novelraw Chapter 392 - 371 Getting Old Part 1
Chapter 392 - 371 Getting Old Part 1
Old Master Zhang felt he should visit Li Haixiao in the hospital. After arriving, he saw his former rival lying in the hospital bed and felt somewhat disoriented.
When Li Haixiao saw Old Master Zhang enter the room, he jokingly said to him, "Isn’t this the famous founder of Zhang Corporation? What brings you leisurely to the hospital today? Are you here to laugh at me?"
"Can’t you be more sensible? What do you mean by suggesting I’ve come to mock you? Can’t I come and see my biggest business rival from back in the day? We’re both at an age now, so let’s not fight like we did when we were young, striving for a fight to the death. What’s the point? In the end, we’ll both turn to dust, leave this world, and escape the hustle and bustle. Maybe that moment will be our best ending, don’t you think? Haven’t you realized? Here, we’ve attained many things others could never dream of. We’ve used our most outstanding children and have our most excellent grandchildren. It’s true my son isn’t as outstanding as your daughter, but he’s still my pride. After all, his mother passed away early, and it was me who raised him through the hardships, even if he’s done many things I’m sorry for, even if he’d abandon his own father for what he calls a wife. But I’m still his father, and I can’t possibly abandon him..."
"Indeed, we’ve reached this age, and nothing can be the same as before. We’ve done many insincere things in the past, but now, I find solace seeing our descendants happier than one another. You remember, don’t you? When you tried to turn me into your business partner, you even went so far as to matchmake my daughter who had just returned to the country with your good-for-nothing son?"
Indeed, whenever he heard someone calling his son good-for-nothing, it made him unhappy. Elder Zhang, frowning, said to Li Haixiao, "What do you mean ’my good-for-nothing son’? Is having a daughter that much better than having a son? She chose a mercenary as her husband, and though my son married a mercenary, my daughter-in-law is the boss among them, which makes me proud when I think about it."
"Now you say you’re proud? I remember you’d have rather died than agree to their union. To be together, they defied you and you even kicked them both out of the house. How come now you’re proud? You really are fickle. You know, being so fickle is really not good!"
"I know I’m fickle. I made such a decision because I had no other choice. I couldn’t just watch my son ruin the reputation of my company. But now, I’ve come to realize that none of that is important. What’s important is that my own child can live happily for the rest of their life, right? You’ve no idea the daily pain I’ve endured these years. I truly wanted to kick my son and daughter-in-law out. They stubbornly refused to leave and after having a child, they ruthlessly abandoned both me and their own son. These past years, I’ve raised the child alone, but ultimately, he came back. When he did, his son had grown up and achieved great things. I still don’t get it—why did he so cold-heartedly abandon his own son in the first place? Was it because my presence made them uncomfortable or uneasy? How callous must one be to abandon their own child? All these years, I’ve watched my grandson suffer the mockery and disdain of classmates, and you know how much that hurt me as a grandfather? He was the grandson I couldn’t bear to hit or scold, yet he endured such treatment at school. But where were his parents when their son needed them the most? They were living carefree abroad, never considering their child at home. I saw my grandson slowly grow up and achieve today’s successes, all earned through his own arduous efforts. He climbed up step by step, proving to his parents that he wasn’t a child who couldn’t succeed. How difficult each step was, who knows but me? I understand the anguish within him. When his parents returned, they immediately wanted to interfere with his happiness. How could I accept that? What he wanted wasn’t for his parents to dictate his fate, but to have their support when he needed them most. He used to cry in his dreams, asking why other kids had parents while he didn’t. Hearing this, how could my heart not ache? If only they hadn’t so cruelly abandoned us, I still sometimes ask myself if my involvement was right and what my actions had made them become."
"Old man, don’t think too much. Let the children deal with their own issues, and don’t keep all the unhappiness buried in your heart. Like me, there’s not much time left, and I regret every action I took in the past. If I had just done a bit more for my daughter, thought a bit more about her, would I be like this, lying here now? To this day, I don’t know whose kidney this is, nor do I understand who the kind soul was that gave me their precious kidney. When I reach heaven, I will definitely bless them, my benevolent benefactor. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have lived all these extra years and wouldn’t have seen my grandchildren grow up. She gave me a few more days, and I am very grateful for it. So, I will die without regret. I don’t ask for much, just to be alive to see all my grandchildren grown up and married..."