Chapter 17: Insincere Visit

Rong Mingda and Zhang Yan arrived at Elder Rong's hospital room accompanied by several bodyguards. Aside from two patients, the only other person in the room was a caregiver attending to Elder Rong.

Auntie Wu looked at them with curiosity. They had come out with bodyguards and were dressed with an air of nobility; they were clearly wealthy. Who were these people looking for?

Upon seeing them, Elder Rong's face instantly soured. "What are you doing here?"

Rong Mingda spoke with feigned sincerity, "Dad, I heard you were hospitalized, so I came specifically to see you. Where is Xiao Ying? Why isn't she here to accompany you?"

Auntie Wu and the caregiver watched them with gossipy expressions, instantly mentally constructing a grand melodrama of a wealthy son abandoning his impoverished elderly father.

"Chairman Rong, how could an old man like me trouble you to come see me?" Elder Rong said sarcastically.

"Dad, how can you say that? Mingda and I heard something happened to you and rushed over immediately."

Zhang Yan turned the tables, "It's also that girl Xiao Ying's fault for not telling us in time that you were sick."

"If we hadn't called her to ask why she hasn't come home these past few days, she wouldn't have told us anything about you being in trouble."

Elder Rong exposed her lie in a second. "Since you've already called Xiao Ying, why are you still asking me where she is?"

The expressions on Rong Mingda and Zhang Yan's faces instantly froze.

*Damn old man, no wonder he raised such an uneducated little brat,* Zhang Yan cursed inwardly. She shot a look at Rong Mingda, who stepped forward and said angrily, "Dad, you need to have a serious talk with Xiao Ying. She has no manners at all now; she actually dared to curse me and Yanyan."

"Even if there were places where we failed to manage her emotions, she could have spoken to us properly. We are her elders, and Yanyan already works so hard taking care of such a large household on her own."

To think she even came here to complain. Did he not know his own granddaughter's temperament, having raised her himself?

Listening to Rong Mingda's twisting of the truth, Elder Rong's face grew darker and darker.

Rong Mingda said with a headache, "Not only is she ungrateful, but she also curses us and says all sorts of nonsense. It's too much."

"Get out!" Elder Rong grabbed a cup from the table and hurled it forcefully at Rong Mingda.

"Ah!"

Zhang Yan screamed and hid behind the bodyguards.

A bodyguard nearby stepped in just in time, blocking the cup with his hand. Rong Mingda wasn't hit, but he was startled.

Auntie Wu and the caregiver were also frightened, and several more onlookers—patients and their relatives—gathered at the door to watch the drama.

Rong Mingda shouted, "Rong Hongye, are you insane?!"

"Yes, I am insane! My brain must have been broken for picking you up and raising you in the first place, raising an ungrateful white-eyed wolf like you!"

Elder Rong's chest heaved rapidly with rage. "I know my granddaughter better than anyone. You, a man who abandoned her for over ten years without raising her, what right do you have to stand before me and say she lacks manners!"

The onlookers: *So it turns out they are the irresponsible parents who abandoned their child.*

With the truth exposed in front of so many people, Rong Mingda felt embarrassed. "Dad... I didn't mean..."

"Dad, you're being too unfair to Mingda. He has worked so hard all these years for the sake of this family."

Seeing that the situation was turning against them, Zhang Yan hurried to help. "Now that he has finally achieved success in his career, he wants to make it up to you and the child. You can't break his heart like this."

Rong Mingda felt a surge of warmth; only Yanyan understood him.

"Dad, don't get so worked up. I know you both still resent me. It's okay, I understand."

Rong Mingda continued, "Xiao Ying is still young after all; it's inevitable that there will be lapses in her care for you. I'll arrange for someone to take care of you later."

"Let Xiao Ying come home to stay tonight. She's worked hard these past few days."

They spoke with such profound affection that even Auntie Wu couldn't help but chime in, "Elder, it's not easy for young people working away from home. As elders, we should be more understanding."

Elder Rong let out a cold snort. "This ungrateful white-eyed wolf hasn't given me or my granddaughter a single cent. I don't need to be understanding of them!"

"Get out! I don't need you to arrange anyone to care for me. My granddaughter will take care of me!"

"Get out now! I don't want to see you... *cough, cough, cough*..."

Seeing the old man about to faint from rage, the caregiver nearby spoke up quickly.

"The Elder's health is not good right now. Perhaps you should communicate with the young lady first..."

He was afraid that if the old man suffered something serious, he would get into trouble.

*Damn old man!* Zhang Yan cursed silently. Suppressing her anger, she squeezed out a sorrowful smile.

"Then we'll trouble you to look after our Elder. We will come to see him again next time."

Rong Mingda and Zhang Yan left the hospital, brimming with suppressed fury.

As soon as they sat in the car, Zhang Yan lost her temper with Rong Mingda. "What is your father's problem? How have we ever wronged him?!"

If it weren't for the fact that the hospital was crowded and she feared it would affect their public image, she would have definitely taught that old man a lesson!

Rong Mingda put his arm around her shoulder to comfort her. "The old man is just like that. It was because I couldn't stand his bad temper that I was unwilling to go back in the first place."

"I'm sorry, Yanyan. I've let you suffer."

*Saying "you've suffered" is useless!* Zhang Yan wanted to curse, but thinking of her persona as a gentle and generous woman, the anger on her face gradually turned into loss and sadness.

"He is the father who raised you. As a daughter-in-law, it's only right that he scolds me a few times."

"It's just that we came for a visit and couldn't see Xiao Ying. Is she still angry with me and unwilling to see me?"

"Forget her for now. I'll come to find her myself in a few days," Rong Mingda said softly. "You've suffered. I'll take you to buy those bags you liked right now."

"Thank you, hubby. You're so good to me."

Zhang Yan smiled and leaned against his shoulder, but before she could, she felt her head go cold.

Zhang Yan's expression changed slightly. Acting as if nothing happened, she lifted her head and shifted her seat to the side.

Rong Mingda: "???"

"Open the window a bit, I feel a little carsick."

...

The high-speed train arrived at Tongzhou West Station. Guan Xiangyu woke Rong Leying, and the two of them got off.

Guan Xiangyu led Rong Leying toward the parking lot. "I've arranged for someone to pick us up and take us directly to Chen Village."

"That's wonderful."

Saving on fare and avoiding transfers made Rong Leying very happy.

The person picking them up was Wu Yan, a criminal investigator from the former Dongning Municipal Bureau. He was Tang Chengyun's senior colleague and had transferred back to his hometown, Tongzhou, for certain reasons.

Although Wu Yan was nearly forty, he had a baby face. He looked like a young man in his twenties, tall and thin.

"Brother Wu Yan, long time no see. You're still as young as ever," Guan Xiangyu teased.

Wu Yan touched his face confidently. "Born with natural beauty, nothing I can do about it."

"Hahaha... You're still as narcissistic as ever."

Wu Yan laughed loudly, then turned his gaze toward Rong Leying. "So this is the mail carrier who helped your grandfather send the letter."

This young girl looked like she was still in school, yet she actually knew about Elder Guan's first love. One wouldn't have guessed.

Wu Yan was on very good terms with Tang Chengyun and had even helped him look for information on Shen Honglian in the past, but unfortunately, they had found nothing.

(End of Chapter)