Old Lady Nan sighed. "… I do not mean to keep you here.""Lin Chu must be very hungry by now. If she"s hungry, that means the child is hungry. I have to go back quickly; I can"t deprive my clever great-grandson of eating his meals on time." Old Lady Yan beamed, poking one last jab.
Old Lady Nan"s heart was exhausted, she felt as if she would never love again. She went as far as to personally see Old Lady Yan out as if she was afraid that she would come back again.
When she was angered by Old Lady Yan in the past, Old Lady Nan"s face would always become sullen and she would sit still on the sofa. She personally walked Old Lady Yan to the door this time—this shocked Old Lady Yan as well.
Walking towards the door, Old Lady Yan had just finished changing her shoes when Old Lady Nan remarked, "Do look after Lin Chu properly since she is pregnant. Don"t go around thoughtlessly dropping in to see people! You don"t have to worry about me. Once Lin Chu gives birth, it will be fine for you to bring the child to see me then. In the meantime, you must take proper care of Lin Chu and not be concerned about me!"
"In any case, let her be quiet for 7 months!"
Old Lady Yan became touched and held Old Lady Nan"s hand, "You"re worthy of being called my close and caring friend. I"m really touched that you think of me so much! Don"t worry, I won"t forget you. Cheng"er and Lin Chu will be moving to Sheng Town. This means I"ll have plenty of time again to visit and chat with you. Old Nan has fun outside all day long while you"re alone at home during the day. I can"t bear to imagine how lonely you are!"
Old Lady Nan opened her mouth, wanting to say, "You endure it." but Old Lady Yan interjected and spoke before she had the chance, "What sort of relations.h.i.+p do the both of us have huh? Don"t be courteous to me. The two of us share the relations.h.i.+p of chatting seven days a week! My heart feels empty if I don"t see you for a day. Relax, best friends must accompany each other. I absolutely won"t neglect you."
After she finished speaking, Old Lady Yan had a look that said "I know you"re tough on the outside but soft on the inside. Your mouth says "no" but your heart cannot bear to part from me.", making Old Lady Nan gloomy to the utmost.
At this stage, her heart was already contemplating whether she should go to her daughter"s house and hide just to have some peace and quiet.
Old Lady Yan was certainly oblivious of Old Lady Nan"s mental activity, walking out of the Nan house in a perfectly content manner and reaching her own home after turning a corner.
She was happy to see Yan Beicheng and Lin Chu once she entered. Plus, she could finally show off Lin Chu"s pregnancy today without restraint. It was very comforting.
Stuffing her heart with a secret for about a month resembled a jar that was almost completely filled with water. If the water was not poured out, it would be so full that it would overflow. She got to pour out all of the water in one go today, truly having an indescribable feeling of relaxation and happiness!
Old Lady Yan felt so good that she patted Chu Xi"s chubby b.u.t.tocks. With the very close affinity they shared, Chu Xi subsequently ran towards the coffee table and held a squeaky toy in its mouth under the coffee table, playing by itself.
Old Lady Yan told Yan Beicheng and Lin Chu as she felt touched, "Old Yue is truly my close friend. She"s really unbelievably considerate, even insisting that I concentrate on taking care of Lin Chu and to only hang out with her after Lin Chu gives birth but how can I just forget about her? She couldn"t bear parting from me when I was leaving. Looking at how reluctant she was, I feel that I still have to accompany and talk to her every day. Otherwise, she"ll be alone at home since her old man is out all the time and doesn"t spend time with her at home. She will be so lonely!"
Old Lady Yan exhaled a long sigh; she was terribly moved by the friends.h.i.+p she and Old Lady Nan shared.
Everyone kept quiet.
Were you certain that this was what Old Lady Nan meant?
They felt that Old Lady Nan was kicking Old Lady Yan out, not letting her enter anymore in the future!
Seeing that Old Master had not returned yet, Old Lady Yan asked Aunt Chen, "Have you called the old man?"
"Yes, I have. Old Master is on his way home as we speak," said Aunt Chen.
