Chapter 25: Great-Grandson Becomes Grandson

"Mother, you scared me to death!"

Meng Shuyue patted her racing heart and let out a long sigh of relief.

Mother Meng tapped her on the head and leaned forward to see what exactly in the hallway had caught her daughter's attention. "What are you looking at? I don't see any handsome young men here!"

She paused, her eyebrows arching high. "It isn't those boys from the Song family bullying you, is it?"

As she spoke, Mother Meng rolled up her sleeves, looking ready for a fight. Meng Shuyue hurriedly grabbed her and pulled her back. In the hallway, a pregnant woman, supported by her husband, walked past them. As Meng Shuyue watched the couple leaning on each other, a bitter ache slowly spread through her chest.

She turned to her mother, her expression firm and resolute. "Mother, I need to see Elder Shen. Can you help me?"

Mother Meng was puzzled. "Why do you want to see him? Your marriage has already been arranged by your father and me. That second boy from the Song family is an honest man..."

"Mother, I don't want to marry him," Meng Shuyue interrupted, her voice choked with emotion. "I will marry anyone but a Song!"

Mother Meng felt a lump in her throat. Seeing her daughter's aggrieved expression and glancing toward the hospital ward nearby, she seemed to understand something. Heartbroken, she pulled her daughter into her arms and murmured, "I will do whatever you say, as long as it makes you happy!"

Recalling the malice and retaliation she had just faced from those people in the ward, Meng Shuyue could no longer suppress the grievances of her past and present lives. She clutched her mother tightly and burst into tears.

***

The Shen family courtyard was brightly lit. Elder Shen, who had intended to return to the countryside the next day and was planning to rest early, was informed by his housekeeper that a guest had arrived.

He went to the main hall, adjusted his reading glasses, and peered at her several times before recognizing the young woman. "Are you that girl from the Meng family? Why are you here so late? You shouldn't be out and about in your condition..."

Before he could finish, the young girl bowed ninety degrees and remained there, refusing to straighten up.

"Elder Shen, I want to call off the engagement with the Song family! Of course, if you do not wish to break the promise you made to my grandfather, you may choose anyone from the Shen family to marry me instead. As long as it isn't a member of the Song family, I will agree."

Elder Shen was bewildered. He hurried to help her up, his eyes slightly reddened. "My dear child, what kind of grievance have you suffered? It was your grandfather who saved my life, and I only arranged this engagement to repay him. How could I let you be wronged and marry just anyone?"

Seeing that the old man wouldn't budge, Meng Shuyue knelt down. Her parents had never asked anyone for favors in their lives; they had held onto the marriage contract left by her grandfather and never once asked the Shen family for help. Today, as a daughter and a sister, she was willing to lower her head.

"Grandfather, I am not worthy of marrying into the Song family. The child I am carrying is not your grandson's!"

While kneeling, Meng Shuyue told the truth about how she had been delivering a baby for a pregnant woman, fallen into the floodwaters, and subsequently lost her innocence while trapped in a tree. Finally, she lowered her head, unable to bear looking at the kind-faced old man.

"So, I want to dissolve the engagement. I only ask that you help my brother obtain a permit to return to the city. My family and I will never bother you again..."

Meng Shuyue tried to control her emotions and explain the whole matter calmly, but at the thought of her brother, who was still working in the countryside with a lame leg, she couldn't hold back her tears. They rolled down, drop by drop.

There was a long silence above her. She did not receive the anger she had anticipated. She remembered her mother saying how happy Elder Shen had been when he heard he was going to have a great-grandchild. Now that she had told him the truth, he should have been just as disappointed and sad as he had been happy before.

Yet, the old man simply took a deep breath and pulled her up from the floor.

"My dear child, why are you so honest? It is my own good-for-nothing grandsons who lack the fortune to marry you!"

He patted her head affectionately, his eyes glowing as if he had made a decision. "Go home. I will take care of your brother's situation. As for the engagement, I will find you a better match. It doesn't matter whose child this is; you can have more in the future!"

Meng Shuyue stood there, bewildered and at a loss. She was completely thrown off by Elder Shen's abnormal—or rather, excited—reaction. The child she carried wasn't his grandson's; why was he so happy?

With a heart full of trepidation, she was eventually escorted out by Elder Shen himself.

Elder Shen even called for the family driver to take her home in a Jeep. Back at the courtyard, watching the car drive away, Elder Shen could no longer contain his joy and burst into laughter. The little old man ran through the courtyard so fast his reading glasses nearly fell off his nose.

He rushed into the hall, grabbed the phone, and quickly dialed a number. As soon as it connected, he asked impatiently, "Hello! What did you say that girl looked like—the one who was saved from the tree along with our Jinxiao?"

At the military office, the guard who answered the phone was confused. He glanced at Colonel Shen, who was busy packing documents to take home, and stood at attention. "The girl was quite dark-skinned, sir, but she was very pretty. Oh, and she knew how to deliver a baby!"

In the courtyard, Elder Shen slapped his thigh, beaming from ear to ear. It all matched!

He had previously heard from the guard that Shen Jinxiao had been swept away in a flood with a young woman, and they had both been rescued from a tree later. At the time, he had pondered why his son hadn't seized such a good opportunity for romance.

Shen Jinxiao was twenty-seven this year, a child born to him and his wife when they were in their fifties. At his age, others already had children old enough to ride bicycles, but he was as stubborn as a stone, never even looking at a girl properly. It had worried the old man sick.

He never expected his son to do something so significant in silence, providing him with a child just like that. If his great-grandchild was actually his grandson's child, he would be willing to lose his very last tooth just from laughing!

He shouted into the phone, "Tell your Colonel to come home immediately! I have wonderful news to tell him!"