Chapter 998: What a Coincidence (2)
Pointing at each person as he spoke about the past, Grandpa Shu suddenly started wailing again, saying that nobody cared about him anymore, that nobody came to visit him for an entire year, leaving him all alone here like a solitary old man...
At first, everyone found it amusing in a bittersweet way, but Grandpa Shu’s cries soon made all of them feel heavy-hearted once more.
Normally, Grandpa Shu had a strong, prideful personality and would never express these kinds of feelings in front of them.
Every time Jiaojiao called him, he would speak cheerfully, never once bringing up the topic of wanting them to visit him.
This was the first time—the Ruan Family couldn’t help but feel sorrowful. Shu Jiao, especially, was already wiping away streams of tears. Shu Lang had been too busy with his research and hadn’t been back home for the holidays in two years; Shu Wen had been accompanying Grandpa Shu during this time.
And as for Shu Jiao... she’d held back, hesitant because of Jiaojiao, and therefore hadn’t come home either. Thinking about it now, her heart ached deeply.
"Grandpa, Jiaojiao swears, from now on during every winter and summer break, I’ll definitely come to visit you." If her earlier promises had been mere attempts to make the old man happy, this time Ruan Jiaojiao was wholly earnest.
She had always believed someone as strong-willed as Grandpa Shu—whose inner character matched his tough exterior—would never feel this way.
But she hadn’t realized that deep down, the old man had been secretly longing for them to come back. He just never expressed it aloud. If it weren’t for him getting drunk this time, they might have gone their entire lives without knowing.