Chapter 25: The Seventy-Two Transformations taught him to repay evil with kindness, but he only learned to...

The kitchen of the Fang family's old house has been busy since early morning, and the old lady was waiting at the door in person as soon as she received the news.

Aunt Zhang thoughtfully brought a shawl and put it on the old lady. "You just received the call, and right after that, you couldn't wait to come here to wait for him. If you know how much you love your grandson, then you might think he and his grandson can walk through walls and into the ground."

The old lady smiled and said, "Jueshan and Azhuo, father and son, have finally come together. I have to wait for them no matter what."

At this time, the servant came hurriedly to convey the news that Fang Jueshan had to attend an emergency meeting of the company and could not get away for the time being.

Zhang Ma observed the old lady's expression and saw that her joy had turned into disappointment. Seeing this, all the servants lowered their heads and dared not breathe.

In silence, a black sports car turned into the detached villa. After seeing the consecutive license plates, the old lady was overjoyed. She didn't care about Zhang Ma's support and went forward to greet it.

As soon as she got out of the car, Fang Qingzhuo smiled sweetly and said, "Grandma."

The call of "Grandma" successfully made the old lady forget her previous unhappiness. She took her precious grandson's hand and walked into the house, nagging: "Why are you losing weight again?"

The banquet was filled with delicious dishes, from local Cantonese cuisine to various famous dishes. The old lady, with a kind face, kept picking up food for Fang Qingzhuo, seemingly forgetting that she had an annoying son. The topic of conversation also extended from concern for his studies to his lifelong affairs.

Aunt Zhang scooped soup nearby and joked, "Azhuo is so young, you're so impatient, old lady."

Fang Qingzhuo took the delicious soup she had cooked that morning and said, "Yes, grandma, you can't ask me to conjure up a girlfriend for you right now, right?"

"You've been so clever since you were little. I hope you can use all your tricks to find a girlfriend," the old lady continued. "Besides, your father got married and joined the company as soon as he returned to China. If your mother hadn't passed away early due to poor health, I wouldn't have to nag you..."

Fang Qingzhuo's hand, which was twisting the spoon to scoop soup, stopped in mid-air. There was a clang, the sound of porcelain colliding.

Realizing she'd said the wrong thing, the old lady skillfully dismissed everyone present: "Auntie Zhang, go to the kitchen and rush them. Why hasn't Azhu's favorite coconut chicken been served yet?"

After receiving the order, Aunt Zhang left quickly. For a moment, only the grandfather and grandson were left at the table, looking at each other in silence.

The incident just now ruined Fang Qingzhuo's appetite. He picked and chose on the plate: "Grandma, I have something to do later, so I won't be able to accompany you."

"Aren't you going to wait for your father?" the old lady tried to persuade her to stay.

Fang Qingzhuo put down his chopsticks and raised his eyes, covering the back of the old lady's hand and said earnestly: "Listen to grandma, you have to find a girlfriend."

He did make an appointment with Luo Shu.

Hearing that he was not making sense again, the old lady smiled particularly dotingly: "You are fooling grandma again."

Pulling her hand out to stroke his black hair, she said, "Why are you still the same as when you were little?"

Her eyes were filled with tears. When Fang Qingzhuo was born, he was incredibly beautiful, inheriting all the best qualities of his parents. The elders in the family adored him immensely. But as he grew older, his personality inevitably soured. He and the housekeeper, that brat, were on the same page. When children of the same generation threw mud at them, they would feed them the mud. Zhu Jie had always been strict with him, teaching him to repay evil with kindness, but he only learned to repay evil with evil. Fang Jueshan let him do whatever he wanted in small matters. He wouldn't cry or make a fuss after being scolded, but would come to her to complain about everyone bullying him. At that time, the whole villa was filled with his cries for "Grandma."

Nowadays, there are very few.

Suddenly, a burst of crying came from outside the door, interrupting this warm moment.

The old lady pinched a napkin to cover her mouth and nose: "Auntie Zhang, what's wrong?"

Aunt Zhang didn't dare to delay. She trotted along and leaned over to whisper mysteriously in her ear.

Fang Qingzhuo didn't hear a word of the content, but only accurately caught a fleeting flash of vigilance in the old lady's sharp eyes.

In the simple reception room on the second floor, Lin Su leaned against the armrest of the sofa, her pregnant belly barely concealed, and tearfully recounted the story of how she was abandoned by Fang Jueshan.

