Fu Mingshi had just gotten off the plane after a business trip when his phone vibrated. Looking at the caller ID display, Fu Mingshi raised the phone to his ear. His grandfather's calm voice was already coming through, "Mingshi, you're off the plane right? Come by tonight."
Fu Mingshi had business dinners to attend that night, so as he walked he replied, "I can't get away tonight, how about I come see you tomorrow?"
"I got my physical exam results back, liver cancer," his grandfather said in the same mild tone, calm enough to make Fu Mingshi, who had stopped in his tracks, feel somewhat stunned. How could that be...
"Come back, I have something to discuss with you," Fu Mingshi's grandfather said before ending the call.
Fu Mingshi was still frozen there.
"Mr. Fu?" His assistant Gao Chuan saw his abnormal expression and asked in confusion.
Fu Mingshi glanced at him but didn't say anything, and continued walking forward.
The spacious arrival hall was already packed with reporters, all there for Fu Mingshi.
His family's Shengshi Group had just successfully won an important French tender, making domestic competing companies green with envy. But the reporters weren't concerned with Shengshi Group's business success. What they were interested in was a romantic scandal involving the group's CEO Fu Mingshi in Paris.
After all, not only was Fu Mingshi worth billions, even his features were so handsome they could outshine any old or young celebrity. In all of China, those richer than him weren't as young and cool, and those cooler than him weren't nearly as wealthy! Relying solely on his face and long legs, this 28 year old entrepreneur had attracted tens of millions of fans, even though he rarely posted anything new to his Weibo.
"He's here!"
The disembarking passengers began to emerge one by one. At nearly six foot one, Fu Mingshi stood head and shoulders above the others, his tall and slender figure perfectly showcased in a black suit. Low key was impossible. No one knew who rushed over first, but it seemed in the blink of an eye reporters encircled Fu Mingshi, startling onlookers unfamiliar with him into thinking he must be some huge celebrity and whipping out their phones to start filming.
"Mr. Fu, is it true that Miss Xia is your college classmate, and you two used to date?"
"When does Mr. Fu plan to announce the relationship?"
"Was the encounter with Miss Xia in Paris really a coincidence?"
"Did Mr. Fu invest in 'Prosperous Chang'an' because of Miss Xia?"
All kinds of questions were fired at Fu Mingshi in quick succession. But Fu Mingshi didn't hear any of them. The only thing in his mind was his grandfather saying "liver cancer," to the point where he couldn't even remember how he got into the car. Picking up its master, the black Maybach steadily drove out of the airport with Fu Mingshi spacing out in the back, not regaining his senses for a long time.
He started looking up information related to liver cancer.
Over an hour later, the Maybach stopped in front of the Fu family's old residence, a tidy and tranquil siheyuan. Fu Mingshi got out and headed inside, ignoring the manservants and maids he passed and making straight for his grandfather's room, finally finding him under an old locust tree in the back courtyard.
Fu Mingshi's grandfather was playing chess with his only son, Fu Mingshi's father. The richest father and son duo were dressed in the most ordinary leisure wear. If not for their bearing, they'd be no different from ordinary middle aged father and son. Hearing footsteps, they both glanced at Fu Mingshi before continuing their game.
Fu Mingshi pulled over a small wooden stool under the eaves and went to sit down, silently watching their game.
"You're back so early, did I startle you?" Fu Mingshi's grandfather joked after they finished a round.
Fu Mingshi couldn't laugh at all.
Fu Mingshi's grandfather seemed much more open minded. He laughed and patted his grandson on the shoulder, "Don't worry, the doctor said I'm in the early stages, the cure rate is still quite high."
Hearing it was caught early, Fu Mingshi's expression improved a little. He looked at his grandfather and, uncharacteristically talkative, hesitated for a moment before advising in a muffled voice, "No more smoking from now on. I'll also try to make more time to accompany you." Previously he had avoided coming home because his grandfather nagged him to get married.
Fu Mingshi's grandfather chuckled drily a couple times and shooed his son away, saying he wanted to play chess with his grandson.
Fu Mingshi's father looked at his outstanding son and sighed softly.
Preoccupied with worry for his grandfather, Fu Mingshi didn't notice his father's abnormal behavior. He lowered his head to set up the chess pieces.
As they set up the chess board, Fu Mingshi's grandfather slowly asked, "Mingshi, do you still remember how your aunt passed away?"
Fu Mingshi's motions stilled.
He did have an aunt, his dad's older sister who was three years his senior. His mom had told him about her when he was little. She said his aunt had just learned to drive right before getting married. A few days before the wedding she went out drinking with friends, drove drunk on the way home, and died in a car accident.
At that time his dad hadn't met his mom yet, and he wasn't born.
He didn't have any deep feelings toward that aunt he'd never met.
Why was his grandfather bringing up his late aunt now that he had liver cancer? Was it because the sickness made him nostalgic?
Before Fu Mingshi could respond, his grandfather went on, "Mingshi, do you believe in retribution?"
What did this have to do with anything?
Fu Mingshi didn't want to hear his grandfather say these things. "Medical science is so advanced nowadays. As long as you cooperate with treatment..."
His grandfather smiled and waved his hand, interrupting him. He looked up at his grandson, eyes shining, "You're overthinking it. I'm not afraid of death at my age. Living two more years or two less makes no difference. Actually... if it wasn't for someone risking their life to save me decades ago, I would've died on the battlefield."
Fu Mingshi's face revealed surprise.
Fu Mingshi's grandfather slowly leaned back in his chair, fiddling with a chess piece. He held his grandson's gaze for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled. His eyes turned towards the distant azure sky as he spaced out, lost in memory.
