Chapter 270

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Protagonist:

Lin Xiyu

"What do we do now?"

Lin Xiyu didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "The more you want him to sleep, the less he sleeps."

"Don't worry about him."

Guben had his own parenting experience: "Let him toss and turn on his own; he'll fall asleep when he's tired."

"Is that how a father acts?"

Lin Xiyu gave him a coquettish glare with a smile.

"I'm telling the truth."

Guben said with a straight face: "Raising children doesn't need to be that meticulous; let them grow freely, they'll turn out however they turn out."

Lin Xiyu glanced at Lele, whom he was holding in his arms and gently rocking, and smiled in rebuttal: "You saying that doesn't seem very convincing."

"Lele is different."

Guben didn't blush or pant, arguing confidently and righteously: "Lele is our family's little princess; she must be carefully cherished."

"Hehe."

Lele seemed to understand, returning a sweet smile to Daddy.

"Good Lele, good daughter, Daddy's treasure..."

Guben felt his heart nearly melt watching; holding his precious daughter, he called her heart-and-liver meat incessantly.

Lin Xiyu couldn't bear to watch, sitting by the small bed, gently patting Anan and Xixi, coaxing them to sleep.

Anan and Xixi were both very good; Mom coaxed them for just a little while, and both closed their eyes and fell asleep.

Pingping, just as Daddy predicted, kicked and tossed too much, wore himself out too hard, and before long was exhausted; his little head tilted, and he fell asleep in a second.

Lin Xiyu smiled indulgently, tucked the babies' small quilts in, turned off the light, got into bed herself, and burrowed into the warm covers.

"You're just going to sleep like that?"

Lele still wasn't asleep; Guben held his daughter and didn't dare put her down.

"What else can I do if I don't sleep?"

Lin Xiyu smiled and retorted: "Could it be that just because your precious daughter isn't sleeping, no one else can sleep?"

"Uh."

Guben choked, and had no follow-up.

"You just spoil her then."

Lin Xiyu looked at him with amusement: "She just relies on you doting on her to bully you; Liu Jie and the others coax her to sleep by putting her in the small bed and patting her a bit, and she falls asleep; only when you're here does she insist on being held to sleep."

"Is that so?"

Guben's eyebrow tips raised slightly; he lowered his head, looked at his precious daughter, and laughed teasingly: "So Lele likes Daddy this much; this is a unique love, Mommy can't compare."

Lin Xiyu: "......."

Just as she wanted to needle him a couple more times, the slight vibration sound of a mobile phone interrupted the couple's bickering, a different kind of little intimacy.

Guben took out his mobile phone from his pants pocket with one hand, glanced at the number, and his brow furrowed slightly.

"Who is it? Calling you so late?"

Lin Xiyu was startled by the ringtone, inexplicably a bit alarmed.

"Gu Feng."

Guben also felt something wasn't right.

Gu Family relatives — he never wanted much contact with them; he didn't even tell them when the babies were born, and for the full-month celebration he didn't invite a single person.

Gu Feng, though he had no grievances with him, worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was often stationed abroad; normally they had no interaction.

Calling him in the middle of the night — eight times out of ten it's nothing good.

"Guben, make time to come to Sanya; Sixth Grandpa's condition isn't good, the doctor has issued a critical condition notice."

The next second, as expected, the moment the call connected, the words Gu Feng spoke made his heart sink to the bottom of the valley.

——

Sixth Grandpa went to Sanya before the babies were born; the old man was advanced in age, and Guben felt bad making him travel back and forth; at the full-month celebration, he specifically agreed with him to wait until the babies were a bit older, then bring them to Sanya to visit the old man.

Sixth Grandpa agreed very readily at the time, sounding very happy, so Guben didn't think much more of it; after hanging up the phone, he tossed the matter to the back of his mind.

He originally thought to wait until Lele's weak constitution was built up stronger, then let her take a plane.

Now Sixth Grandpa is critical, allowing no further delay; he didn't hesitate any longer, bought plane tickets the next day, and took the whole family, young and old, to Sanya.

Grandma Gu and the three nannies all came; a party of ten got off the plane, took a taxi straight to the hospital. When they arrived at the ICU doorway, the narrow corridor was already packed solid with people.

Guben's brow furrowed tightly; at a glance, nearly all the Gu Family relatives in Beijing had come.

Not only Gu Peng and his siblings, but even the uncles of the older generation had all shown up in full force.

The elders' expressions were all very tense; no one knew more clearly than them how important the old man's identity and status were to the entire clan.

It's no exaggeration to say the whole extended family's livelihood depends on the old man propping it up.

Once the old man passes, not only the descendants' prospects and fate, but even the family enterprise will suffer a massive blow.

