"You'll definitely know tomorrow, so don't ask anymore. Even if you do ask, I won't tell you. Okay, where's my room? It's getting late, I'm going to sleep."
Gu Zheng pointed to a room for Lin Ziming with a blank expression. After watching Lin Ziming enter the room, he frowned, expressing his confusion and doubt about what Lin Ziming had just said.
He didn't understand what Lin Ziming meant, but as Lin Ziming said, even if he asked now, he probably wouldn't get any results.
Since Lin Ziming said he would know tomorrow, he might as well wait until tomorrow.
But Gu Zheng never imagined that tomorrow would turn out like this.
After Xia Ran coaxed Gu Chen to sleep, she was about to go to bed when there was a knock on the door.
"Is that Grandpa?" Xia Ran asked in confusion as she opened the door, only to find that it was indeed her grandfather.
"Grandpa, what's wrong? Weren't you going to sleep? Why aren't you asleep yet?"
"No, I... I thought I heard you calling me just now, but I don't know if it was just my imagination. But now it seems it really was just my imagination. You didn't call me, right?"
Grandpa Xia looked at Xia Ran with slightly reddened eyes. Xia Ran didn't notice her grandfather's unusual expression and even smiled as she spoke.
"Grandpa, you must have misheard me. I didn't call you. You must be so sleepy that you're hallucinating."
"Really? You're hallucinating?" Grandpa Xia muttered to himself, then laughed. "Yes, Grandpa's hallucinating. Grandpa's going back to sleep now. You should go to sleep early too. You don't have anything to do tomorrow, so don't get up so early. Sleep a little longer, okay?"
"Okay, okay, I got it. I'll take you back to your room and turn off the light for you. You should go to sleep too."
Xia Ran helped Grandpa Xia back to his room, helped him lie down on the bed, covered him with a blanket, turned off the light, and prepared to leave.
But just as he reached the door, his grandfather suddenly called out to him again.
"Xiao Ran".
"What's wrong, Grandpa?" Xia Ran turned around in confusion. But because the lights were already off, only the light from the living room shone in, and the visibility was very blurry, so Xia Ran didn't see the extreme reluctance in her grandfather's eyes.
"It's nothing, Grandpa just wanted to tell you that you must have sweet dreams tonight so you don't have to get up so early tomorrow morning. It's a rare treat to sleep in, okay?"
Xia Ran felt it was a bit strange that her grandfather kept emphasizing this matter, but she still nodded in agreement.
"Okay, okay, Grandpa, don't worry. You should get some sleep too, and have sweet dreams tomorrow. We'll make some preparations tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow we'll take you to see another grandpa."
"Okay, let's go back to your room," Grandpa Xia replied with a smile. Xia Ran closed the door and left Grandpa's room.
But the moment she closed the door, Xia Ran felt a sudden surge of panic.
"What's wrong with me? Am I just too tired today?" Xia Ran muttered to herself, clutching her chest, and quickly went back to her room to sleep.
The whole house was plunged into darkness. But at one o'clock in the morning, the light in Grandpa Xia's room suddenly came on.
Grandpa Xia put on his clothes, got up, took out the yellowed notebook from the tin box next to his pillow, and then went to the desk in the room, sat down, and started writing on it.
It took him almost an hour to finish writing. Looking at the full page, Grandpa Xia sighed helplessly.
"I'm really getting old; it took me so long to write just a few words."
He muttered to himself, placed the pen in the middle of the notebook, and then pressed the longevity lock onto the notebook.
"Xiao Ran, don't blame Grandpa. Grandpa... had no other choice. From now on, Grandpa will watch over you from heaven and protect you."
Grandpa Xia touched the longevity lock, then the notebook, before finally getting up to pick out a new set of clothes that Xia Ran had bought for him from the wardrobe, and even put on new socks.
Grandpa Xia sat back on the bed and took out the two weeks' worth of sleeping pills the doctor had prescribed for him from the cabinet. He hadn't taken a single one since he came back, but he was going to take them all tonight.
