Chapter 5

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Zhang Guo Qing turned his head to look at Zhou Jiao, his eyes revealed a sense of hesitation that Zhou Jiao understood at a glance and nodded at him.

Sometimes it can be that simple. All it takes is one glance and one person can fully understand another. It’s not because the other person is smart, but because that person truly places their heart with you.

Zhang Guo Qing suddenly thought of this sentence and felt that no matter how difficult or rugged the road ahead was, as long as she was beside him, every day would be like paradise on earth.

“Uncle Zhou, I think we two husband and wife will add a will to reduce some of the dangers Our identities will be exposed tomorrow when we visit the elder tomorrow. No matter if others have ill intentions or not, we should always have a back road.

Attorney Zhou nodded when he heard his words. He also had this plan in mind, but wasn’t sure if they would be unhappy if he brought it up. Besides Zhang Guo Qing, his wife, and unborn child, if an accident were to happen—the inheritance would have to be followed by these uncles and aunts.

“If we both died in an accident and left the child, no matter its gender, when he/ she is 18 years old she/he will inherit the all the assets from the Zhang’s and everything that I own under my name. For the other shares, we can set up an accounting group and 10% of the income will be given towards the child’s education and will be his allowance when he becomes an adult. The other 90% will be donated to the country.

However, if all of us die in an accident, besides the Zhang’s old house, everything under my name will be donated to the country to establish an orphan education foundation. I hope Uncle Zhou can help me plan out the process.?

The three of them discussed, added to the will, and then called two acquaintances to testify. Afterwards, Zhang Guo Qing took them all to dinner, while the pregnant Zhou Jiao stayed at home to rest. It has been a very tiring day, who could’ve guessed that so many things could happen in one day. But the couple has decided that they will not reveal all this information with the public, including the members from the Zhou family. Wait until they found out about it and then they’ll talk about it.

After the meal, Zhang Guo Qing asked Zhou Jiao to sleep first, while he quietly went to the study to think about the next arrangements. He was not going to be promoted at work anymore, as the Chairman Gu from his current company came for dinner and expressed that it would be better for him to work at Zhang Shi Holdings.

Next he would have to collect the cash and deposit it into his own account, and arrange all the jewelry from his grandmother to his wife. All these, Uncle Zhou already promised to give to him two days later.

The shares left by his grandmother and father will have to be arranged at a later time. After all, he’s had it for over 20 years—it needs to be organized. He will still need to ask the couple of uncles to help him find veterans knowledgeable in this area. It seems the following weeks will be very busy.

Tomorrow he will go to meet the elder and other family members, and stay in the old house for a few days to care for the elderly. After thinking about it, it’s not a big deal—he’ll deal with things as they come.

The next morning, accompanied by Attorney Zhou, the couple went to the hospital to visit the elder. After the three parties signed the property transfer documents and the will, the old man insisted on leaving the hospital and returning to his old house.

His wish was probably granted when his grandson came back to him. At that time, he had insisted on loudly announcing his grandson’s return to the family and then forcefully driving the other family members out of the house—even the step grandmother and the uncles could not stay. Even if they were not reconciled, these were the rules of the Zhang family, under the witness of the ancestors they had no choice but to leave and think of a plan later.

After dismissing the servants and nurses, leaving only the couple and the elder, the elder asked Zhang Guo Qing to open the dark box on the wall and take out a delicate wooden box the size of a shoe box. Zhou Jiao carefully looked at the Ming and Qing Dynasty-styled box, which held two smaller boxes inside.

The elder beckoned Zhou Jiao to come closer. “Child, when you and Xiao Qing were dating I was observing the two of you, and at that time I thought this lady was great. To be born in such a biased-based household and to still rely solely on yourself—you are filial, determined, and you carry a sense of righteousness with you.

Afterwards when you two married, you never complained about my grandson being poor, and still stuck by him through thick and thin. At that time, grandpa was very happy ah, carrying the boxes filled with jewelry from your granny, I wanted to secretly give them to you at any time.

But I never had the chance to before. I’m very happy to see you two like this. True feelings come out in times of trouble, in the future when you become successful, don’t forget the feelings you two have shared. Grandpa can’t stay with you two for long, you must keep Guo Qing company. When I leave, you will be the only one who can stay with Guo Qing. In this world, riches can’t buy you real love and true feelings.”

Zhou Jiao nodded quickly and suppressed her sadness. She can’t let her tears flow out. This was the elder’s concern for his only grandson. He knew that he could not trust his own relatives, otherwise he wouldn’t have continuously refused to return to the old house.

The only thing she can do is, regardless of poverty or wealth, as long as Zhang Guo Qing had her in his heart, she will stay with him her whole life— together through life and death.

“Grandpa, rest assured. I will always stay by his, through poverty or riches, I will follow him closely with our children.”

“Good, good, this grandson of mine ah, he was such a little boy in the corner of the building, but when he saw another child crying he went over to coax him. But you know, he’s a small child himself and also needs someone to coax him from time to time ah. He didn’t have anyone back then, so he would coax the child on one side while stealing glimpses at the expressions on the face of the auntie at the orphanage—looking so pitiful.

I would always think of this when I couldn’t sleep late at night. Afterwards, I would always tell myself that before the sky (the Gods) places a great responsibility upon your shoulders, you must first undergo sufferings. Even he himself probably did not know how his face carried such a cautious expression, even an adult could understand.

Later when some people left the orphanage, he would struggle to raise his feet and look out the window to see many young couples outside. He would wait until they all left before looking down dejectedly. He would continuously do this, while stealing glimpses at the orphanage aunties to see if they caught him doing this.