"What's Sixth Grandpa's condition right now?"

Guben had no time to think further; he walked straight up to Gu Feng and asked about the old man's condition.

"The doctor says it's not good."

Gu Feng sighed dejectedly: "He's already been unconscious for several days."

"This long......"

Guben was greatly shocked: "Why didn't you tell me all this time?"

"What use is it that you came?"

A slightly sharp voice cut in horizontally, carrying undisguised cold mockery: "Gu Feng, you too, why tell him? He's not really surnamed Gu, this is our own family matter, no need for an outsider to come here feigning filial piety with fake affection."

"Who are you calling fake affection?"

Guben flew into a rage, anger surging up uncontrollably.

"Hmph."

Gu Hui let out a cold snort from her nose, continuing to provoke: "Am I wrong? You, a maternal grandson, putting on a good show in front of Sixth Grandpa all day, what are you after? Isn't it just his property? Now you've got your way, once Sixth Grandpa closes his eyes the siheyuan falls into your hands, what are you still doing here? Could it be you can't wait, want to watch Sixth Grandpa breathe his last with your own eyes?"

There was a moment of silence in the corridor; the elders who had originally been displeased with Gu Hui's viciousness and wanted to scold her, hearing the siheyuan mentioned, had their emotions stirred, and their gazes toward Guben turned even more unfathomable.

Gu Peng and Gu Lan's gazes were even more filled with hostility.

A set of old Beijing siheyuan, what it's worth, they know even more clearly in their hearts.

Sixth Grandpa didn't leave the inheritance to the Gu family's own grandsons, but gave it to a maternal grandson, letting the seeds of envy and jealousy originally in their hearts spread and grow wildly.

"What's the point of saying this now?"

Gu Feng was the only one present whose mind hadn't been consumed by jealousy, who could still maintain rationality throughout. He used a voice sterner than usual to break the silence, glaring at Gu Hui with considerable displeasure, stopping the confrontation from escalating further.

"Is Sixth Grandpa inside?"

Guben's eyes showed gratitude; at this moment he truly had no mood to deal with Gu Hui, he only wanted to see the elder who genuinely cared for him.

"Inside."

Gu Feng nodded: ", I've already greeted the doctors and nurses, don't delay any longer."

"Good."

The hospital has strict regulations: only two people may enter to visit a patient at a time. Guben obtained the duty nurse's permission, and with his beloved wife each holding a daughter, they squeezed through the crowd and entered the ICU.

——

This was not the first time Guben had entered the ICU; what happened in the ICU last time remains vivid in his memory to this day. He put down all his pride and humbly begged the doctors to save his daughter.

To him, the ICU was like a grave filled with disinfectant, cold without a trace of warmth; patients lay on beds, hooked up to various instruments, lonely awaiting death's arrival.

This time, the moment his footsteps entered the ICU, his heart felt terribly stifled. Seeing Sixth Grandpa lying there unconscious, tears burst forth like a broken dam, flowing unstoppably.

"Sixth Grandpa, we've come to see you."

Seeing him cry until he couldn't speak, Lin Xiyu stepped forward holding their daughter, speaking to Sixth Grandpa in his place.

The nurse didn't allow lingering too long in the ICU, so she picked the topic Sixth Grandpa cared about most, trying to let the old man feel as much family warmth as possible.

"Xixi and Lele came too. Their names were chosen according to your wish. Xixi is named Nian Xin, Lele is named Nian Rou."

"Xixi has a lively personality, playful and active. Lele is more obedient and sensible, just her constitution is slightly weaker."

"Before we lived far away and didn't dare tell you. Lele had congenital heart disease from birth. The doctor said she can only have surgery at age 2."

"Both of us husband and wife have been under huge psychological pressure, anxious all day long, just afraid Lele would catch cold and get sick. At the slightest headache or fever we'd rush to the hospital. If anything truly happened to her, I don't know if I could bear it. The thought that one day she might leave us — I've even had the desire to die......"

——

"Beep beep......"

The originally flat, almost straight-line EEG suddenly fluctuated violently a few times.

"Sixth Grandpa, is he waking up?"

Lin Xiyu stared at the EEG, stunned for a moment.

"The EEG reacted. Sixth Grandpa heard what you said."

Guben snapped back from grief, surging with tremendous wild joy.

"Lele, call Great-Grandpa. Talk to Great-Grandpa."

Lin Xiyu was so moved she wanted to cry: "Look how much Great-Grandpa cares for you. He woke up just hearing you were sick."

"Ah ya ya."

Lele understood Mommy's words, and like a little kitten, called out weakly twice.

Sixth Grandpa's eyelids visibly trembled a couple of times, showing signs of waking.

