Chapter 93 Reason
Grandpa Ji had a couple of drinks yesterday and felt unwell last night, so he called a doctor to come to his house for an IV drip. He finally drifted off to sleep in the early morning, and when he woke up, it was already broad daylight. He didn't even have time to eat before rushing over here. But no sooner had he gotten out of the car than his eldest son and his wife arrived.
"Dad, why?" Uncle Ji's face was full of hurt. Whose ancestral home is not passed down to the eldest son and grandson? Why did his father give the ancestral home to the second son? Did his father dislike him, or did he dislike his son, and by extension, his grandson?
Grandpa Ji looked at his eldest son with disappointment in his eyes. "This is not our ancestral home. Our family only moved to Kyoto thirty years ago. Have you forgotten?"
Uncle Ji's face stiffened; he had indeed forgotten.
“Even if it’s not the ancestral home, it’s still the place we’ve lived in for thirty years. Dad, why did you pass it on to the second son without even discussing it with us?” Aunt Ji didn’t understand. The old couple clearly doted on their son Shuo’er. As their first great-grandson, was Shuo’er really less favored than the younger ones who had just been born and whom they had never even met?
What about all those years of companionship?
"I didn't give it to the second son; I gave it to Molly. Not only this courtyard house, but also my favorite little villa—I gave them all to Molly." Old Master Ji had a kind of indifferent indifference to human life or death.
At this, both Uncle Ji and Aunt Ji were stunned.
"Why?" Uncle Ji murmured, as if he had suffered a great blow.
Aunt Ji was even more furious, "You're willing to give to an outsider, but not to your own son and grandson? Why? Just because she sent us supplies a few times? Just because she gave you a few great-grandchildren? It's ridiculous! A few acts of kindness can't compare to so many years of companionship? Don't you feel sorry for Shuo'er? How much hardship and suffering did he endure on the farm those two years? He was so young. Don't you love him?"
Aunt Ji burst into tears. When she thought about seeing her grandson again, he was so thin that his head was big and his body was small. He had no flesh on his body, just skin and bones. Her heart ached so much that she felt like she was going to die.
"I don't love him?" Old Master Ji sneered. "Are you all blind to whether I love him or not?"
"You say it hurts, but you still gave the house to someone else. He's the eldest grandson. People will laugh at him for doing this." Aunt Ji was extremely disappointed in the old man. She had been married into the Ji family for over thirty years and always thought the two elders were fair and reasonable, but now it seemed she had made her decision too early.
"The feudal dynasties have all collapsed, yet you're more old-fashioned than this old man," Old Master Ji chuckled. "If you're not satisfied with the property distribution, I can convert the two houses into cash and give it to you. But as you know, our family assets have already been handed over. After giving this money, our family will have nothing left. Consider it a division of the family property between you two brothers. From now on, your brother and I will live together. You can come and visit us whenever you have time."
"You know that's not what I meant." Uncle Ji didn't understand. He just wanted an explanation, how did it become that he was going to be separated from his family? Besides, which family doesn't have parents living with their eldest son? Where did his father's actions put his face?
"But this is what I meant." Old Master Ji looked coldly at his eldest son, then at his eldest daughter-in-law, "Molly saved my life. Is it wrong for me to give her the property?"
“You can give her the money.” Auntie didn’t dislike Molly, but she couldn’t accept that her family was being treated unfairly.
"But I want to give it to her." Old Master Ji was as stubborn as a child.
"Am I not even as good as an outsider like her?" Uncle Ji was both angry and pained.
"It's incomparable." Old Master Ji was disappointed in his eldest son. "In your opinion, is your father's life less valuable than two houses?"
Uncle Ji's face turned pale, and he couldn't speak.
"Whose credit is it that you can stand here? Have you forgotten?" Old Master Ji questioned.
“We haven’t forgotten. But we’ve suffered on the farm these past few years, while Xiao Feng has been able to make a name for himself in the army. Isn’t he luckier than us?” Auntie still believed that it was they who had suffered.
The disappointment on Old Master Ji's face deepened. With trembling hands, he pulled out a stack of medical records from his pocket, including five or six critical condition notices. "Look at this," he said, "look at the suffering you speak of. Does it compare to the countless serious injuries and countless critical condition notices my grandson has endured..."
Old Master Ji choked up, "He didn't have to work so hard, but he risked his life to clear his family's name. And in your mouth, it's all about being upright and making a name for himself? I suggested that He Guang join the army because you couldn't bear to part with him, because you were afraid something would happen to your son. Otherwise, your son would be the one who is upright and honorable in the army."
Grandpa Ji clutched his chest and said, "If you're alright, you shouldn't come here so often."
Regardless of the pale and ashen faces of Uncle Ji and his wife, Old Master Ji staggered away.
At the corner, Old Master Ji saw his wife, wondering how long she had been standing there.
"Did you hear everything?" Old Master Ji asked.