I would spend a whole hour secretly keeping him company. My heart hurt as if it was pierced by a knife. How could a child from my Zhang family live such a miserable life? I knew that this child was waiting for his parents. The Gods play with people ah. If only his mother wasn’t so stubborn and listened to his father’s explanations before acting on impulse then maybe this family of three wouldn’t have crumbled to such a state.

At the beginning, I hated his mother too. I couldn’t speak in the hospital bed for the past two years. I just thought about it every day. I couldn’t understand how such a bad woman could abandon her own flesh and blood, and to be so stupid as to not listen to the words of my son.

My son is someone everyone boasts about, who didn’t say I gave birth to a wonderful son, to someone who could succeed the previous generation? It was this son that searched for her for over two years to no avail and he slowly became numb over time. Afterwards, I couldn’t bear to see him like that, I had many sons but none I cherished as much so I ended up agreeing to his marriage.

Then I published his disappearance for three days straight on the newspaper, but I still couldn’t find him. It was very difficult to find any information on him, but he just left like that. Maybe it was karma ah. It’s so hard to read the hearts of people. Later on when I was admitted into the hospital, I swore I would uncover the dirty secrets hidden behind my back or I would never feel at ease to meet your granny and your father.

But this child’s temper was as stubborn as mine. He waited until there was no one who was willing to adopt him anymore. Fortunately, the dean of the orphanage was a nice person and she also liked my grandson a lot, however, my grandson still suffered a lot of grievances. But to be able to grow up to be the person he is today is thanks to his ancestors’ protection. Once you give birth, don’t forget to bring your child with you to come visit me at my grave so I can take a good look at him.”

Zhang Guo Qing and his wife couldn’t help but continuously shed tears. It’s very hard for them to find a senior who cared so much for them, however grandpa was about to close the last chapter of his life.

“Grandpa, don’t worry and take care of your body. You still need to wait until you see the birth of your great grandson. We will both live well, you also need to take care. I don’t want to lose the only relative I have after just discovering him.” Zhang Guo Qing choked out.

“That’s right Grandpa. When happy events occur it will spark the start of more happy events, and a miracle will certainly happen. You need to watch over us carefully. We’re still young and we don’t understand many things, we still need to rely on your guidance.”

Zhou Jiao didn’t know how to persuade the elder, even knowing the ending will be the same, but she still hoped that grandpa could still stay with them for a longer time. She knew more than anyone else how much Zhang Guo Qing desired the love of a family member, otherwise why would he still be so filial towards her parents who caused countless troubles for them time after time.

Take her for example. Could she not take care of her parents just because she hated them?

When she was younger she would think to herself many times: why would they give birth to her if they won’t treat her like other families treat their daughters? However, after all the silent treatments, the punches, and the harsh words, she understood that it was already good enough that they gave her life as long as she was able to find a way out herself.

“En, ok, hehe, grandpa is very happy. I have always felt guilty in my heart. If only I didn’t disagree to their marriage, my favorite son would not leave this world so early. The things I promised his mother I was not able to go through it. However, right when I wanted to agree to it, your mother disappeared. There was no way, your mother had no relatives around, we’ve never seen her relatives before, and she didn’t bring the credit card your father gave your mother. Who knew that she was pregnant with you ah.

If we knew earlier on that she was pregnant, who would dare to let her leave. Because of this, your father never returned for half a year. He was busy searching everywhere for her, and I only found out their location after your father secretly sent me a letter telling me that they were in L City.

Alas, I won’t say anymore of this. Grandpa will now tell you about your granny’s things. This jewelry box, the big one is the one your granny personally stored and collected. Since a young age, she has always liked these emerald jades, but I’ve never seen her wear any—I’ve just seen her secretly take peaks at these jewelry. The small box was when I married your granny and found out she liked these things so I bought it for her and she has stored it away. She always says that these will be given to her daughter-in-law in the future.

Now I am giving these things to our daughter-in-law on her behalf, guard them well Jiao Jiao. By the way, look at the dark grid on the side. Take it out and see, doesn’t it look very ordinary? This is an old antique from the ancestor of the Zhang family. This necklace represents the wife of the eldest son in the family. Not sure how many generations it has passed through. It is said that the first generation relied on this daughter-in-law in order to become the Zhang family known by all now. Afterwards, this old lady left a few words before she passed away. She said that this necklace can only be given to the wife of the eldest son in the family.

Safeguard it well. Your step grandmother always wanted me to tell her about it, but no, this was the clan’s rules. She was only a “step” wife and not the official one. Heh, just because of this she contained a lot of anger. Our Zhang family may not have much, but rules are rules.

Once you wear it, never take it off. Once the Zhang family sees you wearing it, they will know your status. No one would dare look down on you. In the future, if Guo Qing this child wrongs you, then take this necklace and look for the clan uncle—then Guo Qing will be kicked out of the family.

Zhou Jiao quickly wore it and said to Grandpa Zhang: “Then grandpa I will wear it now, thank you grandpa.” Not to say much, but this action from grandpa has moved her heart greatly.

Zhang Guo Qing smiled and teased: “Ah, oh grandpa, wouldn’t you feel distressed for your treasured grandson, how could you give her something so good? Once she has this all-commanding necklace, if she says to head west how would I dare go east?”

Grandpa laughed loudly, the built up sadness and grief disappeared for a rare moment.

Zhang Guo Qing continued to act silly and crazy and talked about the funny encounters he had as a child, which helped relieve some of the old man’s regret for not being able to be around him when he was a child.

The people outside could hear the sound of their laughter. Zhang Guo Qing noticed that the old man was getting tired, after talking for such a long time, he said: “Grandpa, you should go rest first and we’ll stay at the old house. I’ll go look for the doctor to take a look at you. Don’t worry and take it easy. Your grandson will handle all these things for you.”

Translated 6/11/12