News from Taiwan

Chapter 73 The Truth of the Past
It was nearing evening, but the sun had not yet set, and the glass curtain wall outside the window began to reflect the dazzling lights.

Jiang Guier glanced at it, her pupils instantly reflecting mottled colors. Her fingertips touched the laminated photo of her great-grandfather, and she turned to look at her mother.

The jade bracelet made a soft, tinkling sound as it was rubbed against Jiang Yun's palm, much like how the two of them would either argue or fall silent when problems arose in their relationship.

This time, however, the silence didn't last as long.

Jiang Yun broke the silence by coming online, saying, "Your maternal grandmother doesn't want to acknowledge your great-grandfather."

"Then why did she still make me go to Taiwan?" Jiang Guier was very puzzled. It couldn't be that women are fickle, could it? She really couldn't understand it. If her grandmother didn't want to ask about space in the first place, why did she make him go to Taiwan?

"Maybe he regrets it."

Jiang Yun slowly raised and lowered the jade bracelet, her gaze falling on the strands of hair that were slightly flying up at her daughter's temples. Her gaze was distant, filled with memories. "Do you know? Your name was given to you by your great-grandmother."

Jiang Guier was startled, and her fingertips unconsciously tightened.

She only knew that her name was given by her elders, but she never delved into its deeper meaning.

If it was named by his great-grandmother, then he seemed to know something about it.

"It's been decades since your great-grandfather insisted on going to Taiwan. Before your great-grandmother developed Alzheimer's, she would always stand at the ferry terminal to feel the wind... I suppose she hoped he would come back."

Jiang Yun's voice was tinged with the melancholy of time as she looked at her grandfather's features in the photo. "Your great-grandmother said that the wind in Taiwan carries the salty taste of the sea, and if you blow on it for too long, you will forget your roots. She named you Gui'er because the osmanthus tree can withstand the wind and frost and guard its homeland. She hoped that your great-grandfather could be like the osmanthus tree, with his roots forever planted in his hometown, so that no matter where he drifted, he could find his way back by smelling the fragrance of osmanthus."

Jiang Guier's heart clenched. It turned out that from birth, her name was tied to the bond between Taiwan and her homeland, and contained her great-grandmother's expectation for her great-grandfather's return.

"Why hasn't anyone told me all these years?" Or rather, over the years, news about Great-Grandpa, his identity, and the details of his life have been consciously downplayed. "What was Grandma thinking?"

“Your great-grandfather was gone for most of his life.” Jiang Yun’s voice gradually lowered, and the beads of the jade bracelet spun faster in her palm. “Your great-grandmother waited her whole life, but she never heard him say ‘I’m back.’ Your maternal grandmother wouldn’t even call him ‘Dad.’”

“But Grandpa clearly came back, it was Grandma…” Jiang Gui’er’s eyes suddenly reddened, and tears fell onto the photo, blurring the ink. She suddenly understood that this search for relatives was never just her obsession, but her great-grandmother’s unfulfilled expectation, her grandmother’s lifelong obsession, her great-grandfather’s yearning to return home for fifteen years, and also the mission that she, “Gui’er,” was destined to bear.

Why didn't anyone tell her?
"Mom, why didn't anyone tell me even though you all knew?" Jiang Guier couldn't help but complain. "If I had known all this earlier, maybe I wouldn't have taken so many detours."

Thinking about all the things she did in Taiwan and the pressure she faced, she felt incredibly wronged. Without Shen Huaizhou, she definitely wouldn't have found anything and would have returned empty-handed.

Could this be... the result Grandma wanted?
"If you had known earlier, would you still have gone?" Jiang Yun retorted.

"Probably... no way." Jiang Guier was very honest. She knew herself very well. She went there just to prove herself. She sighed, "But what's the use now? We're back in a vicious cycle... But the obstacle between us is wider than the strait."

"People your grandmother's age have the word 'guardian' ingrained in their bones."

