Chapter 2 of 10

Chapter 2

13 min read3,174 words

The apartment was very clean, with one bedroom, one kitchen, one bathroom, and a living room of about 20 square meters. Oh, and there was also a balcony, making the total area less than 60 square meters.

All the facilities inside were ready to use. Zheng Rongxuan tidied up his luggage, putting his clothes in the wardrobe, and there wasn't much else to do.

He went downstairs to a nearby small supermarket to buy some daily necessities and, while at it, bought a mobile phone and a Korean SIM card. Carrying two large bags, he returned to the apartment.

"Mom, I've arrived, and the place is pretty good. I met Principal Jin, and everything is well arranged. Yes, I know, I'll go to Grandma and Uncle's house. I just got here, I'll go in a few days... Okay, I love you too, Mom. Tell Dad to drink less."

Zheng Rongxuan first called home to report his safety, and after being nagged by his mother from Korea for a few minutes, he finally hung up the phone.

Indeed, Zheng Rongxuan is a mixed-race person, with a rather complicated family background.

Zheng Rongxuan's grandfather was also a mixed-race person. He didn't know how his great-grandfather managed to marry a foreign woman during the Anti-Japanese War, and she was even from the then powerful Britain.

Later, his grandfather was born, and unexpectedly, he was also quite remarkable. During a trip back to Britain with his great-grandmother, he met a passionate and romantic French girl, and they hit it off immediately. However, the outcome was somewhat tragic; his grandmother didn't return with him, and he only brought back his father.

In that era, a mixed-race person, especially two generations of them, was highly discriminated against. This led to his father, who was in his thirties, still struggling to find a partner. No one was willing to marry their daughter to him. It wasn't until the reform and opening-up period that he met his mother, a mixed-race person from Korea, and they quickly fell in love, unable to stop. The result was Zheng Rongxuan.

At home, his mother was not very well-regarded. In his previous life, Zheng Rongxuan and his relatives in Korea had little contact, except for formal visits during holidays. The main reason was that his mother was an illegitimate child, which brought shame to the family. So, even if his mother said more, Zheng Rongxuan had his own principles.

Growing up in a multilingual environment, Zheng Rongxuan spoke fluent Chinese, Korean, English, and Russian from a young age. After entering the 1990s, he also learned Japanese. His theoretical grandfather was Japanese, and in the 1990s, when investments were being sought everywhere in the country, his mother, who was working as a translator, met him by chance, and they recognized each other. As for Russian, it was purely his grandfather's preference. Being his only grandson, he required the family to teach him all the languages they knew. Even in this rebirth, Zheng Rongxuan could still speak fluent French.

The Japanese blood in his veins made Zheng Rongxuan feel ashamed. If he had a choice, the first thing he would do is remove the dirty Japanese blood from his body. In Zheng Rongxuan's mind, only the Chinese blood with a 5000-year history of the Yan and Huang clans is the noblest in the world.

Although he didn't like it, mixed-race people in China were not uncommon, especially those of Chinese-Russian, Chinese-Japanese, Chinese-American, and Chinese-French descent. Families as complex as Zheng Rongxuan's were still in the minority.

Vice Principal Jin Zhengxian was a friend of his grandmother. The old lady missed her grandson, so she took advantage of the exchange student opportunity and had Jin Zhengxian help arrange it, which is why Zheng Rongxuan came to Dongguk University.

After two weeks at Dongguk University's Department of Computer Engineering, Zheng Rongxuan felt somewhat bored and didn't want to attend classes anymore. The outdated knowledge was too simple for him, who had returned from a decade later. If possible, he would rather spend more time in the library, but to accumulate enough credits to graduate and meet the expectations of his family, he had to endure for now.

"Rongxuan, why don't you come to the house? Do you want Grandma to come and see you?" One day after class, Zheng Rongxuan's phone rang. Seeing it was from Grandma's number, he quickly greeted his classmates and answered. Sure enough, Grandma's slightly reproachful voice came through.

"No, Grandma, the school just started, and I thought I'd wait until the classes ease up a bit before coming to see you. How about I come this weekend? Will you be at home?"

For the old lady, whom he had only met three times, Zheng Rongxuan's impression was not very deep. She had the gentleness of a traditional Korean woman, but because she was violated by a Japanese man in her early years, her marriage was not very happy, and even her brother and sister-in-law suffered as a result, leading to her sister-in-law's resentment towards his mother.

Zheng Rongxuan could understand this. After all, even if he didn't understand, he still had to live his own life, and he didn't plan to rely on them for anything.

"Alright, I'll wait for you this weekend. I'll prepare some good food for you. Also, you can meet your aunt and cousin, who just returned from America." The old lady sounded very happy when Zheng Rongxuan agreed to come.

On the weekend, Zheng Rongxuan followed the address his mother gave him to a high-end residential area in Jiangnan. After asking a neighbor, he found Grandma's house and took the elevator to the eighth floor, ringing the doorbell of the eastern unit.

"Coming! Ah, hello, who are you looking for?" A little girl, who looked about eleven or twelve, opened the door. Seeing Zheng Rongxuan with fruit and two gift boxes, she looked at him curiously.

"Is it Rongxuan? Oh, Su-yeon, this is your Rongxuan oppa. Call him oppa, Rongxuan, come in. Look at my handsome grandson, he's even taller than in the photos. The last time I saw you, you were less than 1.6 meters tall." Just as Zheng Rongxuan was looking at the young Su-yeon and marveling at the passage of time, a kind old lady appeared behind her. Seeing Zheng Rongxuan, she quickly smiled and walked out, pulling him inside.

"Grandma, hello. I'm sorry for not coming to see you earlier. Please forgive me! You still look so healthy!" Zheng Rongxuan bowed and greeted the old lady, while inwardly feeling a bit helpless. The last time she saw him, he was just in junior high school, and it had been years since then.

"Oh, I'm getting old. Once you get old, you miss your children so much. Pei-zhen, that girl, really had to marry so far away. I told her to come to Korea, but they wouldn't listen. Sigh. How are your mom and dad?"

"Um, they're all doing well. Mom asked me to come and take care of you often. I'll come to see you frequently if you don't mind!" Zheng Rongxuan said politely, but it was indeed what his mother had instructed him before he left.

"You're such a good boy. Grandma is so happy. Come over whenever you have time, and I'll cook for you." The old lady held her grandson's hand and wouldn't let go, as if she was afraid he would run away.

"Grandma, is this Rongxuan oppa?" At that moment, a child of about five or six years old ran out of a bedroom, rubbing her sleepy eyes and asked in a clear voice.

"Look, you haven't met him yet. Rongxuan, these are your aunt's two children, Su-yeon and Su-jung. They just came back this year. Su-yeon, Su-jung, this is your cousin, Rongxuan. Call him oppa."

Zheng Rongxuan smiled as he heard the young voices of his future famous cousins calling him oppa, feeling a sense of déjà vu. In his previous life, he didn't have much contact with these two cousins, mainly because he didn't visit Grandma's house often, and they were either training or studying, so he didn't interact with them much.

However, in this life, Zheng Rongxuan decided to visit Grandma more often. Perhaps he would become closer to them. In his previous life, the old lady's health suddenly declined ten years later, and she passed away within a few months. After that, Zheng Rongxuan learned and understood many things. In this life, he hoped Grandma would live a long life, as it wasn't her fault back then.

"You're both doing well. Here, this is a gift from your cousin. I hope you like it." Zheng Rongxuan smiled and opened a gift box, handing it to the two sisters. They were still children, and upon seeing the gift, they happily thanked him and ran back to their room.

---