"If I hadn't been desperate, I wouldn't have come to disturb the old lady's leisure."

The old lady picked up the tea bowl, skimmed off the excess foam, and glanced at her subtly: "You said you are pregnant with Jueshan's child?"

Lin Su said affirmatively: "Yes, he is your grandson, old lady."

This was immediately met with a stern rebuke from Aunt Zhang: "Nonsense! The old lady only has one grandson."

"I checked, it's a boy." As if to prove her statement, Lin Su began to search her bag for the report, "I have evidence, it's really a boy."

In contrast to her panic, the old lady was calm and composed. A cup of tea seemed to have worn away her remaining patience with the strange woman in front of her.

"No need, Aunt Zhang, please see me off."

Like a drowning man finding his last straw, Lin Su refused to give up. She slumped down on the carpet, weeping uncontrollably as she knelt over to the old lady and tried to grab her sleeve. "Old lady, please believe me. I swear that nothing I said today is a lie."

"Even if you don't pity me, at least pity the baby in my belly."

"Believe you? I've been lurking outside the villa for so many days just waiting to come today. Don't think I don't know what your intentions are." The old lady slammed the tea bowl down, and the scalding tea splashed all over Lin Su's skin.

Lin Su retracted her hand reflexively, knelt on the ground and shook her head in denial, her face wet with tears.

Staring intently at the utterly distraught woman sprawled on the ground, the old lady frowned and retorted, "You're using these old tricks to blackmail the child. I'm making this clear today: the eldest grandson of the Fang family and the successor to Yike can only be Fang Qingzhuo. If you want to enter the Fang family, you'll have to die before I do."

"What are you waiting for, Aunt Zhang? Drag me out now."

Without hesitation, Aunt Zhang grabbed Lin Su's hair and tried to pull it out forcefully, causing Lin Su to cry out in pain.

Lin Su struggled desperately, yet she didn't forget to protect her belly tightly. "I can choose not to enter the Fang family, but the child is innocent. Maybe Zhu Jie has been secretly having affairs with me for a long time. Whether Fang Qingzhuo is the Fang family's child or not is another matter. The one in my belly is the only bloodline of the Fang family."

As soon as she finished speaking, the old lady raised her hand to stop Zhang Ma's action, took off the Buddhist beads from her wrist, and slapped her cleanly.

"Only? Did you ever think about the consequences of what you said before throwing dirty water?"

Lin Su was stunned by the beating. Covering half of her face, she straightened her neck and looked directly at the old lady. She said without hesitation, "I have witnesses. The aunts and servants in the house all know about it. If the truth hadn't been revealed, she wouldn't have swallowed the pills to apologize."

"What did you say?"

Suddenly, an icy voice swept through the room like a cold current from mid-air, bringing with it a biting chill. The atmosphere instantly became solemn and everyone's breathing stopped for a moment.

I turned around following the sound and saw Fang Qingzhuo, who had left, standing outside the door frame.

-

The peaceful family dinner was disrupted by Lin Su. The old lady was furious and called Fang Jueshan's secretary. Without saying a word, she asked him to interrupt the meeting immediately, take care of family affairs, and bring her precious grandson back safely.

With no other options, Fang Jueshan left behind a group of shareholders and hurriedly got into the car. As soon as he sat down, he twisted his neck impatiently and loosened his tie. The driver in the front seat, Lao Chen, hesitated: "Mr. Fang, where are we going?"

Fang Jueshan closed his eyes and pinched his brows, thinking for a moment before opening his eyes: "Let's go to the cemetery."

After a 40-minute drive, we pulled into a cemetery on the outskirts of the city. After parking, we saw a Rolls-Royce with consecutive license plates parked beside it.

The car could only be parked at the foot of the mountain. Fang Jueshan went up alone and saw a figure sitting on the ground from a distance, elbows resting on knees, one hand supporting his forehead and the other hand hanging casually. When he got closer, he could see the figure shrouded in smoke and his face darkened. "Your mother hates the smell of cigarettes. Put out the cigarette."

Hearing this, Fang Qingzhuo smiled and raised his arm to take another puff as if on purpose. He pinched the cigarette between his fingers while puffing out smoke: "She not only hates the smell of cigarettes, but also..."

His eyes suddenly became sharp, and he looked back provocatively, "You..."

The father and son looked at each other silently for a long time, so long that the scarlet spot gathered into a piece of cigarette ash. Fang Qingzhuo moved his knuckles with restraint, and the cigarette ash fell to the ground. At the same time, a postscript circled in his mind: and me.

