"Long time no see, Great-grandfather."
After Ai Qing went to London to study, she had not seen her great-grandfather for seven years. However, after seven years, her words were not as warm and affectionate as others expected. Instead, they were as cold and indifferent as hatred.
Yin Liangji calmly listened to her words and looked around indifferently. Finally, his gaze fell on her table.
It was a card embedded in a crystal frame.
Even with his back to the frame, he could still imagine what kind of scene it was.
"This should be the masterpiece you are most proud of, right?" He nodded and expressed his approval. "Your eyes are much better than mine … After leaving home for so many years, Little Qing, you have indeed achieved something."
Ai Qing lowered her head and looked at the face brimming with light. She couldn't help but laugh.
"What's going on? Great-grandfather, are you regretting it? "
"Ah, yes."
The old man nodded seriously. "If I had expected him to have such achievements, I would have been the one to raise this child. Unfortunately, after I met his parents, I was completely disappointed in his family … This was my biggest oversight. I should have thought twice before I acted.
If I had to say, I shouldn't have cared so much about face in the past and directly cut the weeds and get rid of the roots … Unfortunately, I am not as smart as you and only now understand this principle. "
He sighed softly.
"Unfortunately, there is no more chance now."
Ai Qing coldly twirled her pen, admiring the old man's undisguised frustration and annoyance. It was as if she was looking at the tears of a crocodile. "From the time he became third place in the rookie competition, no, before he stepped into the rookie competition, when he became an Ascender, you should have expected this day.
By the time Qi Wen's death alerted you, it was already too late.
He is already an official member of the Astronomy Association, a newcomer favored by the four major armies, and a latecomer that both the Governing Bureau and the Continuation Academy have already made arrangements for. Even after he leaves the Astronomy Association, the Eastern Summer genealogy will unhesitatingly support him.
After he advances from the 'ivory tower', one day, he will climb up the ladder of the Astronomy Association and become an indispensable pillar of the Celestial genealogy. He will become the shadow that forever hangs over the Yin Family. "
"You know what, Xiao Qing … I really miss the way you and him worked so well together."
Yin Liangji seemed to be absent-minded. Like countless old people, he reminisced about the past. "When Huai Guang was still alive, we used to work together like all of you. Huai Guang and Yin were never separated. He was the one who carried out the plan, and I was the one who made the plans. Both of us worked together, and we never failed … Unfortunately, Huai Guang died early. He died too early.
If he hadn't died, all of this wouldn't have happened, right? There's no need to wait for your generation. The Yin Family's resurgence will be complete in my hands, and that idiot Huai Guang will definitely be able to realize his dream and become one of the most famous explorers of hell. His name will be imprinted on the Myriad Worlds Tablet. "
"…"
"The so-called life is such a fragile thing. Everything in this world is more fragile than life."
Yin Liangji raised his fingers that were covered in age spots and tapped his walking stick. "Good things in the world are not firm, and colorful clouds scatter easily … This world changes too easily. It's too easy. In just a few years, everything in the past can be wiped away.
In the end, he'll become an interlude, and I'll be successful. "
Ai Qing was indifferent. She didn't say anything, but Yin Liangji raised his eyes.
His turbid eyes were filled with solemnity and indifference. He was clearly an old man who was so stooped that he had to worry about falling while walking, but now he seemed to be looking down at Ai Qing.
He was looking at his insensible great-granddaughter.
"You're mocking my hypocrisy, aren't you, Little Qing?"
Yin Liangji said, "You're always obsessed with appearances, but you can't look at the big picture.
I know what you want to say. It's nothing more than the unimportant moral condemnation that I've embezzled the Huai Family's assets. To be honest, this should be the best decision I've made since Huai Guang's death.
At the end of the day, isn't what I'm doing a normal business competition? Even if it's a competition that's dozens of times dirtier than this, there's still competition in the world, right? What do you think I should do?
When a fatal oversight suddenly appears between two parties that were originally closely tied together, should I give up on my ambitious goal and let everyone sink together, or should I sacrifice one person's last legacy to give the other a chance to succeed?
Just because he used to be my friend, I can't buy over his business? Just because we were once friends, I don't deserve to succeed?
If I let others do it, they'll only be colder and crueler than me! Compared to such a huge amount of assets, any kind of elegance and etiquette are insignificant. They'll only be more vicious and ugly. They won't even spare Huai Shi's life.
That's right, I watched his parents reap the consequences of their own actions. In the end, they suffered the consequences of their own actions. But you have to be clear about one thing, Little Qing. Whose pity is it that allowed him to live until now? "
Ai Qing couldn't help but sneer. "You can try to reason with him, if you think he'll spare your life when the time comes."
"I will, even if he won't listen."
