"Then you can leave." Qin Ningyi did not agree to Elder Jiang's request, refusing to be presented with such a choice.
It wasn't as if this was the last bottle of medicine in the world, so he wouldn't resort to making strange choices based on ambiguous promises.
Love and family should not be placed in opposition.
Elder Jiang lowered his gaze, the smile in his eyes hidden beneath his half-lowered eyelids.
He was satisfied.
This man was unlike the one his daughter had dated before. That man had been so terrified by the mere presence of Qin Ningyi and his entourage that he had readily promised to leave his daughter in exchange for money.
That man had truly chosen money and life over his daughter.
Love was so fragile.
Elder Jiang hadn't been surprised then. Men blinded by love wouldn't stop to consider how well off they would be by sticking with his daughter.
Hearing Qin Ningyi's answer this time, he was taken aback.
"So you're not saving your grandfather?"
Qin Ningyi glanced at Grandpa Qin, who was sleeping peacefully on the hospital bed. His voice was soft yet filled with determination and confidence. "My grandfather, I won't let anything happen to him. You can't threaten me with this."
"Hahaha." Elder Jiang laughed. "How is this a threat?"
He was merely an elder of Xiao A'rou, here to vet her potential partner and stand up for her.
He continued to needle Qin Ningyi. "Anyway, Xiao A'rou has already left, and she might not come back to be with you. If you agree to my terms now, you can save your grandfather immediately. What a worthwhile transaction."
"I will find her." Qin Ningyi looked at Elder Jiang, feeling that this Elder Jiang was quite different from the one he had met last time, and far from the man described in rumors.
Upon hearing this, Elder Jiang felt a certain degree of approval for Qin Ningyi. This man was not like Old Qin; that old man had almost abandoned his wife when he was young.
But approval or not, he still had to make his sarcastic remarks. "Only if you can find her!"
His Xiao A'rou had plenty of places to hide!
"Beep beep beep—"
The monitoring equipment beside Grandpa Qin suddenly beeped, and Shen Wuyou quickly moved to check his condition.
After some adjustments, everything returned to normal.
"Alright, Elder Jiang, please say less." Shen Wuyou squeezed some disinfectant alcohol from the dispenser on the table, rubbing his hands together as he advised Elder Jiang.
Elder Jiang blew on his hands. "If you keep rubbing, your hands will get chapped, and Xiao A'rou will dislike you even more!"
Shen Wuyou awkwardly stopped what he was doing. He looked at his hands covered in alcohol and, after enduring it for a while, turned his hands away.
It stung. Elder Jiang was spot on.
Seeing that Shen Wuyou had no retort, Elder Jiang closed his mouth with satisfaction. He glanced sideways at the fluctuating data on Grandpa Qin's monitoring equipment.
Never mind. He'd consider it a good deed for the day. This Old Qin was too weak; he started beeping after just a few words. If he continued, wouldn't the man just drop dead?
It wouldn't matter if he died; Elder Jiang would have some peace and quiet.
But would it be too quiet?
Forget it, Elder Jiang silently admonished himself.
After saying so much, his air of mystique was almost gone. Just as Xiao A'rou said, people sometimes needed to rein themselves in.
After much internal persuasion, Elder Jiang, under the watchful eyes of everyone in the room, softly called out, "Xiao Shen."
Shen Wuyou walked over to him. Elder Jiang's playful, nonchalant smile had vanished. Without his smile, he indeed looked quite fierce.
Elder Jiang handed the medicine bottle to Shen Wuyou. "Here."
Shen Wuyou took the bottle and looked at the medicine inside. It was indeed the one he needed. Elder Jiang's information network was truly efficient.
He nodded at Qin Ningyi.
"Thank you." Qin Ningyi did not hesitate and expressed his gratitude directly. "But I cannot fulfill the condition you mentioned. Please propose another one that I can manage, and I will do anything."
Elder Jiang's gaze settled on Grandpa Qin. "He's been chasing me, wanting to fight me for so many years. I respect him as a brave man, honest and upright. I'll give him this medicine, and he owes me a favor. You don't owe me anything."
He wanted to wait until Grandpa Qin woke up and knew that his life had been saved by him, Elder Jiang. That would be an amusing expression, and he wondered if Grandpa Qin would spit up blood again in anger.
Elder Jiang's expression softened.
Listening to Elder Jiang's words, Qin Ningyi's perception of him was reshaped once again.
This did not seem like an utterly wicked person; he had a sense of righteousness.
"However..." Elder Jiang walked to the door and looked back at Qin Ningyi. "You have to do one thing."
"Consider it my condition."
He sighed, recalling how Huo Rou, with red eyes, had come to him not long ago.
For so many years, she and her son had been alone. He knew how much Xiao A'rou yearned for a family.
He also knew how good Huo Rou was at putting up a front, how strong she was.
What had made a person who would rather bleed than cry shed tears?
"Please, tell me."
"Find out the truth." Elder Jiang clenched his fist.
He said calmly, "Cheng Guozhong is not innocent. Ever since I agreed to Xiao A'rou's request to deal with Cheng Guozhong, I've had dealings with him. Regarding what happened back then, he doesn't claim innocence."
"Back then..." Qin Ningyi frowned. The last time he saw Cheng Guozhong in front of the military district, he had never resisted Huo Rou's every move, and his eyes were filled with guilt.
Anyone who had witnessed that scene would not have considered Cheng Guozhong innocent.
Therefore, he wanted to know the specifics.
"What happened back then?"
Elder Jiang looked at Qin Ningyi, then at Grandpa Qin, and sighed softly. "I don't know much. Xiao A'rou isn't someone who likes to tell stories."
When this incident happened, he hadn't been targeted by Qin Han yet, so he hadn't paid much attention to Qin Han's every move. Huo Rou's father was just a captain in Fenghuo. Fenghuo wasn't targeting ordinary citizens like them, so why would he put such a person on his observation list?
"All I know is that back then, Fenghuo was assisting Shenji on a mission, but Fenghuo's whereabouts were leaked, and the enemy sniper killed nearly half of their men."
"Xiao A'rou's father held onto the hard-won medicine until his dying breath." Elder Jiang's eyes were tinged with heartache. "That medicine was later sent to the lab for research and decomposition. Xiao A'rou mentioned that her mother died of poisoning during that experiment."
Both parents left one after another because of one incident, leaving only Xiao A'rou alone.
His Xiao A'rou, sigh.
Qin Ningyi's mind raced as he listened to these fragmented past events. "Was the leak of their whereabouts due to Cheng Guozhong's betrayal? Was he bribed?"
But if Cheng Guozhong had leaked the information, his grandfather would never have put everything on the line to protect him.
There must be something else involved.