On the phone.
There was no phone number.
Only a single line of text appeared in Zhou Xing's sight.
"Hello. Answering this call is an obligation of every citizen of Huaxia. When you see this incoming call, please ensure you are in a relatively safe location and answer the phone."
A Repeat-digit number.
It wasn't that unusual.
For Zhou Xing, as long as he wanted to... he could easily get a string of Repeat-digit numbers.
However, he didn't need such things to flaunt his status.
But one with no number and an attached text description...
This was the first time Zhou Xing had encountered such a thing.
His heart stirred slightly; he already had a guess regarding this call.
He immediately answered the phone: "Hello?"
"Zhou Xing, is that right?"
A slightly aged but vigorous voice came from the other end of the line.
"Yes, it's me."
Zhou Xing nodded slightly.
"Do you know who I am?"
The aged voice spoke again.
Zhou Xing hesitated for a moment, then asked tentatively, "Grandfather?"
"Hahaha..."
As soon as he finished speaking, a burst of hearty laughter rang out from the other end. Even through the phone, one could hear his joy.
"As expected of my Good Grandson."
The person on the other end said with extreme satisfaction, "It's me."
"It seems that Rebellious Son, Zhou Jianping, has mentioned me to you after all."
Zhou Xing remained silent.
Actually... Zhou Jianping had never mentioned him before. It was only today that he'd said a few words, but whenever Zhou Xing asked further, he chose to change the subject.
His lips twitched, but in the end, he decided to let it go to avoid discouraging the Old Man.
The voice on the other end coughed: "Good Grandson, I haven't frightened you by calling so suddenly, have I?"
"How could you?"
Zhou Xing smiled and said, "I should thank Grandfather for stepping in today to help me handle that problem."
"Hmph."
The Old Man let out a cold snort: "If I hadn't stepped in, you would have been bullied. If you relied on that Rebellious Son Zhou Jianping, you'd be waiting until the cows come home. Zhou Jianping is getting worse as he gets older, actually letting a tiny grasshopper bully his way onto your head."
"Fortunately, nothing happened to you. Otherwise, if you had lost even a single hair..."
"Just watch your Grandfather skin that Rebellious Son alive."
The Old Man became more and more excited as he spoke: "That Rebellious Son, I can see it now, he's just cold-natured. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone so many years without any contact, and wouldn't have kept even you, my Good Grandson, from meeting this Old Man."
Faced with the Old Man counting his father's faults, Zhou Xing didn't know what to say, so he could only change the subject: "Don't I still have you, Grandfather? With you around... how could anything happen to me?"
Sure enough.
After a bit of flattery, especially coming from his own Grandson, the Old Man huffed a few times and stopped grumbling.
"Speaking of which, it's a bit embarrassing. I haven't seen Grandfather in all these years, and the first time I ask Grandfather to step in, it's actually because I was acting recklessly outside. It's this Grandson's lack of filial piety for making Grandfather lose face."
Zhou Xing said with a smile.
Faced with a grandfather who had suddenly appeared, it would be a flat-out lie to say there was no sense of distance or estrangement.
But having never known a grandfather's love in his previous life, and then thinking of the Old Man's status...
That estrangement quickly vanished.
No matter what... the same blood flowed through their veins; they were closest kin.
"Nonsense! How is this acting recklessly? I've looked into the matter. My Good Grandson isn't in the wrong at all. If someone provokes you to your face and you don't show some temper, are you even a young person?"
The Old Man retorted instead: "As expected of my Good Grandson, your personality is exactly the same as mine when I was young. This is how it should be. If you encounter this kind of thing again in the future, don't be afraid. Show the mettle of our Zhou Family. If your father won't stand up for you, Grandfather will back you up!"
"Besides, I've spent my whole life working hard. I struggled and suffered untold hardships back then just so my descendants could live a better life. If my Good Grandson goes a little overboard, what can they do to you!"
Though the Old Man's voice was aged, it was full of domineering power.
Zhou Xing was speechless.
Having such a grandfather backing him up suddenly made him feel... very secure.
It could be said.
As long as he was willing.
He could basically walk horizontally across the entirety of Huaxia.
No matter which generation of elite they were, in front of Zhou Xing, they were all insufficient.
"Fortunately, you're not like your father, that Rebellious Son's personality..."
The Old Man sighed and didn't continue. Instead, his tone became somewhat desolate: "Good Grandson, I haven't met you in all these years. You didn't even know I existed. Do you blame me in your heart for being an incompetent grandfather?"
Seemingly afraid that Zhou Xing might feel that way, the Old Man didn't wait for him to speak and started explaining for himself: "Actually, it's not that I didn't care about you. When you were born, I was incredibly happy. Later, watching you grow up bit by bit—even though I couldn't see you—my heart was genuinely happy."
"Later, when you were a bit older, I kept sending people to watch over you. As long as you grew up strong, I was satisfied. And then you came to Shanghai."
Once the Old Man started talking, he couldn't stop: "I originally wanted to take this chance to see you from a distance, but I was afraid of disturbing you. So I had someone send you some living expenses. My Good Grandson is going to school in Shanghai, I couldn't let you be mistreated. But I didn't expect that iron rooster of a father of yours to be so generous this time."
"He actually gave you a bit of pocket change. Although it wasn't much, it was enough for you to live on."
Zhou Xing suddenly felt a headache coming on.
Zhou Jianping mistakenly thought the funds in his hands were from the Old Man, while the Old Man thought those five hundred million us dollars were given by Zhou Jianping.
If the two of them ever met...
This issue... would probably be impossible to explain.
However, Zhou Xing had no intention of explaining. Letting them misunderstand each other saved him a lot of trouble.
The Old Man's tone suddenly became much more spirited: "You kid really are carved from the same mold as me. As soon as you got to Shanghai, you were very restless and got to know quite a few little girlfriends. Very much like me back in the day... cough cough..."
Zhou Xing's face went completely dark.
He had originally thought that his actions in Shanghai were unknown to anyone.
Now Zhou Jianping knew, and even his grandfather knew.
Even though he had lived two lives and was thick-skinned enough, his face couldn't help but burn with heat.
The thousands of words in his heart condensed into a single 'fuck'.
"Good Grandson... work hard. When the time comes, give me a big, fat Great-grandson to hold. Then I'll have no regrets in this life."
The Old Man continued.
Zhou Xing's face grew even darker.
After a moment of silence, the now-numb Zhou Xing asked the question he wanted to know most: "Grandfather... you and my father, what exactly happened between you two to reach this point?"