The icy river water rushed into his mouth and nose. The man was thrown away so suddenly that Chen Zhe couldn't even react. By the time he realized what was happening and swam to the shore, he was caught again and thrown away once more. This happened repeatedly. Finally, Chen Zhe couldn't take it anymore. As he was pulled ashore once more, he cursed, "Old man, if you're going to kill me, just do it directly and give me a quick death!"
Hu Kui looked at him coldly; "Do you know where you went wrong?"
"What did I do wrong? All I did was refuse to be your granddaughter's husband. I'm already fed up. How ugly is your granddaughter that she can't get married? Is it necessary to force me like this?"
Do you know who my granddaughter is?
Hu Kui snorted.
"I don't care who she is, it has nothing to do with me. I will not be with her, so just give up on that idea."
"Her name is Hu Ling."
"I don't care if his name is Hu Ling or whatever... Holy crap!!! Wait!! What did you say?"
After Chen Zhe realized what was happening, his voice changed, becoming high-pitched and thin, like that of a eunuch.
Seeing that Chen Zhe was finally frightened, Hu Kui revealed a smug smile.
"Go ahead and curse! Why aren't you cursing? Are you too scared to?"
Chen Zhe swallowed, feeling the river water in his throat was both astringent and bitter.
"Um...Grandpa, are you really Hu Ling's grandfather?"
"It's the real deal, would I lie to you?"
Hu Kui laughed.
"But Sister Hu is already dead..."
Chen Zhe tried to bluff his way out, but Hu Kui chuckled and said, "You two can fool them with your little tricks, but you can't fool me. I already knew you were living with her."
Chen Zhe's heart skipped a beat. If the old man knew that he and Hu Ling lived together, then he must not be lying.
The bodyguard brought over a stool, and Hu Kui sat down, then leaned on his cane.
Now you know why I was angry just now, right?
Chen Zhe gave an awkward smile. He felt he should know that Hu Ling and Guan Yingjie had a deep-seated grudge. He had just wanted to introduce Hu Ling to Guan Yingjie, although it was just a casual remark to get away, but he had still said it.
"Are you getting a bad deal drinking this river water?"
Hu Kui asked again.
Chen Zhe said with a bitter face, "Grandpa, you're deliberately making fun of me. I'm really at a disadvantage."
"Hehe, teasing you? When did I tease you?"
"You just said you'd give me Sister Hu... you know, that's just teasing me. You should have said he was your granddaughter earlier, you should have said so sooner..."
"I wanted to tell you, but did you even listen? You kept saying you have a girlfriend and are very loyal to her. Did you even give me a chance to say that?"
"Grandpa, since you are Sister Hu's grandfather and you know about these things, then we are family. Let's just treat this as a joke. Can you let me go back?"
"Kid, do you think my granddaughter isn't good enough for you?"
Hu Kui squinted and asked.
"No, no, no!! She's worthy of me, worthy of me, so much so that she's worthy of me. I'm not worthy of her, old man. I come from a humble background, have an ordinary appearance, and have no special talents. Sister Hu, on the other hand, comes from a noble background and has an exceptional appearance. You want me to be worthy of her? Isn't that ridiculous? She should find a dragon among men to be a match for her. I'm just a mongrel. I'm not a good match for her in any way."
In order to refuse Hu Kui's arrangement, Chen Zhe humbled himself extremely.
Hu Kui sighed. "Of course I know that someone like you is not good enough for her. How could I not want her to find someone exceptional? But things didn't go as planned, and choosing you was the only option I had."
“Grandpa, even so, I’m not your best choice. There are definitely many outstanding young men from prominent families in the capital. You should consider them.”
"Oh... really? You think I should consider them?"
"Of course! Grandpa, if I'm not mistaken, you want Sister Hu to have an heir to inherit the Hu family, right?"
Hu Kui raised an eyebrow.
"You can guess?"
"Hehe, I know a little bit..."
All the male members of the Hu family have died out. This old man traveled all the way from the capital to tell me so much, all he wanted was an heir.
“You guessed right, that’s what I think.” Hu Kui didn’t deny it.
“That’s right! What you want, old man, is definitely an outstanding offspring. It’s like breeding puppies. Only purer noble bloodlines can produce purer dogs. A country dog like me is not good enough. I would only disrupt the excellent bloodline of your Hu family.”
"Hehe, you're quite the smooth talker, you almost convinced me."