He had married at 19 and his wife became pregnant the next year. Then he went to serve in the military, under a Lieutenant Zhen. Lt. Zhen was only two years older than him, from an impoverished rural village with little education, but he was exceptionally brave and fearless in battle against the Japanese. One time the Japanese were bombing them from above and Lt. Zhen tackled him to the ground in the critical moment, saving his life.
He was lightly injured but Lt. Zhen was critically wounded with no hope of treatment, and only had two or three days left to live.
Grateful for Lt. Zhen's life-saving grace, Fu Mingshi's grandfather stayed by his side. During that time, they became sworn brothers. He learned Lt. Zhen's wife was pregnant back home, and Lt. Zhen wanted to arrange a marriage between their children, promising Fu Mingshi's future daughter to Lt. Zhen's two year old son.
Coming from a well-off family and having received an education, Fu Mingshi's grandfather didn't really approve of arranged marriages. But Lt. Zhen was his life-saving benefactor, and seeing he was about to die, Fu Mingshi's grandfather didn't have the heart to refuse, immediately agreeing. The next day, Lt. Zhen sacrificed himself. Fu Mingshi's grandfather kept fighting for another three years before returning home.
His wife did indeed give birth to a daughter, who was almost four already - fair-skinned and beautiful. Upon learning of the arranged marriage to someone from an impoverished village, his wife held their daughter and cried to him, threatening to leave him. Feeling guilty toward his wife and daughter, and thinking Lt. Zhen had passed away, Fu Mingshi's grandfather chose to forget about the agreement.
Reaching this point in the story, tears streamed down Fu Mingshi's grandfather's face. "Mingshi, this is retribution. I broke our agreement halfway, failing someone who had shown me kindness. Heaven deliberately made your aunt get into an accident right before her wedding, to make your grandmother and I live a lifetime of self-reproach. And now Heaven has remembered me..."
"Grandfather, these are all coincidences. Don't overthink it," Fu Mingshi, who didn't believe in fate or retribution, stood up to console him and reason with him. "Every year tens of thousands of people nationwide die from drunk driving. Aunt's accident was nothing but an accident. You getting liver cancer is from smoking too much..."
"I don't care, I say it's retribution so it's retribution. I shouldn't have made a promise I couldn't keep. Unable to fulfill it while alive, how will I face Lt. Zhen after I die, how will I face the brothers from our platoon!" Fu Mingshi's grandfather wiped his tears, gaze resolute on his grandson.
Fu Mingshi's eyebrows were knitted in concern. "But..."
Fu Mingshi's grandfather interrupted him again, grabbing his grandson's hand eagerly, eyes bright. "Mingshi, I've looked into it. Lt. Zhen's son passed away but he still has a granddaughter, 20 this year, perfect for you. Your aunt's matter was your grandfather's fault, and now his granddaughter lives alone in a ravine. If you marry her and take care of her, Lt. Zhen will know even in the afterlife and likely forgive me."
Marry a woman from a ravine?
Fu Mingshi gaped in shock. This was the first time he had lost composure since becoming Shengshi Group's CEO.
But Fu Mingshi's grandfather thought of his grandson's scandal in Paris, and his expression darkened. "What's the story with that Xia Ying?"
"The reporters fabricated it. We went to the same university but I didn't know her at all when we were students," Fu Mingshi truthfully answered. They didn't know each other as students. Later when Xia Ying became famous in the entertainment industry he had heard of her, but only to the extent that he knew her name. At the banquet in Paris he wouldn't have recognized her if she hadn't introduced herself. His assistant reminded him Xia Ying was the lead actress of a drama his company invested in. Out of courtesy he exchanged a few pleasantries with Xia Ying, and didn't expect the paparazzi to photograph them and create an eye-catching bogus headline.
His grandson had shown no interest in women over the years, devoted only to his work, so Fu Mingshi's grandfather believed him. Immediately he steered the conversation back to Lt. Zhen's granddaughter, "That girl is especially spirited. Dress her up and she'd be no worse than those actress on TV. Oh right, her photo is on my desk, wait here!"
Impatient for his grandson to fulfill his wish, Fu Mingshi's grandfather briskly headed inside.
Fu Mingshi watched his grandfather go in, completely at a loss. If not for his father having come back too, if not for Lt. Zhen's granddaughter's lowly background that didn't fit his grandfather's normal criteria for a grandson's wife, he really would suspect his grandfather was faking the cancer just to trick him into getting married.
"Found it, Mingshi come in!" His grandfather's loud voice called from inside the room. Fu Mingshi rubbed between his brows and went in.
Fu Mingshi's grandfather immediately handed him a passport-sized photo, deliberately holding it facing away, an air of mystery about him.
Fu Mingshi expressionlessly flipped over the photo.
The backdrop of the photo was a stream, with a young woman holding a basin of laundry and walking back. Her bottom half was wearing grey pants and her top a white shirt with some wrinkles in it. Together with the shabby wooden basin around her waist, she looked dressed for the part of an impoverished student in the rural mountains in need of aid. To her left was a small black dog, and to her right... geese.
How attractive could someone look dressed like that in such surroundings?
Fu Mingshi finally glanced at the face of the fiancee arranged for him by his grandfather.
The woman in the photo had a long braid draped over her right shoulder. Despite the very rustic look, she was smiling - a smile of pure joy, like a wildflower on the roadside content that a butterfly had come to rest on her petals.
Seeing this smiling face, Fu Mingshi was completely transfixed.
She was beautiful, naturally beautiful in a way that could make one ignore her lack of sophistication. But most breathtaking to him was...
Fu Mingshi couldn't describe it. If forced to express it:
Seeing her was like seeing the spring - warm, radiant, vibrant.
