Chapter 66

Translated by boilpoil Edited by boilpoil

The old man really is old. When Shao Yanxi and Liu Yu’an are there, he’s completely confined to his bed with all sorts of tubes sticking into him, keeping him alive. His skin is visibly loose, folding into crinkles all over his face. He looks nothing like the once stern grandpa Shao Yanxi remembered.

Hao Jun had to yell ‘dad’ twice very loudly before he finally opens his eyes. They look exceedingly out of focus. It is obvious he has not much longer to live.

“Dad, I brought Yanxi here,” he yells out to the old man, before turning to quietly tell Liu Yu’an and Shao Yanxi, “his hearing has impaired quite a bit at his age.”

Unfortunately, neither Liu Yu’an nor Shao Yanxi responds. In fact, along the way here, Hao Jun has probably experienced awkwardness like he never has before. Now he’s ‘trained,’ and even without responses he can still continue on speaking to himself, “not just his ears either. His eyes aren’t much better.”

“Xiao-Xi?” While Hao Jun is explaining away himself, the old man calls out Shao Yanxi’s childhood nickname. Though with his vision, or perhaps the distance, he is looking between the two, probably trying to distinguish Shao Yanxi among them.

Hao Jun points towards Shao Yanxi to yell out, “dad, this one is Yanxi!”

After that, the old man focuses on Shao Yanxi only, calling out ‘Xiao-Xi’ again. His voice sounds like it’s cracking. And his other hand on which there are no tubes also shakily comes out of the blanket, lifting up slowly. He perhaps wants to hold hands with or pat Shao Yanxi.

Shao Yanxi does not move, however. He continues staring at him coldly.

The old man finally seems to understand what Shao Yanxi is implying. His hand lowers back down, and his joy at seeing Shao Yanxi also seems to dissipate, murmuring, “you’re angry. You really are still angry…”

“Dad,” Hao Jun calls out. Though the old man just keeps murmuring, “I was wrong. I don’t deserve forgiveness…”

“Dad, Yanxi is here, so it must mean he has forgiven you,” Hao Jun gives Shao Yanxi a disapproving glance. The old man is frail already, and he’s always lamenting what happened that year. What Shao Yanxi was doing just now, if it agitated the old man and…

Though unfortunately, the old man clearly doesn’t believe what he said.

Hao Jun keeps explaining, “Yanxi is pretty shy, you know. He can’t help but be a bit distant after all these years. When you’re more familiar after some time he wouldn’t be,” he gives Shao Yanxi a glance, perhaps looking to have Shao Yanxi back him up here.

And he did, but not what he wanted to hear.

He says, “you didn’t do anything wrong back then, so you don’t need to apologise, nor am I in a place to forgive you. If possible, Mr. Hao, can I ask for your son to let us leave?”

Hao Jun immediately looks pretty grim. And the old man reacts after a bit, looking paler than even before, and he seems to be breathing with some difficulty.

“Dad,” Hao Jun stands next to the bed.

When Shao Yanxi sees that the old man seems to have calmed down, he continues, “Mr. Hao, I have always respected your decision to cut all ties between the two families. Yet, when my lover and I are heading home today, your son forced us here at gunpoint. Are you aware?”

“Shao Yanxi!!!” Hao Jun, exasperated, makes a muffled yell.

He tried to get Shao Yanxi here to make his father happier, not to sadden him like this.

The old man is looking at Shao Yanxi. He seems to be in pain, and is breathing a bit more haggardly than before.

He’s gasping so much that Hao Jun is calling for the nurse’s station.

Yet Shao Yanxi is still unmoving. In fact, his expression is so cold even Hao Jun can see it.

He can’t help but think ‘why is he suddenly like this,’ but then he recalls what Shao Yanxi did to his father and siblings. Even though he and his family has helped make moves behind them, but Shao Yanxi is the one who made the decisions ultimately.

Shao Yanxi, really is emotionless and cold.

The emotionless and cold Shao Yanxi lives up to his imagined personality, saying, “Mr. Hao, I thought you would’ve expected this when you invited us here at gunpoint.”

“Do you really hate…” Hao Jun asks, but then realises how unnecessary his question was.

And their family really was wrong back then. Shao Yanxi also responded quite clearly.

If he didn’t hate them to the bone, who would say such a thing to a dying old man?

Though Shao Yanxi answers, “I don’t,” there is no hate without prior love, “Mr. Hao, would you hate a stranger for not intervening?”

“You wouldn’t. Even if you did begrudge them at the heat of the moment, you wouldn’t be able to hold that grudge for dozens of years; for decades.”

And of course, there is no hate; there is no love.

On that basis, when they forcibly escorted them here without considering what they felt, then why should he show any kindness or consideration for them.

All these ‘stranger’-talk is making Hao Jun’s veins pop.

… Not that Shao Yanxi is wrong, really. Other than that non-existent blood ties between in-laws, they’re no different from strangers.

Hao Jun is scratching his brain to come up with something to make Shao Yanxi say something that would make the old man feel happier, but before he can think of anything, the old man has finally calmed down again. He looks up at Shao Yanxi, asking, “lover?”

