Chapter 445: Is That How You Cherish a National Treasure?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Qi Chenglin looked at the time and said, “Grandma, we’d like to stay overnight if you’re alright with it. Tomorrow we’ll depart to the Qi family manor and inform them about Danchen’s situation.”

Grandmother Ruan was exhilarated when Qi Chenglin mentioned that he was willing to stay over at her place.

Initially, Grandmother Ruan found it embarrassing to ask them to stay despite the intense desire since her granddaughter had her own family, but she did not expect that Qi Chenglin would offer to stay overnight.

Thus, Grandmother Ruan felt that her grandson-in-law was absolutely perfect and it was extremely rare to find such a man in the current world. She was genuinely happy for her granddaughter who was blessed enough to marry Qi Chenglin.

“I’ll tidy up the rooms for you. Coincidentally, there are two empty rooms now—Keshan and Keyu’s, so both of you and Youxuan can have their rooms later,” Grandmother Ruan replied.

The Ruan family was not quite well-off when Ruan Lichuan was initially transferred to B City, but fortunately, the school arranged a housing unit for him at that time.

Ruan Keyu was well and safe, and the property pricing in B City was not sky-high at that time. The school authorities even inquired Ruan Lichuan regarding his housing unit preference out of respect. Even though there were only hostels for teaching staff near the school, they had different sizes too, right?

Ruan Lichuan missed his youngest son at that time and they needed a bedroom if Ruan Keyu returned home with his wife, so he requested for a four-bedroom housing unit.

After that, Ruan Lichuan worked in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, slowly working his way up to the title of fellowship. The housing unit that he lived in at that time was given by the academy because naturally, the academy would not let Ruan Lichuan suffer in terms of housing. Ruan Lichuan was struggling to save money with his low income despite having a good allowance, and with the addition of prize money, he barely had enough to buy a house with a private bathroom in every bedroom in B City. Moreover, the Ruan family had to continue their search for Ruan Keyu’s child too.

Fortunately, the house was given by the academy which lessened the Ruan family’s burden.

Even though Ruan Keyu passed away later, Ruan Lichuan would leave room for Ruan Keyu habitually as a self-consolation that his youngest son still lived in this world.

Qi Chenglin had already made plans for this, so he instructed Xiao Yang to visit Prestige Residences, informed Aunt Zheng to pack up toiletries, a change of clothes, and pajamas and put them into the trunk before fetching Qi Youxuan that evening.

Thus, Qi Chenglin went to the car to take the luggage. Ruan Danchen smiled when she noticed that everything was well prepared by him as it was obviously not spontaneous at all.

They said that men were careless and sloppy, but this man was scrupulous and had thought of everything for her sake.

One of the reasons why this thought did not cross Ruan Danchen’s mind was because of her mental confusion amidst the excitement. Besides, she had immense trust in Qi Chenglin. She knew Qi Chenglin would figure out the little details she missed, so occasionally she would feel lazy to use her brain just like what happened this time.

She was getting lazier to use her brain after getting used to Qi Chenglin’s pampering.

The members of the Ruan family were taken aback when they noticed Qi Chenglin had prepared everything in advance.

Qi Chenglin’s gaze swept across their surprised expressions and replied honestly with a serious expression, “I don’t want to intrude abruptly without getting grandma’s consent, but it’s better to be well prepared so that it won’t be troublesome to grandma and auntie.”

“...” Grandmother Ruan and Chen Minxia were dumbfounded.

Both of them looked at Ruan Danchen. Was her husband really that shameless?

However, Ruan Danchen had immersed herself in elation and satisfaction because Qi Chenglin would settle every issue with efficiency for her sake and there was nothing she could add on in each of his plans, so there was no way she would take their gazes into account.

Instead, Ruan Danchen held onto Grandmother Ruan’s hand in relief and praised softly. “Grandma, look at Chenglin. He always plans everything for my sake.”

It could not get any better than that.

“Now I feel my thinking ability is getting worse because Chenglin always plans everything for me.”

“...” Grandmother Ruan was left speechless.

“We initially planned to visit the Qi family either tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, but your grandpa isn’t here now. It’s our first time visiting the in-laws so we can’t cast your grandpa aside in such an important event,” Grandmother Ruan said.

“It’s alright, I’ll explain everything when we’re back home tomorrow. They’ll understand,” Qi Chenglin nodded.

Grandmother Ruan smiled in relief. “We’ll visit immediately after his return.”

“My granddaughter lived alone as an orphan since young, and yet the Qi family, who was so rich and influential, didn’t give her the cold-shoulder at all and treated her as their daughter. Danchen is truly blessed and I really don’t know how to express my gratitude on this,” Grandmother Ruan put on a grateful smile.