"This old man. There"s nothing wrong with meeting with people in the vicinity yet he persists on traveling so far." Old Lady Yan muttered.
…
On the other hand, Nan Jingheng became increasingly confused at the Nan house after Old Lady Yan left briskly, blinking his big eyes and looking at Old Lady Nan with a pure and innocent expression.
Old Lady Nan turned around slowly and gazed at Nan Jingheng, "Pretending, you"re pretending again! How"s it possible that you don"t know about Lin Chu"s pregnancy?"
This group of devilish grandchildren hung out so well together all the time. Judging from Yan Beicheng"s love for showing off, would he not show off and act smugly around them?
When he had not gotten married then and was merely dating Lin Chu, he took off straight away to send out wedding invitations from house to house. She did not believe that Yan Beicheng could refrain from bragging about Lin Chu"s pregnancy!
Nan Jingheng gave a naive look, "I don"t know!"
"Then I as your grandmother will call you "know know" today!" Old Lady Nan was fit and hearty with nimble movements, moving her hand as fast as the lightning, twisting Nan Jingheng"s ear.
It was unknown how many times this motion had been performed that it could be done so proficiently.
Old Lady Nan"s height only reached Nan Jingheng"s chest. As Nan Jingheng"s ear was twisted by Old Lady Nan, his head could not help but snap away. To coordinate with Old Lady Nan"s height, Nan Jingheng"s body even bent downwards as well. It was actually not painful, but he still cried out, "Ow, ow."
"Grandma, grandma. Go easy on me. I"m your grandson!" Nan Jingheng shouted, "Ouch, ouch.""Shouldn"t you be going next door to twist Brother Cheng"s ear? It"s all because he tries too hard!"
"You know why I"m twisting your ear!" Old Lady Nan vented all the anger she had from Old Lady Yan onto Nan Jingheng.
"Ow, I don"t know. I don"t know!" Nan Jingheng said, grimacing and extending his hand to clasp his ear at the same time.
"Tell me why you come home so punctually every single day?" Old Lady Nan was dissatisfied that he failed to live up to expectations, "You normally come back late because you"re working overtime. You"d come back every day to eat if you don"t work overtime. Can"t you have an ounce of the dynamism of being young? Like going out more to have fun and looking for a partner? How are you going to find a partner when you stay at home so much?"
"Goodness me. Grandma, didn"t you tell Old w.a.n.g"s family that your grandson has a n.o.ble character, and doesn"t go out womanizing, clubbing and having fun with Internet personalities? Then why aren"t you happy that I return home?" Nan Jingheng"s heart was feeling pretty distressed.
"Can they be the same? I"m letting you have fun outside at night to meet and know decent young ladies, not asking you to get acquainted with the Internet personalities. If you dare do so, let"s see it if I"ll break your legs! You said you dislike daughters of upper-cla.s.s families and you"re fed up with their fragility and vanity. That"s fine, I don"t require you go on blind dates with those people. Either way, you ought to look for a nice young woman who has a decent job, is steadfast and aspires to make progress, no? Take a look at others like Song Yu, Danchen, and Lin Chu; these types of people are good! Just find one with a similar character. Can you do that?"
"Grandma let go. I"ll try hard to find one. You"ve twisted my ears into plums. They don"t look good now. How am I going to find a wife like this?" Nan Jingheng s.h.i.+elded his ears while discussing with Old Lady Nan, "You certainly don"t know that Han Zhuoli"s grandmother loves twisting his ears. I always felt that his ears are now bigger than before. I think this aspect is also the reason why he"s tardy and incapable of finding a partner."
Old Lady Nan paused.
Thinking she was that stupid?
"Hurry and tidy yourself up before you come down for dinner!" Old Lady Nan kicked him once with her foot before releasing her grip.
Nan Jingheng ran back into the house as if he received a military pardon.
…
Old Master Yan only reached home ten minutes after Old Lady Yan had returned home. Old Master Yan"s face was gleaming with joy. Lin Chu noticed the wrinkles on Old Master"s face seemed to be deeper than when he went out this morning. It was an indication of how much he smiled today.
