I'm really good at this.

We arrived at the hospital, but haven't gone up yet.

Jia Xu pulled Zhang Hongxian to squat in a corner of the smoking area to smoke, and then explained the current situation to him in detail.

Lin Muqing stood by with her arms crossed, watching coldly, her long black legs trembling uncontrollably.

Clearly, she hates smoking, but since we're talking about serious matters, she can understand.

No matter how angry the young lady was, Zhang Hong and the other person had already started chatting.

Zhang Hong found it quite strange. "Brother Jia, what's going on? Everything was fine before."

"Sigh, you're right. Actually, everything was fine before." Jia Xu exhaled a puff of smoke, feeling extremely frustrated. "Although my grandfather had a tumor, it was discovered early, so the impact wasn't too significant. He was hospitalized on time, and a minor minimally invasive surgery resolved the issue. My grandfather was also quite obedient; he took his medication as prescribed, ate his meals as required, and cooperated with the treatment."

He paused, then sighed. "It's probably a reaction to the medication. My grandpa hasn't been resting well these past few days. He said he dreamt about 'the afterlife,' and he said he felt sorry for people. Then he stopped eating and drinking and stopped cooperating with the treatment. We're so worried! My dad came to the hospital and even scolded me. If my mom hadn't stopped him, you probably would have gone to the orthopedics department to visit me."

There's nothing I can do, because he's been on night duty at the hospital these past few days. If something goes wrong, he'll be the one who suffers.

The problem is, when his dad and the others asked him why, he couldn't explain it either!

Who knows how my grandfather started acting like this after just one night's sleep? What can he do?

Besides, his grandfather was already over ninety years old and had some dementia, and his speech was slurred, so he couldn't understand it even more.

Naturally, his father, who hadn't beaten him in over ten years, wanted to recapture that feeling, but luckily his mother, uncles, and aunts stopped him, preventing him from reliving his youth.

"What exactly is going on?" Zhang Hong still didn't understand. "What's your old man's purpose in doing this? Does he want to die? There must be a reason for this, since he was quite cooperative before. It doesn't make sense for him to suddenly act like this now. By the way, what's the point of calling me here?"

Jia Xu flicked away the cigarette ash, scratched his head, and said, "Actually, something like this happened before, just a few months ago. Then my grandfather's old comrades came to visit him and told him that they had found a young man to film a TV series, and that's when my grandfather changed his ways. Now he's just changed back."

My dad and uncle were originally going to see those people too, but they said it would be enough for you to come see my grandpa and talk to him about the TV series.

Zhang Hong clicked his tongue, stood up and stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray on top of the trash can: "Let's go then. You have no right to speak if you don't know the situation. I'll go check on your old man first."

Jia Xu also stood up and stubbed out his cigarette. "Alright, let's go up and take a look first."

Without further hesitation, once the smell of smoke on the two men had dissipated, the three of them entered the inpatient building and took the elevator to the eighth floor.

Upon arriving at the intensive care unit, several middle-aged people in casual clothes were already waiting there.

Upon seeing the three arrive, they went to greet them.

The man at the head of the group, whose hair was perfectly styled, extended his hand to Zhang Hong: "You've finally arrived."

This person looks quite like Jia Xu, and even more so than others, so it's obvious that he is Jia Xu's father.

Zhang Hong shook hands with him and said with a smile, "It's nothing, Uncle, don't be so formal. Brother Jia and I are friends."

"Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony and will call you Xiao Hong." Father Jia held his hand tightly. "I'm entrusting everything to you."

"I'll try my best. The main thing is to figure out what's wrong with the old man first," Zhang Hong asked. "Shall we go inside?"

"Yes, yes! Let's go inside first and talk!"

Of the seven or eight people, three stayed outside, while the rest went into the ward.

It's clear that the Jia family is well-off.

This ward is a single room. Although it's not a VIP ward, it has everything you need. There are gifts such as yogurt and fruit baskets placed by the wall near the window and under the TV on the wall.

An elderly man, looking emaciated, was lying in bed receiving an IV drip. On the table next to the bed was an instrument that monitors electrocardiograms in real time.

However, the fact that he wasn't wearing an oxygen mask is good news, indicating that the old man is currently in good condition.

The old man has his eyes closed and his mouth slightly open; he must be resting.

Seemingly having heard the noise, he half-opened his eyes and looked at the person who had come.

When he saw Zhang Hong, his eyes widened instantly, and he reached out and struggled to get up.

