Chapter 20
Three years ago, the Young Master had ignored his grandfather’s vehement objections and had insisted on breaking his betrothal with the Xu family. In a fit of anger, the Master had told his grandson to scram, and the Young Master had moved out.
Ever since then, the relationship between the grandfather and the grandson had been frosty. Although the Young Master would come back periodically to visit his grandfather, Mr. Gu Sr.’s pride had prevented him from calling his grandson, regardless of how much he missed him. That was… until today.
Was it… thanks to Miss Weilai, who was fast asleep upstairs? But the Young Master would certainly not be happy to see her!
Right now, not only had the Master placed Miss Weilai in the Young Master’s room, he was asking for him to come back. The Master was playing with fire, indeed!
She couldn’t help but softly give a word of caution. “Master, are you sure?”
Mr. Gu Sr. grew annoyed at her nagging, and bluntly replied, “You talk too much! Just do as you’re told! If your Young Master doesn’t return today, you can pack your bags and move over to his place tomorrow!”
Mrs. Lin didn’t dare delay any further. She wiped the sweat off her brow and hurried over to the landline. She dialed the Young Master’s cell phone number by heart, and when the call connected, she passed on the message.
The recipient sounded very surprised to hear her words, and was silent for a good 20 seconds before replying, “All right.”
–
Half an hour later, Gu Yu returned to the old manor.
Mr. Gu Sr. was seated on the couch. In his hand was a photograph that he was staring at intently. As he looked at it, he sighed, and tears appeared in his eyes.
Gu Yu walked over and sat opposite him. His eyes swept past the bottle of red wine on the table, and he frowned. He remarked dryly, “Aren’t you feeling unwell? Why are you still drinking alcohol?”
“Rascal! If Mrs. Lin didn’t say that, would you have come back?” His grandfather showed no remorse having had his lie seen through. Instead, he reprimanded unceremoniously, “After your parents passed away, this huge house became so empty. You rascal! You never bothered to return after moving out, leaving me all alone in my old age. If you’re so unwilling to see me, I might as well reunite with my son and daughter-in-law in heaven. That way, I won’t be driven to death by your antics!”
The older a man grew, the more childlike his tantrums became. Gu Yu let him have his way and merely remarked, “You’ll live to a ripe old age, Grandpa.”
“If you want me to live to a ripe old age, get married quickly! Put a great-grandchild in my arms and add some life to this home!”
Gu Yu did not respond to his remark. He reached out and poured himself a glass of wine before taking a sip.
Gu Yu was always the same. Mr. Gu Sr. suppressed his exasperation and continued, “You weren’t satisfied with Little Weilai previously. What about the woman you’re with now? Her name is Su Ziqian or something, isn’t it? You picked her yourself, and you’ve been together with her for three years. If you like her, I won’t have any objections. Pick a wedding date.”
Mr. Gu couldn’t tell if it was because he had mentioned Xu Weilai, or because he had brought up Su Ziqian, but Gu Yu’s demeanor suddenly turned impatient, and his voice turned cold, “If you called me back just to talk about this, I’ll make a move first. You should get some rest.”
Mr. Gu Sr. became incensed. “Are you that unwilling to spend time with an old man like me?”
Gu Yu pursed his lip and didn’t say a word.
After a prolonged moment, Mr. Gu Sr. gave in. “All right, fine. I won’t talk about that anymore. But I miss your dad and your mom, and I’m having trouble falling asleep. Will you at least have a drink with me?”
Gu Yu met his eyes, and as he saw the white hair on his head, he couldn’t bring himself to reject his grandfather. “All right,” he replied.
–
The night was quiet. The grandfather and grandson shared the bottle of wine. Gu Yu was liberal with his alcohol intake. Without realizing how much he had imbibed, he slowly began to feel drunk.
When they were almost done with the wine, Mr. Gu Sr. observed that Gu Yu was more or less inebriated. He called out to Mrs. Lin, “Help the Young Master up to his room.”
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