Originally, Aunt An thought that since her nephew An Jingzhi was unreliable, she could ask her nephew from her mother's family to help send her daughter off, or someone from her husband's cousin's family. However, this would inevitably make her daughter's future in-laws look down upon her.
But now that An Jingzhi had explained that he had squeezed out time these past few days to come back and see Daya off, she felt a little unsure. Could it be that An Jingzhi really didn't have time? After all, to pass the examination to become a Tongsheng student at such a young age, he must have spent a lot of time studying. Regardless of what An Jingzhi thought, as long as his daughter could go out smoothly, it was fine.
at night.
Grandma An couldn't sleep and wanted to come see her grandson. When she approached the door, she found that the candle in An Jingzhi's room was still lit, and the sound of reading could be faintly heard from inside.
Grandma An paused for a moment as she was about to knock on the door, but finally put it down and went back to her room. She tossed and turned in bed but couldn't fall asleep.
Grandpa An, who was standing by, was woken up by the noise. "You old woman, why are you still up at night making pancakes?"
Grandma An sighed, "I can't sleep. Have you noticed Jingzhi today? He seems a little different. When I got up just now, he was still reading."
"Don't you think we're pushing the child too hard? We shouldn't have let him go to school in the first place."
Grandpa An was silent for a moment, and prepared to stand up. "I'll go take a look."
Grandma An immediately sat up and said, "Let's go together." As she spoke, she put on a coat and followed Grandpa An out of the room and walked towards An Jingzhi's room. She found that the candle in the room was still on, but there was no sound.
Grandpa An whispered, "Jingzhi?"
After calling twice, still no one answered, Grandpa An gently pushed the door open and found An Jingzhi sleeping on the table.
He was still mumbling, "I will definitely change the An family's fortune... I want to study hard... I want to take the imperial examination... chirp..."
"Grandpa... I passed the exam to become a Tongsheng student... I'm so happy... babble..."
In the quiet of the night, An Jingzhi's dream talk reached the ears of Grandpa An and Grandma An like thunder. Even Aunt An, who was worried about why her father-in-law and mother-in-law were always out and wondered if something had happened, stood at An Jingzhi's door in a daze.
They hadn't expected An Jingzhi to be so obsessed with his life, even dreaming about improving the An family's fortune and taking the imperial examinations. Grandma An and Grandpa An couldn't help but burst into tears. They had initially thought their grandson Jingzhi was too cold and unattached to his family, but it turned out he was carrying so much on his shoulders that he had no time to focus on connecting with his family, even dreaming about studying. How could a child so obsessed with improving the An family's fortune be so selfish?
Grandpa An wiped his eyes and walked out of the room with Grandma An, just in time to see An's aunt-in-law, Song, standing at the door, looking thoughtful.
"Dad, Mom, are you okay? I saw you guys were out all the time and thought something happened, so I got up to check."
Grandpa An made a gesture to silence them. The three of them walked quietly to a corner. Grandpa An said, "It's nothing. I just saw Jingzhi wasn't asleep, so I came to tell him to rest. Since you're here, I won't bother the third child. Go call the eldest child over and have him gently carry Jingzhi to bed."
Song said softly, "Okay, Dad, you and Mom go and rest. I'll go call him right away."
Grandpa An nodded, put his hands behind his back, and went back to the room with Grandma An. The old couple lay on the bed in silence for a long time.
Suddenly, from the darkness came Grandma An's heavy sigh, "We have always misunderstood Jingzhi."
"As a grandfather, I didn't realize that he was so thoughtful at such a young age. It's all our fault for always telling him about Wenquxing."
"Jingzhi was such a well-behaved child when he was little, obedient and sensible. If he hadn't been under so much pressure and obsessed with studying over the years, we wouldn't have thought he was so cold-hearted."
The old couple felt guilty when they thought that their grandson was not close to his family and might become a heartless person in the future.
On the other side, Uncle An, who was called up, gently put An Jingzhi on the bed, extinguished the candles in the room, and returned to the room with Song.
Lying on the bed, Song's mind kept recalling the dream talking of An Jingzhi that she heard tonight.
Now I understand everything. No wonder Jingzhi suddenly came back to pick up his daughter, Daya, from the family. No wonder he seemed like a different person when he came back this time.
Combining An Jingzhi's dream talk today, Song felt that she had guessed the truth.
From a young age, An Jingzhi's family had high hopes for him. His parents-in-law constantly told him he was the incarnation of the God of Literature, urging him to pass the imperial examinations and improve their family's fortunes. He must have felt immense pressure, completely focused on his studies, leaving him with no time to pay attention to family life. In his interactions with others, he inevitably came across as somewhat reserved, giving the impression that he was distant from his family and looked down on them.
Song recalled how she had told An Jingzhi two months earlier to go home and escort Daya to her wedding. At the time, he hadn't even passed the Tongsheng exam, and with the exam imminent, he must have been incredibly upset and hadn't been able to focus on Daya's marriage. And now, after passing, her nephew had been slogging away at school, squeezing out time to go home and escort Daya to her wedding.
Jingzhi usually studied after coming home, but he had never studied so late. It seemed that he was catching up on his homework because of Daya's wedding.
After returning this time, Jingzhi had become more lively, unlike his previous cold and icy self. He even knew to greet his family. Perhaps after passing the exam, the tension in his heart had loosened a little. He had also become a little more lively.
Song Shi felt deeply ashamed when she thought of An Jingzhi, who at such a young age had to shoulder the heavy responsibility of supporting the An family, spending his days reading books from morning to night. She also felt ashamed when she thought of how she had misunderstood An Jingzhi for so many years, believing him to be an unreliable ungrateful person. She had always thought herself to be smart, and that her husband's brothers were just blinded by greed. Now it seemed that she was the one who was blind! How could she think so of such a good child?
In the first few years after she married, she watched Jingzhi grow up. Even at such a young age, he could recite books by heart, looking smart, lively, and cute. She didn't know when he had become the arrogant and contemptuous person she remembered. But when he came back today and greeted her warmly, Song Shi seemed to see An Jingzhi's childhood all over again.
Song lay in bed, her hand suddenly slapping the bed. She remembered that she wasn't the only one who thought so much about Jingzhi. All her sisters-in-law, with the exception of Jingzhi's mother, felt the same way. No, she had to explain everything to them tomorrow. She couldn't let such a good child, who had obviously given so much to the family, be blamed and complained about for nothing.
Uncle An was awakened by his wife's fits. "What are you doing in the middle of the night? You're so nervous, you gave me a fright."
"It's okay, it's okay, just go to sleep." Song said perfunctorily and turned over and went to sleep.
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