Translator: Lonelytree
After hearing Gong Tianhao's suggestion, Old Master Gong sighed. "Alright, Hao 'Er, you can arrange it."
"Grandpa, Taoyuan Village is a very beautiful place..." Gong Tianhao was already ready with his spiel, but he stopped. "Grandpa, you agreed? You're not going to argue with me?" Gong Tianhao was shocked.
Old Master Gong looked at his grandson's surprised face, and he grumbled, "Since you said the place is so beautiful, the people are so nice, and there's an auntie whose cooking skill is better than our chef, so why would I object?"
"But Grandpa..." Can you leave the second branch of the family behind? But he didn't ask. Gong Tianhao thought he would need to try his best to persuade his grandfather, but the fact that Old Master Gong yielded so easily flustered him.
Old Master Gong waved his hand and said, "Hao 'Er, I know what you want to say. You worry that I can't part with my second brother and his family, right?"
Gong Tianhao's mouth fell open.
Looking at his grandson's expression, Old Master Gong knew that he was right. Then, he said, "Hao 'Er, you've suffered a lot all these years." He grabbed Gong Tianhao's hands and patted him a few times.
"Grandpa!" The surprise kept on coming! Gong Tianhao shook his head. "Grandpa, I've not suffered. With you around, no one has the courage to come after me."
"That's why I have to stick around longer." Old Master Gong chuckled. "I know that you're all grown up and can take care of yourself now. But I still hope that I can protect you for as long as I can. As long as I'm around, no one will dare bully you!"
Gong Tianhao immediately said, "Of course! Grandpa, you're going to live to be a hundred years old!"
Grandfather Gong shook his head and said, "With this body, I don't even dare to think that far. However, I promise to take care of myself so that I can stick around as long as I can."
Gong Tianhao's eyes were slightly red. Even as a boy, he rarely cried. However, when he heard his grandfather say he'd stick around the best he could for him, he felt a warmth in his heart. His voice was a little choked as he said with determination, "Grandpa, you will definitely live to be a hundred years old!"
Old Master Gong didn't argue with his grandson because it was rare for Gong Tianhao to act like this around him. "Okay, I will live to a hundred years old. But look at you. How old are you already that you're still crying. Your eyes are red." Old Master Gong rarely spoke so much around Gong Tianhao. "You have always been independent and strong. You didn't make a fuss when your parents passed away. For a period after that, you just shrunk into yourself. You didn't eat or drink and hid in a corner all day.
"Do you know how worried I was? At the time, I thought, if something happened to you, what would I do? I wouldn't be able to face my son and my daughter-in-law. Did you know? At the time, I carried a gun with me always. If something happened to my eldest grandson, I would follow you. I have to be there for you. No one is allowed to bully my eldest grandson."
"Grandpa..." Gong Tianhao was really touched.
"But then, one day, the boy suddenly ran over to hug me. He started to cry." Old Master Gong reminisced. "I told him that it was okay to cry. I didn't want him to hold in all his emotions because it was not healthy.
"From that moment on, I decided that I had to live well for my eldest grandson. I would be there to watch him grow up, get married, and have children. When you have your family, I can go and find your grandmother in peace. I can face your parents."
"Grandpa..." Gong Tianhao was always a boy in his grandfather's eyes. "Grandpa, even if I have a family, you shouldn't be in such a hurry to find Grandma. If that is your reason to leave, then I'd rather not get married."
Old Master Gong's eyes sharpened, and he snapped, "That is not a reason for you not to get married. You are not going to use me as an excuse not to start a family. You're not that young anymore!" Old Master Gong was serious. When it came to Gong Tianhao's marriage, he was always serious.
Gong Tianhao returned to his usual stubborn self. He muttered internally, 'How am I old? I'm not even 30 yet.'
Old Master Gong read his grandson's expression and, consequently, Gong Tianhao's thoughts. He grabbed his walking stick and smacked Gong Tianhao's back. "Do you think I don't know what you're thinking? If you don't get married, when am I going to have a great-grandchild? You really know how to anger me."
He then grabbed his chest. His face was red.
Gong Tianhao immediately patted his grandfather's back. "Grandpa, calm down. Don't get angry."
Old Master Gong retorted, "If you don't want me to be angry, then go find a wife and give me a great-grandchild!"
Gong Tianhao would always go along with his grandfather's decision... except for this one. He didn't want his grandfather to leave him behind simply because he had a family of his own.
Eight years ago, Gong Tianhao's girlfriend dumped him because she wanted to go abroad. He was upset and got drunk. That night, he went home drunk and passed by his grandfather's study. He heard his grandfather talking to his grandmother's portrait in the study. He didn't pay attention to it at first because his grandfather often talked to his wife's portrait. However, as he was about to leave, he heard his grandfather say, "Dear, I can't go yet. However, when Hao 'Er gets married and has children, I'll go to accompany you, okay?"