Just when Chen Zhe thought Hu Kui had taken his advice, Hu Kui's attitude changed, and he laughed like an old fox; "Kid, do you think I'm senile?"
Seeing Hu Kui's sinister smile, Chen Zhe thought of Hu Ling.
[It's definitely that inherited smile; it just looks creepy.]
"Grandpa, that's not what I meant. I was just considering things from your perspective..."
"Hehe, that sounds nice, but you're just trying to get away. Since I came to find you, I've naturally given it serious consideration. Xiaoling doesn't look down on any of those so-called outstanding young men in the capital. If I force her, she might end up like Guan Yingjie. Xiaoling has never been close to any other man since she was little, except for you. She's willing to live with you, which says it all. Xiaoling likes you. You're a man, so you can have a child with the Hu family."
Chen Zhe's lips twitched. It seemed the old man was determined. What should he do?
"Grandpa, I think you've misunderstood. Sister Hu doesn't like me. She lives with me purely for work purposes, not because she likes me."
“I wasn’t mistaken. Xiaoling’s behavior is very unusual compared to before. You must have played a significant role in it.”
"Grandpa, listen to me. Hu Jie and I really have nothing going on. Although we live together, we've always behaved properly and haven't crossed any lines. We're completely innocent, and heaven and earth can bear witness."
"Alright, there's no use telling me this. I came to you first to give you a heads-up so you can be mentally prepared. Let's go back and find Xiaoling."
"Huh? Grandpa, what are you doing?"
"What can I do? The two of you aren't making any progress, it must be Xiaoling's problem. I need to go and talk to her. You're coming back with me."
"Maybe we shouldn't..."
Chen Zhe wanted to refuse, but he had no right to refuse. He was forcibly pushed into the car by the bodyguard, and then the car drove towards the apartment.
When I got back to the apartment, it was already getting light.
Ah Bao saw people downstairs through the window. He was terrified and quickly ran upstairs to inform Hu Ling.
When Hu Ling heard that her grandfather had brought Chen Zhe over, she was also startled.
"No wonder my eyelids were twitching so badly last night."
Hu Ling muttered to herself.
"Young Miss, what do we do now? Should we cover your escape?"
Abao asked.
Hu Ling hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. "Now that he knows, I can't leave. Oh well, I have to face it. Please invite them in."
"yes!"
Ah Bao left and walked to the elevator entrance, where he stood respectfully.
The elevator doors opened.
Upon seeing Hu Kui, A Bao immediately bowed and said, "Greetings, sir!"
Hu Kui nodded; "Where is the young lady?"
"The young lady is waiting for you in her room."
Hu Kui gave a cold laugh, his voice tinged with displeasure; "This girl is getting more and more ill-mannered, not even personally greeting her own grandfather."
After saying that, he looked at Abao with a scrutinizing gaze that went from head to toe.
Ah Bao was so cold from his gaze that she broke out in a cold sweat and dared not breathe too loudly.
"Ah Bao, you've really done right by me!"
Hu Kui snorted.
Ah Bao was so frightened he almost knelt down; "I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean to hide it from you."
"I doubt you have the guts. Come on, take me inside."
"yes!"
Ah Bao stepped forward and opened the door.
Hu Ling was already sitting in the living room. When she saw her grandfather come over, she didn't get up, but just nodded slightly; "You've arrived."
His tone was very flat, without a trace of joy at seeing his loved ones; instead, it gave the impression that the person in front of him was a stranger.
Hu Kui stepped inside, leaning on his cane. A Bao quickly found a stool for Hu Kui to sit down and then very politely poured him a cup of tea.
Hu Kui took the teacup and took a sip.
Then he casually put it down without even looking at it. Chen Zhe thought the teacup would fall to the ground, but to his surprise, the bodyguard behind him caught it steadily with his palm.
[This teacup is so hot, this kid's really going all out to flatter me...and this old man's acting all high and mighty.]
Chen Zhe thought to himself.
"Please explain."
Hu Kui's aged voice rang out.
"What do you want me to explain?"
Hu Ling asked.
"Explain everything."
Hu Ling shook her head; "I don't think there's anything to explain."
"You faked your death, such a big thing, and you're not even going to explain it?" Hu Kui said angrily.
Hu Ling's hand holding the teacup twitched slightly, but in the end she shook her head; "There's nothing to say, this is my business and has nothing to do with the Hu family."
"Heh, what a convenient excuse that it has nothing to do with the Hu family."
Hu Kui gave a cold laugh.
