Grandfather? You're really my grandfather?" Yan Yan looked at Grandfather Jiang with those innocent tearful eyes that wrought the old man's heart strings.
He could not help but become soft. Chairman Jiang told her everything, omitting some parts as well as embellishing what happened from two and half years ago.
He had lied and said he discovered her two years ago and taken her in. Then six months ago she had gotten into a car accident.
Surprisingly Yan Yan took it well. Not for one second did she doubt he was lying.
"Yan'er, do you despise grandfather for not finding you sooner?" The chairman's asked.
Yan Yan looked at the chairman's sorry eyes and felt her heart warming. Ever since her mother died, she had no one left of kin. Always alone with no one to rely on, she finally had someone to call family. Of course, she couldn't blame him.
Yan Yan hugged his waist and shook her head.
"Grandfather." She called him.
"Mm."
"Grandfather." She cried.
"Your poor child, grandfather is here. He will always be by your side. From this day forth, no matter what adversity you face you'll always have grandfather as backing. No one will bully you anymore." Grandfather Jiang spoke.
"Grandfather before we go home. I want to go see Lou ZiYi, I don't remember her passing, I have to go and say goodbye to her for one final time."
"Okay, I'll take you there."
Yan Yan had awoken from coma and found that many things had changed. She did not have any memories from the last two and half years—excluding the six month she was in a coma. After enquiring about Lou ZiYi, chairman Jiang had to break the news to her that her friend had died of a terminal illness.
Not remembering being there for her friend, Yan Yan felt as if she lost her all over again. She cried and squeezed her head to force her memories out and yet it was to no avail. Seeing her state, Chairman Jiang consoled and told her not to force herself and that her memories will soon recover.
Chairman Jiang felt guilty in his heart for lying to her about when he found her her, but what else could he do. He only knew that whatever she had faced in those two years must have been so awful and traumatic even her mind didn't want her to remember it.
He could not bear to tell her the whole truth. That someone had ripped her baby from her abdomen while she was still conscious.
Although these doctors had nursed her body back to healthy, the fact that her womb had received that trauma meant that there was a possibility she will not have children in the future.
Now that his granddaughter was safe with him, Chairman Jiang's next move was to acclimatise her well into his world. He planned to sharpen her claws and make her excel in everything.
Therefore, when time came for his retirement, he planned to leave his inheritance to her.
She will be only his successor in this lifetime. Although Chairman Jiang had a sister whose family who always buttered up to him in hopes of gaining more shares, he did not have a close relationship with those relatives.
Those people did not really care for his well-being, only his money.
In this whole world, he only had this one grandchild, and he will be damned if he let her experience what she went through again.
...
At the Jiang family residence, after returning from seeing Lou ZiYi's epitaph, Chairman Jiang was worried about his granddaughter's well-being and mental state.
However, he soon discovered just how agreeable she was. After crying it out, she told herself to let bygones be bygones. She reminded herself that it was temporary and soon she will remember her last moments with Lou ZiYi.
And so, Yan Yan focussed on recovery and became agreeable with this new stranger that was now her grandfather. She focused on getting to know him.
Because Chairman Jiang had lied and said she had been living with him for the last two years before her accident, Yan Yan shed the air of unfamiliarity with him. This person was the only family left and so, should be good to him.
As soon as she had accepted him as her grandfather, it became natural for her to unconditionally love him and lean on him.
Chairman Jiang soon discovered just how sweet it was to have a granddaughter in the family. Yan Yan was as sweet as jujubes, she asked after his health, made sure the food he was eating was healthy and made sure he was very comfortable.
Then when she learnt that he was still working in the company, she asked him to send her back to school, vowing that she will work hard so that she will alleviate some of his stress.
She vowed to become successful and make sure he will retire early to enjoy his hay days.
Such a granddaughter was really hard to come by.