Chapter 120 The 120th Day of Not Running Away The 120th Day of Not Running Away...

Chapter 120 The 120th Day of Not Running Away The 120th Day of Not Running Away...

"And this is...?"

When Chen Bo saw the old man, his face was full of doubt.

Wen Chan walked over, took his hand, and whispered, "Uncle Wang said he's your great-grandfather."

"My great-grandfather?" Chen Bo looked at the old man with a suspicious gaze.

The old man looked at him with admiration in his eyes. "Yes, my eldest brother is your grandfather. I don't know if your grandfather has ever mentioned me to you. I am the youngest in the family. In 1949, I was conscripted by the KMT and taken to Taiwan. I lost contact with this place."

Grandpa Wang said, "Yes, Zheng, your great-uncle still has an old photo of him and your grandfather. Brother Chen, show it to Chen Bozheng, otherwise he won't believe it."

Chen Shuangping looked at the girl behind him. The girl was about the same age as Wen Chan, wearing a plaid suit, with permed hair, and looked very stylish. She took out a yellowed photo from her handbag and handed it to Chen Bozheng.

Chen Bozheng took the photo and glanced at it. He immediately recognized the person on the right in the photo as his grandfather when he was young.

When Grandpa Chen passed away, Chen Bozheng had only a photo of him when he was young. Sometimes, when other families were celebrating holidays and he was all alone, Chen Bozheng would take out the photo of his grandfather and look at it. After looking at it for a long time, he memorized it.

"The one on the left is me, and the one on the right is my older brother." Chen Shuangping's tone was kind. His hair was gray, but he was well-groomed, dressed in a suit and tie, and holding a cane.

"I know, so you really are my grandfather's brother." Chen Bozheng still couldn't quite believe it.

Chen Shuangping sighed: "How could this be fake? I was only fifteen when I went to Taiwan. I always wanted to come back, but every time I went, I got beaten up."

He rolled up his sleeves, revealing a centipede-like scar on his wrist.

Everyone gasped in shock.

"Was this done by people from over there?"

Grandpa Wang and the others were astonished, their faces showing sympathy.

Chen Shuangping smiled bitterly: "This is considered presentable. Other parts of my body are even more frightening. My right leg has been broken several times. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't need a cane at this age and look so old."

"GMD is truly a scourge," sighed Grandpa Wang and the others, expressing both sorrow and sympathy.

They had a long-standing relationship with Chen Bozheng's grandfather and knew that his grandfather had a lost younger brother. Some people said they saw him being arrested by the GMD. Back in the past ten years, Chen's grandfather almost got accused of something because of this, but because there was no real evidence and it was just a rumor, he escaped punishment.

To everyone's surprise, the rumors were true, and Grandpa Chen's younger brother actually came back alive.

Chen Bozheng's mind was in a mess right now.

Wen Chan saw this and said, "Mr. Chen, I'm sorry, we are very happy to welcome you back to China, but this matter has been quite a shock to my wife. Could you please give us some time?"

"I understand, we were the ones who were presumptuous." Chen Shuangping looked guilty. "As soon as I heard about my brother, I rushed over. When I heard he was gone, leaving only his grandson Bozheng, I thought... sigh."

"Grandpa, don't be sad." The girl next to him held his hand. "Your health is not good. The doctor said that you can't be overjoyed or angry."

Chen Shuangping waved his hand and looked at Chen Bozheng and Wen Chan, "We'll leave now, but I brought you some gifts, you must accept them."

As he said this, he bit his lip, a bitter look on his face, "I originally intended to bring these gifts for my older brother."

After he said that, Chen Bozheng and Wen Chan felt embarrassed to refuse the gifts.

Grandpa Wang and the others helped see the person out, and when they returned, they kept talking about it.

Someone remarked, "Judging by that old man's clothes and appearance, he must have made a lot of money outside!"

"That's right. I just took a look, and the gifts they brought are all from the Friendship Store, which sells them specifically to foreigners."

Wen Chan went over, closed the door to the west courtyard, and looked at Chen Bozheng, who was deep in thought, "Why don't we eat first? The takeout just arrived."

Chen Bo was snapping out of his daze from the photo when he subconsciously agreed and took out a bowl and chopsticks.

The congee was steaming hot when it was served, but it's cooled down now, though it's still just the right consistency to eat.

The congee in the clay pot is very light, with just a little bit of minced meat and a little bit of green vegetables, but once you eat it, it warms you up from head to toe.

While eating, Wen Chan glanced at Chen Bozheng and, seeing that he seemed distracted, laughed and said, "What's wrong? You're overjoyed that a grandfather has suddenly appeared out of nowhere?"

Chen Bo looked up and met her teasing gaze. He couldn't help but shake his head, both amused and exasperated: "No way, I just find it a bit too sudden."

"Is that really your grandfather in the photo?" Wen Chan asked. There was a portrait of the old man in Chen Bo's room, but it was taken when he was over seventy years old, and it was hard to match it with the young man in his twenties in the photo.

"Yes, I have old photos of Grandpa. I'll show them to you."

Chen Bo steadied himself, took a sip of porridge, went inside and took out a biscuit tin. Inside the tin were several yellowed letters, ration coupons, cloth coupons, and a black and white photograph.

The old man in the black and white photo really does look exactly like the one in the group photo.

