Rebirth: Ghost Exorciser

1580 Qi Zhenbai’s Relief

The third time that Chi Shuyan came to Grandpa’s ward, he was indeed still awake and in good spirits. Mother Qi, Second Aunt, Third Aunt, and Father Qi were in the ward taking care of the old man. Mother Qi helped pat the old man’s back, and Father Qi sat on the side and fed him. The other aunts poured water for the old man and busied themselves with other things.

The atmosphere in the ward was quite lively, but as soon as the two arrived, it suddenly quietened down. Chi Shuyan didn’t forget how Qi Zhenbai had been scolded by Father Qi last time. She followed his gaze and saw the unsightly faces of the father and son. When Father Qi saw the person at the door, his face turned livid.

Qi Zhenbai, on the other hand, was cold and expressionless. When he saw Father Qi’s gloomy face, he pretended not to see it. Surprise flashed in Grandpa Qi’s eyes, especially when he saw that Zhenbai had come to see him again. The old man was very excited and waved his hand. “Zhenbai, Zhenbai’s wife, come here.” After a pause, he said to Father and Mother Qi, “Go, go, go… All of you go out first. Let Zhenbai and his wife sit with me for a while!”

Father Qi’s eyes were originally a little angry, but under the old man’s stern gaze, he shut up. Father Qi was a filial son. How could he relax when his father hadn’t finished dinner yet? He immediately said gently, “Dad, you haven’t finished dinner yet. Let me feed you a bit more.”

Grandpa Qi thought to himself that if Father Qi remained here, his grandson might immediately run away. While Grandpa Qi was now more relaxed when it came to some things, the things he still worried over couldn’t compare with his love for his grandson; after all, he had so many sons, but only one grandson whom he had raised himself since childhood.

When his sons had been born back then, he had been busy scrambling for military achievements and had neglected all of them. His sons had been left either to the nanny or his wife to take care of. He had rested for a while after the birth of the youngest son, and had indeed taken care of him for a while, but the only person he had taken care of since childhood was Zhenbai.

He had spent most of his life raising this grandson, and he was the one who taught him everything.

Later, when something happened to Fourth Brother’s family, he also reflected on himself. The reason why Fourth Brother hated Zhenbai so much was inseparable from Grandpa Qi’s bias.

In this family, Fourth Brother could hate anyone, but he just had to hate Zhenbai. Wasn’t it because Grandpa Qi had always neglected his other sons for this child?

He felt more for this grandson than he did for his sons; even after knowing that what happened to his fourth son’s family was Zhenbai’s doing, he couldn’t really blame this child.

Moreover, it was Fourth Brother Qi who had provoked Zhenbai and wanted to be ruthless. Thinking about how Fourth Brother Qi had colluded with outsiders to harm Zhenbai through some evil means, Grandpa Qi almost lost half his life.

To a certain extent, Fourth Brother had brought this on himself.

Grandpa Qi had thought things through recently. Seeing that this child frequently came to see him in private, the old man’s heart had long softened. What he was most worried about now was that Zhenbai, this grandson, would suffer retribution for killing too many people.

He didn’t care if his eldest son was unhappy or not, and immediately waved his hand to chase him away. “Go… I’m already an adult, yet I still need you to feed me? I’ll eat later. I just want to talk to my grandson and granddaughter-in-law for a while!”

Father and Mother Qi looked at each other. In the end, under the old man’s urging, they left.

As soon as Father Qi and the others went out, the old man immediately waved. “Zhenbai, Zhenbai’s wife, come here!”

Without waiting for Qi Zhenbai to move, Chi Shuyan walked over and sat down. She very naturally took over what Father Qi had been doing, and patiently fed the old man spoon by spoon.

Seeing that Shuyan was so filial, Grandpa Qi was even happier. Qi Zhenbai couldn’t help but take a few glances at his wife. When he saw her filial behavior, his cold eyes seemed to burn, and the cold melted into water. The gentleness and indulgence in his eyes overflowed.

The old man also secretly observed the two children’s actions. Seeing that they were still as close as ever, he heaved a sigh of relief. It was best if the two children didn’t quarrel.

Qi Zhenbai sat upright on the side silently and watched his grandfather interact with his wife. The corners of his lips curled up slightly, and his face was very gentle. He was no longer as cold and distant as before.

