In the following days, Mr. Li visibly lost weight at an alarming rate, making Li Xianglu as anxious as ants on a hot pan. He stubbornly refused to eat, and any attempt to persuade him would only provoke his anger, causing the whole family to feel agitated.
It was March, and school was about to start in a few days, but Mr. Li showed no signs of improvent. Mr. Xun specially invited a traditional Chinese dicine practitioner to visit. After checking his pulse, the diagnosis was liver qi stagnation and a lack of appetite. Qin Shouren also visited twice, using a stethoscope and a sphygmomanoter to check everything. Only his blood pressure was a bit low; everything else seed fine.
This situation deeply worried everyone. What exactly had happened? Privately, Li Xianglu and Qin Xi speculated. The phrase "shouldn’t bear the Li surna but the Zhou surna" had crushed the old man. What on earth had happened?
However, they couldn’t get any answers out of him. The old man had been eating less for several days and had beco increasingly lethargic, spending his days in a state of silent reminiscence.
Worried, Li Xianglu directly called Hong Kong. Coincidentally, Xu Xi was there, and he was stunned to hear about Mr. Li’s illness. After hearing the strange reason, he didn’t speak for a long while, only saying to wait while he contacted Miss Su.
Li Xianglu couldn’t wait any longer. Over the next two days, Mr. Li was bedridden, vomiting everything he ate, even his dicine, which scared Li Xianglu to tears several tis.
It was the 8th, and school had already started. Qin Zhen left three days ago, and Qin Xi was sent off by Li Xianglu in the morning to pick up his books and register, while she stayed at ho.
After cooking millet and red date porridge, she sat by the bed, looking at her grandpa whose cheeks had sunk in, tears dropping down as she spoke: "Grandpa, do you not want anymore?"
Li Huai Ren, lost in his mories, was startled by his granddaughter’s words and gave a bitter smile: "How could that be? Grandpa will get better soon."
Li Xianglu sobbed, "They don’t want anymore, they want to sell for money, and now you don’t want either."
Mr. Li struggled to sit up and pulled his granddaughter into his embrace, "Oh, how could that be, silly child, what are you talking about?"
Li Xianglu persisted, "Actually, I’m not really their child, so I’m not truly a Li Family child."
This statent sounded baffling, but Li Huai Ren imdiately understood: "What did you say? You’re not a Li Family child?"
With tearful eyes, Li Xianglu said, "The Li Family’s child has long been dead, I am not the Li Family’s child. Grandpa, don’t you want anymore?"
Li Huai Ren didn’t fully grasp what she ant by ’not a Li Family child’, but he had his suspicions. Hearing Li Xianglu speak this way, sothing clicked inside him. Could such bizarre things really exist in this world?
He listened as Li Xianglu continued to cry, "Grandpa, even if I’m not a Li Family person, I’m not a Li Family person, we both are not Li Family people, so please don’t overthink it."
Alright, they were waiting for him. Mr. Li gave a bitter smile, realizing that the children had guessed it.
Mr. Li sighed, "Yes, I am not Li Huai Ren."
Li Xianglu’s eyes widened, "Then who is Li Huai Ren?"
Cupping water from the bedside, Mr. Li took a sip to moisten his throat before saying, "He was sacrificed."
Li Xianglu could hardly believe it, could Grandpa be living soone else’s life? Switched identities?
Mr. Li saw his granddaughter’s eyes rolling around and knew she was overthinking it. Angrily, he patted his granddaughter on the head before saying, "It was an organizational request, I can only be Li Huai Ren in this lifeti."
Ah? The more I hear, the more complicated it gets.
Mr. Li leaned back, his eyes listless as he looked into the distance: "Back then, Li Huai Ren was carrying out a liaison task, passing ssages between both sides. Then, he was accidentally killed in a gunfight."
"The mission was interrupted, and no one realized he had been killed. After the organization learned about it, they sent to replace him, and I continued until the war ended. Later, when I wanted to revert to my original identity, it was difficult. All my records and military service were under the na Li Huai Ren, there was no turning back."
Li Xianglu’s eyes widened: "So that’s what happened. But, that day, why did that old man say your surna was Zhou?"
Li Huai Ren nodded bitterly, "Yes, my original surna is Zhou, Zhou Haitian."
Li Xianglu put down the bowl she was holding, climbed onto the bed, and lay next to her grandfather. She gently patted his stomach and said in a soothing tone, "Don’t worry, Grandpa, you still have . I will always be filial to you. Nowadays, won can also ’hold up half the sky,’ you can treat like your grandson."
Seeing his granddaughter like this, Mr. Li didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He patted her head and said, "Then you are my grandson now. What about Qin Xi?"
Li Xianglu blinked and said, "Qin Xi is your granddaughter-in-law, that’s nice, isn’t it?"
Mr. Li chuckled quietly, feeling sowhat relieved to speak out, but it was a sad fact that as a mber of the Zhou Family, he couldn’t go ho. In this lifeti, until death, he could only be Li Huai Ren. Even in death, he would be buried in the Li Family’s tomb, and his tombstone would also bear the na Li Huai Ren. It’s like dying soone else’s death.
Li Xianglu didn’t quite understand the depth of Mr. Li’s thoughts, but she could understand his feelings. Wasn’t she also living under soone else’s na and body?
"Grandpa, a na is just a label. Whether you are Zhou Haitian or Li Huai Ren, it’s all you. Your way of doing things, your habits, no matter which na you use, they won’t change. You are you. Using the na Li Huai Ren won’t make you into him. Look at , do you think I’m Li Xianglu? Yes, my na is Li Xianglu, but I could have any na, as long as I like it - my essence won’t change even if my na does. I am still ."
Li Huai Ren was thoroughly confused by his granddaughter’s ’I am ’ theory, but he understood what she ant. He let out a long sigh, "Alright, Grandpa understands. Co on, get up, you’re crushing . This girl, how co you’re so heavy? Xiangxiang, should you consider losing so weight?"
Li Xianglu rolled up from the bed, flabbergasted, "Grandpa, am I really that heavy?"
Mr. Li nodded earnestly, "Indeed, you’ve gained quite a lot!"
Mr. Li picked up the Xiao Mi and red date porridge from the bedside and started drinking it, his appetite returning.
Watching her grandfather eat, Li Xianglu felt better. She was about to go get him a stead sponge cake when suddenly she rembered sothing, "Uh oh, Grandpa, Grandma Su might be coming!"
"What?"
Li Xianglu giggled foolishly, "Well, seeing you’ve not been well lately, I got a bit worried, so I phoned Xu Xi, and then he said Grandma Su might co."
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