novelraw Chapter 439: Thanks to You
Chapter 439: Thanks to You
In Mr. Ji’s eyes, a six-year-old kid’s birthday wish is nothing more than fun toys or delicious food. Of course, his grandson is so clever that he might ask for something that might cause him to go bankrupt.Mr. Ji was mentally prepared that as long as the little guy spoke, no matter how valuable, he would go to great lengths to get it for him.
However, no matter how much Mr. Ji thought he understood his mischievous and cunning grandson, he still truly couldn’t see inside the little guy’s heart.
Baobao used his bright, black eyes to gaze over his parents, who seemed to pay no mind to him and his grandpa, reaching out with his small hand to gently caress the stubbly chin of Mr. Ji.
Mr. Ji felt a tingling pleasure from being touched by his grandson, feeling weirdly satisfied, and he hugged the little guy’s small waist, coaxing him. "Come on, Baobao, tell Grandpa."
"Grandpa, Baobao wants Daddy and Mommy and Grandpa to live happily together with Baobao."
As soon as Baobao said this, all three adults present were taken aback.
This birthday wish, though it sounded like a simple sentence, actually contained multiple layers of meaning upon closer examination.
The first layer is the hope that Grandpa and Daddy can reconcile and live peacefully together.
The second layer is the hope that Grandpa can abandon his prejudices against Mommy and try to accept her.
The third layer is that regardless of whether it’s Daddy or Mommy or Grandpa, they can all completely let go of their resentment and hostility towards one another and try to get along and love like a family for his sake.
The three adults all remained silent, their expressions grave, each harboring their own thoughts, creating an eerie atmosphere.
"Grandpa..." The little guy twisted his body, rubbing against Mr. Ji, his coquettish tone was enough to melt anyone’s heart.
"Baobao..." Mr. Ji was caught off guard by his precious grandson’s birthday wish. Earlier, he answered with such confidence, but now, he didn’t know what to say to placate the smart and astute little rascal.
Should he say no? Today is the little rascal’s sixth birthday. Is it really wise to pour cold water on him like this? Moreover, when it comes to Baobao, his heart just couldn’t harden.
Should he say yes? He and his son’s grudges could temporarily be pushed aside because, no matter how strained their relationship, it still couldn’t change the fact that they were blood relatives. But as for Le Tong, no matter what, he just couldn’t accept her. Not to mention her fearless arrogance when facing him, just delving into her unknown background, he wouldn’t agree to let her into the Ji Family.
"Baobao, let’s talk about this later, okay? Today is your sixth birthday; let’s go cut the birthday cake..."
Mr. Ji attempted to divert Baobao’s attention to his favorite cake, but Baobao didn’t buy it, cutting him off and firmly stating, "Grandpa, Baobao only wants Mommy!"
Baobao wasn’t someone easy to sway, clinging to Mr. Ji’s neck and shaking him.
Mr. Ji was dizzy from the shaking, half-squatting with one hand on the ground to steady himself.
"Baobao, come here, stop fooling around!"
Ji Rui’s cold words successfully rescued Mr. Ji. Thɪs chapter is updated by N0v3l.Fiɾe.net
Recently, Baobao hadn’t often defied Ji Rui, pouting with his rosy little mouth, reluctantly letting go of Mr. Ji, slowly walking to Le Tong, and taking the candles from the table, inserting them into the cake one by one.
"Mommy, is it six candles?"
"Yes!"
The adults, not wanting to ruin Baobao’s birthday atmosphere, each suppressed their discontent and disdain towards one another, starting to sing the birthday song for Baobao, led by Le Tong.
Afterwards, Baobao clasped his hands together, closed his eyes, and silently made a wish. Several black-haired heads almost touched each other, joining Baobao in blowing the birthday candles.
Le Tong held the knife-guiding hand of Baobao and sliced a big piece of cake.
With quick movements, her slender fingers flicked a large dollop of creamy white icing onto them. In no time, the little guy’s cute and handsome face was adorned with two clumps of white, resembling two fluffy white mustaches.
Not to be outdone, Baobao quickly scooped a big dollop of cream and smeared it on Le Tong’s face, giggling, then taking another handful, soon covering Ji Rui’s forehead, while Mr. Ji’s stubbly chin was also fortunate enough to get a big piece.
With the adults’ deliberate avoidance, Baobao’s birthday managed to be happy without any unexpected troubles.
After a night of bustling, Baobao finally fell asleep. Mr. Ji, sitting in the living room sipping tea, stood up and spoke to Ji Rui, who sat across the sofa dealing with work on his laptop.
"I’m leaving."
Ji Rui didn’t even raise his head, simply acknowledging with a "Hmm."
In the past, Ji Rui also rarely showed a pleasant face to Mr. Ji, but ultimately, he still had some awareness of filial duty.
But now, even this awareness seemed to have unconsciously slipped away; he was no longer even willing to offer Mr. Ji a simple perfunctory response.
Mr. Ji stared slightly dazed at his son’s handsome and stern face.
Ji Rui didn’t resemble him, but rather his grandfather. Except for the green eyes he inherited from his mother, all other facial features looked just like the former chairman, the once-glorious figure, who was Ji Rui’s maternal grandfather.
In a trance, Mr. Ji seemed to return many, many years ago, when he was just an unnoticed lowly employee at Huagang, standing in the auditorium with envy and admiration, listening to the chairman’s passionate speech from the podium.
Compared with the charismatic and eloquent chairman, his son seemed to possess even greater capabilities, only that in recent years, his son had become extremely reticent, especially recently, it seemed he even disdained to speak with him, his own father.
"Ah Ru, are you really that busy?"
Mr. Ji stood in the corridor, with a tone that carried a hint of helplessness and partly resentment.
For once, with these words, Ji Rui actually lifted his head, except, his face bore no remorse at all, instead, it was full of sarcasm.
"Isn’t this all thanks to you?"
Ji Rui squinted at the still-sturdy old man, "Are you that afraid I’ll rename the Ji Family to Huagang?"
The affairs in Y Country, the main orchestrator wasn’t this old man.
But the internal strife among the board members and the opportunistic actions of domestic collaborators and major banks, without doubt, this old man had a hand in it.
Mr. Ji’s face slightly changed, "Ah Ru, you are my son, your surname is Ji, not Hui." Once again emphasizing this unchangeable fact.
"Ha, should I thank you for giving me this surname?" Ji Rui’s slightly squinted eyes were clearly filled with laughter, but the palpable chilly air made Mr. Ji involuntarily shiver.