CH 34

The second floor of the Three Thousand Food House has only two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a storage room. In theory, it can accommodate only two people. However, when Bai Xianzhi took over the Three Thousand Food House from his uncle, the storage room was vacant. Additionally, he didn’t have many belongings, so the storage room remained empty till now.

Together with Tu linlin, they cleaned up the other bedroom and the storage room. They set up a folding bed in the storage room, covered it with bedsheets and blankets, and now it served as the sleeping place for Tu linlin and his grandmother for the night.

Bai Xianzhi clapped his hands and said to Tu linlin, “Tu linlin, you sleep in this storage room, and your grandmother can sleep in the other bedroom.”

Tu linlin put down the blankets and sniffled, “Thank you, boss, thank you!”

Bai Xianzhi waved his hand, “No problem, it’s better to have someone staying here than the place being empty. It’s getting late, the bathroom is over there. Tu linlin, you know how to use it. Take your grandmother to freshen up; she seems tired.”

Tu linlin nodded and called out to his grandmother. The elderly woman grabbed Bai Xianzhi’s hand and said, “Good… good person, Tu linlin… says good person!”

The elderly woman’s face was pale, her gaze seemed vacant, and the hand she held onto Bai Xianzhi’s was trembling, and she stuttered when trying to speak.

When Tu linlin brought the old woman in, Bai Xianzhi had noticed something off about her. She hadn’t spoken a single word during their encounter, always following Tu linlin closely. At the time, he didn’t think much of it and assumed she was just timid, considering her grandson’s timid nature too. But now, up close, Bai Xianzhi realized it might be a mental issue. He looked at Tu linlin, who seemed to be completely focused on his grandmother, and said gently, “Grandma, the boss is indeed a good person. Let’s freshen up first, and then we can thank him properly, alright?”

Tu linlin’s grandmother obediently followed his instructions, and they slowly walked towards the bathroom, leaning on each other.

After Tu linlin had taken care of his grandmother and settled her on the bed, Bai Xianzhi gestured for him to come outside. With warm light cascading from above and a cozy ambiance, Bai Xianzhi asked, “Tu linlin, how long has your grandmother been like this?”

Tu linlin remained silent for a moment. Just when Bai Xianzhi thought he wouldn’t share, Tu linlin spoke, his voice hoarse, “Boss, actually… I don’t know how long my grandmother has been like this.”

“How come? Wasn’t she living with your father all this time?”

Tu linlin’s gentle eyes suddenly filled with bitterness, and he let out a sigh before continuing, “It’s precisely because she was living with him that she became like this!”

Bai Xianzhi was genuinely shocked. How could living with his own son result in such a mental issue? What could possibly explain this?

Without waiting for him to ask, Tu linlin poured out his long-held grievances, “I always thought my grandmother would live a better life with him because I couldn’t find a job. We could only grow some vegetables to eat, and sometimes we would go hungry. I knew my grandmother wouldn’t have enough to eat and wouldn’t live well with me. But with him and that woman, they both had jobs. My grandmother would have enough to eat with them; it must have been better than staying with me.”

“I know that woman has a bad temper. She doesn’t like me, and she disdains my grandmother, but after all, he is her son. Even if something happened, he would surely protect his own mother, right?”

“…I believed this all along. It’s been several years, and every time I visited my grandmother, she seemed fine, until the last time…”

“I brought her favorite sour fruit to see her, but I saw her outside the house. She was all dirty, her hair a mess, and she was eating a dried-up carrot. I have no idea how many days she spent outside like that!”

As Tu linlin spoke, his voice choked up. Bai Xianzhi patted his shoulder, comforting him, and Tu linlin continued, “They treated her like that, and I couldn’t bear it anymore. So, I told him we were cutting ties with him and took my grandmother away.”

“…When I came back, I found my grandmother had already become like this. I thought as long as I worked hard, earned money diligently, and saved enough to take her to see a doctor, it would be alright. Even if my grandmother couldn’t get better, as long as it’s just the two of us, we can live peacefully and happily.”

“But I never expected…” Bai Xianzhi noticed the sorrow and indignation in Tu linlin’s eyes. “Boss, I really never expected that there would be such shameless people in this world, and he turned out to be my father!”

“I don’t know how he found out that I work at Three Thousand Food House, but he and that woman had the audacity to come to my door and demand the money my grandmother used to take care of herself! When I refused to give it to them, they kicked us out and took over the cave my grandma left behind.” “Can’t you report this to the authorities? The cave was left to you by your grandma; you can report it to the law enforcement officers.”

