Honest Man 07

"Why do you look like you're about to die?"

Fang Zhiyi pulled a long face as his "grandpa's" scolding echoed in his mind.

He felt a bit depressed. "Grandpa, once my cousin goes back and tells everyone, I'm done for. Our family will lose all its face."

"Bullshit! Does being their free labor all day long give you face? Is that how your father taught you?"

He thought about his father for a long time, then nodded. "My dad is like that too. Whenever any family needs help and calls out, he'll go..."

"What a hopeless case," Little Hei and the other Fang Zhiyi said in unison.

"In the past, they made you do hard labor, but when you carried things to their house, they didn't even offer you a single bite to eat, right?"

Fang Zhiyi nodded.

"And your dad didn't say anything?"

"Dad said I have some strength, so helping out is no big deal."

"Good, good, good." After these three words, his grandpa said nothing more, leaving Fang Zhiyi feeling a bit uneasy.

They were silent the whole way. Fang Zhiyi returned home anxiously, not forgetting to wipe his mouth. Grandpa had wanted to eat barbecue, so he had no choice but to accompany him. Though he had to admit, the barbecue tasted really good.

As a result, the moment he walked through the door, he was greeted by one of his father's slippers.

Fang Zhiyi didn't dodge and was hit squarely by the shoe.

"I told you to pick up your cousin, what did you do!" Fang Shucai was furious.

"Well, I..." Fang Zhiyi lowered his head, not knowing how to explain.

"They already called me! Instead of picking them up yourself, you found a professional chauffeur to do it? Huh? And you made your cousin pay over a thousand bucks! Did you get your head slammed in a door?!" Fang Shucai grew angrier as he spoke.

Fang Zhiyi's mother chimed in from the side, "That's right, Zhiyi. If you were busy, you should have just said so. There was no need to do that. You made your cousin's whole family quite unhappy. They even called to ask your dad if you had some sort of grudge against them."

"What could he possibly be busy with? What could it be?" Fang Shucai's eyes widened. He was an honest man who believed that taking a loss was a blessing. His method of educating his son was that a good person comes from under a golden rod.

Even though Fang Zhiyi was now in his twenties, he still grabbed a feather duster and prepared to step forward.

Fang Zhiyi felt incredibly wronged. "It wasn't me, it was Grandpa!"

The room instantly fell silent. Fang Shucai froze for a moment, then laughed out of sheer anger. "Your grandpa? Don't use your grandpa to pressure me! Your grandpa has been gone for so many years! Besides, if your grandpa knew you did something like this, he'd slap you across the face too!"

Fang Zhiyi clutched his head. Seeing that his dad was truly furious, he hurriedly called out to his grandpa in his mind. Fortunately, Grandpa hadn't disconnected this time.

"What a display of authority... Boy, ask him if he still recognizes his father."

Hearing the voice in his head, Fang Zhiyi hesitantly asked, "Dad..."

Fang Shucai glared and frowned. "What else do you have to say?"

"Um... do I look like your dad to you?"

Little Hei and Fang Zhiyi were instantly petrified. Is that how you were supposed to ask?

Fang Shucai was instantly ignited. He raised the feather duster, but just as he was about to strike, Fang Zhiyi suddenly reached out and grabbed his wrist.

Fang Shucai's attack couldn't land, and he grew furious. "Fine, you've grown up, haven't you? Today I absolutely must..."

"Fang Gousheng, I think you've gone mad."

Fang Shucai froze in place.

Fang Zhiyi's mother had originally intended to stop them, but hearing these words, she was startled. "Zhiyi, how can you call your father by his childhood nickname!"

She completely failed to notice Fang Shucai's expression.

"M-my childhood nickname... our son shouldn't know it, right?"

Li Qingmei paused upon hearing this. "Maybe he heard it from somewhere else?"

Fang Zhiyi, however, stared at Fang Shucai in front of him. "When you were little, I beat you because you kept doing stupid things, but I never taught you to keep doing stupid things when you grew up, did I?"

Fang Shucai's hands began to tremble.

"He also has a scar on his butt, beaten by his dad," Little Hei continued to provide information.

Fang Zhiyi's gaze intentionally or unintentionally swept over Fang Shucai's backside. "What, are you really going to hit your dad? Did that scar on your butt make you hold a grudge for decades?"

Fang Shucai completely softened. After a brief hesitation, he said, "Dad?"

Fang Zhiyi put his hands behind his back. His aura instantly shifted from a robust young man in his twenties to a world-weary old man. Ignoring the terrified couple, he walked straight to the rocking chair on the balcony, plopped himself down, and began to rock slowly with his eyes closed.

"Is it really Dad? Zhiyi, don't scare your mom and dad," Li Qingmei was still a bit suspicious.

Fang Zhiyi said slowly, "I was the one who went to borrow the bride price for your wedding, sixty-eight bucks and eighty cents, wasn't it?"

At these words, Li Qingmei's face instantly grew tense.

"Um, son, wait, Dad..." Fang Shucai was completely bewildered. He looked at his son lying there rocking, yet he could only call him Dad. "You, you're already dead, why are you haunting your grandson? If there's something to discuss, please get off his body first..."

"Bastard! If it weren't for your blind teaching, would I still be unable to rest in peace? Huh?" Fang Zhiyi's voice rose.

Fang Shucai's face was full of bitterness. "We didn't teach him blindly. We've always taught him to be kind to others and to be an honest and dutiful person..."

"Honest and dutiful? Then let me ask you, that brat Fang Daming made Zhiyi help him with work without paying him a single cent, is that being honest and dutiful?"

"He was working at the factory, and just because his younger cousin couldn't find the way, he was specially called out to guide his cousin? Is that being honest and dutiful?"

"With just one phone call, he was made to go pick them up at the station under the scorching sun. They made him carry all the big and small bags, running around, and in the end, they didn't even give him a sip of water to drink. Is this what you taught him?" Fang Zhiyi's anger grew stronger and stronger.

"Grandpa, I did get to drink a sip of water..."

"You shut up!"

"This..." Fang Shucai looked at his wife. The couple had never heard Fang Zhiyi mention any of this.

"You care so much about face, but is this how face is earned? Do you lose face if you don't help people for free? If you want face, go earn it yourself! How did I raise such a bastard like you, I..." Fang Zhiyi suddenly jumped up from the rocking chair, snatched the feather duster from Fang Shucai's hand, and raised it to strike.

"Don't get too into character, he's not your son, he's not!" Little Hei hurriedly intervened.

And the original host was also desperately trying to stop him. "Grandpa, don't hit my dad. If you have to, hit me instead..."

Fang Zhiyi abruptly halted his movements and angrily threw the feather duster onto the ground.

"From now on, he can do whatever he wants, do you understand? If you blindly meddle again, I'll beat you to death!" Fang Zhiyi was truly furious.

"I can't even discipline my own son..." Fang Shucai muttered. But seeing Fang Zhiyi directly perform his old man's most classic move - taking off his shoe and grabbing it in his hand - he immediately backed down. "Dad, you have the final say. Anyway, Zhiyi is grown up now, he should make his own plans."