novelraw Chapter 1341 - 885: Family
Chapter 1341 - 885: Family
Night watch.
-------------
"Commissar Zhou, could you please go downstairs and keep Grandpa Wan company for a while?" Chuxia looked at Zhou Hanliang. "Dad just said the Qian family might be harmful to Grandpa Wan; leaving the elderly down there worries me."
"Alright, I’m on it." Zhou Hanliang quickly followed Lin Baohe out of the ward.
Zhou Jingping glanced at the time and said, "The people protecting Grandpa Wan will arrive in half an hour. I’ll head down soon too, don’t worry. With Dad around, nothing will happen to him."
Chuxia smiled sheepishly, "Dad, it’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just a reflex to worry. Grandpa Wan has always treated me like his real granddaughter, so this is just my instinctive reaction."
Zhou Jingping smiled helplessly, "You silly child, do you really need to explain that to me?" Then gently tapped his son lying quietly on the bed, "Xiaomi, wake up quickly for me. You’re the one not doing your job well, or else Summer wouldn’t still not think of Dad as family?"
"Dad..."
"Haha..." Zhou Jingping laughed, "Summer, don’t misunderstand, Dad doesn’t blame you. The fault lies with Xiaomi—he’s always not home, otherwise you wouldn’t be so distant with Dad, right?"
"I’m not distant..." Chuxia explained again, "I really feel like I’m a part of the Zhou family. Explaining is just an instinctive reaction. Even if it was my dad or mom asking, I’d explain too."
"Yes, dear in-law, Summer truly feels she’s a part of the Zhou family now..." Zhao Yulan quickly defended her daughter, "She’s married and has kids; how can she not see herself as a Zhou family member?"
"In-law, no need to rush..." Zhou Jingping quickly said, "That’s not what I meant, I was just joking, Xiaomi’s lazing around in bed, we can’t let him hide away like this, right?"
"Exactly." Zhao Yulan chuckled and gave Zhou Mikang a nudge, "Xiaomi, if you really care for our Summer, wake up sooner. Otherwise, she won’t know how to interact with the husband’s family."
Zhou Jingping: "..." Was his previous explanation in vain?
Soon enough, Old Master Zhao and Old Lady Zhao accompanied Lin Baohe inside, and seeing the division commander lying motionlessly on the bed, both elders teared up.
They have been worried sick about him for a while now. Although they haven’t spent much time with this grandson-in-law, they’ve lived long enough to discern people quite well.
The grandson-in-law genuinely cherishes their granddaughter, and suddenly not calling her surely meant something was wrong. They would eagerly rush to answer any call, hoping to hear his voice.
They never wanted to see this coming...
"Baohe said Xiaomi will wake up soon without any complications, is that true?" Old Master Zhao asked shakily, whilst Old Lady Zhao looked expectantly and anxiously at Zhou Jingping.
"Uncle Zhao, Auntie Zhao, what Baohe said is true, don’t worry, Xiaomi is fine now. Transferring him to Beijing Hospital will help him recover faster and better.
Director Xun is an expert in this area; he’s done comprehensive checks and concluded that he’ll surely wake in two or three days, and there won’t be any lasting complications.
We didn’t inform you beforehand not out of distrust, but to spare you worry. It’s already happened; worrying or not, the outcome is the same, and if Summer found out, the consequences would be dire.
However..." At this point in his explanation, Zhou Jingping realized his initial concerns were unfounded, chuckled awkwardly, "we underestimated Chuxia; indeed, we were at fault."
"Yes, you truly were at fault..." Old Master Zhao earnestly looked at Zhou Jingping, "Even if you worried and didn’t want to tell Summer, you should have informed us.
You underestimated us. Be it Zhao Yulan and Baohe or me and Auntie Zhao, though ordinary folks, we’ve weathered storms many times, and if we couldn’t handle emotions, then past hardships were in vain."
"Grandpa, you underestimated me..." Chuxia pouted discontentedly, "You all underestimated me, sneaking around thinking I wouldn’t notice?
I just felt explaining was pointless, so I didn’t expose you. Anyway, as elders, let’s not blame each other, all of you underestimated me, everyone one at a time!"
"Yes, yes, yes..." Old Lady Zhao quickly admitted fault, "Grandma apologizes to Summer; Grandma knows better now, won’t underestimate our Summer anymore."
"Absolutely." Old Master Zhao added, "Before, we looked down on people through a crack, now you do the same to us, we surely won’t mind."
Chuxia looked speechless at her grandpa, "Are you indirectly asking me to be more forgiving and not expose shortcomings?"
"Chuxia, you’re really smart..." Old Master Zhao laughed and gave Chuxia a thumbs-up, "Let’s turn this page over. From now on, we’ll absolutely trust you, okay?"