Wen Chan looked around and handed the photo back to Chen Bozheng: "If this really is your great-grandfather, do you want to acknowledge him?"

Chen Bozheng said, "If it's true, then of course I have to acknowledge him. My grandfather raised me all these years, I can't just not acknowledge his family."

Wen Chan hummed in agreement and glanced at the gifts beside her. "I think that old man was quite generous, buying so many supplements, such as milk powder, fish maw, and ginseng. These were originally meant for your grandfather, right?"

"If Grandpa knew this from heaven, he would be very happy."

Chen Bo sighed.

Chen Bozheng and Wen Chan left the milk powder, fish glue, and other items untouched, untouched.

The next morning, Chen Bo went to find Grandpa Wang early to inquire about Chen Shuangping. Grandpa Wang was known in their courtyard for being busy all the time. Almost every courtyard had an old man or woman like that. They were very kind-hearted, loved to help others, and were well-informed.

Yesterday afternoon, Grandpa Wang chatted with Chen Shuangping for an entire afternoon and learned a lot about him. For example, Chen Shuangping came back this time for two reasons. First, he brought his granddaughter to trace his roots. He had lived in Taiwan for many years, and later went to Thailand, where he met a benefactor, made a fortune, married, and had children. Now he is the third generation and has a granddaughter. However, he was worried that his granddaughter's generation would be too far from their hometown and forget who they were, so he brought her back to the mainland as well. Second, he wanted to invest. The mainland's current policies for attracting investment are already well-known among overseas Chinese businessmen, so Chen Shuangping wanted to come back to China to see the investment environment.

"Didn't they say they were beaten up when they first ran away? How come they ended up in Thailand?"

Chen Bo asked, puzzled.

When Mr. Wang's wife was picking vegetables, she heard this and said, "They said yesterday afternoon that the management over there was not strict, and they couldn't afford to support so many people, so they reduced the number of soldiers, which is why he was able to escape."

Chen Bo nodded, seemingly lost in thought.

That makes sense.

Grandpa Wang said to Chen Bozheng, "Azheng, I can tell your great-uncle is very fond of you. Now that they're back, you must take good care of them."

Chen Bozheng came to his senses and said with a smile, "Uncle, I understand."

Chen Bo checked the time, then carried the soy milk, fried dough sticks, and wontons he had bought home.

Wen Chan had just woken up and was watering a pot of hydrangeas in the yard. Pointing at the hydrangeas, she said, "Your flowers are about to wither and die."

Chen Bo glanced at it and laughed, "The monk brought it over before, saying he wanted to decorate my yard. I had almost forgotten about it."

Wen Chan took out a table and set it in the yard, glancing at him: "Boss Chen is a very busy man now. It's a good thing that it's been raining a lot in Beijing lately, otherwise these flowers would probably be so dry that I wouldn't recognize them."

She reached out to take the wontons.

Chen Bozheng stepped back slightly, looking at her with a half-smile, "I went out to buy you breakfast first thing in the morning, and this is how you treat me?"

"Cough cough cough."

Wen Chan forgot that one is obligated to others for their food and gifts. "Thank you for buying breakfast so early, Mr. Chen. Don't worry, I'll have someone buy a pot of hydrangeas to replace it later."

Chen Bo chuckled and handed her the wontons, saying, "Don't bother buying flowers; no one will take care of them anyway."

They were talking when Liu Yan arrived with her people.

"Sister Wen."

"Hearing the cicadas."

Lan Linglong and Liu Yan both called out.

Wen Chan's eyes lit up with surprise. She beckoned them in and asked, "Have you had breakfast yet?"

Liu Yan didn't sit down, but said with a smile, "I've already eaten. I'm going to the factory with Linglong. I got back late last night. I was going to come see you, but the lights in your room have been off for a while."

Wen Chan said, "I'll get some rest early to adjust to the time difference. How's business at the factory lately?"

Liu Yan said, "It's similar to before, but now that winter is coming, we plan to make new styles. We need to find thicker denim fabric, otherwise it won't be resistant to the cold. The designers in the factory have also designed several styles, but we are not sure which one to choose. It just so happens that you are back, so we can ask you to help us come up with some ideas and see which style is good."

“This is simple, how about we…” Wen Chan was somewhat tempted. She was naturally at ease handing over the Sisters Brand jeans to Liu Yan, but she had heard from Liu Yan that the garment factory had moved to a new location and expanded its workforce, so she wanted to go and see what it was like now.

"Cough cough cough."

Chen Bo coughed loudly and pointed to the small wontons in front of him.

Liu Yan understood and laughed, "Oh dear, how could I be so oblivious? You're having breakfast here, enjoying yourselves. Did I disturb your meal?"

Wen Chan's ears turned slightly red, and she glared at Chen Bozheng.

Chen Bo pointed to the small wontons that hadn't been eaten more than twice, "Even if you're going out, you have to finish eating before you leave."

"There's no rush to go to the factory. You can come whenever you're free. I'll give you a business card with our factory's address on it."

Liu Yan reached out her hand, and Lan Linglong took out a business card from her handbag and handed it to her.

She took it and handed it to Wen Chan.

Wen Chan glanced at it, nodded in agreement, and then Liu Yan and Lan Linglong took their leave.