"Xixi, Lele, hurry, call a few more times."

Lin Xiyu was beside herself with excitement, squatting down so the daughters' little hands could reach the old man's hand resting on the bed's edge.

"Ah ya ya."

Xixi stretched out her chubby little hand and grasped the old man's right hand.

The old man's fingers trembled violently a few times the instant they made contact.

"."

Guben thought quickly on his feet, continuing to stimulate the old man's nerves: "Xixi and Lele can't do without you. If you're not here, there are people who want to bully them. The siheyuan you left for the babies, they want to snatch that away too."

Before his words fell, the old man exhaled several coarse breaths from his throat and suddenly opened his eyes.

"Sixth Grandpa?!"

"You're awake!"

Guben and his wife were overwhelmed with surprise and joy, both crowding closer at once.

——

Outside the ICU.

Seeing there was a limit on the number of visitors, Gu Maternal Grandma could only regretfully give up. She took the three nannies and the two babies, squeezed out through the crowd again, and found a bench to sit down at a spot not far from the doorway.

Dabao and Pingping slept all the way on the plane. After landing they were full of energy. Even at the hospital they didn't feel tired, gesturing with their fingers to have the nannies carry them around everywhere.

Some people found it unsightly and started pointing fingers, gossiping maliciously.

"That couple really knows how to put on a show, coming to see the old master take two granddaughters inside."

"Exactly, you can tell they're not sincere. Who visits an elder without bringing grandchildren, but brings two little girls instead?"

"They aren't really visiting the old master out of sincerity; who knows what they're thinking inside? The longer the old master lives, the later the inheritance arrives. Among all the people present, who most hopes the old master closes his eyes soon? Needless to say, everyone understands in their hearts."

—

Grandmother Gu was old but not deaf; hearing this idle gossip, she was truly quite angry.

Among her late husband's brothers, except for the youngest Sixth Brother, the others had all passed away.

Grandmother Gu was the youngest among the brothers' wives, more than ten years younger than Grandfather Gu, and among the older generation of the Gu Family, besides Grandfather Six, she was the only surviving elder.

Those wagging their tongues were all young people; out of respect for her dignity, she couldn't pull rank and publicly scold them in front of everyone in the hall.

Alas, those people became more and more unconcerned, and listening to it was truly infuriating.

She felt uncomfortable in her heart, fanning herself hard with her fan, using the complaint about Sanya's stuffy heat to express her displeasure.

"Yiya ya."

Erbao and Anan seemed to notice she was in a bad mood, reaching out their little arms toward her from the nanny's arms.

"Does Anan want Great-Grandmother to hold her?"

Grandmother Gu stopped fanning and, quite surprised, took Anan from the nanny's arms.

Anan was different from Pingping; she was quiet and well-behaved, didn't like clinging to people, and rarely acted like she did today, actively wanting Great-Grandmother to hold her.

Grandmother Gu happily hugged her dear great-grandson, temporarily putting her displeasure out of her mind.

—

"Guben's wife can give birth; she had four at once."

"Having too many isn't good; premature babies have weak bodies, all sorts of problems, maybe their brains aren't fully developed, and there's a possibility of being simple-minded."

"I think that little one of theirs looks a bit stupid, just blankly staring, not crying or fussing; eight or nine times out of ten they're intellectually disabled."

"Who are you calling intellectually disabled?!"

How could Grandmother Gu tolerate outsiders slandering her darling; finally unable to bear it any longer, she exploded.

—

"Grandfather Six has woken up!"

Guben walked out of the intensive care unit and announced this good news, just as he saw Grandmother Gu losing her temper at a group of juniors, with three nannies taking turns fanning her, unable to extinguish the old lady's anger.

The old lady had a big temper and a loud voice; her high-pitched Hedong lioness roar crushed everything, drowning out all the unwilling quibbles, including Guben's choked sob of joy.

Everyone present had their attention drawn by the old lady, and no one noticed that the door of the intensive care unit had already opened, and a person walked out from inside.

"Grandmother......"

Seeing this scene, Guben's joy turned to nothing: "What's wrong now? Who provoked you, to throw such a big temper?"

"Who else could it be?"

Seeing her grandson, Grandmother Gu felt even more confident, pointing at the group of tongue-wagging juniors and cursing them out: "It's none other than these unfilial descendants born into your old Gu family; Sixth Brother hasn't even died yet, and they're already talking nonsense here, who his house should be left to—what right do a bunch of little brats have to interfere?"

"Is it about that siheyuan again?"

Guben's eyes and brows were cold and stern: "Anyone among you who disagrees, go ask Grandfather Six yourself; there's no need to cause a scene in the hospital and let outsiders laugh at us."