The water he had brought in and prepared earlier was still on the cabinet. It had been sitting there for so long that it had gone cold, but that didn't matter to Grandpa Xia now.
He slowly swallowed the medicine, then lay down, a smile always on his face.
"I've come to find you, but I don't know if I'll catch up with you in time, since I'm so late all these years. You'd better walk slowly, or I'll get angry."
The lights in the room were on for most of the night. The old man on the bed was sleeping peacefully with a serene smile on his lips. The yellowed notebook on the desk was filled with pages of writing. Everything seemed so calm and peaceful.
The next day, the sun shone brightly for the first time in many days. Xia Ran was surprised to see the sunlight streaming in through the curtains when she woke up.
"The sun is out today? It's been so many days since we've had sunshine." Xia Ran sat up and muttered to herself, then stretched and glanced at Gu Chen beside her, only to find the child still sleeping soundly.
Xia Ran sat cross-legged on the bed, looking at her child's sleeping face, and felt very content with her current state of mind.
Last night, he had a rare dream where his grandfather was young and liked to carry him on his back and take him out for breakfast. He would take him to eat ice cream and drink milk tea, and do many things that parents don't allow their children to do. At that time, he felt that his grandfather was the best grandfather and the best parent in the world.
"Baby, don't worry, your little dad will be the most open-minded parent in the world from now on." Xia Ran tapped Gu Chen's nose, then quietly got up.
I don't know if it was because Grandpa said it last night, but he actually slept in late today, and it was almost ten o'clock.
"Xiao Ran, you're up? Go wash your face, brush your teeth, and have breakfast. I just went downstairs to buy it." Mr. Lin came in from the entrance hall.
Xia Ran responded and looked behind Lin's father.
"Uncle, where's Grandpa? Didn't he go with you? Isn't he up yet?"
"He probably hasn't gotten up yet. Everyone stayed up late last night, so he's probably too lazy to get out of bed. Let him sleep a little longer. I'll go and call Ziming back. We'll have guests coming over later."
"Huh? We have guests?" Xia Ran asked in confusion. "Who is it? Why didn't you mention it yesterday? Is it someone I know?"
Mr. Lin paused for a moment, then suddenly remembered that the old man seemed to have stayed with them all night and hadn't told Xia Ran about her true background.
"Well... you'll find out soon enough. We know each other. Go brush your teeth and wash your face first."
After he finished speaking, he went out to the next room to call Lin Ziming. Although Xia Ran was a little puzzled, she didn't ask any further questions and turned around to go into the room to wake Gu Chen.
Since we're having guests coming later, let's wake up the children.
But they don't know many people here. It's just the Feng family, then the Gu family, or maybe He Xiu? Yu Wu? But that doesn't make sense. If they came here, they would definitely tell him, right?
Forget it, if you can't figure it out, then don't think about it anymore.
After Xia Ran finished washing up with the child, she saw Lin's father and the others returning. Lin Ziming and Gu Zheng were both wearing pajamas.
However, Xia Ran couldn't help but frown when she saw Gu Zheng.
Has Gu Zheng's company been quiet lately? He's not even coming to work every day. Xia Ran wanted to say something, but in the end, she said nothing.
Mr. Lin: "You guys eat first, I'll go wake up the old man."
Mr. Lin walked to the door of Grandpa Xia's room and knocked, but no one answered.
"Grandpa, get up and have breakfast, Grandpa."
Mr. Lin called out several times, but no one answered from inside the room. Xia Ran and the others also looked over.
"Uncle, what's wrong? Didn't Grandpa answer?" Xia Ran walked over and asked.
"Yes, we knocked on the door and called out, but no one answered."
Xia Ran also found it a bit strange, because her grandfather wasn't someone who understood things so deeply.
"It's okay, just open the door and go in. I probably slept too late last night, so I slept a little more soundly today."
He pushed open the door and saw Grandpa Xia lying on the bed. A look of helplessness immediately appeared on his face. As he walked in, he said...
