Yinyin evidently did not expect me to say that. Silently, she took the white jade hairpin from my hand and put my hair up in a simple bun, then said, "Miss, you seem different now. I'm not sure what kind of hairstyle to give you. How do you feel about this?" I glanced at my reflection in the mirror and nodded at Yinyin before being escorted by her to the Xin Tang Residence in the mansion where the guests were being entertained.

When I arrived at Xintang Residence, everyone had gathered except for my father. In accordance with my own temperament, I walked up to Wei Hong and nodded in greeting without waiting for her to speak. Then I got up on my own and made my way to my designated seat with the support of Yin Yin, and took my place.

My eldest brother sat across from me, wearing a navy blue shirt. I'm not sure if it's just my imagination, but he seems much more mature than before. I smiled faintly at him, then sat up straight, trying to appear dignified and courteous, quietly waiting for our father to arrive.

Not long after, Father walked in and I saw his black boots. I stood up with my older brother and bowed to Father, stooping my body. Only when Father spoke did I lift my head to look at him. Father's appearance didn't seem much different from when I left, except for a few more wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. His expression wasn't as serious as before. I don't know why, but at that moment I suddenly had an urge to cry. Although the house was still the same, Father was still Father, and my older brother was still my older brother, deep down in my heart I always felt that something was different. It seemed like something was changing subtly, gradually becoming unfamiliar to me.

"Don't just sit there, let's eat, Aying. Eat more," my father's voice interrupted my thoughts. As he spoke, he picked up the shared chopsticks that were placed aside and added a piece of mung bean cake into my bowl. Looking at the mung bean cake in my bowl, the tears that had been suppressed in my heart seemed to be unstoppable. Slowly, my eyes started to moisten. When I was a child, I was always picky with food, but I had a special fondness for mung bean cake. My mother had passed away early, and my father was busy with official duties, so no one ever took care of me on a regular basis. As a result, I became even more selective with my meals. Because I was the young miss of the house, the servants in the mansion didn't dare to discipline me. Gradually, I became unusually thin compared to children my age, and my complexion was always pale, with no trace of a young lady. I ended up looking more like a street beggar.

Later, I don't know when it started, my usually busy father started coming back to have dinner with me. Before every meal, he would always give me a piece of green bean cake and then start encouraging me to eat. I ate more than usual, and he would then give me another piece of green bean cake. This habit continued until that winter when Wei Heng and Zhu Zhu came. From the moment Wei Heng entered the house, my father never prepared green bean cake for me again. I had always thought that my father had forgotten about this habit. Today, when I saw the green bean cake in the bowl again, I couldn't describe the feeling. It seemed like something had exploded in my heart. I even wanted to rush over and hug my father, then cry my heart out while clutching his clothes like I did when I was a little girl. But I knew I couldn't, because I am no longer the girl who can cry and throw tantrums without a care, and my father is no longer just my father. So, I can only obediently follow my father's wishes and strive to become a proper young lady.