“Greetings, Grandpa and Grandpa Mu!”
Shangguan Ning’s clear and musical voice arose in the yard.
The two old men smiled, especially Jing Tianyuan who instantly turned cheerful when he caught sight of his grandson and granddaughter-in-law who was pregnant with his great-grandson.
Jing Zhongxiu indeed knew his father well. He knew what would make Jing Tianyuan cheerful.
Jing Yichen, who was still wearing an expressionless face, greeted the two old men briefly before falling into silence.
But Jing Tianyuan and Mu Wensheng were used to Jing Yichen’s personality, and understood that he tended to be silent. Therefore, they focussed their eyes upon Shangguan Ning rather than upon Jing Yichen.
Jing Tianyuan got quite happy seeing his granddaughter-in-law. But Mu Wensheng got even more excited at the sight of her, because she was holding a box of medicinal material, which, judging from the cover, seemed to be Chinese caterpillar fungus of exquisite quality.
Shangguan Ning had understood by now what Grandpa Mu liked. Seeing his eyes light up, she smiled and passed on the things to him. “Grandpa Mu, here is the present for you. Hope you like it!”
Mu Wensheng took it from her, happily. Soon, a bright smile hovered over his face as he said, “I do like it! You must come and visit us as often as you can.”
This way he would get some more medicinal material of superior quality.
Jing Tianyuan had been taking good medicine from him always and living a good life. So, he must get something good from his grandson as well.
Mu Wensheng couldn’t help but hold the Chinese caterpillar fungus tightly to his chest, and ran into a room where he stored all his treasures.
Jing Yichen and Shangguan Ning sat down besides Jing Tianyuan who didn’t mention anything about Jingsheng but asked about Shangguan Ning’s physical condition.
Shangguan Ning said that all was fine with her and she was doing well. She had morning sickness occasionally but no other discomfort.
Jing Tianyunan was pleased to hear that. In his heart, one great-grandson was worth ten Jingsheng Enterprises.
Money could be earned and shares could be regained when lost. But great-grandson was a precious thing that could not be gained back so easily if it was ever lost.
There had always been one son for generations in Family Jing until Jing Yiran was born.
The fact proved that the extra one would always be extra and cause trouble rather than bring any benefits.
There was always a destiny written for each family. A forced change in the family would lead to unbearable consequences and cause great damage.
Had Mo Lan not insisted on keeping Jing Yiran back then, Jing Yichen would not suffer from so much stress and the development of Family Jing would have been much smoother.
One heir was enough!
Jing Tianyuan was not a very friendly man, similar to Jing Zhongxiu and Jing Yichen, who were both distant and cruel.
However, he was very friendly towards Shangguan Ning. He was even worried that his severe expression would startle her and affect his great-grandson, so he wore a bright smile.
But Jing Tianyuan’s smile withered the moment Jing Yichen mentioned Jing Yiran selling the shares.
“So your father drove off the bastard?”
Jing Yichen nodded. “Yes, Dad drove him out of Family Jing, froze and recalled all of his properties making him penniless.”
Jing Tianyuan struck a hand upon his thigh and said cheerfully, “Excellent! Your father finally managed to drive this boy out. Zhongxiu is good in every aspect except that he is not ruthless enough, especially towards his own family. He has been tricked many times and he still doesn’t learn. What was he doing back then? He should have killed Zhang Rong when she drugged him the first time.”
He threw a look at Jing Yichen as he stroked his chin. “You are better than your father, fiercer than him. That is a good thing! We from the big family must act fiercely so that we can maintain our position in society.”
Jing Yichen stayed silent. He didn’t think that he was any better than his father. He resembled his father very much and both of them were fierce and ruthless. But both of them cared about emotions as well. They might not show any mercy to outsiders, but they always treated the family well.
Except for one thing – Jing Yichen treated Shangguan Ning more important than anyone else. As long as Shangguan Ning was involved, everything else would fade into insignificance.
He now understood the pain which his father suffered when his mother was gone. When a man lost the woman he loved dearly, even the money in the entire world would not make up for the loneliness of the heart. It was a kind of loss that no other women would be able to compensate for.
Objectively speaking, Zhang Rong had indeed been a very beautiful woman. Jing Yiran had inherited her good looks. In fact, Zhang Rong had been slightly better looking than Zhao Qing.
But a mature man, especially a successful man who had been exposed to all kinds of beautiful women, didn’t get attracted to a woman just for her looks.
A woman tended to attract a grown man by her inner thoughts and etiquettes rather than looks.
That was where Jing Zhongxiu and Jing Yichen were alike.
After Zhao Qing died, Jing Zhongxiu couldn’t overcome the agony, even though the extremely beautiful Zhang Rong was right in front of him. He simply couldn’t fall for her.
Same with Jing Yichen. He knew that he would not survive the consequence of losing Shangguan Ning, so he kept her well protected and loved her with all he had.
Jing Tianyuan felt extremely satisfied seeing how much his grandson and his granddaughter-in-law were in love with each other. A man needed the love of only one woman. It was enough to last him for a lifetime.
Jing Yichen was capable enough to take over Family Jing. As for Jing Yiran, it would be great if he was out of Family Jing so that he didn’t cause trouble for them in the future. But his old wife must be crying constantly for what had happened.
Jing Yiran had been raised by his wife and they shared a deep bond with each other. Jing Zhongxiu must have felt some pressure too.
Good that he was hiding here at Mu’s place, otherwise he would have to face the trouble at home as well.
But Jing Tianyuan couldn’t hide from it for long.
The sound of hurried footsteps reached them. Jing Tianyuan looked up, only to find his old wife, coming towards him in a hurry!