Because his granddaughter-in-law was feeding him, the old man was in a good mood. He ate an extra half bowl of rice tonight before he stopped. Qi Zhenbai got up in time and wiped the old man’s mouth with a tissue.

After Zhenbai wiped his mouth, the old man waved his hand and said cheerfully to Zhenbai’s wife, “Child, I’m fine. You don’t have to come over often in the future. Study hard and go to class.”

Chi Shuyan was all smiles. No matter what the old man said, she had to make him happy first.

After talking to the old man for a while, Chi Shuyan clearly felt that he had something to say to Qi Zhenbai. She simply found an excuse to go to the washroom and leave the ward to the grandfather and grandson.

When Chi Shuyan left the ward, the old man’s smile didn’t disappear much, but his gentle eyes nonetheless contained complicated feelings. He patted the edge of the bed and said, “Zhenbai, sit here. We’ll have a good chat tonight.”

Qi Zhenbai shifted to sit on the edge of the old man’s bed. Grandpa Qi did have a lot to say to this child, but he didn’t know where to start at all. He was even more worried that he would say the wrong thing and make this child think too much. After a while, he said, “Your parents’ anger won’t last. They don’t really blame you in their hearts. You’re their biological child; how can they not care about you? Just take what they and I said before as nonsense. Don’t dwell on it!”

After a pause, the old man suddenly held Zhenbai’s hand and continued earnestly, “Zhenbai, promise me that you won’t be too ruthless when you do things in the future. Don’t be too vicious, and always leave a way out; who knows if there’s karma in this world? I don’t want to see anything bad happen to you. I just want you and your wife to get married and have children as soon as possible, and have a fat great-grandson for me to carry!”

Qi Zhenbai had always been very reserved and passive when it came to feelings, and was rarely moved. After listening to the old man’s words, however, he was very touched. Although his face was still calm, on a closer look, his dark eyes were slightly wet and his body trembled a little. He suppressed the shock in his heart and tensed up. He pursed his thin lips and his jaw was stiff. Of course, he didn’t regret being ruthless toward his fourth uncle’s family. He was just shocked by the old man’s deep feelings for him.

After exterminating his fourth uncle’s family, he knew very well that the old man blamed him. He wasn’t afraid that his grandfather would blame him, but that he would hate him like his father, who wished that his son had never been born; only then would Fourth Uncle’s family have been fine.

Although he was Father Qi’s son, Fourth Uncle was Father Qi’s younger brother.

But now, while Grandpa’s words told Zhenbai that Fourth Uncle was Grandpa’s son, Zhenbai was his most important and valued grandson. He had indeed been a little ruthless toward his fourth uncle’s family, which had hurt the old man.

Qi Zhenbai’s lips trembled, and in the end, he only said, “Grandpa!”

“Zhenbai, sometimes I regret teaching you too harshly back then, which is why you grew up to have such a prejudiced and ruthless character! But I don’t regret you. My only worry is that you’re too vicious and have killed too many people. What if you suffer retribution?” The old man’s eyes were also a bit red. He paused for a moment, then continued, “For the first half of your life, you lived in the Qi residence. You had parents, but it was as if you didn’t have any. You didn’t lack food or clothes, but in the end, there was no one around who really cared for you.” Seeing Zhenbai shake his head, the old man continued, “Although you were with me at the beginning, I couldn’t help but be distracted and biased. I always remember how Fourth Brother almost killed you back then. Not only your parents, I was also biased toward him. If I had taken care of his jealous temperament back then, this tragedy might not have happened in our family. As the saying goes, we bring it on ourselves. I also know that Fourth Brother brought it on himself. At the end of the day, you can’t be blamed.”

Sometimes, the old man felt that his patience and love for his grandson now might be compensation for his bias back then. His fourth son had almost killed Zhenbai back then, and he and the Qi family had easily brushed it off with a few words. However, he forgot that this child had almost lost his life. That wasn’t something that could be brushed off with a few words.

Fortunately, Shuyan was with Zhenbai now. He could tell that the child really cared for Zhenbai and was the only person who was sincerely good to him. The old man held Qi Zhenbai’s hand and didn’t let go as he exhorted, “Zhenbai, live well with your wife in the future. Don’t be too ruthless and vicious. Even if you don’t think of yourself, you have to think of your wife and your future child. Grandpa believes that there is retribution in this world. I don’t want you to suffer!”