The Abandoned Daughter's Second Chance

Chapter 214: Chapter 200: May Days

Beijing had entered May, and the sun was brilliant and the weather pleasant. In the Tang Mansion’s garden, flowers bloomed in a riot of color amidst lush greenery. Early on a Sunday morning, Grandpa Tang practiced a few rounds of the Five Animals Qigong in the courtyard. Wiping away his sweat with a towel, he walked into the house. He saw two pots of budding orchids on the living room coffee table with a rag, a small wooden trowel, and other things tossed to the side. It looked like they hadn’t been tended to yet, but the person responsible was nowhere to be seen.

Xiao Zhang came down from upstairs and said with a smile, "The hot water is ready. Would you like to take your bath now, sir?"

Grandpa Tang looked around. "Let me catch my breath first. Where’d the old lady go?"

"What is it?" Grandma Tang’s face appeared from behind the second-floor railing. She looked down at Grandpa Tang with a haughty glance. "Tang Renqian, are you going senile? I’ve told you so many times, you are not to call me ’old lady’!"

Grandma Tang had now fully recovered her health. Although she hadn’t yet regained her original plump and stately figure, her skin was delicate and fair, her complexion rosy, and her eyes as clear and bright as ever. Because she had lost weight, she had specially put on a form-fitting military uniform. With her short hair tucked into her military cap, she looked crisp, neat, tall, and slender—just like she had in her youth. Xiao Zhang and the others lavished her with praise, unaware that Grandma Tang’s figure now perfectly met the standards of a supermodel from a future generation.

Watching Xiao Zhang head to the kitchen, Grandpa Tang chuckled and started up the stairs, lowering his voice as he went. "If I don’t call you ’old lady,’ am I supposed to follow Manman’s lead and call you ’Empress Dowager’? I think you two, grandmother and granddaughter, are staging a rebellion!"

Grandma Tang was holding something in her arms. Without waiting for Grandpa Tang to reach the top of the stairs, she turned and walked toward the suite on the left, saying crisply, "When we’re out, you can address me as ’Comrade.’ At home, please call me Ms. Fang. Or, taking a cue from Manman: Miss Fang!"

Grandpa Tang nearly stumbled. "What? So now you’re ’the great beauty’? But... it’s only been a few days of me calling you ’Miss Fang’!"

"The way you say it sounds strange. I’m tired of it, so let’s change what you call me!"

Grandpa Tang wiped a non-existent bead of sweat from his forehead, smiling and shaking his head. ’This arrogant woman has never been willing to truly back down her entire life. Now that we’re old, she even has a clever and mischievous granddaughter to back her up, making her even harder to keep in line.’

"Hey, my beautiful... er, Miss Fang! Could you slow down a bit?" Grandpa Tang asked as he hurried after her. "You’re going to Manman’s room again? What for?"

"The weather is getting hotter, so I got some summer clothes for Manman and Hao Hao. Everything looked so good that I bought too much without realizing it. I’m leaving a few sets in her room for her to wear when she comes back for summer vacation, but these six sets, I’m going to take to her!"

"Haven’t we talked about this? I have too many meetings right now, and foreign delegations are arriving one after another. There are receptions and negotiations—my workload is very heavy. I don’t have time to go south with you. Can we just hold off on going for now? The kids will be on summer vacation soon. The moment it starts, I’ll immediately have someone bring them back for you!"

"You and Qingshan are both very busy men, so I won’t dare count on either of you anymore. I’m healthy and perfectly capable. I miss my grandson and granddaughter, so I’ll go find them myself!"

"Just look at you, being willful again! When have you ever gone traveling without me taking you? This journey is thousands of miles long! What if you get lost? No, I can’t allow it! I’d be too worried!"

"Hey, Tang Renqian, don’t think the Earth stops spinning without you! I, Fang Qinglan, can travel perfectly well without you leading the way. You just watch me!"

Grandpa Tang looked at Grandma Tang, speechless. After thinking it over, he asked, "You really can’t wait until I’m free? You have to go right now?"

Without looking up from folding the children’s new clothes, Grandma Tang replied, "My granddaughter told me they’re about to have their farm-work holiday, and the two little ones are preparing to go to their Grandpa and Grandma’s house in the countryside. Their village is far from the post office, and the holiday is two weeks long. I’ll panic if I can’t hear their voices! That’s why I have to go. I’ll come back as soon as the farm-work holiday is over."

"A farm-work holiday? Hmm, that’s right, they do have those. Two weeks is a pretty long time... How about we have them brought over here instead?"

"No. I already asked, and Manman doesn’t want to. She has to go back to the village to help with the farm work. Besides, if you bring them here for the farm-work holiday, how could you have the nerve to pick them up for the summer vacation too? What about their Grandpa and Grandma? Don’t the kids need to spend time with them?"

"No, I mean, their Grandpa and Grandma could come along with them!"

"Manman said their Grandma raises chickens and pigs, and their Grandpa is busy with the fields. He also has to go into the mountains to gather herbs according to the season. They can’t come!"

"Oh," Grandpa Tang sighed. "So he’s as busy as I am?"

"As busy? Far from it! Hao Hao said he’s several times busier than you are!"

Grandpa Tang: "..."

’Why do I feel so competitive about this?’

’I really want to go over there and compare notes with this Grandpa, just to see who the busiest man truly is.’