Ruan Keshan was reluctant to leave her niece and wanted to accompany her for a while longer, but there were no empty rooms at home now. He thought about sleeping on the floor somewhere in the house but was too embarrassed to voice out his suggestion. Thus, left with no choice, he returned to his own house with Chen Minxia in the end.

However, Ruan Zeer chose to stay and play with the kid since there would not be any trouble sleeping with Qi Youxuan in the same room tonight.

They discussed the Chang family’s issues openly in the presence of the kid.

That was due to his young age which could potentially make him fall prey to others’ traps or may accidentally say something which could be used by others if he remained ignorant of worldly affairs.

Thus, Qi Chenglin maintained a policy to always inform the children on anything that they were supposed to know. Moreover, this was not a big issue at all, so there was no need to keep this a secret from the kid. Since they were not in the wrong, they did not need to hide this fact from the Chang family on purpose too. In fact, they did not mind at all if this was brought to the Chang family’s attention because Chang Jingqiu was the one who should feel nervous about this.

Qi Youxuan and Ruan Zeer were on the bed, with the kid sitting with his small but chubby legs crossed, and one of his hands was holding a slice of ham Ruan Zeer sneaked from the refrigerator in the kitchen amidst the darkness just now.

The fat kid could not resist his desire to consume meat. Thus, with teary eyes, he stared at Ruan Zeer with a shamelessly cute appearance that melted Ruan Zeer’s heart, and Ruan Zeer immediately took on the mission of being a good brother afterward.

Qi Youxuan chewed on the ham while enjoying the blessed sensation of having a good brother. No matter if he was at home, the Qi family manor, or his grandparents’ house, all of them would ignore his cute pleas for meats.

“Uncle, you really have me in your heart,” Qi Youxuan took a huge bite from the ham and said with bulging cheeks.

The handsome young man who was originally attractive and elegant was now looking extremely honest after he put on a wide grin after listening to the kid.

Ruan Zeer then fell into the trap the kid planned for him. “Let me know if you want anything in the future, I’ll get them for you.”

Qi Youxuan’s eyes lit up immediately after hearing Ruan Zeer and pounced straight into his embosom. His lips and hands which were oily after eating ham rubbed against Ruan Zeer’s pajamas without considering him as an outsider at all.

Initially, the kid was very concerned about his image in Ruan Zeer’s presence and purposely created an image like he was especially sensible, open-minded, and calm.

In his opinion, he liked Ruan Zeer but Ruan Zeer was not his biological brother after all. Based on this fact, he needed to preserve his reputation in Ruan Zeer’s presence.

Well, Ruan Zeer was his own biological uncle now!

What was an uncle? An uncle was an elder.

In the fat kid’s opinion, an elder existed so that he could take full advantage of them. There was absolutely no need to preserve his image and reputation in front of his uncle as a youngster. Instead, he needed to liberate himself and show his true self to the elders, since acting cute was the only way to get the attention and love he desired.

Lying in Ruan Zeer’s embrace while taking a bite out of the ham, the fat kid felt deeply that he was able to consume meat by staying with his uncle.

The elegant and handsome young man lowered his gaze to his pajamas which were now stained with oil. His lips twitched but when his gaze met with Qi Youxuan’s contented face, words failed to come out of his mouth..

The corner of his mouth which appeared sorrowful initially cracked open to form a gentle smile.

“Uncle, I really like you guys,” the kid chewed the ham while saying with his mouth full.

“We like you too.” Ruan Zeer figured that the oil from the ham was nothing compared to the soft and fat kid in his embrace. Then, he lifted the fat kid’s buttocks directly and let the kid sit on his thighs while hugging the softness.

“I don’t like the Chang family. There’s an extremely bad old lady living in that house. I don’t want to acknowledge that family too because mom will get bullied if that happens,” the kid said miserably.

Then, he took another huge bite out of the ham amidst the sorrow, and the ham no longer felt fragrant after his constant worrying.

Ruan Zeer scratched his head as he had no idea how to proceed too. Left with no choice, he said, “Let’s just wait and see, since there’s no intention to acknowledge the Chang family now, right? If that old lady dares to provoke my sister again, not only do we have my brother-in-law’s support, now we have the Ruan family’s full support too. My sister has her own family now and we certainly won’t stand aside while she’s bullied.”

The kid nodded vigorously in response as his confidence was boosted immediately after realizing that his mother had her own family now.

Ruan Zeer gave it some thoughts. His brain, which was capable of solving mathematics questions with ease, fired up at that moment. Then, he lifted Qi Youxuan with narrowed eyes.

Qi Youxuan felt curious immediately after noticing Ruan Zeer’s expression looking as if there was a lightbulb over his head. The kid took a bite out of the ham and asked, “Uncle, what kind of evil scheme do you have in mind?”

