Back to 1988 110

Chapter 110: Discord

Compared to the Mi family, the Bai family’s return was much grander.

Luo Jiangjing had brought back a convoy of cars, and she had not brought a small amount of things. Luo Jiangjing doted on her son, and she had brought a set of everything Bai Luochuan was used to using, for fear that he would not be used to the old residence. Although she had brought a lot, this was still somewhat in consideration of her husband’s feelings, and she had been more restrained this year than in previous years.

Political Commissar Bai, Bai Jingrong, had just returned from the army. When he saw her doting on her son like this, his brow furrowed.

The father and son had had a fight over this early in the morning, and now, even though they were sitting in the same car, they were not talking to each other.

Luo Jiangjing wanted to ease the atmosphere and gently persuaded them a couple of times, but Bai Jingrong said coldly, “How old is he? You should also think carefully about the future when you do this…”

Bai Luochuan couldn’t stand it anymore and retorted, “Can you not blame my mom for everything first? If I’ve done something wrong, just say it. Don’t take it out on my mom.”

Bai Jingrong said, “Is that the tone you should be using with an elder!”

Bai Luochuan’s temper was the same as his. He was soft on the outside but hard on the inside. The more it was like this, the more he would resist. He looked up at him. “Then what tone are you using with my mom? Yes, you’re protecting the country. That’s great. But is it easy for my mom to be at home alone?”

Bai Jingrong’s face was ugly. “We are discussing your future education!”

Bai Luochuan chuckled. “Education? Have you ever attended a parent-teacher conference for me? Let alone middle school, you didn’t even manage much in elementary school. And after you came back this time, besides picking on me, you haven’t said a single good word. If this is also considered education, then I don’t think you can educate me well.”

Bai Jingrong slapped the armrest and raised his voice, shouting at him, “Bai Luochuan!”

The car had just arrived at a service area. Bai Luochuan directly opened the car door, got out, and moved to a Land Rover in the back. He put on his headphones, pulled his hood over his head to cover most of his face, and leaned against the back seat, ignoring everyone.

Bai Jingrong closed his eyes and was silent for a while. After a long while, he said, “I’ve led so many soldiers, and I’ve never seen one so difficult to lead.”

Luo Jiangjing chided, “Nonsense. This is your own son. Are you really going to train him like one of your soldiers? Luochuan is already very sensible and obedient for his age. You, you’re too demanding. You don’t praise him when you come back, and you expect everything to be according to your strict requirements. Let alone a child his age who is rebellious, even a university student wouldn’t listen.”

Bai Jingrong rubbed his brow, a little tired. “I was too anxious. I’m afraid he’ll get used to it now and have no concept of money. What if he goes to university and no one is there to manage him, and he learns some bad things from those people?”

Luo Jiangjing said, “What have you heard?”

Bai Jingrong said, “My teacher came to me a while ago to ask if I had any connections in Tianjin. It’s also because the child in his family is not promising. He crashed a few cars, and even got the teacher involved.”

Luo Jiangjing had also heard about this. It was her younger sister who had heard about it and told her. It was said that a few of the boys from several families had been street racing in the middle of the night. They had been caught twice and had gotten away with it, and had become arrogant. They had even started a betting pool, and in the end, there had been an accident that had caused a big commotion. After all, it was a matter of life and death, and it would probably be difficult to get the few who had been caught out.

When Luo Jiangyuan had been talking about it, she had also been worried about whether her own Ji Bai’an would go bad in the future. She had laughed at her younger sister for overthinking it, but she hadn’t expected Bai Jingrong to say it again today, and to put this worry directly on their own son.

Luo Jiangjing shook her head. “Luochuan won’t. You don’t know him. He’s not that kind of reckless child.”

Bai Jingrong said, “I’m just afraid of what if…”

Luo Jiangjing said with a confident smile, “Then that ‘what if’ won’t happen to my son. Jingrong, you still don’t know him well enough.”

Bai Jingrong was not used to those kinds of trends. He was a man of few words, and his meaning was perhaps just a warning. But when he said it, Bai Luochuan’s arrogance was exactly the same as Luo Jiangjing’s, and with the layer of a father-son relationship, the two of them were a little at odds.

Luo Jiangjing chided, “You can’t blame me for our son’s temper. Dad spoils him even more than I do. But Luochuan has good grades and is also sensible. It’s no wonder Dad thinks of him in everything. Don’t you trust Dad? On matters of principle, he’s even stricter than you!”

Luo Jiangjing brought up the elder, and Bai Jingrong could only nod. “I hope I’m overthinking it.”

Luo Jiangjing said, “It’s not enough for you to just tell me. When our son comes back later, you should also talk to him. You two should sit down and have a good talk. A father and son acting like enemies, they can’t even sit down and say a few words.” She said, then smiled again. “But, how are you sure that Luochuan will definitely get into university this year? He’s very ambitious and only picks the most difficult one or two. I’m even worried that he won’t get in on the first try.”

The corner of Bai Jingrong’s lips lifted a little. “This kid is tough. Whatever he says, he will definitely do it.”

This bit of confidence and pride was a common trait of the men of the Bai family.

Until they reached the old residence, the Bai father and son did not see each other.

Bai Luochuan was probably half-annoyed and half-unwilling to make Luo Jiangjing sad, so he deliberately avoided his dad. Bai Jingrong’s side sat there with a furrowed brow and also did not find a suitable opportunity to talk to his son.

