Chapter 73: Shaky Values

She was in rage; her wrinkles almost distorted; and her voice sharp as the winter winds that blew past the ears.

It felt icy cold, as if one had fallen into a pool of ice.

The area of the living room was enormous, and in the air was a feeling of compelling pressure.

For a moment, there was silence.

The smile on Bai Muchuan chilled by a few notches as he listened.

The moment he stepped inside the house, he had been wearing a smile, but his gaze never landed on the sullen looking woman.

"It's easy to fall sick if the air conditioning is switched to full blast!"

Not sure whom he had directed that to, he simply went up to the second floor with his lips pursed.

Grandma Bai was already very old, and her health had always been poor. Recently, she had been feeling unwell. Nevertheless, even when a tiger fell ill, it would not turn into a cat. Her influence in the family was still prominent, and no one dared to provoke her.

And of course, Grandma Bai's favorite was none other than Bai Muchuan.

"Oh my dearest grandchild! You finished school so late today? Grandma has been waiting for you for a long time."

When Grandma Bai, who was staring blankly in her room, saw Bai Muchuan, her face immediately showed a truly delighted smile of joy.

"Nanny Zhang, quick, get my presbyopic glasses. I want to look at my grandson." She let Nanny Zhang help her sit up on her bed and put on the glasses. When Bai Muchuan walked over to her, she studied him closely.

"My grandson, have you lost weight again? Are you busy with your schoolwork? You didn't take your meals regularly, right?"

Bai Muchuan's eyes narrowed slowly.

It seemed like Nanny Li was right. His grandma's illness was getting worse.

He crouched slowly before the old lady and held her hands.

"Grandma, I'm not busy with schoolwork. And I didn't lose weight, I've become more handsome."

He was grinning and behaved like a good grandson. His crystal-clear eyes were full of gentleness and emotions.

"Ah? What did you say?" The old lady did not have good hearing anymore and could not listen clearly to what he had said. She leaned over, wanting to listen clearer, "Tell me again, who bullied you?"

Bai Muchuan was all smiles as he spoke into her ear, "I said your grandson didn't lose weight, but more handsome than before!"

"Oh, oh, okay, you little rascal is handsome indeed." Grandma knocked on his forehead as she grinned. She looked at him as if she was looking at something precious. "If you're too tired, then stop to take a break. Don't tire yourself out, grandma will be heartbroken, you know."

"I know, grandma. I'm not tired."

"Good!"

Their voices were soft as both of them talked to each other.

Nanny Zhang puffed a sigh and opened the closed window.

A breeze came in from the balcony which warmed the room a little.

Bai Muchuan listened attentively to Grandma Bai's nagging. He was so well-behaved as if he was a college student who had come back from school.

Grandma Bai continued to talk when suddenly, she seemed to have thought of something. "Nanny Li told me you found a girl you like," she spoke softly with a smile. "Why didn't you bring her back to let grandma have a look?"

Bai Muchuan was stunned for a moment and realized who she was referring to.

"Grandma, she's busy. When we have time, I'll bring her to you."

"Okay, okay, that's good." The old lady laughed, very glad to hear that. "You're no longer a child, after you graduate from university, you'll be working. Girls you meet during college days are less scheming and simpler. Such girls are most suited to be our Bai Family's grand daughter-in-law. If you find her to be suitable, hurry up and get married. Start a family first then carve out your career…"

"…"

Bai Muchuan was at a loss of words.

"Grandma, it's still early."

"What early? When I'm your age, your dad is already running around the house…"

"…"

The old lady looked so serious that even Nanny Zhang broke into a laugh.

Bai Muchuan also laughed.

At this moment, someone knocked on the door.

When Bai Muchuan turned and saw the person standing at the entrance, his smile froze.

"Lao'er, come out for a while."

That solemn and monotonous voice had come from his father, Bai Zhenhua.

Bai Muchuan retracted his gaze and held Grandma Bai's hands tightly. "Grandma, I'll come back later to see you."

Grandma Bai was displeased about it. She stared at Bai Zhenhua, who was standing at the entrance, and asked Nanny Zhang in an unhappy tone. "Little Zhang, who's this person? Why did he call my grandson away?"

Nanny Zhang was put in a awkward position. "Old madam, that's Mr. Bai, your son."

"My son?" Grandma Bai hesitated for a while before she wore a grim expression. "Nonsense! My son's already dead long ago."

Bai Zhenhua: "…"

Bai Muchuan: "…"

Nanny Zhang: "…"

There was a moment of silence. Grandma Bai coughed and waved her hand unhappily.

"Go on, my good grandson. You need not be afraid of him. If he bullies you, call grandma. Grandma will help you hit him…"

A smile formed on Bai Muchuan's face. "Okay, grandma,"

Bai Zhenhua stood at the entrance and walked away with a sigh.

…

In the study.

Bai Zhenhua was sitting on his armchair. Bai Muchuan entered the room slowly with a casual smile was on his face.

"Anything the matter?"

It was a very direct inquiry and instantly sparked Bai Zhenhua's dissatisfaction.

"Do you still have your manners? Who gave you the right to speak disrespectfully to me?"

He pulled a long face, and his mood was agitated. Bai Muchuan, however, was not bothered by it and sat directly opposite with a chuckle.

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"My bad. I don't have a father to teach me nor a mother to bring me up so I don't have manners."