Jiang Yun sighed and finally stopped stroking the bracelet. "She guarded her great-grandmother, guarded this family, and also guarded her resentment towards her great-grandfather. In her eyes, when her great-grandfather left, it was as if he had uprooted the family. She had guarded it for half her life, and finally waited for it to come back, but she couldn't bow her head. If she did, it would seem like all the suffering her great-grandmother had endured over the years would have been in vain."

“That makes sense, but given how bad Grandma’s health is now… let’s just forget about Grandma.” Jiang Guier said, her brows furrowed in confusion.

“For you young people, companionship is everything. But for your grandmother, dignity is more important than life itself.” Jiang Yun’s voice was filled with helplessness. “She feels that when your great-grandfather left, he didn’t leave her a way out; now that he’s back, he hasn’t left her a way out either. If she accepts it first, she’ll have lost her life.”

This clash between old and new ideas was like a dull knife, repeatedly cutting into Jiang Guier's heart. "Grandma is stuck in a rut. There were many historical reasons for this, it wasn't just Grandpa's personal behavior. He must have been carrying a lot of helplessness. Why can't we give him a chance?" Jiang Guier thought about the elderly people she met in Taiwan, living in those military dependents' villages. How many of them really didn't want to go back? In fact, they all wanted to go back.

From conversations with them, you can tell that the elderly people want to return to their roots and travel from Taiwan back to the mainland to find their relatives.

“Besides, the relationship between my great-grandfather and great-grandmother was one of love, while the relationship between my great-grandfather and maternal grandmother was one of kinship. These are completely different things… She can’t make decisions for my great-grandmother.”

She believes that love is the foundation of marriage, family ties are the bond of blood, misunderstandings can be explained, and barriers can be bridged through communication.

She always felt that people's hearts are soft, and time can smooth out all the rough edges.

But in Grandma's world, these things didn't exist.

In her mind, marriage is a promise of one person for life, leaving is betrayal, and waiting is fate. She wants to prove her mother wrong.

To her, the return of her great-grandfather was not a reunion, but a judgment...

“The year my great-grandmother developed Alzheimer’s, I overheard them arguing, and it was because of this.”

Jiang Yun's voice drifted away, as if she had returned to that sweltering afternoon, "Your maternal grandmother pointed at your great-grandfather's nose and scolded him for leaving so decisively back then, and now he's back pretending to be a good person."

“My maternal grandmother definitely said those words. What was my great-grandfather’s reaction at the time?” Jiang Guier didn’t notice that her worry had turned into curiosity and gossip.

“He didn’t say anything, he just stood there, looking at your grandmother speechlessly.” Jiang Yun’s voice was laced with sarcasm. “What could he say? Facts speak louder than words. I used to sympathize with him, but after seeing what he’s done over the years… I feel that everything has a reason, so I don’t really sympathize with him anymore.”

Jiang Yun didn't have much affection for her maternal grandfather, and in this matter, she even sided with her mother, although this behavior was somewhat excessive towards her maternal grandmother.

Times are changing, and ideas are changing too. She has been an entrepreneur for many years and has never relied on a man, nor would she spend decades waiting for a man, unless... there is something to profit from.

“Mom, it seems like you and Grandma think the same way.” Jiang Guier sensed it.

“At most, I won’t help anyone and let them decide for themselves.” Jiang Yun said somewhat coldly, “But this time I’ve seen your growth, which makes me very happy, so…” She changed the subject, “I can stand on your side.”

"Mom, really!" Jiang Guier jumped up excitedly.

She knew what that meant.

“Is that even a lie?” Jiang Yun raised an eyebrow. “Or you could ask the person who accompanied you to Taiwan.”

Seeing Jiang Yun's all-knowing gaze, Jiang Gui'er's face flushed red. She grabbed her bag and left, crying, "Mom! Why are you like this!"

“I don’t see anything wrong with caring about my daughter’s situation.”

"Okay, okay, I'm leaving now." Jiang Guier left, half perfunctorily and half fleeing.

Unbeknownst to her, this time the confrontation between her and her mother seemed to have subsided, and she was eager to find Shen Huaizhou to discuss the next steps.

The moment she stepped into the elevator, she suddenly remembered that when she got out of the car, she had asked someone to go first, and her excited heart slowly calmed down.