"Alright, from now on, you’re not allowed to doubt me, and no matter what happens, you can’t keep things from me..." Chuxia looked seriously at the elders, "I’m not joking."
"I promise, from now on, if there’s anything I can let you know, I definitely won’t hide it from you," Zhou Jingping was the first to make the pledge.
Old Master Zhao quickly added, "I also promise, in the future, I will trust Chuxia for sure, never doubt her again, tell her everything, and when I can’t make up my mind, I’ll let her help me decide."
"Why did you say everything?" Old Lady Zhao gave her husband a glance, "Chuxia, I’m the same as your granddad, even if you don’t trust your granddad, you must trust your grandma."
"Old woman, can we not sow discord here?" Old Master Zhao gazed discontentedly at his wife, "Why am I not as trustworthy as you? When have I ever lied to the kid?"
"When Chuxia was five, you said you’d go up the mountain to catch a wild rabbit for her, but ended up bringing back a rat. The kid believed it was a bunny until she was nine.
When Chuxia was nine, you said you’d catch some fish to make a fish soup, but you didn’t catch any fish. You brought back a few loaches instead, making her dislike fish soup for years, saying it tasted earthy.
When Chuxia was twelve..."
"Alright, alright..." Old Master Zhao hurriedly interrupted her, "That was all so many years ago, can we not bring it up again? Besides, I didn’t mean to lie to her. I had good intentions, just didn’t catch the rabbit or the fish.
If you put it that way, what about you? Haven’t you ever lied to Chuxia? When she was four, you promised to buy her apples at the market, but ended up with pears and told her they were apples. The kid couldn’t tell apples from pears until she was eight.
When Chuxia was seven, she liked the floral blouse Lv E wore in our village, and you convinced her that wearing it would make her itch all over, that only plain clothes wouldn’t itch, making her afraid to wear floral clothes until she was twelve or thirteen..."
"Alright, alright, can we not pick at these old scars? That time, I searched the entire market and couldn’t find any apples, but Chuxia insisted on eating apples. What else could I do?
You know Chuxia’s personality. If she can’t get what she wants, she’ll cry endlessly. If it weren’t for my love for the kid, would I have lied to her? As for the floral blouse, if we could’ve afforded it, would I have lied to her?"
"True..." The old man sighed with emotion, "Those were hard times, otherwise we wouldn’t have tricked the child. By the way, how did our conversation get here?"
Old Lady Zhao scratched her head, glaring at the old man, "Because you were upset that Chuxia trusted me more than you."
"When did Chuxia trust you more than me?" The old man suddenly remembered, "No, the main reason is you sowed discord by making Chuxia listen to you and not me, otherwise would I have refuted you?"
Seeing the old couple about to start a new round, Chuxia couldn’t help but laugh, "Grandma, Grandpa, are you doing this on purpose to entertain us because you’re afraid we’re bored?"
"You old coot, it’s all your fault, making me lose face in front of our in-laws..." Old Lady Zhao glared at the old man and smiled apologetically at Zhou Jingping, "As we get older, we tend to get confused, and when confused, we bicker easily, please understand."
Zhou Jingping laughed, "Auntie Zhao, you’re being too polite. This just shows how good your relationship is. I’m only especially happy watching you two, there’s no need to talk about understanding."
"Chuxia..." Qian Yan opened the door and called softly inside. Chuxia quickly went over, "What’s up? Has the Qian family arrived?"
Qian Yan shook her head, "No, I just wanted to ask if you could help arrange someone to take care of my mom tomorrow?"
"Sure." Chuxia agreed without hesitation, "You go ahead and handle your own matters."
"I want to go to my grandpa’s house and explain the situation first, then bring my brother over. Right now, what my mom wants to see most is probably my brother. No matter how challenging it is, I must try. If I miss this opportunity, it’ll be even harder for my mom to see him in the future."
"Alright, you go," Chuxia hugged her and patted her gently, "We’ll take good care of Grandpa Wan and Aunt Wan here, don’t worry."
"Thank you..." Qian Yan gratefully smiled at her, "Initially, I misunderstood your intention of recognizing your granddad as your god-grandfather. I thought you had ulterior motives. Now, you’re helping me without holding grudges, and it really... truly makes me feel incredibly ashamed because I have no other options, and I can’t find anyone else to help me right now. Originally, I wanted to ask Grandma Qi for help, but she’s also very elderly, and I felt it was too much to ask. Chuxia, rest assured, I will definitely repay you in the future."
"Alright, why are you being so formal with me?" Chuxia gave her a gentle push, "Hurry up and handle your business, leave this to me. I’ll be down in a bit."
With a wave, Qian Yan quickly ran downstairs. She also thought about her grandparents’ attitude, not wanting them to make a scene at the hospital, so she needed to persuade them in advance! (To be continued. If you like this work, please go to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read at m.qidian.com.)