Chapter 4: Grandpa (1/2)
It was mid-October, winter was slowly approaching and the weather was turning cold. After watching Tang Jinyu lying by the window for two days, his parents took him to the provincial capital.
Tang Hongjun’s father is nearly 60 years old and is a professor at a well-known university in the provincial capital. He specializes in mathematics and has just been promoted as the Head of Department. The old professor went to the hospital early in the morning and waited for their arrival. The old man was dressed in a neat Chinese tunic suit, making him look lean and strong.
Even though he was holding a cane in his hand, it didn't make him appear frail at all. Instead, it made him more intimidating.
After seeing their car, the old man walked a few steps to greet them. When he saw his grandchild through the car window, a smile appeared on his face ”Xiaoyu! How is my grandson?”
Chen Suling got out of the car with her baby in her arms and said ”Dad, why did you come so early? The weather is so cold, be careful of catching a cold.”
Professor Tang stretched out his hand to pick up his grandson and said with a smile ”It's not a problem, let me see, Xiaoyu seems to have grown a little bit taller.”
Tang Hongjun was holding a bag in his hand with a pink cartoon water bottle hanging in his arms. He saw his father's face, with a smile ”Dad, I am telling you, Xiaoyu has grown taller recently and also gained some weight!”
The old man was so happy when he heard this and kept nodding while holding onto his grandchild in his arms ”Didn't the child have a fever some time ago?”
Tang Hongjun ”Yes, he had a fever for several days, Suling took some days off from her company and took care of him day and night. Strangely, Xiaoyu's condition improved after his fever subsided. On that day, he was able to stand up and take his first step, which surprised us!”
The old man nodded, his gaze fell on his little grandson and he said with some relief ”In short, he's fine now.”
After seeing his grandfather leaning on his cane,Tang Jinyu didn't dare to move when he was being held by him.After all, his small body is still a bit heavy and he was afraid that the old man would fall if he moved too much.
He froze in the arms of the old man but elder Tang was still boasting, saying that he was pure and beautiful and obedient.
Tang Hongjun quickly picked up the child ”Dad, let's go for the checkup first. Xiaoyu is doing much better and we also brought his results from his last examination that we got from two days ago.”
This time Professor Tang didn't stop him, he nodded and said ”Let's show it to the doctor and get another check-up. The testing equipment at the provincial hospital should be the best one”
”Yes, Suling and I think so as well.”
The family whispered all the way into the hospital.
After the routine examination, the doctors of the provincial hospital also had the same conclusion and agreed that this was a medical miracle.
Tang Jinyu had just gotten his blood drawn and was a little dizzy. He sat there as Chen Suling pressed his arm and asked him in a low voice ”Does the baby want to drink water?”
Tang Jinyu shook his head and buried his little head in her arms.
All he heard was Mr. Tang and the doctors speaking with words that he didn’t understand. But looking at the smiles on those people’s faces, he was sure that the results of this examination was very good.
He rubbed his eyes as he became a little sleepy. He was driven for several hours, from the break of dawn. This caused burden to his little body
Chen Suling chuckled lightly and rubbed the bunch of hair that was curled up. The soft hair was just as good as her child.
The kid in her arms yawned, rubbing his head against his mother and wanted to sleep next to her. Chen Suling held the child in her arms, patted him twice, and coaxed ”If you are sleepy, go to sleep, we will go home soon.”
Tang Jinyu tried to fight off his sleepiness but after a few moments,his eyes closed and he fell asleep.
When he woke up again, he was at his grandpa's house.
Professor Tang’s wife passed away early and he lived here alone.
The house he lives in is owned by the school. It is a small two-story building near a Park in the city center. The environment is quiet and very good.
Professor Tang is an optimistic person and has always had a good relationship with his students.
Since he had a little grandson, he had become kinder. After all, he is now a grandfather and his heart is more concerned about his little grandson who lives far away.
When he first found out that his little grandson was not in good health, he didn't find it troublesome to form countless contacts with others, to seek the right doctor for his little grandson's treatment.
He also paid for a lot of supplements for his son and daughter-in-law, but there has been no progress with his grandson for the past years.
Now that his little grandson is finally getting better, Professor Tang is also very happy. He asked the nanny at home to cook a large table full of food, opened a bottle of red wine and had a lively meal together with the family.
Tang Jinyu woke up confused. He dreamt of an old man who felt very familiar to him, but now he can't remember it that well anymore.
Professor Tang bent over then smiled and called his name. He called him ‘Xiaoyu’ several times in a soft voice. Tang Jinyu raised his head in a daze and looked at the person in front of him, who slowly overlapped with the person in his dreams.
His eyes gradually became clear when he looked at the old man in front of him.
Professor Tang coaxed him with a smile, not showing any signs of impatience in his voice ”Xiaoyu can tell grandpa, what he wants to eat. There are not many rules in our house. So it's okay to eat sweets before dinner…”
Tang Hongjun pushed his glasses to the bridge of his nose, glanced at his wife and whispered ”Dad, you know that eating sweets before dinner is not good, right?”
The old man is now eager to have a good relationship with the little grandson whom he hasn't seen for a long time, so he took out all the sugar-coated truffles and refuted him ”Why not? it's just one piece of sweet before dinner, they will eventually end up into the stomach either way!”
Although he said that, he still glanced at his daughter-in-law and saw Chen Suling eating with a smile without saying anything.
This made him bolder again. He took the small truffles and handed them to his grandchild and said cheerfully ”Come on, Grandpa will give it to you, Xiaoyu remember that I am your grandpa, grandpa—”
The child sitting on the children’s chair in front of the dining table didn't look at the small truffles but was looking at the old man. His clear eyes suddenly curved into a smile: ”Ya!”
The people sitting at the table froze for a moment, Tang Hongjun was the first one to come out of his surprise and shouted ”Xiaoyu can talk, Dad, Xiaoyu can call out!”
Professor Tang's hands shook a little with excitement and he coaxed the child to call out again.
After practicing a few times, his pronunciation gradually became better. It seemed that he was suddenly enlightened.
Although he could only shout one or two simple sentences, it was the first time since he was five years old that he made such a clear call.
The whole family was very happy. Professor Tang asked people to go upstairs to get a small tape recorder. He seriously recorded the voice of his little grandson saying ‘grandfather’ and listened to it.The old man could not help but take off his glasses and wiped his eyes several times and said ”Good, good, good, Xiaoyu can speak, just as the doctor said, he will slowly recover.”
Tang Hongjun had already cried when his son called out. At this moment, his nose was red and he nodded in agreement with his father. He wiped away his tears with a smile.
Professor Tang sat there and thought for a moment then said ”Although, the doctor didn't mention if Xiaoyu should listen to music or anything but I think it would be a great idea for him to learn how to play an instrument to help him with his finger flexibility and improve his memory.”
Tang Hongjun nodded, not only is he willing to buy musical instruments even if his son wanted the stars, he would climb a ladder to pick them off for his son.
The Tang family's father and son discussed for a while and went out after dinner.
Chen Suling stayed with her child and was still in a good mood even after Tang Jinyu went to sleep.
She walked with her child on her arms to the first floor and showed him some paintings hanging on the wall.
Father Tang has a good aesthetic and his collection of paintings are all hand-painted by famous artists but in the most conspicuous part of the living room corridor, there is a handwritten ’Kindergarten Admission Mark’.
Chen Suling hugged the child and said with a smile ”Xiaoyu, do you remember this?”