Chapter 23
Village Head Zhang Defu who was having his dinner saw Old Man Gen coming over, and his heart sank slightly as he ran up to personally welcome him. “Uncle, you could have just sent a message over if there’s any matter; there’s no need for you to come over personally.”
“I would like to speak to you about that Jian lass.” Old Man Gen had his hands behind his back as he entered the yard. The seventy-year-old him had carried a cannon before and was someone who had survived from the heaps of bodies behind him. Even at an old age, his body still had not changed, with military might still running through his veins.
Although the residents of the village did not know he was from the military, they could not help but have some sort of respect for him.
Zhang Defu invited Old Man Gen into his house to have a seat and had his wife leave before sighing, “All these years, that Jian Lass, might have suffered much grievance that even we do not know of.”
“Uncle, it is all my fault. At first I thought that you taking care of a girl might be inconvenient, so having her aunt take care of her could have been a better choice. Her own aunt…I didn’t know, how could she…”
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Old Man Gen gently raised his hand and spoke solemnly, “It isn’t your fault, even I wouldn’t have known. Just this morning, Jian lass had come around and said she’d like to return.”
“I’ve said it before. At that time, she was still young so I did not interfere. But now that she was the one to raise it up, then it must be done.”
“That child truly is clever, just like her parents. If disciplined well, she will definitely be successful one day. As for Ye Zhifan’s side, I’ll not head over there; when you send the lass to school on Monday, go and speak with Ye Zhifan and tell him each and every good deed that wife of his had done!”
At the last sentence, Old Man Gen’s rough and vigorous voice was icy cold. After hearing what he had to say, Zhang Defu was shaken and his heart pounded aggressively.
Quickly, he complied, “I will, I will, I will. If Jian lass wishes to return, there’s no reason to not let her. Just that, Uncle, these few years…” He did not say it straight out for it seemed to be something untold of.
“I have not retired; once in a while, I take a stroll in the mountains.” Old Man Gen rose from his seat without taking a sip of tea and adjusted his clothing out of habit before glancing back at Zhang Defu with a fiery gaze while speaking deeply, “If Ye Zhifan disagrees, then hand him over to me. How I sent her there at that time will be how he will send her back.”
Beads of cold sweat formed on Zhang Defu’s forehead, and he spared no time to quickly stand up. Bowing, he hurriedly replied, “Uncle, rest assured, there’s no need for you to worry. I’ll deal with it, I’ll deal with it.” Oh my mother, after so many years, this was his second time seeing Uncle lose his temper.
The first was when Ye Jian’s mother was pregnant with her, and now the second… was when Ye Jian got kicked out of the house by Sun Dongqing.
After seeing Old Man Gen off, Zhang Defu wiped the sweat from his forehead. Without even finishing his dinner, he gave a phone call to Ye Zhifan who was in town. Since Uncle had lost his temper, it was not something he could shoulder.
Ye Zhifan, who was not even the slightest bit aware of the matter between his wife and the child, became furious after receiving the call. “Brother Defu, for this matter, I’ll return tomorrow to apologize to Uncle personally. But the matter with the Jian lass, I might have to trouble brother to help me deal with it.”
“Ah, my deputy mayor, please do not make things difficult for me. Calling you ‘Brother’ is already difficult enough for me. For this matter, I cannot make the decision. Uncle stated clearly that he wishes for the Jian lass to be sent back just like how he sent her to your place in the past.”
Zhang Defu was determined not to intervene in this matter. Just who was Old Man Gen? As if he’d dare!
At that time when the military sent a silk banner over, even though it came quietly, he was the small village’s overseer at any rate, so of course he’d have some gist of it.
For this matter, it was Sun Dongqing who had stirred the trouble up herself, and he would keep his hands as clean as possible away from it.