Bai Li stood with Bai Fang and Bai Tao. Lee Shan stood behind them. The trembling, unsure visage was gone.

He couldn’t help but wonder what had happened in the last few days. Her gaze was cold when she looked at him.

Bai Tao looked at Lee Shan with disappointment in his eyes.

Bai Fang was also subdued. Very different from the eager boy that was looking forward to meeting his grandfather. Taking Bai Fang’s hand, he walked ahead.

“What happened?” Bai Li asked.

“My grandma wasn’t always like this. When she thought dad was just a simple businessman, I used to go and play at her house. She and my cousins would always be nice to me. They never used to ask me for stuff.” Bai Fang’s voices got smaller with each word.

Desire and greed.

The children wouldn’t notice the difference, but if they saw the adults behaving a certain way, they would copy that behavior.

Lee Shan might treat Bai Fang as her son, but did her family see him the same way. Looking in as an outsider, Lee Shan’s mother thought of him as a meal ticket.

She was waiting for him to mature before collecting. Bai Li ruined whatever she was planning, so she stopped putting on an act.

Lee Shan’s hostility should be because he exposed things. It was a childish retaliation.

“You still haven’t said what happened.” Bai Li prompted.

“I was in the room. She didn’t even wait till I couldn’t hear.” Bai Fang tightened his grip. “Grandma said it would be best to introduce dad to my aunt. She would be able to give birth to a child that was actually part of the family.”

Bai Li was shocked. It took him a while to process the information.

What did they mean? Were they going to marry in a concubine or donate an egg?

Bai LI felt the need to check a calendar. Had he gone back to ancient times when he wasn’t paying attention?

Maybe Lee Shan would start to smarten up with this. Either that or she would side with her family.

There was nothing he could say that would make things better. He rubbed Bai Fang’s head. “I am here for you. Anything you need.”

Bai Fang didn’t speak. He just nodded his head. For an astute child, it was hard to tell what was going through his mind.

Bai Tao, who had been purposely giving them space, caught up with them.

They reached the ground floor. Campo approached them. He had been instructed to wait for them. “This is my head of security.”

He said to Bai Tao. Lifting a hand, three men stepped forward. “James will be added to whichever detail you have watching Bai Fang. Cory will go to Bai Wei. Martin will go to Bai Mei.”

Bai Tao was shocked by the presence of the four men. “We will talk about this later.”

“Sure.” Bai Li had no reason not to agree. He could have them watch in the dark, but he introduced them for a reason. Bai Tao would be a fool if he thought these were the only people he had.

Bai Fang shot him a look of awe. “Big brother is cool!” Looking at Cory, he waved. “Hello!”

“Hello, young master,” Cory answered.

Bai Fang’s eyes widened. Pointing at himself in excitement.

Bai Li and Bai Tao laughed at the comical act.

The closer they got to the Ping family home, the more nervous he got. He acted like nothing on the outside, but inside he was a wreck.

A thousand thoughts crossed his mind.

Pulling up, he saw his grandfather standing out front. Bai Wei was beside him.

Bai Wei looked pouty and wronged.

He already felt tired, and he hadn’t spoken to them.

Bai Fang was twisting his fingers. The first sign that he was nervous that Bai Li had seen so far.

“Remember, be yourself. That is all you can do. If they can’t accept you the way you are, then it is not worth it.” As he said those words, he realized how much they applied to himself.

He rubbed Bai Fang on the head before getting out of the car. He ignored his father. Bai Tao was silent for the entire ride.

The minute he got out of the car, Bai Wei tore out of their grandfather’s grip and threw herself at him.

“Big brother Li. I want to go home.” She started crying. “They are so mean to me here. I want to see mommy.”

Bai Li took a deep breath. “Who was mean to you? Have you told grandpa?”

Bai Wei wailed harder. Bai Fang, who inched closer, was throwing a look their way. It was a cross between shocked and scared.

“Grandpa is mean to me. He is lying and saying bad things about mom. He hit me and threw away the candy.” Bai Wei babbled some more words, but he already stopped listening.

Bai Li’s body froze. “Who hit you?” His voice was even. He held Bai Wei at arm’s length and looked into her eyes.

She casually dropped that into the sentence. Was it an accident?

“Why are you being mean to me too?” She started crying again.

“Don’t you know you shouldn’t lie?”

Why do you think I am lying?” She asked, stomping her foot.

“Then who hit you?” Bai Li asked again. He looked at Ping Zen and Bai Tao. The concern in all three of their eyes was the same.

Bai Wei, realizing that her tears weren’t working, ran back into the house.

“This is why I don’t like girls,” Bai Fang said.

The tension in the air eased. Ping Zen chuckled.

Bai Fang ran up to Ping Zen. “Hello! I am Bai Fang. Are you my grandpa?”

Ping Zen laughed harder. He rubbed Bai Fang on the head. “Yes, I am.”

Did he ever act cute and childish with his grandfather? He couldn’t remember that. They always maintained a distance.

In his last life, when he saw scenes like this, he thought that Bai Fang was a scheming suck-up. Now, he realized that Bai Fang was behaving like a child.

This relationship was the foundation that would lead to something more mature as Bai Fang aged.

Ping An inhibited their relationship. Bai Li held onto his resentment. In the end, both parts probably saw each other as a threat.

He threw the melancholy of his memories aside.

“Hello, grandfather. Grandpa.” He corrected.

Ping Zen’s eyes warmed. A smile hovered at his lips. “Hello, Li. You have gotten bigger.” His grandfather rubbed his head. His hand was bony but very warm.

Bai Li realized Ping Zen was talking more than his age.

Bai Li leaned into his grandfather’s touch. “Would it have been better if it happened sooner?” He felt his cheeks being pinched. He was so shocked. Lifting a hand, he held his face.

“It happened when it needed to. It is already a miracle that it happened this early.” Ping Zen folded his hands behind his back. “Come inside.” He led the way, and they followed.

Bai Toa and Ping Zen didn’t exchange any words.

Was their relationship good or bad? Bai Li wasn’t able to tell.

“Aren’t you going to comfort your sister?” Ping Zen asked.

“My sister has gotten too much comfort. I don’t have a lot of experience with children, but she needs to learn that throwing a tantrum isn’t the acceptable way to do things.” Bai Li swallowed the other words he wanted to say.

“How is your health?” Ping Zen asked. They were heading towards the parlor.

Bai Fang was in heaven. He had already run ahead.

“I don’t notice any issues. How is yours?” Bai Li asked.

Ping Zen chuckled. “I wasn’t sick, to begin with.”

Bai Tao pulled in a sharp breath beside him. Bai Li chuckled dryly. “I was wondering how she managed to do it. It didn’t make any sense.”

Bai Li looked at his grandfather’s slightly hunched back. It now appeared unbelievably broad. Bai Li had wondered how Ping An managed to poison her father. He was careful, and the people at his side were bulletproof.

His grandfather had played the pig to eat the tiger. It fooled everyone in both lives. Bai Li remembered visiting his sick grandfather. It never crossed his mind that the old man was faking being ill.

From his father’s uneven steps, he realized that Bai Tao had been fooled as well.

“Awesome. Really too awesome.” These were his heartfelt words of appreciation.

Ping Zen had been hospitalized for months. That kind of dedication.

“Isn’t my grandson even more awesome? You have been very busy.” Ping Zen looked back at him with a crinkly-eyed smile. “We need to have a long talk.”

“Sure.” He answered. He was confident. The things his grandfather knew were the things he wanted him to find out about. “There is a lot we need to catch up about.”