Free Web NovelChapter 662: Chapter 660: The Good-for-Nothing Father
Ye Qingzhou was recalling a past too painful to look back on. When he was destitute and wanted to go home for help, he learned that his loved ones had already passed away.
Every time he thought of it, he felt a heart-wrenching pain and regret.
Now, upon suddenly seeing his living brother-in-law, he wept bitterly as he poured out his heart.
Susu even shed a few fat tears along with her grand-uncle, but the brothers Wenwen and Xuanxuan were utterly scornful of him.
They both griped internally, ’An ignorant, unskilled coward who could only resort to begging after leaving his parents. And he has the nerve to cry.’
From this day forward, they decided they would study twice as hard. When they grew up, they would have the skills to make money, not only to support themselves but also their little sister.
At that moment, the two little ones felt their parents were omnipotent and didn’t need them to earn money to support them.
Grandpa Gu’s affection for his late wife naturally extended to her family, so he brought his brother-in-law back to the Gu Family estate that very evening.
To thank Ye Qingzhou for gifting them the Jade Pendant, Gu Jiaojiao and her husband gave him ten medicine pills made from spiritual spring water.
One month later, the deep wrinkles on Ye Qingzhou’s face had smoothed out considerably, and his skin had become much fairer and clearer.
Although he didn’t have Grandpa Gu’s ruddy complexion, when they stood together, you couldn’t tell that Ye Qingzhou had been a vagrant just a short while ago.
Grandpa Gu had fully retired two years prior, so he had plenty of time to take his brother-in-law for a haircut, go to the mall, and buy him new clothes.
After more than a month of recuperation, Ye Qingzhou’s body, weathered by hardship, had recovered. Even his back, once bent by the years, had straightened considerably.
However, his face still betrayed a life of hardship, and a faint sadness lingered in his deep-set eyes.
He was grieving that the Ye family line had ended with him. He felt he had no face to meet the ancestors of the Ye family.
To cheer him up, Grandpa Gu specially invited all their friends and relatives to celebrate his brother-in-law’s seventy-first birthday.
When the Mu Family received the invitation, Mu Qingtong’s entire family, young and old, happened to be having dinner at the Mu residence.
Mr. Mu casually asked his son-in-law, Wang Heming, if he wanted to attend the birthday banquet for the Gu Family’s grand-uncle.
To everyone’s surprise, Wang Heming agreed without hesitation. Not only was Mr. Mu a little taken aback, but even Wang Heming’s three sons were astonished.
Normally, Wang Heming was unwilling to attend any event unless it was for the Mu Family’s immediate relatives.
He especially avoided any banquet where Old Sir Gu was present. Others hadn’t noticed this, not even Mu Qingtong.
But after it happened several times, Wang Chengyao had noticed the pattern, though he usually didn’t pay it much mind.
Now, however, he asked eagerly, "Dad, can I bring the whole family?"
"Of course. The Gu Family doesn’t have many friends or relatives in the Imperial City. I heard that on the day of their banquet, the Yuetai Hotel won’t be open to other guests."
"Qingtong, let’s go to the mall and buy everyone new outfits," Wang Heming said, his voice trembling.
No one else heard anything amiss, but Wang Chengyao did. He asked curiously.
"Dad, we’ve never been that close with the Gu Family. Why do you want to take all of us to their grand-uncle’s birthday banquet?"
"I just want to join in on the fun," Wang Heming replied, unsure if he should tell his wife and children the truth.
The Gu Family’s grand-uncle was his own good-for-nothing biological father!
His mother had once hated his father, but she was also immensely grateful to that good-for-nothing man, because his abandonment of his wife and son had saved both of their lives.
He was only three years old when his father left, so he had no memory of him at all.
According to his mother, after being betrayed by both his father and her own younger sister, she had, in a fit of rage, taken him and fled to a remote mountain valley to heal her broken heart.
However, it was because they fled that they escaped a great calamity. Many years later, they learned that no one in the Ye family had survived.
His mother, patting her chest in lingering fear, had told him, "We have your good-for-nothing father to thank."
"If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t be alive today."
After his father left, his mother went through a period of great hardship; one could even say it was a time of despair.
She couldn’t face her relatives or even her acquaintances, so she took her son and ran off to a remote valley.
At the time, she had only one thought: they had run off to the big city, so she would go in the opposite direction.
No matter how difficult or tiring it became, she never regretted her decision, which, unexpectedly, ended up saving both of their lives.
His mother had a considerable amount of private savings, so Wang Heming didn’t suffer much hardship growing up.
If the young Wang Heming hadn’t so often seen the sorrow in his mother’s eyes, he might have even thought their life was quite good.
But his mother’s pain was his pain. So, he turned that pain into strength, vowing to study hard and get into Imperial University.
Heaven rewards the diligent, and he finally succeeded. Not only did he get into Imperial University, but he also established a firm foothold in the Imperial City.
But back then, his mother’s youthful grief had been so excessive that it damaged her health, causing her to pass away at a young age.
Fortunately, by that time, Wang Heming was already married with children, so his mother passed away peacefully.
Before she died, she repeatedly urged him to pay respects to his father and the Ye family ancestors, telling him he must be grateful to his father no matter what.
It was for no other reason than his good-for-nothing father’s heartlessness that they had survived.
So, Wang Heming’s feelings were incredibly complex right now. There was the joy of about to see his father, but also loathing and hatred for him.
These were his true feelings, but he couldn’t express them to anyone.
Ye Qingzhou wasn’t his only relative. He had a wife, three sons, and two grandsons.
His third son wasn’t married yet, and his eldest son’s wife was pregnant with another child!
The surname Wang was his maternal grandmother’s. His maternal grandfather was surnamed Li, and his paternal grandfather was surnamed Ye. Back then, his mother was so afraid of running into acquaintances that she didn’t give him the Ye surname.
In the last couple of years, Wang Heming had considered having one of his sons or grandsons change their surname to Ye, but a suitable opportunity had never arisen.
He was surrounded by children and grandchildren, while his own father was all alone in the world. He’d heard that when Su Shuochi found him, he was in a wretched state.
Thinking of this, Wang Heming’s resentment toward his father lessened a little.
He was fifty-two this year, yet he still had an outstanding presence, with sharp eyebrows, bright eyes, and a chiseled jaw. His mother used to say he looked just like his father.
He was afraid Old Sir Gu would recognize him at a glance, and yet he was also afraid he wouldn’t. This was the reason he had always avoided meeting Old Sir Gu face-to-face.
As Wang Heming’s family drove in two cars toward the Yuetai Hotel, he wondered if the old man’s features would even be recognizable anymore.
Whether he saw him or not, he was deeply apprehensive. Would other people be able to tell they were father and son at a single glance?
Sitting in the front passenger seat, he could see from a distance that the hotel parking lot was filled with luxury cars.
Upon entering the lobby, Wang Heming searched everywhere for his father, an image of whom he had long since sketched in his mind.
An old man, stooped and hunchbacked, with white hair and aged, withered, and wrinkled skin, worn down into decrepitude by the years.
But to his surprise, he searched the entire lobby and couldn’t find such a person. Instead, he heard someone calling out to their grand-uncle.
"Grand-uncle, what are you doing standing over here? I just saw you with Old Gu a moment ago. Am I seeing things?"
Wang Heming was speechless.
