Chapter 647: Chapter 605: Child, I’m Afraid! (1)
Watching the old man’s face contort with the anguish of uncertainty, Qin Fan shook his head, his heart aching.
There’s a saying, "Raise a son to have someone to lean on in old age." But could a son like this be relied upon? The answer was obvious. The boy was nothing but a damn, utter ingrate!
Amidst his bitter reflections, Qin Fan once again gently patted the distressed man’s shoulder. "Sir, are you just going to let this continue? It’s undeniable that a father’s failure in upbringing plays a part. The reason he’s such an ingrate is inextricably linked to how you’ve spoiled him! But enough of that, it’s meaningless to talk about it now. Come with me to the university and let’s have this out in the open. If you don’t know how to teach him, I’ll help. Think about it. With your body in its current frail state, how many more years can you keep working like this? How many more Feces Forks can you buy him? When the day comes that you can no longer work and his only financial dependence on you is gone, have you thought about what will become of you?"
"I—!"
With a lift of his wrinkled hand, the word "I" barely left the old man’s lips before he trailed off, at a complete loss for what to say. Uncontrollable tears, however, began to stream down his weathered cheeks.
At the entrance of the shopping mall, the old man, who had just stepped outside, suddenly stopped in his tracks at Qin Fan’s words and crouched to the ground. Amid a sea of curious stares, he began to wail. This old man, who looked as if he had weathered a lifetime of hardship, cried like a child. He looked so wronged, so utterly helpless.
Qin Fan hadn’t spelled everything out, but the old man understood the implications perfectly.
What would be waiting for him then? He would be left unattended, gasping for breath on a sickbed, waiting for death. Even with his naturally optimistic heart, he didn’t dare hope his son would come to care for him. On the contrary, never mind taking care of him, Zhou Shen probably secretly wished he was already dead. Only with his death would Zhou Shen be free from the psychological burden of being ashamed of him!
"Miss, do you have a tissue? Could I have two, please?" Instead of immediately consoling the old man sobbing on the ground, Qin Fan turned to a woman passing by.
"Oh, yes, here!" Without a second thought, the woman quickly pulled out a small pack of tissues and handed it over.
"Thank you!" Qin Fan took two and handed the rest back.
As the woman stared, stunned, he slowly crouched down beside the old man. "Sir, you have to face what’s in front of you eventually. Don’t resign yourself to fate; those who do are the ones who suffer the most. It’s not too late for him to turn over a new leaf. In a few years, once he graduates, gets married, has children, and has in-laws, do you really think you’ll be able to count on him? By then, it will truly be too late to change anything. Listen to me. Stop crying and come to the university with me. As long as he has a sliver of conscience left, as long as he’s still human and hasn’t completely devolved into a beast, I guarantee I can make him realize his mistakes. Come on, Sir, lift your head."
There was no mournful shouting, only Qin Fan’s gentle, subdued voice.
"Young man, are... are you serious?" the old man stammered, lifting his trembling head.
Wiping away the heart-wrenching tears with a tissue, Qin Fan swallowed hard and said, "I am."
Without waiting for a response, Qin Fan reached out and helped him up from the ground. He knew the old man had been persuaded.
And he was right.
The old man no longer resisted, though his stooped frame trembled even more intensely under Qin Fan’s support as they walked. He was imagining seeing Zhou Shen at the university, but the feeling it evoked wasn’t warmth and happiness. It was fear.
Yes, fear. Fear of provoking Zhou Shen. Fear of making Zhou Shen hate him even more.
Lost in these endlessly twisting thoughts, he found he couldn’t lift his foot to get into the taxi Qin Fan had flagged down and opened for him.
"Young man, I’m scared!"
Hearing the old man’s fear at the final step, Qin Fan involuntarily clenched his jaw. He looked at him intently and said, "Sir, what do you have to be afraid of at this point? What more do you have to lose? If he really insists on acting like a thankless beast, so be it. You can finally put an end to your hopes for him. From now on, you can save a little money and live for yourself. There’s no obstacle in this world that can’t be overcome!"
The old man sniffled, his gaze fixed on Qin Fan.
After a few seconds, he nodded tremulously and slowly stooped to get inside the car.
Qin Fan was right. What did he have to lose now? It was time to take a gamble and see if fate would show him a little mercy.
"Jinling University, thank you," Qin Fan said with a smile to the astonished driver, then fell silent. His hand, resting on the old man’s shoulder, patted it occasionally to ease his tension and anxiety.
Qin Fan didn’t speak, and the old man was even more silent. But the body that hadn’t stopped trembling since getting into the car betrayed the utter panic in his heart.
Seeing this, Qin Fan offered no more psychological counseling. Having lived for hundreds of years, he understood the old man’s mental state. No matter how eloquently he spoke, it would be useless against such a deeply ingrained mental lock. The only one who could unlock it was that ungrateful son. He, Qin Fan, was just a passerby. He had stepped into this messy affair out of compassion, humanity, and sympathy.
He originally thought that in this life, he would no longer meddle in the affairs of the mortal world. But he was wrong about himself. This wasn’t the dark, murderous world of the Cangqiong Continent. Here, he often couldn’t suppress the overflow of his compassionate heart. It wasn’t that he wanted to be a saint who saves the masses. Instead, his heart, having returned from darkness to light, wouldn’t allow him to simply ignore such things.
The taxi sped along in silence.
「Half an hour later.」
The taxi came to a smooth stop at the entrance of Jinling University.
Handing over two hundred-yuan bills, Qin Fan said, "Keep the change," and helped the old man out of the car.
He strode purposefully into the campus, pulling the old man along amidst countless bewildered and astonished gazes.
Who... who is that? Is that Qin Fan’s dad? No way! His grandpa? You’ve got to be kidding! But if not, who else could this old man be?
Everyone who saw the pair was stunned.
But stunned or not, the greetings directed at Qin Fan continued unabated. Although Qin Fan hardly recognized his own classmates, almost everyone at Jinling University—new student or old—knew who he was.
Despite not recognizing a single person who greeted him, Qin Fan smiled and nodded in response to each one. His aloof and proud side was never directed at ordinary people.
However, the old man, being led by the hand, heard the nearly incessant greetings and his mind went blank.
Is this young man really a new student who just enrolled, same as Zhou Shen?
Curiosity sparked within him, but he quickly lost his nerve under all the focused gazes. His face flushed red with nervousness. The words he wanted to say stuck in his throat, and he simply let Qin Fan lead him all the way to the school’s small auditorium.
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