Chapter 33: Adoptive grandfather

[Note: The author decided to change the plot that had previously developed from chapters 33 to 36. I guess it got too serious and dramatic for a slice of life story. So he decided to scrap it all and start with a new development from chapter 33 again. I will be deleting the previous chapters as well.]


“Hey! wake up.”

Gu Xia was woken up by an elderly voice, he opened his eyes, and saw an old man with white hair and beard, wearing a washed-white tunic. The man was slapping him on his cheek to wake him.

“Young man, why did you fall asleep here?” The old man asked.

“Hello, elder. I was just thinking about whether there is a suitable club, and I wanted to join one, but after looking at a few, I didn’t see a suitable one, plus there were too many people here, so I came here to rest and fell asleep here.” Gu Xia rubbed his eyes, and said with a wry smile.

“Elder, what is your name?”

“Haha. My surname is Xu, you can just call me Grandpa Xu.” The old man smiled. After he finished speaking, he sat beside Gu Xia and said with a smile, “So… what type of club do you want to join? There are so many clubs in this university. Is there any that you like? You should understand that the club will also be of great help to you, especially the people in it. If you can create enough connections, the club will also be a great boost to your career. “

“Well… I haven’t really thought about all that, I just want to join a club that I’m interested in. A club that will be of some help with expanding my horizons in the future.” Gu Xia thought about it and pondered.

“In that case, I suggest that you join the Literature Club. As one of the largest clubs in Jiangbei University, the Literature Club includes talents from various departments. You can join in and meet some like-minded friends. The Literature Club is a great place for acquiring knowledge. It can make people progress quickly, after all, there are some truly knowledgeable people in it.” Grandpa Xu analyzed.

“A literary club?”

Gu Xia thought about it for a while. Literary Clubs were, to put it bluntly, a club where knowledge was explored. There were all kinds of people in it, so it was a good choice for him.

“How about it? Did you make a decision?” Grandpa Xu laughed.

“Grandpa Xu, I have listened to your suggestion, but I still have to think about it and take a look.” Gu Xia smiled.

“It’s good that you want to think about it. Young people should think clearly about what they do, otherwise they will easily suffer.” Grandpa Xu said with a smile and nodded.

“Hehe, didn’t you older generations say that suffering is a blessing?”

“That’s bullshit! Who wants to suffer? If young people lose too much, they lose their indomitable spirit. If young people become old-fashioned, then how are they different from us old guys?” Grandpa Xu sneered. .

“Young people must have a spirit of never admitting defeat, and dare to try new things no matter what. It’s not a bad thing to fail. What’s truly bad is not being able to stand back up when they fail. They don’t even know where they failed!”

“What Grandpa Xu said is very reasonable, this Gu Xia has learned a lot.” Gu Xia thanked him seriously.

“Heh… speaking of learning, it’s rare that someone is willing to listen to an old man like me, I have to thank you. Thank you for your willingness to speak with me, this poor old man.”

“I was very happy chatting with Grandpa Xu, and I learned a lot. In the future, if Grandpa Xu wants to talk to someone, you can call me, and I will come to listen to your teaching at any time.” Gu Xia smiled.

“Haha. That’s good, well then, this old man is really happy today! So, Gu Xia, how about I recognize you as my adoptive grandson? It’s good if you want to, and it’s fine if you don’t want to, we’ll still chat.” Grandpa Xu said with a smile.

“Grandfather”

Gu Xia heard his words and stood up, bowed to Grandpa Xu, and then spoke respectfully.

Even if he didn’t recognize him as an adoptive grandfather, by Grandpa Xu’s age, it was not an exaggeration to call him Grandpa!

“Haha~ Good, good grandson, good!”

“I can’t believe that even though this old man’s son and grandson are not by his side, now I have a good grandson by my side. God treats me Xu Tianxiang, very well!”

“Grandpa, aren’t your sons and grandchildren here? How can they rest assured knowing that you are here alone?” Gu Xia asked.

“They…they can’t accompany this old man here. They are very busy all day long, and they all are living a good life in the capital. They come here once a year to visit me.” Xu Tianxiang sighed with some sadness.

Gu Xia heard his words, and couldn’t help but think about some things from his previous life. Back then, he was busy earning money every day, and he also rarely visited his parents.

Not to mention that Grandpa Xu’s son and grandson were far away in the capital. It was so far away from here, and living in that place must be very busy and hectic.

But no matter how busy you are, you should always visit your parents!

“Never wait to care for one’s parents”

This sentence makes a lot of sense only after the death of one’s parents, but when your parents are gone, what is the use of understanding this sentence?

So it is important to take advantage of the parents being alive. You have to be more filial and visit them more often!

