“Don’t worry, it has been resolved.” Qiao Nan consoled Zhu Baoguo. “Traveling overseas seems fun, but it’s also quite tiring. Since you’re back, you should rest more.”
The matter had already been settled. Her father would be discharged today. Qiao Nan did not want to bring up what happened before if possible.
“Has it really been settled already?” He found it hard to believe.
“Really.” Qiao Nan nodded. “You also know that my English is not too bad. A friend of mine helped me find a translation job, allowing me to earn some money. Don’t worry. If I really have any problem, I will certainly seek your help.”
“That’s good. Who exactly is that friend? Can you introduce them to me?”
“Unfortunately, he had to leave for something. He is probably not in Ping Cheng now, and I do not know when he will be coming back.” Qiao Nan lifted the item in her hand. “Alright, I have already received your gift, but first things first. I did not go overseas for the holiday and do not have any gift for you.”
“Are you looking down on me? Who wants your present! I’m going back.” Zhu Baoguo felt that exchanging gifts in such a way was too polite.
Qiao Dongliang was suddenly ill. Although the financial situation of the Qiao family was still passable, they most possibly did not have much money to spare.
If he accepted Xiao Qiao’s gift, he would be adding a burden to the Qiao family, including Xiao Qiao.
Although Qiao Nan made it sound simple and easy, Zhu Baoguo caught on to the difficulties faced by the Qiao family. If they did not have any difficulty, would they let the younger daughter work during the summer vacation?
That would not do. He came in such a hurry and did not know the situation of the Qiao family at all.
When he got back home, he must get someone to find out what happened to the Qiao family recently and why Uncle Qiao was admitted to the hospital.
“You’re back?” Elder Zhu saw his grandson sweating profusely. “I have already told you not to be so anxious. You insisted on passing the gift today. Baoguo, is that classmate of yours more important than Grandpa in your heart?”
His grandson was so good to an outsider and had been missing them so much. Elder Zhu did not feel good about this.
He had doted on his grandson for more than a decade but never received a gift from him before. On the other hand, the young lady from the Qiao family always received a gift from his grandson whenever he came back from his overseas holiday trip.
“Grandpa, don’t fool around with me. I just saw Xiao Qiao and heard that Uncle Qiao will be discharged from the hospital today. Grandpa, do you know why Uncle Qiao was admitted to the hospital?” In fact, it would be best for him to check with his maternal grandpa about this matter. However, his maternal grandpa also went on the same overseas trip.
“Someone from the Qiao family was hospitalized? Same as you, I was only back yesterday. How could I know when you knew nothing of it?” Elder Zhu felt ridiculous.”Baoguo, don’t you think you are too concerned about the Qiao family?” Now, his grandson was not only concerned about the young lady from the Qiao family but also the rest of the family?
“I can’t bring myself to disregard this. When everybody did not believe me, Xiao Qiao was the only one who believed in me. When all my family members were plotting against me, Xiao Qiao, an outsider, was the only one who helped and did not give up on me. If I don’t care about Xiao Qiao, should I continue to care about Wang Yang, then?”
Zhu Baoguo was wearing a smile, but there was a flash of chilliness in his eyes.
“Grandpa, tell me. An outsider treats me so well, but why can’t my own cousin treat me the same?”
When Zhu Baoguo brought up the matter about Wang Yang, Elder Zhu was unable to reason with him.
At the thought of his daughter looking for him last night, begging him to put in a few good words for his son-in-law in front of his son in order to resolve a matter for his son-in-law, Elder Zhu felt very embarrassed in his heart.
In the previous matter, his maternal grandson was definitely in the wrong regardless of whether he did it on purpose.
He was already in the wrong if he did it unintentionally. If it was intentional, Elder Zhu did not even dare to think about it.
“Baoguo, there is no overnight hatred between family members. Yang Yang has already changed as he knew that he was in the wrong. Since you are the elder cousin, don’t take this to heart.” Elder Zhu had no choice but to be the peacemaker.
“Grandpa, what kind of deep hatred was there between Wang Yang and me that he had to use every opportunity he had to plot harm against me with such sinister tricks? He must have put in a lot of effort to think of such means. Grandpa, how much time do you think he spent plotting about this? It’s nice to be the younger one because the elder one is the forgiving one. Too bad my mom is no longer around. Otherwise, I must definitely ask her why she had to give birth to me in a hurry. If she gave birth to me two or three years later, then how good that would be.”
After knowing Qiao Nan so for long, the one thing Zhu Baoguo learned well from Qiao Nan was to question back instead of refuting the matter.
Elder Zhu’s face swelled and turned reddish black. His grandson made him speechless. After some time, Elder Zhu could not hold back further. He asked, “Baoguo, do you hate Yang Yang now and decided not to treat him as a family member anymore?”
In his lifetime, he only had one maternal and one paternal grandson.
He was initially thinking that if his grandson had a good relationship with Yang Yang, they can support and help each other. That was because his daughter-in-law passed away at a young age, and it was not possible for his grandson to have other siblings.
However, looking at the current situation, Elder Zhu knew that it would be difficult.
“Grandpa, I know what you are thinking. Relatives will always be relatives. But there are different degrees of relationship between them. What my dad said made sense. My auntie is married and now bears the surname of Wang. She is no longer on the side of the Zhu family. If even my auntie is behaving this way, then how about Wang Yang who grew up in the Wang family since he was a child? Grandpa, are you really sure you know what Wang Yang has been thinking of?”
“Baoguo, who told you all these?” Elder Zhu let out a breath of cold air.
In the past, his grandson was always out of line and muddle-headed. Now that his grandson was behaving in a serious manner, why did he feel strange?
Most importantly, Elder Zhu was shocked by Zhu Baoguo’s words. He was unwilling to believe that his daughter had changed. He was even more reluctant to think that his maternal grandson would bear ill intentions toward the Zhu family.
“Grandpa, my dad taught me that one only learns from one’s mistakes. If I could not even do that, then I deserve to be harmed till death by others.”
At the sight of Elder Zhu’s expression getting more awkward, Zhu Baoguo gave a sigh and smiled. He personally poured a cup of tea, brought it before Elder Zhu, and served it to him. “Actually, you don’t need to think so much, Grandpa. This family has my dad now and me in the future. As long as the Wang family does not go overboard, they are still our relatives. Should they need help, our Zhu family will definitely do our part.”
Although they would help, Zhu family was Zhu family, and Wang family was Wang family. It should be clear that the two families were different and should not be confused as the same.
Elder Zhu smiled bitterly. “Baoguo, you are no longer a silly little lad. You have become so smart instead.”
Elder Zhu was a politician. How could he not decipher the meaning behind Zhu Baoguo’s words?
In the past, Elder Zhu always felt that his grandson had an impulsive personality, was rude and impetuous—that he was only interested in picking fights, not studying. Since it was unlikely for him to have a promising future in this lifetime, it might be best to send him to the army when he was young and train him up.