*Ding* *Ding*"Who could it be?" Xue Jinxu said while busily changing the bedsheets inside the master"s bedroom.
"I"ll get it." Teng Man Rui offered while already heading towards the front door.
The door clicked open and revealed their guest. "How have you been, Grampa Xue?" Teng Man Rui greeted him, surprised.
Grampa Xue grunted, pleased with Teng Man Rui. "Getting older so much faster than I would have liked." He shared. "Xiao Rui, how have you been? Take care of yourself too, not just your friend. The Xue household is grateful to you." He said while entering slowly, with his head already turning here and there, trying to locate the granddaughter he had been terribly missing these past months.
"Where"s Xu"er?" He finally asked.
"I"ll get her, Grampa." Teng Man Rui jolted rapidly towards the bedroom.
"Jinxu, your grampa is here." Teng Man Rui informed Xue Jinxu.
"I know, I heard him. What should I do, Man Rui? It"s Grampa!" Xue Jinxu was aghast by her grampa"s visit. Wasn"t he the person who disowned her? Technically speaking Xue Jinxu was a little scared of her grampa. Well, simply because he"s really scary sometimes. Not to mention, currently, they weren"t in the best terms. She was, in fact, on the lower, receiving end. What could her grampa want from her? She was scared that whatever it is, she wouldn"t be sane enough to decide rationally.
"Just meet with him. It wouldn"t be that bad, would it?" Teng Man Rui rea.s.sured her.
"Okay." Xue Jinxu succ.u.mbed worriedly, still not fully convinced, but what could she do but meet with him now that he knew that she was inside that apartment.
She went outside the bedroom and into the living room. "How have you been, Grampa? It"s been a while…"
"Xu"er." Grampa stood up when she showed herself. "Won"t you give Grampa a hug, child?"
Xue Jinxu fidgeted first, but obliged. She hesitatingly hugged her Grampa. "What brought you here, Grampa? I thought… that… I"m not part of the family anymore…" She completed her sentence slowly, with apparent hurt in her tone. She"s still the pampered grand daughter that she was used to.
Grampa Xue sighed. "Xu"er... Xu"er… What are we going to do with you, Xu"er? Haven"t you learned your lesson yet?"
"Come back to the old mansion. We will welcome you with open arms." He said gently, almost pleadingly.
"Stop playing house with that husband of yours. Go back to us. You are born to lead. You are born to achieve great things! Don"t waste your life any more than you already have!" Grampa Xue advised.
Xue Jinxu remained silent. "Nothing has changed." Apparently, Grampa Xue still wanted her to divorce Chen Linyun. Apparently he had been informed of their physical separation, that"s why he was here today.
"Don"t get me wrong, Grampa. I am still deeply in love with my husband. I don"t have any intention of divorcing him."
"Tsk." Grampa clicked his tongue upon hearing his grand daughter"s words. "You"ve already experienced mishaps, misfortunes in this marriage. You were already this hurt. Child, open your eyes! This is not the life for you. Go back to our side. You can remarry if you want to."
Xue Jinxu gritted her teeth. "Why are you so against Chen Linyun? He"s such a good person. He"s a good guy, Grampa. Give him a chance, mhmm? Father and Mother already accepted him. What is it that you"re so against him?" She retorted with such a frown.
"I know he"s a good person. It"s his greatest strength, and also his weakness. Being that good is what makes him weak. He will not be able to protect you. If I accept him in the family, he will be the target of all those people with such ill intentions to our family. He will open our family to such disastrous future. …That"s why I had to let go of you when you chose to be with him."
"Do you think it"s so easy for me to disown you, and let you fend for yourself without our protection? But no matter how hard it was for me, I decided to give you your freedom, and gave in to your happiness, child. But are you happy now? I guess not!"
"Xu"er, I"m worried that you are only seeing your brother in him. They are so much alike. Only you can tell if that"s the case.
"But, I want to remind you, child. Your husband will be the next head of the family. If your husband is a goody-goody, there"s a big probability that our family will fall. You know very well how atrocious the world we live in could be, how horrendous and cruel the people and the situation could get. The head should be as strong as steel, someone who could not be bent or broken by adversities…"
Suddenly, Grampa grew tired while seemd to be reminiscing about his own past. He rested for a while in couch while keeping the silence between them.
"I don"t want to force you to do anything. I could only try to persuade you. Go back home. You will be taken care of there. You will be pampered there the way you have been used to while you were growing up!"
"I will reinstate you in the company. I will return everything that"s rightfully yours. Just go home, child!"
"You are born for big great things!"
Xue Jinxu maintained her silence. She was looking down at her lap, while rubbing her thumbs together.
"I understand you do not want to marry into the s.h.i.+"s. I heard what happened with your miscarriage, and I"m sorry to hear that. Your loss is our loss too. If you"re hurt, we, your family are hurt too."
"It might be too late, but I admit, it"s my fault that I did not listen to you before about s.h.i.+ Fan Hai."
He dug his hand into his pocket and retrieved something out. He operated it, and soon after, Xue Jinxu"s and s.h.i.+ Fan Hai"s voices flooded the living room.