Tu linlin smiled bitterly, “The cave is outside the city, and there are no authorities there to help.”

“…I don’t want to fight for the cave now. I just want to find a place far away from those two people and live peacefully with my grandmother.”

Bai Xianzhi could only remain silent. He couldn’t do much to help Tu linlin’s situation, but he thought for a moment and said, “Since you’ve made up your mind, I support you. Is the rent for the cave enough? I have some spare money.”

Tu linlin smiled, “It’s enough. Boss, you pay a good salary; it’s more than enough.”

“Boss, thank you for listening to me and letting me speak my mind. I’ll go wash up now. You should get some rest too.”

The slender and delicate young rabbit headed towards the bathroom. Bai Xianzhi sighed; he never expected that Tu linlin and his grandmother would face such a situation.

The influence of family can leave lifelong scars because it’s inflicted by the people we love and trust the most. These scars often run deep, etched into the softest parts of the heart, places that only the closest of kin can touch.

An irresponsible and inept father, a malicious and domineering stepmother—Bai Xianzhi couldn’t fathom how much torment Tu linlin had endured while being with them. He found it hard to believe that there are people in this world who could cruelly turn their own mother into an imbecile!

It could only be said that human hearts can be wicked, and wherever there are people, there is darkness.

Over the next two days, Tu linlin would leave early and return late, and his time working at Three Thousand Food House gave him the courage to handle everything himself. He fearlessly dealt with intermediaries and landlords, all to find a satisfactory place to live.

Bai Xianzhi stayed at the Three Thousand Food House to take care of Tu  linlin’s grandmother. In fact, there wasn’t much to worry about regarding the grandmother; she was very quiet. After Tulinlin taught her how to use the toilet, she could sit there in a daze for half a day if Bai Xianzhi didn’t put food in front of her. He suspected she could stay like that indefinitely.

This state of daze would only change when Tu linlin returned. The elderly woman, who had been idle all day, would become like a child, following Tu linlin quietly. Though her eyes remained unresponsive, they were filled with Tu linlin’s figure.

The bond between the grandmother and grandson touched Bai Xianzhi. It reminded him of his own uncle. He had never met his own parents; since he could remember, his uncle was always by his side. His uncle attended parent-teacher meetings, cooked at home, took him to amusement parks, and even fought for him outside to protect his reputation.

For Bai Xianzhi, parents were optional, but his uncle was the one irreplaceable presence in his life. However, his uncle had passed away, leaving him all alone in this world.

Suddenly, he felt an indescribable sense of loneliness, as if he were the only one in the world, and everything around him had drifted away. He felt genuine fear, afraid of being alone and forgotten by anyone.

“Ding, ding, ding…”

The crisp sound of the communication device interrupted his solitude, pulling him out of that state. Bai Xianzhi picked up the device and opened the message:

【Feng Ye】: [Images][Images][Images], the food was delicious.

Hmm? Bai Xianzhi found it a bit unexpected. It was the first time Feng Ye had initiated a message since they became friends on the communication device. Usually, their messages were limited to Bai Xianzhi inquiring about the day’s menu or sending Feng Ye his daily expenses.

So what did Feng Ye mean by suddenly sending this message praising the food?

After thinking for a moment, Bai Xianzhi replied: “Thank you for your feedback. We will continue to strive to provide better experiences at Three Thousand Food House for Mr. Feng.”

He reviewed the message he typed. Firstly, he thanked the VIP for the compliment, then assured the guest of better services, expressing his appreciation for the customer. This reply was sincere and not overly obsequious. Yes, it was good! He clicked send.

On the other end, Feng Ye immediately picked up his communication device when he heard the notification. Seeing the official and unfamiliar response, his expression darkened slightly, and he replied: “Sorry, it was Baoer who took my communication device and sent that message.”

Bai Xianzhi didn’t doubt him and actually found it quite reasonable. After all, based on his observation over the past few months, Feng Ye wasn’t the type to leisurely discuss whether the food was good or not. So he replied: “Hahaha, are Baoer and Mr. Feng together? I knew it. It didn’t sound like something Mr. Feng would say. By the way, is Baoer doing well?”

Feng Ye’s expression darkened further, just as Feng Baoer and Feng Beier were playfully running over. He glanced at the two kids and said, “Playing around like this, what are you doing? Baoer, write ten essays, and Beier, write five. Hand them in for my inspection tomorrow.”

Feng Baoer and Feng Beier were shocked: ?!!!

They had no idea why their mischievous play ended up with their little uncle giving them a punishment! What did they do?

1TL: YSIAD “You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you ”