Time flew by as Yue Ling enjoyed lunch with her grandfather and brother. The three individuals stepped outside the luxurious restaurant and waited for their cars.
Grandfather Ji looks at his granddaughter and his heart swarms with multiple feelings. He was proud of the young woman she had become but at the same time, sad that he cannot stay to watch over her.
Noticing his gaze, Yue Ling meets his eyes and smiles without knowing his thoughts.
“Yeye, what is it? Is something wrong?”
Grandfather Ji shook his head, and his free hand reached to hold onto her right hand.
“Nothing. Yeye just missed you, that’s all.”
He looks down at her hand, and his thumb gently strokes the back of her hand. He could still remember how small her hand used to be like it was yesterday.
“I hope you come to visit soon. Inu also misses you.”
His eyes flutter, and he meets her eyes again with a smile.
“Every day, he sits by the door antic.i.p.ating you would walk in.”
Hearing her grandfather’s words, Yue Ling felt her heart melt like lava. She misses Inu just as much as he does. She hasn’t gone to pick him up because Lu Tian had promised they would go together.
However, due to their busy work schedule, it kept getting delayed.
Also, Inu looked like he wanted to stay with her grandfather for the time being.
Thinking this, she gently squeezed her grandfather’s hand and smiled a smile that reached her eyes.
“Don’t worry. I’ll tell Tian for us to come to pick up Inu.”
Grandfather Ji nodded, but some of him did not want to let Inu leave his side. His granddaughter is busy with work and his grandson must attend school. The only companion he has is Inu.
He hates admitting it, but he doesn’t want to be alone.
However, knowing that Inu also has feelings, he could only let the Samoyed return home.
Yue Ling stared at her grandfather, and she didn’t know why but something felt amiss with him. She had not realized it earlier when they were eating, but now that she was standing close, his complexion didn’t look too good.
She unknowingly takes a small step closer to him, and her eyebrows ever so lightly crease.
“Yeye… are you sick?”
Her question fell, and Grandfather Ji and Ji Jingxu’s hearts stopped. The grandfather and grandson duo did not know how to react, but it was only for a split second.
Grandfather Ji lets go of Yue Ling’s hand and waves it with a hearty laugh.
“What are you talking about? I’m not sick. I am still as strong as ever. Isn’t that right, Jingxu?”
He shoots his grandson a look indicating for the boy to back up his words.
As reluctant as he was, Ji Jingxu hesitated to answer. He wanted to blurt out the truth but clenching his fists tightly, he forced out a laugh as usual.
“That’s right. Grandfather isn’t sick. Yesterday, he took Inu out on a 20-kilometer walk.”
Yue Ling stares at the two people before her with skeptical eyes. She wanted to say they were lying but not wanting to doubt the people she loves and cares for, she decided to trust their words.
“Miss Han, your car is here.”
A valet worker interrupts the family and hands Yue Ling her keys. He turns to Grandfather Ji with a small but polite bow.
“Your car will be here soon, sir.”
Yue Ling watches the valet worker walk away and turns her attention back to her grandfather and brother.
“I’ll take my leave first. I still have some work to take care of.”
She takes a step forward towards her car but stops. She turns around, and without any warning, she wraps her arms around her grandfather.
“Take good care of yourself.”
Her sudden hug confounded Grandfather Ji, but his shoulders relaxed. He fought the urge to cry and hugged her with a slight tight squeeze.
“You too. Drive safely, Ah Ling.”
Yue Ling nods and takes a step back. She doesn’t leave right away but also hugs her brother.
As she moves away, she pats his head and smiles at him.
“Don’t forget to study and take care of yourself.”
She looks at them one last time before walking to her car. Once inside, she waves goodbye to them and then drives away from the restaurant.
Grandfather Ji and Ji Jingxu watched her car drive further until it was no longer in sight. Neither spoke a word but stared in the direction Yue Ling had gone.
“Grandfather…”please visit panda(-)N0ve1.co)m
Ji Jingxu was the first to break the silence. He slowly turns his head to look at the elderly man standing next to him.