"As a member of the Hu family, everything you do is related to the Hu family. Don't you understand this simple principle?"
Hu Ling gritted her teeth and looked up to stare directly at her grandfather.
"Who was it that said they wanted to expel me from the Hu family? Wasn't it you, Grandpa? Since you expelled me from the Hu family, what I did naturally had nothing to do with the Hu family. Am I wrong?"
Hu Kui sighed; "You still hold a grudge against me because of this..."
Hu Ling gripped the teacup slightly, her expression far from pleasant.
"If I say I don't hate you, Grandpa, would you believe me?"
“It is true that I went too far in this matter, but I did it to protect you. You stabbed Guan Yingjie in the back at the wedding. You were trying to kill him. If I didn’t kick you out of the family, I couldn’t protect you. Don’t you understand this?”
Hu Ling could certainly understand this, but she just couldn't accept it emotionally.
Seeing that Hu Ling remained silent, Hu Kui continued, "You've been out for so many years, and although I haven't looked for you, Grandpa has helped you a lot behind the scenes. With your intelligence, you couldn't possibly not have noticed, could you?"
Hu Ling acknowledged this in her heart. It was unrealistic to expect her to start from scratch completely. Even with her extraordinary intelligence, she still needed some foundation and background, which were given to her by her grandfather.
Sensing that his granddaughter's expression had softened, Hu Kui knew he could take another step forward.
“Xiaoling, Grandpa is old... I won’t live for many more years. Now you are the only heir of the Hu family. Grandpa is on your side. There is no need for us to be so hostile.”
Hu Ling took a deep breath.
"Grandpa, you must have come here for a reason. Tell me."
"Actually, it's nothing. Grandpa just came to check on you and also to ask when you plan to settle down. All the hopes of the Hu family are pinned on you..."
Hu Ling frowned slightly.
“Grandpa, I don’t want to talk about this. If you came here just to ask me to have an heir, then I’m sorry, I have no such plans. I can even tell you directly that I don’t plan to have any children in this life, so give up on that idea. If you really want an heir, you can go to a collateral family and find one that you are satisfied with to adopt. I can promise you that I will raise him for a few years after you die. I can do that.”
"you!!!!"
Hu Ling was so angry by Hu Ling's words that she almost had a heart attack.
"How could you do this to me? Hu Ling!! This is unfilial!! You want to wipe out the Hu family line! How could you do such a thing?"
Hu Ling calmly looked at her grandfather.
"Grandpa, you've probably forgotten that our Hu family line has long since died out."
Hu Ling's face turned cold, and she stood up, leaning on her cane; "Aren't you a member of the Hu family? You're not dead yet!"
"Grandpa, didn't you say that only male members of the Hu family are considered to carry on the family line, and female children don't count? I remember that very clearly. Now you've come all this way to ask me to have a child. Even if I listen to you and find a man to have a child with, he won't have the surname Hu. He might have the surname Li, Zhang, or Chen, but he can't have the surname Hu, right?"
"You!!! You!!! You're going to drive me crazy!!"
Hu Kui raised his cane to strike, but A Bao saw this and quickly went to block the blow.
He pleaded.
"Sir, please calm down..."
"Get out of here!!"
Hu Kui struck again with his stick, but A Bao still managed to withstand it.
Hu Kui struck him several times with the stick, and Hu Ling finally couldn't stand it anymore; "A Bao is mine now, you have no right to treat him like this."
"Heh, your people? Abao's father and grandfather were raised by me. Their family has been my people for generations. When did they become yours? Abao, tell me yourself, do you recognize me as your master or her?"
A Bao looked troubled. He didn't want to offend either of them. His father and grandfather had indeed received favors from the Hu family and were taken care of by Hu Kui. Logically, he should be one of his people. However, the young lady had also treated him well. His deceased ex-wife's remains were preserved intact because of her, and his current wife was also introduced by the young lady.
Are our parents, grandparents, or ourselves?
Ah Bao is in a dilemma.
Chen Zhe noticed A Bao's predicament and felt he should say something to A Bao.
But you can't speak up for Abao directly either.
So he changed the subject.
"Grandpa, calm down. By the way, there's something I want to tell you. Guan Yingjie came to the East Sea because of the treasure of Qingyun Mountain. Are you aware of this?"
Sure enough, upon hearing this, Hu Kui and Hu Ling's expressions turned serious.
Abao breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at Chen Zhe with some gratitude.
...
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