Chapter 49: Lineage (2)

  Grandpa went back to the inner room to sleep, and Mom secretly came over and put a cushion under her knees. It wasn't until she moved her knees that she realized her legs had gone numb from kneeling. Looking at her pained expression, Mom pitied her and handed her a hot steamed bun, making a "shh" gesture with her finger on her lips. Her eyes were so gentle, but she couldn't speak, and merely lightly stroked her head.

  Later, the silly father walked over, smiled and wiped his oily hands on his body, pulled her up with one hand, went into the house and said a few words to Grandpa, which exempted her from kneeling.

  Actually, Grandpa was not always like this. Most of the time he taught her to read and write with kindness but strictness, and she spent many days and nights sitting in the dimly lit hall, with Grandpa sitting on one side nodding and pointing at her.

  She knew that her grandfather was a scholar, his knowledge far surpassed the teachers at school. He was well-versed in astronomy and geography, various schools of thought, music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, with hardly anything he didn't excel in.

  "Grandpa doesn't ask for great achievements in this life, as long as you are clean and honest, upright and dignified, without shame to heaven and earth, without shame to your conscience, and without shame to our ancestors, you are my good granddaughter."

  Every time she completes her homework assigned by her grandfather with excellence, he would gaze at her with a mixture of relief and expectation in his eyes.

  Although her family was poor and she suffered ridicule and disdain from her neighbors, she still felt happy and warm because this was her home.

  It was on that fragmented night that her gentle mother silently passed away, along with her father who had few words but a kind heart. At the time, she was only 14 years old and couldn't understand why they would never come back to her, even though all they had gone out for was to buy her a birthday cake.

  It was a car accident, she naturally understood, but couldn't comprehend why it had to happen to her, why heaven had to take away such a good couple.

  Looking at the blood all over the ground and her motionless parents, she and her grandfather didn't shed a single tear. The ones who were crying loudly were the perpetrator and his family members, they were scared out of their wits, constantly apologizing to them, even kneeling down and kowtowing.

  Although there were no tears, they all knew they had lost everything.

  Grandfather became even more frail and haggard, and finally after the seventh day of his parents' passing, he called her to his side, with a complex look in his eyes telling her everything that had happened fourteen years ago. It turned out that Grandfather was not actually Grandfather, but rather maternal grandfather, and Father and Mother were actually uncle and aunt, and the one who had been the subject of so much gossip was actually her biological mother whom she had never met.

  In fact, in recent years, from the rumors around her, she had already vaguely understood the truth of the matter. When she heard it all from her grandfather's mouth, she didn't feel much helplessness or hysteria, but only a kind of powerless sorrow that was confirmed. It turned out that what those people said was true, her mother was indeed an unchaste woman, and she was indeed a bastard.

  Although she has been unwilling to accept this fact for many years, and has been giving herself psychological hints that her life should not be so miserable, she thought she was open-minded enough, but she still couldn't let go of this matter. Similarly, Grandpa also can't get out of it.

  This old man who had always been straight-backed for his whole life was thoroughly bent over by this matter, and exiled himself for over a decade because of it.

  "I, Chen Shuishan, have been honest and upright my whole life. The only thing I regret is not educating this daughter of mine properly. Back then, I was sent to a labor camp for reeducation, my son got a fever and became an idiot, and my daughter ran wild with all sorts of people, not even studying. By the time I returned, this family had already fallen apart. I wanted to take care of her, but I was powerless. Your mother didn't even recognize me as her father.

  Chen Shuishan laughed maniacally, every time he thought about this daughter who brought him endless shame and humiliation. He couldn't control his emotions. He didn't know that Chen Zheng's heart had frozen into ice inch by inch.

  "I failed to educate this daughter properly, she willingly sank to the depths of immorality, I hate her so much I'd like to kill her in front of our ancestors' memorial tablets! The reputation of the Chen family was ruined by my own hands! Chen Zheng, I gave you this name hoping you would become a respectable and upright person, don't follow in your mother's footsteps..."

  The Chen family was a centuries-old family of scholars, with a tradition of poetry and literature passed down through generations. Their ancestors had even been awarded five plaques for chastity. Chen Shushi was a renowned scholar of his time, but due to his conservative thinking, he suffered greatly during the great calamity and was left on the brink of death. Despite facing numerous hardships, he never did anything that went against his conscience or spoke words that contradicted his principles. His moral demands for himself and his family far exceeded those of ordinary people. Yet, unexpectedly, his daughter would bring an end to the Chen family's legacy in one fell swoop.

  Every time Chen Xiuzhu saw Chen Zheng, he didn't know what kind of feeling was in his heart. He thought of his own daughter when she was a little girl, also a well-behaved and obedient little girl. Chen Zheng was indeed well-behaved, obedient, and clever, so his attitude towards this granddaughter was inevitably gentle. But thinking of his daughter doing such shameless things, he deeply hated this descendant, and this emotional torture had been tormenting Chen Xiuzhu for over a decade, sometimes clear-headed, sometimes confused, sometimes frantic, until he fell seriously ill and was on the verge of death.

  That day, Chen Zheng was sixteen years old. His adoptive parents had passed away two years ago, and his grandfather had been bedridden for two years. The main room of the house reeked of Chinese medicine, as they couldn't afford to see a doctor. His grandfather would take his own pulse to diagnose himself, and she would go to the pharmacy to buy him medicine. The cost wasn't too high, but their family could barely afford it. However, his condition didn't improve at all. Watching her grandfather cough up blood with a tearing sound, the phlegm cup filled with shocking amounts of fresh blood, worry involuntarily flooded onto her expressionless face.

  "Grandpa, let's go to the hospital." She said softly as she sat beside his bed.

  "Don't go," Chen Shuishan said coldly, looking at her with his usual severity. "There's no extra money at home to see a doctor, and don't even think about getting any ideas, starving to death is a small matter, losing one's integrity is a big deal! I won't allow you to lower your head for a meal or a bowl of soup, if you dare do so, then never recognize me as your grandfather again!"

  She moved her lips, and at home there should still be money. When the adoptive parents passed away, the perpetrator compensated more than 50,000 yuan. In these two years, the grandfather and grandson have been frugal, and the money spent should not exceed 20,000 yuan. However, Grandpa still held the deposit book tightly and refused to give it to her.

  "Chen Zheng, kneel down!" Chen Huishi struggled to sit up halfway, looking at his granddaughter whom he had raised with one hand. His heart was filled with mixed emotions of sadness and joy. All these years, he hadn't been good to her, but she had never complained about him. Only now, he might not be able to watch over her growing up anymore.

  She knelt upright in front of him, her eyes clear and firm.