Grandma Ji was in tears, "That critical condition notice—"
"Six times." Old Master Ji's eyes welled up with tears. "There was also a time when he was paralyzed. Xiao Feng was diagnosed with a lifelong disability. It was because of this that Molly went to the military to be with him. Xiao Feng recovered in just a few days after Molly arrived. And the last time, the hospital in Kyoto issued several critical condition notices. Everyone at the hospital said that Xiao Feng wouldn't survive. It was Old Wu who sent Xiao Feng back to the military hospital because Xiao Feng said that no matter if he lived or died, he wanted to return to Molly's side. As a result, Molly only saw him once, and he improved. The next day, he was able to sit up and eat."
Grandma Ji hadn't expected her grandson's condition to be so dangerous. She felt a wave of fear mixed with relief, but she quickly sensed something was amiss. "You keep mentioning Molly, what do you mean by that?"
“Because I was once on the verge of death myself. I knew I wouldn’t survive, but I did. And after surviving, my body was even better than before.” He thought about it for a long time, and the only variable was Molly. The same was true for Xiao Feng; with Molly by his side, Xiao Feng was always out of danger.
“But she’s just a little girl. She’s learned a little about bone setting, but she’s not a doctor. What can she do?” Grandma Ji didn’t understand.
A glint of light flashed in Old Master Ji's cloudy eyes. "Later, when I returned to Beijing, I went to see Master Feng. When he saw me, he was terrified, thinking he had seen my ghost. He said I should have died a year ago, and six months after my death, Xiao Feng also died. Not only Xiao Feng and I, but everyone in our family, from the oldest to the youngest, is gone."
Grandma Ji was so shocked that her eyes widened, her legs went weak, and she quickly sat down, leaning against the wall for support. Master Feng's master was the former Imperial Preceptor, and his abilities were no less than his master's. Everything he said had come true; he had never made a mistake.
"And what about the Ji family now?" Grandma Ji asked.
"May it prosper and flourish, lasting for thousands of years!" Old Master Ji's voice was even more powerful.
Grandma Ji breathed a sigh of relief, but couldn't help asking, "Why?"
She already had a vague suspicion in her mind, but she still wanted to confirm it.
"Because your grandson married a good wife." Old Master Ji finally smiled, his eyebrows and eyes relaxing. "Master Fengyi said that our granddaughter-in-law is no ordinary person. With her around, ensuring the prosperity of the family for hundreds of years is not a problem."
Grandma Ji was even more puzzled, "People only live for a hundred years, how can she be guaranteed to live for hundreds of years?"
"I don't know about that. Anyway, I won't live that long, so I won't be able to see it." Old Master Ji said he couldn't see it, but he was still happy. "Anyway, I believe in Master Feng."
"Is this why you gave the property to Molly?" Grandma Ji was stunned when she saw the names on the property deeds and land deeds. But she didn't show it in front of Molly at the time, only thinking that her husband was so happy to suddenly have several great-grandchildren that he was not quite thinking clearly.
"Yes. This is for Molly. It's a token of my gratitude and my sincerity. I have to keep her here for the sake of the Ji family. If she and Xiaofeng have a conflict in the future, I hope she won't abandon Xiaofeng for my grandfather's sake."
"You're thinking really far ahead," Grandma Ji said, speechless.
"Alright, let's not talk about that. Where are the little ones? Take me to see them quickly." Grandpa Ji was very anxious. Six grandchildren! He cherished them so much.
Molly planted the fruit tree, watered it, and pruned some of the leaves.
"Sister, there's a lotus pond in that courtyard over there, with koi carp in it. They come in yellow, red, gold, and white varieties; they're very beautiful." Mo An had never seen koi carp before, but she had heard of them.
Molly had seen koi in her past life—mutated koi, strangely shaped, larger than a person, with sharp teeth capable of biting through bones. She had never seen a non-mutated koi.
Molly followed the children across the covered walkway, turned a corner, and arrived at another courtyard. The rooms in the courtyard were laid out similarly, with only minor differences. Molly hadn't counted them, but she roughly estimated that this courtyard house had no fewer than four hundred rooms.
The courtyard was elegantly decorated, with scenic views everywhere: a pavilion in the middle of the lake, a winding corridor, artificial hills, lotus flowers, fish in the pond... Molly didn't understand these things, but she just thought it was nice.
However, in terms of grandeur and magnificence, her current courtyard is the largest and most luxurious, with exquisite carvings everywhere and the finest materials used, showing how much care the person who built the courtyard put into it.
Ji Liangyou pushed the children around, followed by three nannies.
The six children didn't cry. Instead, they opened their round eyes wide and looked around curiously. Their adorable appearance captivated Ji Liangyou. To have time to spend with his grandchildren, Ji Liangyou had been working non-stop for more than half a month. At this moment, he felt that no matter how hard or tiring it was, it was all worth it. He couldn't bear to be apart from these little ones.
However, his father arrived at this moment, and his first words were, "Take some people and pack up my and your mother's things and move them over here."
Ji Liangyou's smile froze. "...Can we move it tomorrow or the day after?"
"No, right now, immediately, right away." Grandpa Ji snatched the stroller from his son's hands, looked at the six chubby little faces inside, and smiled, his face crinkling with wrinkles. "Oh my, they're all so good-looking."
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