If a person wanted to die, there was no way of stopping him. If he helped them this time, there was sure to be a next time.
He was already advanced in age. All he wanted was to live his golden years restfully. He had no desire to get himself involved in this mess.
Since Shi Qing refused to meet Qiu Chenxi, Qiu Chenxi had no other choice. Because she had not been able to get Shi Peng’s help, Qiu Chenxi had no other choice but to find Shi Qing for help. Shi Peng was her uncle. Logically, it would probably be easier to persuade Shi Peng than Shi Qing. When they were younger, Qiu Chenxi had had many conflicts with Shi Qing and had even bullied Shi Qing.
Shi Qing was never one who was good with words. Qiu Chenxi wanted to forget their childhood experiences but was unable to do so. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Qiu Chenxi had not wanted to ask Shi Qing for a favor, in case she was humiliated if Shi Qing were to refuse her.
But at the present moment, Qiu Chenxi could no longer afford to consider that much. Qiu Chenxi had long realized that she had progressed quite smoothly initially based on what Old Master Shi had given her. Qiu Chenxi, who had only wanted to marry a good man all along, realized for the first time that it felt good to hold power and control over others.
Unfortunately, such a good feeling did not last for very long.
And Qiu Chenxi could not seem to further her career.
She could not seem to go any further in the central government, but the capital was a good place to be in, after all. There was no way Qiu Chenxi could accept being suddenly demoted and transferred out of the capital to suffer like a young employee. She would much rather have no chance of ever rising up in the ranks but being able to remain in the capital than be demoted and cast out of the capital.
To be honest, it was impossible for her to have the ambition of a young person and have the drive to make a name for herself. That would truly be a joke. She was already advanced in years.
In short, Qiu Chenxi had no intention of leaving. She did not want such an opportunity at all.
Since she had not gotten anywhere with Shi Peng, and neither was she willing to deal with Shi Qing, she could only turn to Zhu Baoguo. The problem was that Shi Qing and Zhu Baoguo stood united. As long as she was able to convince either one of them, her problems would be solved.
In the same vein, if either of the two was particularly against helping her, then there was really no way she and her husband could continue living in the capital.
She hardly ever burned incense but expected Buddha to answer her prayers now. There was no such thing as a free lunch.
When she was younger, Shi Qing had never been taken in by Qiu Chenxi. Now that she was a female general, she was not going to let anyone bully her. After getting married, even Zhu Baoguo listened to her in every matter. Especially after she had given birth to her son, even her father-in-law looked at her in a different light.
It could be said that her words held the most weight in the Zhu family.
She had grown older by more than twenty years. How could Shi Qing regress with age and let Qiu Chenxi hold her captive now that Shi Qing had risen in ranks? Would she really just give Qiu Chenxi whatever she asked for?
The moment Shi Qing heard that Qiu Chenxi had come to visit her, Shi Qing immediately got someone to relay a message to Qiu Chenxi: “Don’t think that the place that you’re headed to is very remote. If you dare to provoke the Zhai family, Qiao Nan, or even me again, I’m sure you’ll realize that there are even more remote and isolated corners in a prosperous country like China. When that time comes, don’t regret your actions. No one will be able to save you then.”
It was true that the place Qiu Chenxi was going to was not the remotest in the country. Shi Qing was sure she could find places that were even more isolated. Qiu Chenxi had not provoked them too badly yet, so they had simply thrown Qiu Chenxi somewhere outside the capital. Qiu Chenxi should already be thanking her lucky stars for that.
Once they really did their homework and picked out somewhere especially for Qiu Chenxi and her husband, Qiu Chenxi would not even have the chance to cry then. She should know her limits. Did Qiu Chenxi really think that this was the best they could do?
Perhaps it was indeed true that Qiu Chenxi had a home advantage when she was younger, but now that she had grown into a full-grown dragon that could fly, would she still be bullied by a mere snake that crawled on the ground? What a joke!
Qiu Chenxi was almost at the age where she could be a grandma. Shi Qing could not understand how Qiu Chenxi had managed to stay the same over the past twenty, almost thirty, years. How could Qiu Chenxi not grow as a person at all after all those years? No wonder Qiu Chenxi had never been able to progress after her grandpa’s death.
She wondered if her grandpa would regret leaving whatever little things he had entirely to his son and granddaughter if he were to see Qiu Chenxi in this state today. He had wasted all his resources! Thankfully, she could not care less about whom her grandpa gave his assets to.
When Old Master Shi passed away, Shi Qing did go to send him off. There was no way of salvaging the damage that had already been done in the past. By the time Old Master Shi realized that his son and granddaughter were the greatest hopes of the family, the relationship between the three generations had soured so badly that there was no way of mending it.
Old Master Shi could feel that Shi Qing and Shi Peng might have been willing to visit him occasionally and hire someone to take care of him. But the problem was that his son and granddaughter were not at all close to him and did not treat him any better than they would a stranger.
Since he was already advanced in his years, he also wanted to enjoy the joy of having his family and grandchildren close to him, unlike the past decade when he had been blinded by power. At that time, all he cared about was elevating the Shi family’s status in society. Whoever could help do so would be his best child or grandchild. How would Old Shi ever have known that he would one day yearn for true kinship? By the time he desired it, there was no one in his family who was willing to be close to him anymore.
Did he regret it?
In the last few years of his life, it was a given that Old Shi regretted it. He watched on as his friends were surrounded by their children and grandchildren, all living blissful lives. He looked once again at himself. It was true that he lived in a mansion, with servants looking after his needs, but it was so quiet and lonely in his home. Old Shi had regretted it long ago.
It was rare that his son and granddaughter came to visit. But when Old Shi tried to mend the relationship between them, Shi Qing and Shi Peng stayed mum for a long while, pretending that they did not understand what he meant. Actually, Shi Qing and Shi Peng had already conveyed clearly through their attitudes that all they were willing to do was to provide for him while he was still alive. They would not do anything beyond that.
All that about having the time of his life with his grandchildren and family would not work in the Shi family.
The father and daughter were only fulfilling their duties of supporting Old Shi in his old age. Perhaps it was because of this that Old Shi was always downcast in the last few years of his life. Since he was unhappy, it was difficult for him to live a long life. Before Old Shi passed away, he had grabbed onto Shi Peng’s hand and muttered some unintelligible words.
Looking into his father’s eyes, Shi Peng understood that his father had regretted his actions and was apologizing to him. Shi Peng patted Old Shi’s hands. “Dad, if you are reincarnated, I think it’s better for you just have one child the next time.”
If his father had only one child, he would never have to make a comparison between his children.