The Bai family’s old residence had been moved to a new site. The front courtyard was a spacious courtyard and a newly built house. After passing through it, there was the corridor of the middle courtyard and the previous wooden building. The wooden building had been moved over and renovated in its original form. The study was listed separately. The old books had all been sent to Mi Hong’s, and now there were only two slender-necked long bottles on display. Further back was where Old Bai lived. Two slightly taller small buildings were built there. A pond was built in front to raise fish and lotus flowers, and a spacious empty space was left in the backyard, with a few sections separated by bamboo groves, where Wule’s stable and its few small hurdles were placed.

There was originally also a stage. Old Bai thought it was too much trouble to have it alone, so he had it dismantled and built in the center of the pond. A circle of water, with a mahogany stage in the middle, was also quite fitting. The person in charge of renovating the old residence was very clever and had made a few stone piers that were slightly higher than the water surface to act as steps, so you could walk to the stage in the center of the water step by step.

Many trees were planted in the courtyard, and Taihu rocks were also moved over. The stage was spacious enough to be used as a pavilion, where you could also drink tea and play chess. Sitting inside, you could admire the peach blossoms in spring and the lotus flowers in summer, the fallen leaves in autumn and the snow in winter. Every corner was a beautiful scene.

The old Mr. Bai was sitting in the main hall, waiting for them to come in. He was very happy to see his precious grandson and beckoned for him to come and talk to him.

Bai Jingrong wanted to talk to Old Bai about his work, but Old Bai was not willing to listen. He said to him, “Your old man is already retired. Do I still have to manage these things of yours? Don’t tell me. You can tell whoever you want. I’m not listening!” The old man turned to look at his grandson, his face changing to a loving one. He patted his arm. “Luochuan, come, come. How was that debate competition you mentioned last time? Who won, you or Little Good Boy? Tell me slowly. Grandpa has prepared a reward for both of you. The first place will get an extra one, hehe.”

Bai Jingrong: “…”

Luo Jiangjing took off the small lambskin gloves on her hands, gently poked her husband’s arm with her fingertips, and whispered with a smile, “I told you. Dad spoils him even more than I do. Let’s go. We have no place to speak here. Let’s go and have a look at the garden.”

Bai Luochuan stayed to be with the old man. He was very close to Old Bai and was also more willing to be with the old man, especially since he had had an unpleasant encounter with Bai Jingrong on the way. He didn’t want to see him again now.

The old Mr. Bai saw it in his eyes but was too lazy to manage it. For such a small matter, if his son came to complain, he would definitely be biased—how could a grandfather not be on his grandson’s side?

The old Mr. Bai had waited for a long time and was really a little expectant.

But Bai Jingrong was more patient than his grandson and had a more stable personality. He had probably already forgotten the previous unpleasantness and did not bring it up again.

Old Bai felt a little regretful. He had been rubbing his hands together, wanting to be biased!

Bai Luochuan sat there and watched TV with the old man. It was a replay of the Athens Olympics that had been recorded before. The old man was patriotic and was happy whenever China won a gold medal at the Olympics. He had watched it many times.

Bai Luochuan had not watched it all at school at that time and had only watched a few matches he was interested in. He roughly knew the results of the others, and now he was also quite interested in watching it.

The old Mr. Bai had specially chosen the table tennis team’s match. He watched with great relish and would even explain to Bai Luochuan from time to time, discussing which player was better. “This Ma Lin is not bad. He won a gold medal!”

Bai Luochuan smiled. “Grandpa, it’s just started. How can you say the result already?”

Old Bai smiled. “The whole country knows it!”

In the evening, Old Bai still helped his grandson vent his anger. There was nothing else in the house, just a lot of rooms. The old man directly sent his son to another small building to live alone. His daughter-in-law was innocently implicated and also packed her things and moved over. This small building was just for the two of them, grandfather and grandson. Old Bai directly prepared a separate floor for Bai Luochuan, letting him live as he pleased, which was very doting.

Bai Luochuan lay in bed and sent a text to Mi Yang. Mi Yang had replied quite quickly to the first few, but for the later ones, there was no reply even after almost twenty minutes. The young master Bai’s brow furrowed. He rolled over and lay on his back, his arm pillowed under his head, staring at the ceiling and thinking. It was not appropriate to go and find him on the first day. He had to give Little Good Boy some time to prepare… But what was there to prepare? They hadn’t seen each other for several days.

Thinking of this, he couldn’t fall asleep even more. He picked up his phone again and sent a text to Mi Yang, using all sorts of tones, from cute to threatening, to have him reply quickly.

As he was sending the message, he heard a noise from downstairs. The nanny auntie who lived on the first floor got up to open the door, and then he heard a low conversation, which seemed very familiar, and the person was led in.

Bai Luochuan found it strange. His grandfather had some visitors, but he couldn’t think of anyone who was so familiar that they would be welcomed in at night. Besides him, it was… The young master Bai blinked his eyes, and his heart suddenly beat a little faster. He rolled out of bed, casually grabbed a long bathrobe, and wrapped himself in it as he ran down. Just as he reached the stairs, he saw the person he wanted to see the most.

Mi Yang didn’t have the auntie turn on the main light. He just turned on a small light by the wooden stairs and went up, saying to the other with a smile, “It’s fine. I know the way here. It’s the same as before. You can go back and rest. I’ll go upstairs and find him myself.”

The auntie smiled and agreed, then went back to rest herself.

Mi Yang walked up, fumbling forward. After he had gone up the stairs and had just taken two steps to the corner, he was suddenly hugged in the dark. A kiss then landed on his ear, and the other chuckled softly, “Who are you looking for upstairs, hmm?”