When Old Master left the house, he carried a plastic basket that was more or less the same as the ones used in grocery shopping. It was a basket full of wedding candy, but it was now completely empty.
Old Lady Yan was still unaware of the stupid thing Old Master Yan did. Aunt Chen took the plastic basket proffered and asked, "Sir, all of the candies have been completely handed out?"
Upon mentioning this, Old Master Yan"s expression became quite unsettled.
Though he had not started talking yet when he went out giving candies, people asked, "Huh? Is the wedding of your grandson and granddaughter-in-law already over? Why don"t I see any activity?"
Old Master Yan would explain, "It"s not set up yet! This is the wedding candy from my granddaughter-in-law"s pregnancy!"
In the end, a lot of people asked similar questions as he walked around during the entirety of his journey. It dispirited Old Master Yan to the utmost. The smugness he previously had, thus, reduced.
Being asked such a question by Aunt Chen once he came back, he did not reply, merely pa.s.sing the basket to her straight away and simply said, "Quickly go and eat. I"m hungry."
After they finished talking, he went to wash his hands.
Old Lady Yan gazed at the backside of Old Master Yan and muttered, "He relapsed again."
After finished eating at night, everyone gathered in the living room and ate fruits together. Lin Chu had her own little fruit platter; the fruits were sliced precisely to the proportion marked in the nutrition book and pieced together by Aunt Chen for Lin Chu.
The fruits Lin Chu consumed daily were in a fixed amount because Yan Beicheng heard that pregnant women catch diabetes very easily, making it unhealthy to overconsume fruits. Her intake of fruits, therefore, was monitored every day.
Old Master Yan found his reading gla.s.ses inside the drawer and then he touched around for his cell phone. Since the phone numbers were arranged in alphabetical order, the phone number of Han Zhuoli"s grandfather in the address book was placed at the top.
Old Master Yan made a phone call full of enthusiasm.
"h.e.l.lo, Old Han. It"s me, Xiao Yan!" Old Master smiled so much so that his beard trembled.
Lin Chu almost spurted.
Xiao Yan? How young does Old Master Yan perceive himself?
Old Master Han rolled his eyes, "How old are you? You still call yourself "Xiao Yan". Where"s your shame?"
"Don"t mind such details!" Old Master Yan took a bite of his strawberry.
"Why did you call me? What"s wrong?" Old Master Han was vexed.
When he returned home to eat after heading out for a walk, he heard Old Lady Han scolding at the dinner table saying Old Lady Yan had made a phone call specifically to tell her that Lin Chu had been pregnant for three full months today. She even reminded her to also pay close attention to Han Zhuoli"s marriage. Was this not provoking people?
After Old Master Han heard it, he felt uncomfortable.
"Hey, there"s nothing major. My granddaughter-in-law, Lin Chu, is pregnant and her pregnancy has just reached three full months today. I just want to let you know and make you happy along with me as well ha!" Old Master Yan said; his beard slightly quivered while he laughed.
"Ha ha." Old Master Han sensed that he did not feel the slightest bit of happiness, "Xiao Cao has already called today, looking for my wife. We already knew about Lin Chu"s pregnancy."
Old Master Yan was dumbfounded. He did not even get the chance to show off yet!
Old Master Yan glared very indignantly at Old Lady Yan. They agreed on breaking the news together!
How could she enjoy this happiness alone? She was far too treacherous! Scheming against her partner.
Old Lady Yan turned her eyes, pinching a grape seed with an expression that said: "I don"t know anything."
Old Master Yan then reluctantly hung the phone call.
The Han Family still had not finished eating at this moment. Meanwhile, the two Han family elders who had been mistreated by the Yan family elders felt unhappy now.
As Old Lady Han held the rice bowl, she turned her head, looked at her grandson who was all grown up but still had not found a wife yet and suddenly groaned "hmph". She said, "You, face the corner of the room and crouch as you eat! You can"t even find a wife. How are you qualified to eat at our table!"
Han Zhuoli was speechless.