Gong Tianhao immediately shivered and sobered up. Only then did he realize his grandfather had been harboring such thoughts. Gong Tianhao was afraid of losing his grandfather, his only family. From then on, he decided not to marry and have children.
"I heard you!" Gong Tianhao suddenly said.
Old Master Gong was puzzled and asked, "You heard me? What did you hear?"
Gong Tianhao said, "When I was 21 years old, I overheard what you said to Grandma in the study. You said you'd go to find Grandma after I get married and have children."
"That's why you've been averse to a relationship?" Old Master Gong asked.
Gong Tianhao remained silent. The silence was the best answer.
Old Master Gong was silent too. Then, he sighed. "So it is me who has been dragging you down!" He thought his grandson was still nursing the wounds from the breakup eight years ago. He was still waiting for the girl to come back.
Gong Tianhao immediately said anxiously, "Grandpa, I don't mean it like that. This is not your fault. It's me... I don't want to get married and have children."
Old Master Gong sighed and said, "Hao 'Er, you're almost 30 years old. You're getting older."
"..." Gong Tianhao said, "Grandpa, no matter how old I am, I am always your grandchild. A grandchild is still a child!"
"I suppose you're right." Old Master Gong laughed lightly. "You'll always be a boy in my eyes."
"See, you agree with me." Gong Tianhao was quite thick-faced around his grandfather.
"Haha..." Old Master suddenly laughed. "Alright. If you don't want to get married, then so be it. As long as I'm around, someone will always treat you as a child, even when you're a 50-year-old child." When Gong Tianhao was 50, he'd be 100 already.
Gong Tianhao smiled.
"But, Hao 'Er." Old Master Gong said earnestly, "Promise Grandpa that if you meet a good girl, you will not let her slip away. Grandpa promises you that I will live until I can see my great-grandson running around. Then, I'll go and meet your grandmother."
Old Master Gong knew his grandson's stubbornness very well. If he didn't urge Gong Tianhao slightly, he would keep on being single.
Gong Tianhao nodded. "Okay, Grandpa."
Then, the two of them changed the topic.
Old Master Gong said, "Hao 'Er, you asked me to leave the capital and go to Taoyuan Village. One of the reasons is you want me to stay away from your second grandfather's family, right?"
Gong Tianhao didn't deny it and said, "That's right." At this point, he paused for a moment and added, "They keep coming to disturb you, and it's not good for your health."
Old Master Gong smiled, "Is it that, or you don't want me to help them anymore?"
"That is also another reason." Gong Tianhao said, "They know that your health is not perfect, but they keep on coming to bother you. They ignored your health and begged you to help them with the smallest things. They keep annoying you and want to use their family's daughter to tie me down through marriage. How disgusting!" Gong Tianhao didn't hide his disgust for the second branch.
"This is my fault for indulging them for too long." He sighed.
"Grandpa, it's not your fault." Gong Tianhao shook his head and said, "It's second grandfather's family who is too greedy and ambitious. They don't know how to be satisfied."
He paused for a moment and said, "Grandfather, I know you have to give them leeway in the past for my sake. You were afraid that if you didn't give them something, they will harm me. Even if you had given an explicit warning, they would still come after me. To appease them, you gave them what they wanted, power and money. They managed to establish a firm foundation in the capital in just a few years. They are still growing strong.
"But Grandpa, certain people will never be satisfied. The more you give them, the more they want. Even if you surrender to them the whole Gong Family, they will go so far to eliminate you and me to make their power concrete."
Old Master Gong said, "I know about their ambitions and greed. But I worry. After I'm gone, they're your only blood-related family left."
"I'd rather not have people who constantly want to harm me as my blood family. They don't treat me as one, so why should I?" Gong Tianhao's tone was very cold. Then, his tone became gentle as he said, "And Grandpa, you are not going anywhere."
Old Master Gong thought for a moment and said with a sigh, "Well, Hao 'Er is all grown up. I'll leave this for you to handle." Old Master Gong couldn't care about the second branch forever. "But, Hao 'Er, you have to promise me that you'd put your safety first, okay?" Old Master Gong was worried. "Over the years, I've given them too much power. It's not going to be easy to make them budge. I'm afraid that once you do something, they'd become desperate and harm you."
Gong Tianhao nodded. "Grandpa, don't worry. I'll be fine. Plus, you were the one who gave them all this power and money. I am merely taking them back for you. Without the Gong Family's support, what can they do? Grandpa, we have been too kind to them. That's why they are so shameless now."
Old Master Gong admitted, "Hao 'Er, you're right. Okay, I will move to Taoyuan Village. I wish to see the beautiful scenery and taste the cooking of that auntie you mentioned. I quite look forward to it."
Gong Tianhao let out a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Grandpa, you won't be disappointed. You will be able to rest well. And I will visit you as long as I have time."
"Then, Hao 'Er, you have to be careful in the capital by yourself, understand?"
"Yes, I understand, Grandpa!" Gong Tianhao replied.