direct descendants know this. Because you're my good babies, mommy will tell you the true story of the Grant Family's beginnings."
The two little ones' eyes lit up as they gazed at Cici.
Cici smiled gently, stroking their heads. "Most people think the Grant Family's history is only four hundred years, but they're wrong. Our family's history goes back over three thousand years, all the way to the Spring and Autumn Period (a major era in ancient Chinese history, roughly 770–476 BCE). I'm the 1,111th generation. Pretty ancient, huh? In times of war, generations changed quickly, so our family is truly a great clan."
"The Grant Family has always followed Confucian teachings and valued moderation (the doctrine of the Mean, a key Confucian principle). That's why our family members never pursued official positions or tried to climb the political ladder. Even if someone became a minor local official, they never entered the imperial court. About five hundred years ago, that changed when a true genius emerged and formally established the Grant Family. He was the first—and only—one to leave scholarly pursuits for politics."
"Later, war broke out and the Grant Family achieved great military success. There's a saying: 'When the cunning rabbit dies, the hunting dog is cooked; when all the birds have flown, the bow is put away.' (This is a Chinese idiom warning that those who have outlived their usefulness may be discarded.) Because of these achievements, the emperor grew wary of our family. The family head sensed the emperor's suspicion, so he surrendered most of our wealth and titles, leading the family away from politics. That's how our thousand-year legacy survived."
"To thank the Grant Family for their service and humility, the emperor officially established our clan and ancestral temple (a traditional place for honoring ancestors in Chinese culture). That's when our true prominence began. From then on, our family's cultural status was recognized, and we provided many talents to the court, earning praise. But we always followed one rule: never get involved in politics."
"Some became imperial tutors or prime ministers, but never for long. They always resigned after a set period. That's why our family thrived through generations of emperors. Then, in the early Qing Dynasty, a legendary female general named Zara Yun emerged." Cici told the story of Zara Yun's remarkable life, leaving the children in awe and eager to visit Far Mountain Village to see her portrait.