Zhang Hong and the others quickly rushed over to help him lie down properly.

The old man ignored everyone else, only gripping Zhang Hong's hand tightly. His withered hand was so strong that it even hurt Zhang Hong a little.

He stared intently at Zhang Hong, his cloudy eyes welling up with tears, and his voice, barely audible from his lisping mouth, escaped: "Did you come to take me away...? Have you forgiven me...?"

Zhang Hong felt confused. He looked back at Jia Xu and the others and found that they were also completely bewildered.

"I have something to say to you..." The old man still held Zhang Hong's hand tightly, even as Zhang Hong struggled slightly.

He didn't dare to struggle too much.

"Okay, okay, please say whatever you want, I'll listen." There's no other way but to go along with the elders at times like this.

Tears welled up in the old man's eyes, his chest heaving as he stammered, "In the next life... in the next life... I'm so sorry..."

Zhang Hong raised an eyebrow, turned around, and asked softly, "Did you show the old man the stills from the TV series?"

During filming, he would occasionally send Grandma Lu and the others some stills from the show.

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!

Did they bring it to show the old man?

Mr. Jia's expression remained calm: "No, Aunt Yingzi said not to show it to the old man yet, so we didn't."

Zhang Hong nodded in understanding.

Jia Xu is right, the old man does have a bit of dementia, otherwise why would he mistake himself for that "Brother Laisheng"?

His right hand was held by the old man, and he patted the old man's withered hand with his left hand. "Grandpa, I'm not here for the next life, you've mistaken me for someone else. But you can still say whatever you want to say, I'm listening."

"No! You are the next life! The next life... you still won't forgive me..." The old man's cloudy tears continued to flow down his cheeks onto the pillow. Jia Xu and the others were afraid that the old man would get too emotional, so they didn't dare to come up and help wipe them away.

"No, I..." Zhang Hong started to say, but seeing the wink from Jia's father, he immediately changed his mind, "Alright, I'm from the afterlife. What do you want to say to me?"

"In the next life..." Hearing his words, the old man calmed down a lot, but he still didn't let go of Zhang Hong's hand.

Then he turned his head slightly to look at Jia's father and the others standing beside him, "In the next life... you advised me to have more children, and I listened to you..."

Come here, Jia You, call him Uncle Laisheng...

Father Jia's face remained completely expressionless; he even gave a gentle smile: "Uncle Laisheng."

He gave Zhang Hong a reassuring look, and Zhang Hong understood.

The old man was much happier. He then looked at Jia Xu and said, "I even have a grandson now... Jia Xu, come and call me grandpa..."

Jia Xu's face was as black as ink, almost greenish.

How the hell can you even say that?

"this......"

"Um?"

The "hmm" sound didn't come from Grandpa Jia Shen on the hospital bed, but from Jia Xu's own father, Jia You.

Jia Xu turned around and saw the threatening looks in the eyes of his father, second uncle, and aunt.

He sighed, his face filled with despair, and whispered in a barely audible voice, "Grandpa..."

"Hehe~~" Zhang Hong chuckled. He whispered, "It's okay. From now on, I'll call you brother, and you can call me grandpa. We'll address each other as we are."

Jia Xu: "..."

He was already quite shameless to call Zhang Hong "Brother Hong," but now... tsk.

And it happened in front of the elders.

He felt like dying.

No one cared about Jia Xu, whose whole demeanor had turned gloomy; they just wanted to know what the old man wanted to say.

But the old man wouldn't give them that chance.

"Get out! All of you get out!"

The old man suddenly became agitated again.

"Alright, alright, let's go out. Please don't get agitated, sir!" Jia You gave Zhang Hong a look, and Zhang Hong indicated that he understood.

After that, the Jia family members left one after another, including Jia Xu, whose life had become bleak. They even thoughtfully closed the door to the ward.

The ward fell silent, with only the sounds of their breathing and the ticking of the medical equipment.

Just moments ago, the emotionally charged old man, Mr. Jia Shen, suddenly fell silent.

After a long silence, he spoke.

"In the next life, I shouldn't have sent you to cover the retreat."

Zhang Hong raised an eyebrow.

This... is different from what Grandma Lu Yingzi and the others said.

Wasn't it this old man who was supposed to cover the rear, and then that "Brother Laisheng" volunteered to take his place?

P.S.: Just trying out this bonus chapter, here's a beautiful picture of my wife (#^.^#)

I like it, I'm really good at it, I'm really good at it.