Chapter 004: So Angry He Wanted to Spank His Granddaughter Again!

Bai Guofu’s hands, as withered as the bark of an old tree, brushed away his tears. With heartfelt warmth, he said, “Ancestor, please have a seat.” In full view of everyone present, the old master Bai Guofu relinquished his own seat, then turned and, with great solicitude, brought out his finest tea—the kind he usually could not bear to drink—for Bai Chuwei. The way he behaved was nothing like the stern patriarch of the Bai family, but more like… a sycophant?

The scene left everyone dumbstruck; none had anticipated such a turn of events.

Bai Yinyin exchanged a glance with her parents, deeply suspecting that the old man’s senility had taken a turn for the worse.

Bai Chuwei’s beautiful eyes swept the room. The villa was about four or five hundred square meters, three stories above ground, one below, complete with its own garden. The décor was pure European style, and every item within was of the finest quality.

Noticing Bai Chuwei’s appraising gaze, Bai Yinyin snorted and muttered under her breath, “Just as I thought, a country bumpkin—never lived in a place this nice, has she?”

Bai Chuwei accepted the cup of Snow-Tipped Green that the old master had brewed himself, took a delicate sip, and spoke at the same time as Bai Yinyin: “Xiao Fu, under your stewardship the Bai family has truly fallen on hard times. I remember when our estate sprawled across the mountainside, prosperous and grand. And now you live in this tiny house?”

Ti… tiny house?

Bai Yinyin was stunned, her face flushing crimson with anger as she glared at Bai Chuwei. “How dare you speak to my grandfather like that? Do you have any idea how expensive a villa on Shuangbai Road in the southern part of the city is? Just this one is worth fifty million! You couldn’t afford to buy a bathroom here if we sold you!”

Two crisp slaps rang through the hall.

Bai Yinyin clutched her reddened cheek, staring at Bai Guofu in disbelief, her lips trembling. “Grandfather… you hit me? You hit me for the sake of some stranger? You’ve never struck me before!”

Bai Guofu rebuked her sternly, “A stranger? How can the Ancestor be a stranger? Yinyin, mind your manners. Apologize to the Ancestor immediately!”

Bai Yinyin was so furious she wanted nothing more than to tear Bai Chuwei’s face apart, sobbing as she threw herself into her parents’ arms.

“Why should I apologize? I won’t!”

Apologize to her? In her dreams!

Bai Guofu turned away, his face flushing with embarrassment as he nervously wrung his hands, addressing Bai Chuwei. “Forgive me for making you witness this, Ancestor. I have failed to raise my granddaughter properly. The Bai family… it’s true, the Bai family has declined under my care.”

Had those words come from anyone else, Bai Guofu would have flown into a rage. But this was the Ancestor!

Through the curling steam of the fragrant tea, Bai Guofu gazed at Bai Chuwei, waves of emotion surging in his heart.

Sixty years ago, he had only been ten. Those were years of great famine, with his family succumbing one by one to hunger. Before his father passed, he sent him to Misty Mountain to seek out the Ancestor.

Starving to the point of dizziness, he had barely made it up the mountain before collapsing at Bai Chuwei’s doorstep.

The Ancestor saved him. She gave him food—not just to eat, but also seeds to plant.

In those days, food enough to save a life was more precious than gold!

With the provisions Bai Chuwei gave him, he survived. With the seeds, he slowly rebuilt his family’s fortunes…

Bai Guofu looked at Bai Chuwei and saw she had come empty-handed. In his seventy years, he had tasted every delicacy, yet the flavor of the little cabbages she once grew herself still lingered in his memory.

Bai Chuwei set down her teacup, casting an amused glance at the sobbing Bai Yinyin before explaining, “On my way here, I hitched a ride. I gave all the vegetables I’d just picked from the fields to the driver.”

At these words, Bai Guofu’s heart ached, and he was so vexed he nearly wanted to strike his granddaughter again.

What a foolish suggestion Yinyin had made! Now all his vegetables were gone.

Clutching her burning cheek, Bai Yinyin demanded angrily, “Grandfather, just who is this woman?”