I Returned to the Day He Brought His First Love Home

"Oh, my. You’re a grown woman. Why are you still getting jealous?" Irene Lynch couldn’t help but laugh at the look on Grace’s face.

Grace laughed along and wrapped an arm around Joanne. "This is great! I’m getting on in years and I’ve gained a little sister. Does this mean someone will help me with the chores from now on? Can I finally slack off?"

"I’m going to be a wicked older sister and order my little sister to do everything."

Irene Lynch just shook her head and smiled.

A blissful expression on her face, Joanne said, "Okay, you can ask me to help with anything from now on. I—I don’t mind at all."

"Don’t listen to your sister’s nonsense. The girls in our family don’t have to do chores." Irene Lynch patted the back of Joanne’s hand. After a moment’s thought, she added, "Since I’ve officially taken you as my goddaughter, I can’t skip the welcome gift. Wait here for a minute."

With that, she got up and went into her room, emerging a moment later with something in her hands.

It was a silver chain with a small gold lock pendant.

Irene Lynch handed the necklace to Joanne. "A welcome gift from your godmother. Take it."

"Godmother, this is too valuable! I... I can’t accept this..."

Joanne’s face paled at the sight of it, and she hurriedly tried to refuse.

"You don’t want it? Does that mean you don’t want me as your godmother?" Irene Lynch’s expression immediately turned sorrowful.

Grace chimed in from the side, "You can’t refuse a gift from an elder. Just take it, or you’ll make my mom sad."

Joanne carefully accepted it. "This... this is really too much..."

"Not at all, not at all. I’ve always loved having daughters. It’s a shame I didn’t have two more back then." Irene Lynch was beaming.

Looking at Joanne and Grace, she felt an inexplicable sense of contentment and happiness.

Gregory Winslow, who had been quiet the whole time, smiled as he watched how happy his wife was.

"Shouldn’t Dad give a welcome gift too? A red envelope would be fine." Grace linked her arm through Gregory Winslow’s, reminding him with a grin.

Gregory Winslow nodded with a smile. "Yes, I should."

He got up, went back to his room, and came out a moment later with a red envelope. He handed it directly to Joanne. "Take it. It’s not much money, just a token of our sentiment. From now on, think of this as your own home."

Joanne’s eyes reddened.

She was already a grown woman, yet no one had ever treated her so well.

Irene Lynch, Gregory Winslow... they were both so good to her.

’What have I ever done to deserve a family like this?’

Seeing Grace sitting nearby, smiling at her, Joanne wiped her tears and swore a silent oath. For the rest of her life, even if it cost her everything, she would protect Grace’s entire family.

"Alright, our classmates should be here soon. Let’s get things ready and hang up all the clothes." Grace clapped her hands and started directing people to get to work.

Sean York arrived shortly after.

Seeing Grace and the others busy, he quickly came over to lend a hand.

Many hands make light work, and they finished up in no time.

At 9:30, Sean York and Irene Lynch went out to look at tables and chairs, with Gregory Winslow following along on his bicycle.

Grace and Joanne stayed home, waiting for their classmates to arrive.

Quite a few people were coming this time.

Besides students from the foreign languages department, there were also people from the history, business administration, and economics departments. All told, there were probably at least fifty or sixty people.

However, everyone had agreed to come in batches of about twenty people at a time.

At 9:40, the first group of students arrived.

When they saw Grace’s house, they couldn’t hide their astonishment.

Only a wealthy family could afford a house like this.

They knew Grace’s family was well-off, but they had no idea they were *this* rich.

The courtyard alone was several hundred square meters, and it was filled with all sorts of flowers and plants. The place looked magnificent.

Grace and Joanne greeted everyone. The students were all well-behaved, obediently picking out the clothes they liked.

As previously agreed, each person could pick one outfit. Once they made their choice, they’d bag it and leave.

Soon, the first group of twenty had been served, and the second group arrived.

Grace and Joanne were busy all day. They didn’t even have time for lunch, just making do with a few snacks. They worked straight through until five or six in the evening. By then, most of the clothes had been picked over, and everyone was gone.

Grace plopped down into a chair, her throat parched from exhaustion. "Tired... so tired. I’m never doing this again. This is just too exhausting."

"I’m not the least bit jealous of people who can make money. They’re all working themselves to death for it."

Joanne couldn’t help but chuckle. She poured Grace a glass of water, sat down beside her, and rubbed her own arms. "It’s not so bad. It’s not as tiring as doing farm work back home, and you don’t get paid for farm work."

"You had to do farm work every day at home?" Grace asked, looking at Joanne with curiosity.

"Yeah. I started helping out at home when I was five. Washing clothes, cooking, cutting pig feed, feeding the pigs, chickens, and ducks... I had to do it all," Joanne nodded.

This was the first time Grace had heard Joanne talk about these things. The two of them chatted for a while, and before they knew it, the sky had turned completely dark.

"That’s strange. Why aren’t my parents back yet? They only went to look at tables and chairs, so they should’ve been back long ago. You don’t think something happened, do you?" Grace frowned and glanced at the time. It was already past six.

She and Joanne needed to hurry back to school, or it would be too late. There weren’t many streetlights on the road, and it wasn’t safe to walk at night.

"Maybe they had something else to do. Should we wait for them to get back?" Joanne asked hesitantly.

Grace thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Forget it, let’s head back to school first. I’ll leave them a note. They’ll know we went back."

"Let’s pack up first. Pick out two outfits for yourself. Consider it payment for helping out today. I’m not giving you cash, though."

Joanne was about to refuse, but seeing the look in Grace’s eyes, the words caught in her throat.

She picked out two sets with simple designs, but she couldn’t shake a feeling of unease.

’I didn’t even do that much today, just helping to pack, keep records, and handle the money. I can’t believe Grace is giving me two whole outfits.’

She knew that one set cost over a hundred yuan.

Back in the countryside, her family only made a little over a hundred yuan in an entire year.

Grace packed a few outfits for herself, stuffed some snacks into a bag, grabbed a flashlight, and headed out with Joanne.

They locked the main gate and hurried back to school, chatting and laughing along the way.

When Grace walked alone, she never really noticed it, but with someone accompanying her, she realized how quickly and easily the journey passed.

In the blink of an eye, they were at the school gates.

After a long day, both Grace and Joanne were exhausted. They returned to their dorm, washed up quickly, and fell into bed, fast asleep.

The next day at noon, Grace found some time to go home and was relieved to see Irene Lynch was already there.

"Mom, why were you so late coming home last night? I was worried something had happened!" Grace said as she walked in.

Irene Lynch was also surprised to see Grace.

It was only then that Grace noticed there was another person in the courtyard.