Chapter 340: I Wanted to Praise You

Chapter 340: I Wanted to Praise You

“Bingbing.” An elderly voice came through the phone. “All these years you haven’t come home to see your grandfather, or even called. What is it? Are you still holding a grudge against me?”

His tone was nothing like it had once been. It was so gentle that Li Ruobing could scarcely reconcile it with the stubborn old man she remembered. There was even a trace of nostalgia and wistfulness in it.

“Come home to see you? Hah!” She was so angry she laughed. Her voice went cold again. “Don’t worry, old man. I’ll be sure to come home for your funeral the day you die.”

Her fiery temper had slipped every restraint. No one but her would dare speak to the Li family patriarch that way.

She truly hated him. Her own grandfather.

She hated him more than Ding Ruilong.

Neither Ding Ruilong nor her father, Li Maoren, could control Li Ruobing’s life. Neither could force her into anything.

She had pursued independence since childhood. She had excelled in her studies and her conduct, an outstanding student, the child other parents held up as an example. She had dreams of her own. She had chosen to study abroad and had already planned to build her own business overseas and make those dreams real.

She had no need to lean on her family, nor did she find the prestige her family brought her in China particularly glorious.

Originally everything had been going well.

Her life had run exactly as she wanted, until four years earlier, when she learned her mother was gravely ill and rushed back to China. Only after reaching home did she discover it was all a lie, a trick her father had used to lure her back so she could marry Ding Ruilong.

And the man behind every decision was her grandfather, Li Huaigeng.

Li Ruobing had resisted on instinct. Her first impulse was to walk away and let the rest of them do as they pleased.

But her mother had wept and begged her, even threatening to take her own life. Her mother had always been on her side. Her mother’s family, the Suns, her uncles and her maternal grandfather, had always doted on her and had never tried to force her into anything.

It was all because of Li Huaigeng. He had persuaded everyone and silenced every objection, even those from the Sun family.

Pressure of a kind she had never known descended on her, an avalanche and a tidal wave at once.

Li Ruobing could disregard everyone else. She could not disregard her mother, the person she loved most. And so the wager had come about.

Her life had changed beyond recognition from that moment on.

Win the wager?

Li Ruobing had no idea whether she could. Over the past two years there had even been a stretch when she believed her chances were less than one in ten.

It was not that she thought herself incapable. It was that Ding Ruilong cheated. He used his family’s power, and the Li family turned a blind eye. The Lis even helped him.

Before meeting Wu Chen, Li Ruobing had come to believe her life was already ruined. She would most likely lose and be forced to marry a man who was nothing but scum.

However hard she worked, however much overtime she put in, however many nights she spent sleepless at the office, she could not change that miserable fate.

All because of her grandfather, Li Huaigeng.

How could she not hate him?

“Bingbing, I know you’re waiting for your grandfather to die. And this old body of mine won’t hold out much longer…” The patriarch’s voice stayed wistful. He had not grown angry, though she had just wished him dead.

Having made the call, he had naturally considered what his granddaughter might say. He had prepared himself.

“You really have grown up,” the old man continued with a sigh. “I still remember teaching you brush calligraphy when you were little. You were different from the other children. You could sit quietly and concentrate. A-Tai was nothing like you. He was always getting into trouble. He ruined some of the paintings and calligraphy in my collection, and you covered for him and took the blame…”

“Did you call just to tell me stories about my childhood?” Li Ruobing could not listen any longer and cut him off. She had no patience at all. “If you have something to say, say it. Otherwise I’m hanging up. I’m busy.”

“I know you’re busy. I’ve heard about some of the things you’ve been doing lately.” His tone remained unhurried. “Tell me, do you really like that young man, Wu Chen?”

“What’s it to you?” she snapped.

“I’m your grandfather. How is it not my business?”

“Hah.” She laughed coldly. “Spare me the useless nonsense, old man. If you have any shame left, stop calling to harass me. I can’t even be bothered to curse you.”

“Bingbing! Is that any way to speak to your grandfather?” Li Maoren’s rebuke came suddenly through the phone.

He was beside his father at that very moment.

His voice sounded somewhat distant.

Plainly he had heard what she said and finally could not restrain himself. He had called out from where he stood.

The Li family patriarch was hard of hearing in his old age, so he kept his phone’s volume turned up extremely high. Li Maoren had probably heard every word between grandfather and granddaughter.

“No, no, no. The girl’s still angry. Don’t say anything…” The old man’s voice came next, a little farther from the phone.

He was telling Li Maoren to keep quiet.

Li Maoren fell silent at once. He did not even dare argue.

“Bingbing.” The old man’s voice returned, closer now. “We’re family. Blood is thicker than water. What grudge between relatives should last overnight? I know my decision back then hurt you, but I was thinking of the family. You’re educated, and you understand how things work. Surely you can—”

“Spare me the lecture!” she interrupted, unable to bear another word.

She absolutely hated being lectured by her elders. To her mind, using grand principles, morality, and blind filial obedience to coerce someone was the most shameless thing imaginable.

There had to be reason behind everything. Those lectures had never had anything to do with reason.

“This isn’t a lecture,” the old man replied calmly. “Bingbing, I didn’t call to quarrel with you. Calm down a little. What grudge between a grandfather and a granddaughter could possibly be beyond mending? Let the past be the past. That decision of mine back then really was—”

“Let the past be the past? Easy for you to say, old man. Do you have any idea what I’ve been through these past few years—”

“Bingbing!” He cut her off, his voice firming before it softened again. “Let me finish. Actually, I called today because I wanted to praise you. You’ve done very well, especially when it comes to your judgment of men. Very good indeed.”

Her expression eased at once, and eased considerably.

She understood what he was implying, but she could hardly believe it.

“What do you mean?” she asked, wanting to be sure.

“Your grandfather was a foolish old man back then. That Ding boy really is no good. You were right, Bingbing.”

Li Ruobing was fucking stunned.

Her grandfather had actually admitted he was wrong?

She glanced instinctively at Wu Chen beside her. She did not know exactly what had happened, but she was not stupid. She could certainly guess that Wu Chen had spent a great deal of time lately speaking privately with her father and her uncle.

But was that enough to change the old man’s mind?

If he had changed his mind, it meant the entire Li family was making a fundamental change to its plans and its whole direction.

“Bingbing, are you out on the street? It sounds rather noisy where you are,” the old man asked suddenly.

“Uh—yes. At the mall.” His change of attitude had left her momentarily unsure how to deal with him.

“Shopping, are you? Who are you with?”

“Wu Chen.”

“Oh? That’s convenient. I was going to call him after I’d spoken with you. Here, give him the phone. I’d like a word with him.”

“Mm. Just a moment.” She turned to Wu Chen and held out the phone. “The old man wants to speak to you.”

Wu Chen looked perfectly composed. Still smiling, he took it, raised it to his ear, and said, “Old Master, you wanted to speak to me?”

There was no nervous caution, no excessive deference. His tone was easy and familiar, with just the respect due an elder.