“Why didn’t you tell her?”
pAn,D a-n0ve1,c-o-m
Grandfather Ji doesn’t turn to look at his grandson but keeps his eyes on the traffic in front of him. He calmly places his left hand behind his back and finally looks at Ji Jingxu with a faint smile filled with relief and sadness.
“Didn’t she look happy?”
Ji Jingxu was washed with a wave of frustration at how his grandfather diverted his question with a question. He turns his whole body to the elderly man and looks at him aggrievedly.
“Grandfather, don’t ignore my question. You promised you would tell her. Why do you keep dragging it? If you don’t tell her, I will.”
“Jingxu.”
The second his last word fell, Grandfather Ji sternly growls his (Ji Jingxu) name and hits the bottom of his cane against the ground. His (Grandfather Ji) expression turned stony before he closed his eyes and sighed.
“I’m not trying to ignore your question.”
He slowly opens his eyes again and turns his attention back in the direction his granddaughter had driven off.
“I want to tell her, I really do, but she looked so happy. Don’t you think she deserves to be happy too?”
During their lunch, he could tell how happy his granddaughter was and couldn’t discuss the topic. She was laughing and smiling to her heart’s content.
It made him realize something. When was the last time he saw Yue Ling look this happy?
“Ah Ling… She’s had so many people she deeply cared about leaving her. Now that she’s finally found her smile again, how can I tell her?”
He had seen Yue Ling cry more than she smiled. It was to the point he thought she would never smile again and had given up all hope.
However, to see her now, he knew she had found her happiness.
“I do not want to break her heart. If I tell her now, she will only put up a wall again.”
Everyone thinks his granddaughter is strong, but with every death in her life, she slowly began to shut everyone out, including him. She never showed her sadness, but he knew she was hurting inside.
Her maternal grandmother pa.s.sed away when she was too young to understand death, but she understood what death meant once she grew up to the age of ten.
When her parents pa.s.sed away, she built a wall that was so formidable she made sure no one could see the sadness inside her or what she was thinking.
She showed everyone that she was fine, but he could recall a time when she was twelve. He secretly visited City Z to see her and found her curled alone in her mother and father’s closet. She was quietly sobbing with a piece of their clothes wrapped around her.
It was as if she was hoping the pieces of her parents’ clothes would be enough to replace their warm embrace that she could no longer feel.
Seeing that made him wonder how many times she had silently cried alone without anyone noticing.
Then like faith was not hard enough on her, when her paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother were laid to rest, she made that wall even more stronger.
It was no different with Lee s.h.i.+n. When the young lad pa.s.sed, he watched his granddaughter pretend to be alright but knew that she had raised the wall again.
For three years, he saw her express a smile void of feelings. It was to the point where he asked every day if he would see her smile again.
Just when he thought she was finally happy after meeting Lu Tian, she had to go through another tragic event that cost her her unborn child.
He thought she would shut down again, but fortunately, Lu Tian was by her side. The young lad made sure to pull her out every time she was headed toward the dark abyss.
And then, like luck was not on his side, his health started deteriorating faster.
His heart ached at the thought of having to tell his granddaughter, but he knew that he would have to tell her no matter what.
He exhales heavily to clear his mind and looks at his grandson with a few nods.
“I will tell her, but after her wedding.”
He sees Ji Jingxu’s jaw tighten at his words, and he places a hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“Her wedding is coming up. If I tell her now, she will not go through with it. She will devote her focus to finding help for me when it is no longer possible.”
He gently squeezes his grandson’s shoulder and smiles a smile filled with heartache.
“You understand, right? I know you do not want to see her put up that wall again, so let’s be patient.”
Ji Jingxu pressed his lips tightly together. As much as he wanted his grandfather to tell his older sister, he also understood what the old man said.
He had seen Yue Ling put up a wall twice, and it was as if nothing mattered to her anymore.
Thinking about the past, Ji Jingxu inhales a deep breath and exhales. He nods but gives a serious look at his grandfather.
“Fine, but I will if you don’t tell her after the wedding. I don’t want to keep dragging this.”