The voice is gravelly. The eyes are out of focus.

He continues, “A-Jun, Xiao-Xi is eight. Isn’t Xiao-Xi eight?”

“Dad,” Hao Jun speaks patiently to his father, holding his hand, “Yanxi is twenty-six already. He’s grown up already.”

“Grown-up. It’s good he’s grown-up. And married. Which fine girl did he marry?”

Hao Jun glances over at the ‘fine girl’ named Liu Yu’an, and would rather switch the topic, and says, “you don’t know her. Dad, don’t worry, Yanxi found someone he likes very much. They look splendid together.”

That is when the nurses and on-call doctor finally come rushing in. All three of them get chased out as the hospital staff do their work.

Outside, Liu Yu’an protectively pulls Shao Yanxi over, asking Hao Jun, “Mr. Hao, I think we can head back now, right?”

Hao Jun ignores him. Liu Yu’an isn’t angered by that, but slowly mutters the words ‘Jinlin Earthquake.’

Hao Jun seems shocked to hear that. Of course he would be. Hao Jun’s younger brother was the one leading the rescue effort, but his erroneous decision-making resulted directly in the deaths of many others.

They’ve managed to cover it up these years. What is Liu Yu’an suddenly saying?

Hao Jun is looking at Liu Yu’an with a more and more dangerous gaze.

Liu Yu’an doesn’t fear him at all though, he says nonchalantly, “if you’re free enough to stare daggers at me, you might as well think about how to deal with the fallout.”

After the old man inside passed away, someone related to that incident, backed by rivals of the Hao family, poked this out. It triggered the Hao family’s fall into obscurity.

Hao Jun is considering Liu Yu’an’s words when his own men whisper something to him. Soon enough, Xue Zhi and Shao Yanxi’s company’s entire security detail are here, surrounding Hao Jun’s own men.

Though Hao Jun’s men are armed with guns, obviously they wouldn’t even dare even just holding them up in a hospital.

Finally, Hao Jun lets them go.

“How did you know about what happened in the Jinlin Earthquake?” Shao Yanxi asks Liu Yu’an when they’re back in their car.

Though he also knows about it, that’s because he’s different from Liu Yu’an.

Or, at least he thought he was; in his mind, Liu Yu’an has always been an easy-to-read, spoilt, rich kid.

But that assumption has been proven completely wrong since a while ago.

He can act. He can manage a company. He even knows something as obscure as the cover-up in the Jinlin Earthquake’s aftermath.

The Hao family has dealt with it pretty well. Even he only learned of it completely coincidentally.

Therefore, the only reasonable explanation that Liu Yu’an would also know about it, is that as Liu Yu’an also transmigrated into the past like him after living a long life, and something must have happened to the Hao family at that time in the future, that’s how he also became aware. Shao Yanxi’s mind is churning quickly.

Liu Yu’an answers him in the meantime, that “I happened to learn about it.”

As he can’t just tell him he got it from reading a book; he hasn’t any plausible explanation he can pull here.

Speaking of which, didn’t he ask Zhao Xian and Zhuang Feiyu to look that up? He should ask them how it’s going.

While Liu Yu’an is complaining again inside at the unreliable Virtual Worlds Management Centre, Shao Yanxi has filed Liu Yu’an for another person transmigrated back in time, and has managed to raise his own mood up by thinking, ‘Liu Yu’an cut off contacts with Yue Zhun after going back in time and came for him instead. That must mean he saw that he was better in the end.’

… Somehow the events of him collapsing the Liu family, and locking Liu Yu'an in his bed with a chain seems to have slipped out of his mind. Liu Yu’an notices that Shao Yanxi seems to be blanking out when he was just daydreaming. He tries to soothe him, “don’t worry. The Hao family has already been on the decline for a while now.”

To Shao Yanxi, though, it sounds like even more definitive proof that Liu Yu’an is borrowing his knowledge of ‘the future.’ Since he said the Hao family wouldn’t make any waves, and they didn’t in the future he himself know of, then it’s probably fine even if they kind of threatened them today.

That said, he doesn’t let his guard down just because it’s likely ‘fine.’ He even suggests for them to make a temporary retreat to that lake manor of his.

Liu Yu’an can’t help but chuckle a bit looking at Shao Yanxi like this. He’s a bit like a cat with fur raised on high alert, but still cute nonetheless. He reassures him, “don’t worry, it’s alright. They definitely wouldn’t do anything.”

“How can you be so sure?” Shao Yanxi doesn’t know exactly the factor that led the Hao family to fall; at least, he knows the earthquake cover-up isn’t enough.

Liu Yu’an can’t exactly tell him that, because there are several players that both want the Hao family out of the picture, especially with the problematic elder out of the way then, even if the earthquake cover-up failed they would still have found other ways. He can only tell Shao Yanxi, “I just know this. Trust me.”

If it were anyone else, Shao Yanxi would be speechless at the ‘persuasiveness’ of this argument, but since it’s Liu Yu’an, he decides to trust him.

But still, since it comes to the safety of him and Liu Yu’an, he would still have his own men investigate.

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