“Stop spoiling him,” Xue Da added.
“I’ve already decided yesterday,” Xue Dafu said. “I’ll make sure that it’ll never happen again.”
Seeing that his third son was determined, Xue Da was relieved. “That’s good. I can rest assured.”
“Xue Zhuzi, that animal!” Xue Wufu had already been placed on the ground by Xue Erfu. He couldn’t help but open his mouth in anger, but just as he opened his mouth, he was cut off by Xue Da with a stern look.
Xue Da sighed. “You’ve been beaten up so badly. I don’t know how long it’ll take for you to recover. Forget about that boy. Besides, he didn’t really hit me. In fact, when I heard that he was beaten up like that, I was quite distressed. He’s my grandson after all… But for some reason, that child grew up in a crooked way. All these years, he’s only learnt how to complain from those two. I’ve always feigned ignorance and treated him like any other grandson. I gave him a share of everything, but he obviously didn’t care. I… Forget it, forget it. If it weren’t for this, I wouldn’t have been able to get over it either.”
“But yesterday,” Xue Da continued, “It really opened my eyes. My grandson, the grandson I’ve doted on since he was young, actually wanted to hit me… And I’ll have to let it go. Maybe it’s because I’m not meant to be that child’s grandfather. I don’t want to think about anything else, I just want to live up to my conscience.”
As he spoke, Xue Da looked at them again, “You guys too. As long as you live up to your conscience, do what you need to do. Sometimes, it’s good to focus on yourself and not take too much care for me. I’m not an unreasonable person.”
“Alright, alright,” Xue Da chuckled. “Go back, go back. It’s time to head back. I heard that your fields have grown some weeds. It’d be a waste for those crops to go to waste just like that.”
Seeing that Xue Da had really gotten over it and was completely fine, everyone left.
On the way home, Jiang Yue realized that Xue Yan had unknowingly fallen behind. His steps became smaller and smaller, as if he was about to stop.
He had fallen behind.
She saw him squatting by the side, not knowing what he was thinking, so she followed him. She didn’t look at him, nor did she say anything. She just simply squatted with him.
Xue Yan didn’t say anything, but soon after squatting down, she picked up a thin branch from the ground and drew random lines.
“I just regret it,” he said in a low voice after a long time.
“Regret what?” Jiang Yue asked.
“In my past life, I never stood up for him.” If he did something about it, his grandfather would not have suffered as much. Cutting off all contact with Zhang Meili and Xue Zhuzi was something that had to be done. Then, Zhang Meili and Xue Zhuzi would not have dared to unscrupulously use the excuse of being his closest family to slander him and say that he cheated in the exam, angering his grandfather to death.
Jiang Yue didn’t ask about the consequences of not standing up for him earlier. Instead, she asked, “Then why didn’t you do it earlier?”
Xue Yan looked into the distance, “My father worked so hard for me. You can see that his back is hunched because of me. It’s all because of me… So, I’ve always followed his decision.”
“That’s why we need to learn from our mistakes,” Jiang Yue continued.
Xue Yan was stunned for a moment, then he turned around and looked at her with a smile, “Yeah, we need to learn from this.”
“Let’s go,” she said as she pulled him up. “Let’s go back. We still have to go to the cornfield.”
“Okay.”