"Grandpa, get up! If you don't get up soon it will be noon, and Uncle has already brought breakfast..."
Xia Ran's voice suddenly stopped when he walked to the bedside. He looked at his grandfather's abnormally pale face, and his legs went weak for a moment.
"Grandpa...Grandpa, what's wrong? Wake up." Xia Ran reached out to push Grandpa Xia, but found that Grandpa Xia's whole body was a little stiff. Xia Ran suddenly pulled off Grandpa's quilt.
Chapter 420 The Final Farewell
Mr. Lin and the others were standing at the door, but they came in after hearing Xia Ran's panicked voice.
They immediately spotted the old man, whose face was abnormally pale, lying on the bed dressed neatly in new clothes, with a peaceful expression on his face.
Upon seeing this, they immediately knew what had happened. Xia Ran seemed to understand as well, but he couldn't believe it.
"Grandpa, what's wrong with you? You're old, why are you still acting like a child? You should wear pajamas to bed, how can you wear your usual clothes?"
As Xia Ran spoke, she gripped Grandpa Xia's hands tightly.
Lin Ziming went to check on Grandpa Xia, only to find that he had already passed away. He shook his head at Lin's father, indicating that there was nothing that could be done.
Mr. Lin's eyes also reddened; this was something they hadn't expected at all.
Lin Ziming noticed the box of sleeping pills next to him, picked it up and saw that it was empty.
"Xiao Ran, Grandpa... took sleeping pills by himself."
"No! No way! He's just asleep, don't talk nonsense!" Xia Ran shouted, shaking Grandpa Xia's body desperately.
"Grandpa, please don't do this! Don't sleep anymore, it's almost noon, if you keep sleeping you'll be eating lunch!"
Gu Zheng stepped forward and hugged Xia Ran, his face full of heartache as he spoke.
"Aran, don't do this, Grandpa..."
"No, no! You're all talking nonsense! You're all talking nonsense! I don't believe it, Zheng, Zheng, please call an ambulance for me, okay? Please call an ambulance, okay? Waaah... Gu Zheng, I beg you, please call an ambulance for me, please take Grandpa to the hospital for me..."
Xia Ran struggled in Gu Zheng's arms, but Gu Zheng was afraid that something would happen to Xia Ran, so he didn't let go at all.
"Little Daddy, what's wrong? What's wrong with Great-Grandpa? Why is he lying there motionless? Is Great-Grandpa sick?"
Gu Chen asked from the side, still unaware of what had happened, but the scene and atmosphere made him feel uncomfortable, and his eyes reddened.
Xia Ran no longer had the energy to look at the child. He struggled to get out of Gu Zheng's arms, but Gu Zheng held him tightly, comforting him again and again.
"Aran, don't do this, this is Grandpa's choice."
"I don't believe it! I absolutely don't believe it! How could he bear to abandon me? He's my only family! How could he bear to leave me!"
Mr. Lin noticed the notebook and longevity lock on the table. He went over to take a look and his eyes revealed an expression of "I knew it."
"Xiao Ran, don't be sad. Grandpa just wants to go find the person he's been thinking about for decades. He's happy. Look, he left you a letter."
Mr. Lin handed the notebook and longevity lock to Xia Ran, but Xia Ran didn't dare to take them because of the yellowed notebook.
“He…” Xia Ran’s tears fell like beads from a broken string, “But I’m his grandson too, how could he bear to…”
Lin's father patted Xia Ran on the shoulder, "You've grown up. Let Grandpa go see him. He's definitely waiting for Grandpa too."
Xia Ran looked at the notebook with tears in her eyes, but finally reached out and took it.
"You guys... go out first. I want to be alone for a while and keep Grandpa company."
Lin Ziming was somewhat worried, as was Gu Zheng.
“Aran…”
"Go out, I'm fine. Watch the child and slowly tell him what happened to his grandfather."
Xia Ran suddenly calmed down, with only the tears that kept flowing showing how sad and upset he was.