“...” Ruan Zeer took a sorrowful glance at the kid. “What do you mean evil scheme? Any idea that benefits us is a good idea.”

“That’s true,” Qi Youxuan nodded in agreement.

“My sister said my brother-in-law mentioned that my sister’s eldest uncle—” Obviously, the kid was getting confused by the complicated seniority and relatives’ titles by the look on his face, so Ruan Zeer explained to him in detail. “That’s the old lady’s eldest son, my sister’s eldest uncle. He’s your granduncle.”

After the kid nodded understandingly, Ruan Zeer continued, “Didn’t they mention that he treats Chang Jingqiu well because of his close relationship with your grandaunt? In that case, he’s actually a good guy.”

The kid thought about it and nodded in agreement.

“I think it’ll be good for you to have an eldest granduncle who loves you dearly too,” Ruan Zeer hinted.

The kid’s eyes lit up in an instant. He could imagine all the meat and money pouring out of his granduncle’s pocket and going straight to him.

“We can’t tar your granduncle with the same brush as the rest of the Chang family. You need to get close to your granduncle when necessary so that he’ll stand on my sister’s side and won’t let that old lady bully my sister. We’ll stay put for the time being since my sister has no intention to acknowledge the Chang family. When she finally decides to acknowledge them, we’ll create good impressions so that your granduncle will stand firmly on my sister’s side. That way, she won’t receive unjust treatment any longer, right? We fight no battle unprepared, and we fight no battle we’re not sure of winning,” Ruan Zeer explained.

The kid’s eyes lit up brightly as he stared at Ruan Zeer like a bosom friend, and the smile the duo gave each other harbored malicious intentions.

Qi Youxuan glanced at the ham in his chubby hand, bearing the agonizing pain as he tore off a small piece of ham and passed it to Ruan Zeer reluctantly. “Uncle, this is for you. This is a display of filial affection from your niece to you.”

“...” The corner of Ruan Zeer’s eye twitched when he noticed Qi Youxuan’s expression as if he was robbed, so he stroke the kid’s hair gently instead. “Good boy, have it to yourself. I’ll treat you well too.”

Thus, with a sigh of relief, the kid swallowed the rest of the ham without feeling any burden.

...

historical

...

It was three o’clock in the morning when the alarm clock to remind Ruan Keshan regarding Grandfather Ruan’s arrival at the airport rang.

Ruan Keshan was not in deep slumber due to excitement and thus, he jolted awake almost instantly and turned off the alarm clock. Then, he whispered softly to Chen Minxia, who was awakened by the alarm, to continue her slumber before going out of the room to call Grandfather Ruan.

Grandfather Ruan nearly dropped his phone out of shock upon hearing that his granddaughter had been found.

Grandfather Ruan’s tone radiated disbelief and feared that this was just a dream, so Ruan Keshan explained everything that had happened in these two days without missing any details to Grandfather Ruan.

After the explanation, Ruan Keshan heard Grandfather Ruan instructing his assistant urgently from the other end of the phone. “Quick! Book a return flight ticket, I want to go back now!”

“Professor, you’ve just arrived. There’s a lot of people waiting for you to start the meeting and communicate,” Ruan Keshan heard Grandfather Ruan’s assistant’s voice traveling across the phone faintly.

“What meeting? We have this kind of meeting every year, but I haven’t seen my granddaughter for the past twenty-seven years! Who cares about the meeting now? Do you think these people we encounter every year would be more important than my own granddaughter?” Grandfather Ruan exploded with rage all of a sudden.

If there was a table in front of Grandfather Ruan right now, he would flip it over in anger.

Ruan Keshan was confused right now. Ruan Keshan and his brother were scholarly and good-tempered, but why Grandfather Ruan was so much different than them?

There were a few voices on the other end of the phone trying to advise Grandfather Ruan, and the English language was heard among the voices too.

Grandfather Ruan’s assistant was partly aware of the Ruan family’s issue, so he advised, “Professor, I know you’re feeling anxious right now, but the others waiting for you aren’t aware of this situation. We’ve just arrived, so why don’t we discuss this situation first and arrange the schedule accordingly before you return home?”

Grandfather Ruan gave this some thought before nodding reluctantly at the end and hanging up the phone call.

Grandfather Ruan wanted to speak with his granddaughter and great-grandson initially but Ruan Keshan reminded indirectly that it was three o’clock in the morning for them.

Grandfather Ruan loved his granddaughter dearly so he would not disturb her slumber and hence, gave up on his request.

...

...

The next day, Qi Chenglin brought Ruan Danchen and the kid back to the Qi family manor after bidding farewell to Grandmother Ruan.

After explaining everything to Grandmother Qi, she said, “This is fate. This is destiny.”

