Chen Tianxu gradually regained some semblance of reason, fighting back tears as he asked anxiously, "Abbot, if I call my dad, will he be okay?"
Jiangli blinked, not hiding the truth, "That’s hard to say; it depends on your father’s own fate, and whether he believes what you tell him. Heavenly Dao always hopes to leave a glimmer of hope, but whether one can seize it depends on the individual. Even Heavenly Dao cannot intervene."
Chen Tianxu’s recently regained composure almost crumbled again.
Seeing his look of trying not to cry, Xia Xin was at his wits’ end, wanting to comfort him, but what could he do when the old ancestor had already spoken to this extent?
"You’d better not cry now; there isn’t much time left until dawn," Jiangli poured himself a cup of water, took a small sip, and said indifferently, "If it gets any later, there might not even be that glimmer of hope left."
The tears welling up in Chen Tianxu’s eyes suddenly retreated, and he quickly picked up his phone to call his dad.
But after several attempts, he couldn’t get through.
Chen Tianxu’s tears plunked onto the screen of his phone.
Jiangli, puzzled, asked, "Aren’t you and your dad not on great terms?"
Yao Xuanhang, Cui Wenzhe: "..."
Just because their father-son relationship was indifferent didn’t mean he wanted anything to happen to his dad!
Yao Xuanhang thought with a head full of black lines.
Chen Tianxu choked up and, while redialing his father’s number, said, "Well, he is still my dad after all..."
Jiangli nodded as if he suddenly understood, "Then, keep trying."
Chen Tianxu, anxious and continuously shedding tears, dialed his father’s number over a dozen times, but Chen Yeming never answered.
Chen Tianxu was so anxious he almost smashed his phone.
"Why won’t he answer..."
Xia Xin tried to console him, "Could he be working overtime? Overtime is pretty normal nowadays. Maybe he’s busy. Why don’t you try calling a few more times?"
Chen Tianxu was sweating profusely, his phone never leaving his hand.
It wasn’t until twenty minutes later, just when he thought something must have happened to his dad, that the phone finally connected.
As Chen Tianxu heard his father’s voice on the other end, tears once again became uncontrollable, "Dad..."
"Why are you suddenly calling dad?" Chen Yeming seemed surprised that his son was calling, quite pleasantly so.
Chen Tianxu couldn’t help but wipe away tears, "Why did you only just answer the phone?"
"I had a last-minute meeting and put my phone on silent; I couldn’t answer," Chen Yeming’s voice carried a mix of fatigue and hoarseness, but he was happy to hear from his son, "Son, how’s it going on your end? How’s your study? Calling dad so late, is there something wrong? If you’re short on cash, just tell dad."
Chen Tianxu choked up.
Looking back, before he discovered his father’s infidelity, their relationship had actually been quite good; they often talked on the phone.
But it seemed that every time, his dad assumed he was running out of money.
"Money, money, money. Why is it always about money with you! Is it that every time I call you, it’s for money? Can’t there be something else?"
Chen Tianxu’s anger flared, letting out all the years of suppressed anger in his heart.
"It’s always about money! Do you think that by giving me some money, you can compensate for your affair!"
Chen Yeming on the other end was stunned to hear his son lash out and stood there somewhat at a loss.
When he heard the rest of Chen Tianxu’s words, his expression suddenly grew tense. He quickly glanced around, ducked into a nearby fire escape, and asked in a low voice, "Tianxu, what are you talking about? How can you talk nonsense like that?"