The old man said calmly, "For the family, comparing an old man who is nearing the end of his days and a new talent with a bright future, is there a need to talk about who is more important?
I can kneel in front of him and beg for his forgiveness. I can put down my dignity and backbone, flatter him like a dog, endure the humiliation, and dry my face. If he's still angry, I can stretch my neck and let him chop me. It doesn't matter even if my bones are turned into ashes.
But what can I do? " “
Looking at Ai Qing's stiff expression for a moment, he shook his head in disappointment. "It's just one person who died. Is there a need to make a fuss about nothing? Little Qing, in addition to age, have you really grown a little bit over the years?
If your perspective can't be raised and you can't overlook the whole situation, no matter how smart you are, it's just 'quick-wittedness'. It can't be called wisdom.
And you're too smart, so smart that you're too smart … You've always made the most appropriate choice, but sometimes the most appropriate choice is often not the best.
For example, you've already lost your best opportunity for revenge. "
Looking at Little Qing's gloomy expression, the old man smiled regretfully. "Even without me, the current Yin Family wouldn't be able to recover from this setback, right?
Didn't you see it too? That child Yin Ya, although he doesn't have your vision and wisdom, as the head of the family, he's naturally magnanimous. Now that the Yin Family has broken away from the bloody accumulation of capital, a benevolent and broad-minded young man is a more suitable candidate for the head of the family than an annoying old man like me.
In other words, from the moment he advanced, the carefree revenge you're looking forward to is already meaningless. Because from that moment on, my life and death has become an insignificant matter. "
The old man told her sincerely, "This is the meaning of the family. Little Qing, each of us is an insignificant speck of dust, but when the specks of dust gather together, they can make a difference and have meaning.
We use our blood as a bond, trust and authority, and hope to make up for our shortcomings and step onto a higher peak. For this goal, all the members can be sacrificed. "
He said, "Including your parents, including me."
Crack!
A furious shattering sound burst out from Ai Qing's hand. The fountain pen broke, and the ink flowed out from her fingertips with a trace of dark red.
The words from her great-grandfather carried a mocking tone that bordered on humiliation.
It was a test. No, it should be said that it was an interrogation that left no room for negotiation.
If the person standing in your way of revenge wasn't me, but the only brother who had ever taken care of you — Yin Ya, what choice would you make?
If one day, Yin Ya became Huai Shi's enemy, how would you humiliatingly comply with the enemy's wishes and convince your 'revenge tool' to only kill the evil leader?
At that time, would this old thing do as he had said, stretch out his neck for the kill?
No, there would only be more arrangements and more conspiracies waiting for her, right?
"You see, I've already told you."
The old man looked at her helplessly. "This world changes too easily. Your relationship is something that can be broken so easily, just like the friendship between Huai Guang and I. Because at the end of the day, we are all the same. There has never been any difference between us."
"I used to value you so much that I even wanted you to replace Yin Ya and continue this family. Otherwise, why would I send you to London to study? But even so, it shouldn't be a reason for you to act recklessly. "
"The rebellious period should be over, Xiao Qing."
In the dead silence, he said kindly to Ai Qing, "You should do your duty."
Ai Qing didn't say anything, just looked at him coldly.
Only the sound of hurried footsteps came from outside the door.
"What's going on?"
Chai Fei pushed the door and entered, asking in shock, "Why did Minister Zhi suddenly suspend you … Uh, sorry to disturb you."
Looking at the indifferent grandfather and granddaughter in the office, she came back to her senses. She placed the notice on Ai Qing's desk and hurriedly ran away.
Before she left, she glanced at Ai Qing through the crack of the door, waiting for an answer anxiously.
But Ai Qing didn't look at her, as if she didn't notice her arrival at all. She just stared at her great-grandfather in silence, expressionless.
She sighed and closed the door.
"It's really your style, great-grandfather. Even the daughter of a sacrifice can be used as a chess piece?"
In the silence, Ai Qing loosened her fingers and threw the broken pen into the basket. She took out a tissue and wiped the ink on her hand. She suddenly asked, "Do you really have to think about the consequences?"
"Don't worry." Yin Liangji didn't answer the question. "Since I let you go home, I won't let you have any worries."
"You can't wait to put me to use?"
"After all, the day after tomorrow is my 100th birthday. I have to celebrate it." Yin Liangji calmly replied, "Don't worry, I've already seen him. He's a horse from the Cui family in Bingzhou. Although he was born blind, he didn't wrong you. "
"A blind man and a cripple. It sounds like a good match."
"Who says it isn't?"
The old man quietly stared at the gradually dimming sunlight outside the window.
At dusk, the crisp sound of bells echoed in the sky of the distant school, and the noise gradually rose from the road.
The children should go home.
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