On the other side, Fang Jueshan had no intention of fighting. He ignored his rude behavior and moved closer to the cold tombstone. Slowly, the woman in the black and white photo appeared bit by bit. She had a cold temperament, and her eyebrows and eyes overlapped with the memory, looking lonely and proud.

Below his gaze were the shackles that had successfully bound her to his side and held her captive, and also the indelible mark that the two of them would leave in this world.

The mountain air was fresh, and from his vantage point, he could see the long-lost family of three together. Fang Jueshan took a deep breath and said calmly, "You ran out without saying a word today, and you scared grandma to death. Go back carefully and don't let her worry."

Fang Qingzhuo didn't buy his trick and still kept a cold face and didn't say a word.

"Also, your mother loves Platycodon grandiflorus the most. Remember to bring it over next time and apologize to her."

Hearing this, Fang Qingzhuo really couldn't stand his calm attitude as if nothing had happened, and he really couldn't understand the man in front of him.

He raised his chin and gritted his teeth, asking, "Why did you hide it from me?"

"Hide?" Fang Jueshan turned his head and looked him up and down with interest. "Have you ever believed it?"

"I know you've been holding this in for years, and you've blamed me for years. Finally, today, I'm letting it out. Let it all out without reservation. Otherwise, you wouldn't have come here to act like a jerk in the first place."

"So, you are not wronged."

This word was like a gust of unhealthy wind, adding fuel to the fire of the damp straw pile that was about to burn out, and ignited the dark emotions that Fang Qingzhuo had been harboring for many years.

He threw away the cigarette butt and stood up suddenly. The sparks from the cigarette butt hit the concrete floor, and the tenacious vitality not only did not go out but became more and more intense.

"Since you want to act, then act for the rest of your life. Why stop halfway? Why did you give birth to me? Why did you let me find out? I chose to turn a blind eye and actively cooperate with you. What about you? Have you ever considered my feelings? Have you ever asked for my opinion?"

Looking back, Fang Qingzhuo felt like a complete fool, the sole spectator of their harmonious and heartwarming drama. If he hadn't returned home early that accident, he wouldn't have caught them arguing fiercely over his presence.

To Zhu Jie, he was a stumbling block preventing her from leaving; to Fang Jueshan, he was his most valuable tool, and his existence was like an invisible cage that trapped Zhu Jie.

So he started to act nice and clever to prove that he was not a shackle that was holding her back. Even so, she selfishly left without looking back.

He went from being a fool to a clown overnight, convinced that no one would firmly choose him.

Under his son's piercing accusations, Fang Jueshan finally revealed his unfiltered hysteria: "Is it me who doesn't want to act?"

He pointed at the stone that represented the eternal separation of heaven and earth, the blood vessels in his temples throbbing. "It was your mother. She was the one who abandoned us first."

The result of a falling out is nothing but a bad breakup. There is no need for Fang Qingzhuo to stay any longer, so he walks away without caring about anyone.

Fang Jueshan kept his eyes downcast for a long time, his fists clenched and unclenched at his sides. When he raised his face again, his emotions were under control. He squatted in a half-kneeling position, unbuttoned his cuffs, and carefully picked up the dead branches and leaves blocking the monument. With a tone that was half confused and half complaining, he sighed: "This brat's bad temper really inherited from you. What should I do? Maybe I'll hold him down and kowtow to you a few more times next time."

The afternoon sun, filtering through the thick clouds, bathed the entire mountainside in warmth. Fang Jueshan opened his eyes unexpectedly, "You too, leaving so decisively. Nearly twenty years of emotional investment couldn't sway you in the slightest. You preferred this little box to a golden cage. If the time wasn't right, I'd really like to ask you in person if you regret this."

Then, the corners of his lips curled up into a mocking arc, and he asked himself, "You must have regretted it, otherwise you wouldn't have come to my dreams every night for a while."

At the foot of the mountain, Fang Qingzhuo and his car had long since disappeared. Old Chen, upon seeing Fang Jueshan return, took the initiative to open the car door for him and excused Fang Qingzhuo: "Don't be angry, this kid just had a momentary thought. He was more obedient when he was younger."

Fang Jueshan smiled but said nothing. After ordering the car to return to the old house, he slowly spoke: "Yes, I was very obedient when I was young."

I used to pretend to be obedient, but when I grew up, to be honest, I stopped pretending.