"Agreed!" Old Master Han nodded profoundly in approval, "When you"ve found a wife, you"ll bring her back home to see us. Then you may eat with your wife at the table. Until then―"
Old Master Han took a look at Han Zhuoli"s father who wanted to say something but stopped. Once he shot him a side glance, Father Han no longer dared to utter a word.
Old Master Han only then said, "Until then, continue crouching at the corner!"
Han Zhuoli did not retort.
Where did the love in the home go!
Han Zhuoli hurriedly picked several pieces of food into his rice bowl with his chopsticks. Afterward, he held the bowl and glanced at the two elders pitifully. Then ran to the corner to crouch.
A few bites later, he felt that he could not swallow this injustice, so he fished out his phone, took a picture of himself and sent it to 8x8 is 64.
Han Zhuoli typed, "Yan Beicheng! It"s all because of you. Look, I don"t even have the right to eat at the table now. My grandfather and grandmother said that I"ll continue crouching at the corner of the room during meals until I find a wife."
Upon seeing the picture and text Han Zhuoli sent, everyone in the group spurt out their food in laughter.
Nan Jingheng who was given a scolding by Old Lady Nan and whose ear was twisted felt at ease instantly after seeing what Han Zhuoli encountered. He felt that he was still Old Lady Nan"s biological grandson whereas Han Zhuoli was the one who was picked from a garbage can.
Nan Jingheng, thus, entered the group smugly, expressing sympathy toward Han Zhuoli and said, "The old lady in my home indeed loves me dearly. Though Old Lady Yan drops in every day, my grandma doesn"t show any bit of bitterness toward me."
Yan Beicheng, "Then let"s wait till Lin Chu"s belly becomes bigger before we go to your house to let your grandmother have a look."
Nan Jingheng responded, "You guys can"t see me anyway so I can brag however I please." Then waved his hand negligently. "No biggie! I"m indeed the golden grandson of my family so I"m not afraid!"
Han Zhuoli did not respond.
As he crouched at the corner, he raised his head with distress and shot a glance at the lively dining table, pondering whether he should raise a puppy so it could be his companion!
…
Old Master Yan was not concerned that Old Lady Yan had already personally drop-in from house to house, he still eagerly made phone calls one by one. Because of the obstruction he had from Old Master Han at the very beginning, he decided to make a special visit to the Han house the next day, seeking out Old Master Han to talk about life and to imagine the joy of being a great-grandfather in the future to his heart"s content.
…
Yan Beicheng and Lin Chu decided to move to Sheng Town on Sat.u.r.day. Yan Beicheng did not return home for dinner as he had a dinner party at night.
He came out of the discussion room after he finished speaking to his client at Sheng Yue. While they were walking toward the doorway, the door of another discussion room located a few steps ahead of them opened as well. Although people were not seen exiting, the clamor and laughter from inside could be heard. The voices of several men inside were extremely loud, speaking of vulgar and obscene sketches.
"Reporter Zhu, you"ll be leaving with General Manager Xie tonight, okay? It is rare that General Manager Xie takes a fancy toward you. It"s your blessing." They had not walked past but Yan Beicheng and others had already heard a voice coming from the room ahead.
The shrewd voice hid behind a smug smile, not paying the slightest bit of attention to Reporter Zhu as if she was an object.
Reporter Zhu"s did not yet reply when another brash and coa.r.s.e belly laugh was heard, "Then, thanks a lot for General Manager Zhao"s hearty hospitality. General Manager Zhao is still an organized and refined man. When we spoke business in the past, we usually called prost.i.tutes to come over to entertain us. It"s not like we can"t afford or financially support a mistress so why do we have to hire prost.i.tutes? Tell me, do you agree or not? Even if they don"t mind losing face, I think it"s dirty. General Manager Zhao, only you actually properly found me a beautiful reporter. I"ve never tried this sort of thing before."
Afterward, a very loud squelch was heard but the voice of Reporter Zhu was not heard all along.
As a few people moved forward, two persons suddenly walked out of the room.
With a rather tall height of about 180 meters, the stomach of a fat person who had a large head and big ears already appeared, although the person had not come out yet. His body, however, seemed short because of his obese build.