Then, she grabbed Ruan Danchen’s hand. “This is the connection between the loved ones. You have a deep connection with your family members, and that’s why you can reunite with them after so many years of suffering.”

Guan Liya sobbed in relief as she truly felt happy for her daughter-in-law.

The Qi family would not care about the daughter-in-law’s family background, as long as they were pure and innocent. Even though Ruan Danchen was born an orphan, outsiders may consider this a defect.

However, Ruan Danchen officially had a family now and they were even respectable and well-educated research scientists. The Qi family’s confidence would be boosted if they had such in-laws, right?

“The Chang family is a problem...” Guan Liya felt uncomfortable at the thought of that old lady in the Chang family.

She glanced at Ruan Danchen and said softly, “It won’t be a problem since we have your back and your grandparents won’t stand aside when that old lady bullies or embarrass you too.”

Ruan Danchen merely mentioned that she was not ready to acknowledge the Chang family at the moment. The rest nodded in agreement since they did not care about having the Chang family as their in-laws too.

“My grandpa reached United States in the wee hours of the morning. Grandma figured that they should visit the Qi family for the first time together instead of casting my grandpa aside, that’s why they didn’t visit today. They’ll visit immediately after my grandpa’s return,” Ruan Danchen explained.

“So that’s why. Tell them to relax. There’s no need to be overly polite. We’re families by marriage now and will see each other frequently in the future, so don’t be so polite,” Grandmother Qi said understandingly.

Grandmother Qi knew Ruan Lichuan from the newspaper too and figured that he was a scientist who was devoted to research with exemplary conduct and nobility. It was certain that such a family would not be involved in nonsense or shenanigans.

Grandmother Ruan merely asked Ruan Danchen to convey a message without any intention to call and fawn over the Qi family. It was an indication that the Ruan family treated the Qi family with a normal demeanor which gave Grandmother Qi assurance as she nodded in agreement.

Such a family was way better than the Chang family.

However, Grandmother Qi and Guan Liya asked Qi Youxuan regarding the Ruan family’s situation when Ruan Danchen went to take a nap.

“They’re good people, I like them a lot. My uncle treats me very well too,” the kid replied while drinking milk.

Since his uncle would let him consume meat.

“My great-grandma even cried. My grandparents are especially kind to me too. Great-grandma Qi, Grandma Guan, I’ve a good eye for human nature, so don’t worry!” The kid nodded vigorously.

Both of them were relieved now, and Grandmother Qi stroked the kid’s head gently in response.

On the other hand, it was unexpected that Grandfather Ruan was howling about his intention to return home after receiving the phone call from Ruan Keshan in the wee hours of the morning. Even though his assistant tried his best to advise Grandfather Ruan, he failed to extinguish the raging fire of Grandfather Ruan’s dedication toward his motherland and love toward his granddaughter.

Thus, the first thing Grandfather Ruan did was to throw the speech script to his assistant and let the assistant record a video of him presenting the script, so that the assistant could just play the video recording directly in the meeting. The whole process took only two hours and after that, he complained tearfully and sincerely to his international friends.

How his granddaughter became homeless for twenty-seven years, and how much effort they put in for the search of his granddaughter for all these years. Countless hopes turned into countless disappointments, but this time they managed to locate his granddaughter and brought her home. Thus, how was it possible for Grandfather Ruan to stay put?

The crowd shed tears and expressed their understandings as Grandfather Ruan burst into tears during his speech. Then, Grandfather Ruan reported to the leader of the country with the same story again. There was no way the leader would embarrass Grandfather Ruan, who was considered a national treasure in mathematics, on this matter. Moreover, the rest of the committee involved in the meeting did not mind Grandfather Ruan’s absence at all too.

The leader expressed his understanding and support on Grandfather Ruan’s family issue. The leader also congratulated him on his successful search of his granddaughter and advised him to inform the leader if he needed anything.

“Hey, everyone’s understanding pleases me!” Grandfather Ruan said. He had already instructed his assistant to check out and was on his way toward the main entrance, getting ready to depart for the airport.

“...” The leader was left speechless.

“Well, to be honest, you can come back to continue your meeting after seeing your granddaughter if time permits,” the leader said. That was his intention all along.

“Alright, I’ll consider. Flight tickets are hard to come by. They’re very expensive,” Grandfather Ruan figured that he would not have time for the meeting after seeing his granddaughter.

“We’ll pay for you!”

“Jet lags are agonizing. You’re asking an old man in his seventies to fly back and forth for more than ten hours in a plane, and I have to deal with jet lag too. After my jet lag is cured and you want me to fly back to experience it again, how agonizing is that? Am I not a national treasure? Is that how you cherish a national treasure? Who’ll bring glory to the country if a national treasure faced health issues?”