Money was endless, but your parents were getting older every day.

“Grandpa, don’t you still have this grandson? In the future, I’ll go to your place to eat and drink when I have nothing to do. Don’t think I’m annoying.” Gu Xia joked.

“Haha~ Come if you want to, this old man doesn’t have anything else, just a lot of wine and rice.”

“Why not go right now? It’s almost noon, so come to my place to eat with me. Let us two grandfather and grandson have some drinks.” Xu Tianxiang said happily.

“Okay.”

The two walked all the way while talking and laughing, they looked quite like a grandfather and grandson, not at all like people who just met.

The world was really full of mysteries.

What Gu Xia didn’t know was that, by just recognizing an adoptive grandfather, he would come across an opportunity of a lifetime. Of course, this was something to talk about in the future.

Gu Xia followed Xu Tianxiang all the way to the teachers’ dormitory.

Gu Xia smiled. Sure enough, Grandpa Xu was a teacher at Jiangbei University. Otherwise, how could an old man just appear inside the university and behave and talk like an intellectual?

It was just that Grandpa Xu was very old, so why hasn’t he retired yet?

He had to just wait and ask later!

The teachers’ dormitory was different from the student’s dormitory. The teacher’s dormitory was composed of separate houses. Each house was not that big, but it was enough for a family to live comfortably. This was also one of the benefits of Jiangbei University. The welfare of the teachers had been improved, so that they could have their own independent rest environment. If they lived together like it was in the student dormitory, the teachers who were married and had children, would definitely find it inconvenient.

Xu Tianxiang opened the door, pointed to the sofa and said, “Sit wherever you like, just think of it as your own home.”

After saying that, he went inside the room.

Gu Xia looked at the interior. The interior of this house was very simple, with only some basic living furniture, but what attracted Gu Xia most was a set of military uniforms hanging on one side of the wall. It was washed clean, there were many patches on it, but the most shocking thing was the medals hanging on the chest.

There were dozens of medals densely packed together, and Gu Xia looked at it with deep and heartfelt respect. ‘I didn’t think that Grandpa Xu was also an old soldier, a veteran from the Second Sino-Japanese War!’ (G: It was a military conflict (1937–1945) that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan.)

The reason the later generation could have their current peaceful life was all because of people like Grandpa Xu who fought with their lives. Each medal represented a battle of life and death again and again, and each patch represented the pain of being hit by a bullet!

Xu Tianxiang walked out of the room, holding a cup in his hand. After he saw Gu Xia staring straight at his military uniform with a solemn and yearning expression, he couldn’t help smiling. He really did not judge wrongly. A person who could look at a military uniform for so long, with a face of longing and respect could never be a bad person. It seemed that he had to pave the way for this adoptive grandson, otherwise he would have let the young man call him adoptive grandfather in vain.

“Hahaha. Don’t look at it so much, it’s just a military uniform that is about to rot, what is there to see, come here and drink tea.” Xu Tianxiang laughed.

“In my eyes, this is not just a military uniform, but your honor, Grandpa, a feat worthy of staying in the descendants’ memory forever.” Gu Xia said solemnly.

“Okay, let’s stop talking about that. Let’s go, accompany this old man to pick vegetables in the vegetable garden. I’ll let you have a taste of my craft today.”

Xu Tianxiang’s face was full of pride when he heard what Gu Xia said. This was also an indelible fact, It’s just that his descendants didn’t care a lot about it.

“Okay, I’m going to see what grandpa has grown. I’ll do the cooking. There’s no reason for grandpa to cook for his grandson.” Gu Xia nodded and said.

The grandfather and grandson picked some vegetables in the vegetable garden, and Gu Xia cut some bacon, and quickly cooked three dishes and brought them out.

“I didn’t expect you to be able to cook. It tastes good. In the future, you should come to eat with me every day, and cook for me, haha…” Xu Tianxiang laughed.

“If grandpa really wants, then I will cook for you every day.” Gu Xia said with a smile.

Xu Tianxiang took out a bottle of Maotai from the cabinet. Gu Xia had never seen this kind of Maotai before. He guessed that it was a high-end product. (G: Maotai or Moutai is a style of baijiu, a distilled Chinese liquor, made in the town of Maotai in China’s Guizhou province.)

“Come on, let us grandfather and grandson have two glasses of this wine! They buy me cigarettes and wine every time they come back to visit. I didn’t want to drink it so I just put it away. I’m feeling quite happy today, so let’s drink.”

Gu Xia knew that ‘they’ must be his children and grandchildren. It seemed that grandfather was really very lonely! There wasn’t even anyone to accompany him for a drink.


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