"You…" Bai Zhenhua was so angry that his breathing could be heard clearly.

Nonetheless, his past experience told him that a quarrel with Bai Muchuan would only make himself frustrated and angry. No point in haggling over it.

He took a slow breath to calm down. "How did you feel about transferring back to the capital?" He snorted.

Bai Muchuan replied, "Nothing much."

Bai Zhenhua furrowed his eyebrows. "Young people shouldn't be overly ambitious…"

"I agree. Therefore, I'm preparing to be down-to-earth and start from the ground."

Bai Zhenhua did not quite grasp what Bai Muchuan had suddenly said. He just frowned and continued to size him up.

"I've applied for a special transfer to Jin City to settle a case. I'm leaving tomorrow night."

Bai Zhenhua's expression changed drastically, raging in anger.

"This is not a small matter. Why didn't you discuss it with me?"

Bai Muchuan replied in a calm composure, "Why should I talk to you about my own matters?"

"You…"

"Have you ever consulted with me when you make decisions on my behalf?"

"Bai Muchuan, you've got to remember that as long as your surname is Bai, you're my son, and I won't tolerate your disobedience…"

"Oh," Bai Muchuan smiled casually, "then I don't want to carry the surname 'Bai' anymore."

Bai Zhenhua's whole face turned livid with anger as though he had heard something treacherous. He glared at him, so incensed that his cheeks were painful.

"Are you still a human? How could you say such things?" He looked at Bai Muchuan with disbelief.

Bai Muchuan did not seem to have much emotion with regards to saying such hurting words as well as facing his dad's anger.

He lowered his head to lit a cigarette and began to smoke slowly.

At one time, no one spoke a word.

Time seemed to come to a halt in the study.

… As if slipping through his fingers without a trace.

Many emotions and feelings were just like a puff of smoke, flashing across his mind which eventually turned into ashes!

Huff!

Bai Muchuan put out the cigarette in the ashtray and got up slowly. "If there's nothing else, I'll get going."

Bai Zhenhua peered at his son's tall stature and opened his mouth, as if there was something he wanted to say. However, beside frowning a few times, he only managed to say a simple sentence.

"What's happened has happened. Don't dwell on the past… Seize the current opportunity and plan for your future. Don't stay in Jin City for too long…"

"Hm." Bai Muchuan nodded his head and said politely, "Thank you!"

The word of thanks left Bai Zhenhua speechless.

Bai Muchuan turned slowly to leave and but suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"I am who I am, no matter what, I will not become what you want me to be! Give it up!"

Bai Zhenhua was stunned for a moment as he listened to the footsteps that got softer with distance. He looked at the steaming hot water inside the teapot in front of him. After a long time, he placed both hands on his head and puffed a helpless sigh.

…

It was now night time.

Xiang Wan was staying up late to write her essay, not feeling tired at all.

With regards to work, she always adopted a serious attitude toward it.

Unfortunately, in retrospect of the events in these two weeks, she felt that true feelings should not be written in the essay.

She knew exactly what should be written; it was just like when she wrote her novels that she knew what kind of content would attract more readers, but… she was just unable to do it.

"I don't have the ingenuity, and am unable to comply to the industry norms. I'm not a qualified writer."

She told that Hu Bandao in QQ.

Soon, Hu Bandao sent his essay over.

"Copy mine!"

"…"Gosh! That won't work!she thought.

"There are only so many people in our class," chided Xiang Wan. "Are you kidding me? We'll be found in just minutes for having the same content!"

"Silly kid! You could simply change some content and you're done," exclaimed Hu Bandao. "Everyone's essays are going to be very long. Do you really think that our teacher is going to read through each and every essay thoroughly? The teacher's time is also precious, it should be better used to play mahjong, why look at all these lousy essays!"

"…" Xiang Wan was puzzled, "If he don't read them, how would he be able to grade us?"

"You're really dense."

Hu Bandao sent a smiley emoticon over.

"Just like how we were being selected by the websites for this training, those who would get a 'Good' grade and win the merit award have already been set in stone. Now, is it not a mere formality to write this stuff? Yet you took it so seriously!"

"…"

Xiang Wan did not reply for a long time.

She had not intended to dig deeper, but she knew that what Hu Bandao said made sense too.

"Alright," Xiang Wan sighed, "no matter what, thank you. I've actually written quite a bit. It's just that I find the portion about values and viewpoints rather shaky. This is why I'm whining about it!"

"Stubborn donkey! Alright then, some fellow authors wanted to have a gathering outside campus tonight, do you want to join us?"

Everyone would be going back to their cities and part ways on the day after tomorrow.

In actual fact, there were very few people staying inside their dorms that night. Most of the students were having gatherings outside campus, posting to their WeChat Moments that they were having fun as their two week training was about to end…

"Better not, I need to write my story…" Xiang Wan replied after hesitating for a while.

Hu Bandao tried to persuade her, "Don't be like this, please? We're leaving the campus very soon, and who knows when we'll meet each other again? We're classmates for these two weeks after all, do you believe I'll bash you if you don't come?"

She could feel his unhappiness across the screen.

They were classmates for two weeks, and they might never meet again.

These words were able to move her.

Although Xiang Wan still felt rather reluctant about it, she went ahead to hang out with them.

She did not deliberately dress herself up for the gathering. She just changed her long dress to a pair of jeans together with a tee shirt.