Chapter 807: Another Son Added
After finishing the phone call, Chen Fan turned to look at Su Ruochu.
"The flight tickets are booked. Let's head back to the hotel now, then have dinner together and rest a bit. We'll have plenty of time to leave for the airport in the early hours."
Su Ruochu looked troubled: "But what about tonight's performance?"
Chen Fan smiled and took Su Ruochu's small hand in his.
"Don't worry about tonight. I'll take care of everything."
At the hotel.
After dinner, the two sets of parents were chatting in the adjacent room.
Chen Fan was in Su Ruochu's room, both of them sitting on the balcony.
Su Ruochu leaned against Chen Fan, gazing at the ocean and starry sky outside.
"The night sky here is so beautiful. I wonder if we can see this many stars back home?"
"Hmm." Chen Fan nodded: "Luocheng is a heavy industrial city, and pollution is getting worse."
"Actually, I remember being able to see a sky full of stars when I was young, but in recent years, as pollution has increased, we can see fewer and fewer stars."
Su Ruochu looked up at Chen Fan: "Is this a bad thing?"
Chen Fan smiled and gently wrapped his arm around Su Ruochu's slender waist.
"How should I put it? It's just a growing pain that every place must go through during development."
"For a place to develop and for people to have a better life, it must accelerate development, which inevitably brings various forms of pollution. This is unavoidable."
"But I believe that in a few years, as people's living standards improve and the city develops well, people will gradually become aware of environmental protection concepts. By then, some heavily polluting factories will be shut down, moved out of the main urban areas, or face reforms."
"As a series of reforms are implemented, the starry sky will return in the future."
"Mm."
Su Ruochu leaned against Chen Fan and softly hummed in agreement.
She liked listening to Chen Fan talk confidently, as if he could offer unique insights on any topic. This was particularly attractive.
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"Thank you for being so understanding with me."
Chen Fan laughed and gently comforted her: "After you land, report to me that you're safe. Also, don't panic or get nervous. If you have any problems, remember to call me. There's no problem we can't solve."
"Mm."
"Do you want me to go with you?"
"No need. You stay here and enjoy time with mom and dad."
Su Ruochu said softly: "Tomorrow, you must apologize to mom and dad on my behalf."
Chen Fan smiled and ruffled Su Ruochu's hair: "Silly girl. Don't worry. They won't be angry over something like this."
At midnight, Chen Fan woke up Su Ruochu who had fallen asleep on the bed, then went out to meet his parents.
They went downstairs and took a taxi directly to the airport.
Chen Fan waved goodbye, watching Su Ruochu's family leave before turning back to return to the hotel.
When Chen Fan woke up the next morning and checked his phone, he found two messages from Su Ruochu.
One was reporting her safe arrival after the flight landed.
The second was sent from the hospital.
"Grandmother passed away..."
Just four words, but he could feel Su Ruochu's heavy, grieving mood through the phone.
Chen Fan sighed, hesitated for a moment thinking about calling Su Ruochu.
Then he realized that things must be very busy over there right now, so he put away his phone, got up to wash, and left the room to meet his parents.
While eating breakfast downstairs, Chen Fan told his parents the news that Su Ruochu's grandmother didn't make it. His parents sighed with emotion.
Life is unpredictable, with its cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death.
"Xiao Fan, don't feel pressured. Even though Su Ruochu's family left early, your mom and I are very happy to have come out on this trip."
"Our son is doing well. If it weren't for you, we probably wouldn't have had the chance to come out and see the world in this lifetime."
Then they started discussing the topics of life and death, creating a somewhat depressing atmosphere. Even the excitement of traveling seemed to have diminished greatly.
Not wanting his parents to be affected by this news, Chen Fan quickly changed the subject to introduce today's itinerary.
Unexpectedly, Chen Jianye shook his head.
"Your in-laws' family has all left, so there's no need for us to go around everywhere."
"Actually, your mom and I were already very satisfied yesterday. We've seen what we wanted to see and visited the attractions."
"We have no regrets."
"Xiao Fan, if you want to go over there, we support you."
A father knows his son best.
Chen Jianye could see at a glance that his son had something on his mind, and staying here would probably just leave him preoccupied.
So he suggested that the family return home today, ending the trip.
Hearing this, Chen Fan was not happy.
He was indeed worried about Su Ruochu and wanted to go be with her.
But Chen Fan also didn't want his parents to be affected.
"We've finally come out for a trip, let's go around and see more places."
Li Jinqiu smiled at her son: "Your dad and I are getting old, we don't have that much energy to run around everywhere. Actually, just seeing the ocean by the seaside makes us very content."
"Besides, Su Ruochu already took us to visit several attractions yesterday."
But Chen Fan didn't want this trip to end halfway like this.
His parents, however, kept considering things from his perspective and insisted on going back.
As both sides couldn't come to an agreement, Chen Jianye finally suggested:
"How about this: if you want to go back, you can go back alone first. Your mom and I will stay here for one more day. You can book our flight tickets for tomorrow, and we'll return by ourselves then."
"We're not little kids anymore. You don't need to worry about us staying here. We can go wherever we want to visit and buy some souvenirs to bring back."
Chen Fan thought this suggestion wasn't bad, but he was worried about his parents' safety here, and also about them not being familiar with the procedures when taking the flight...
After hesitating for a while, Chen Fan suddenly had an idea.
"Mom, Dad, you don't need to worry anymore. I can go back, but I'm not comfortable leaving you two here alone."
"How about this: I'll find a guide for you, and they can take you around later."
"A guide? You know someone here? Are they reliable?"
Chen Fan smiled.
"Don't worry. Absolutely reliable."
Saying this, Chen Fan stood up and walked to the side to make a phone call.
The person he had in mind was naturally Brother Jie.
Brother Jie's hometown was in Yangcheng, less than a 2-hour flight from Hainan. He could come over very quickly.
The call connected, and sure enough, Luo Wenjie was idly playing online games by himself.
Chen Fan explained the situation, and Luo Wenjie immediately slapped his thigh.
"Damn. What's there to say?"
"Our parents came and you didn't even notify me in advance. That's not cool."
"Give me the address, I'll be right there."
This is what brotherhood is about, ready to come at a moment's notice.
Chen Fan felt warm inside and asked with a smile: "You sure you have time?"
"What problem could there be? These past two days I've been playing games at home all day, bored out of my mind."
"Don't worry, I can be there in less than an hour."
Chen Fan was confused how it could be so fast, but Luo Wenjie mysteriously told Chen Fan that he was already in Hainan.
This guy's hometown was in the Northeast, but later his parents moved to Yangcheng for work, so they relocated the family there.
Now his parents were about to retire, so they bought a house in Hainan in advance, planning to come here for retirement in the future.
Luo Wenjie was currently playing games in their new home in Hainan.
Hearing this, Chen Fan also swore.
"You bastard, why didn't you say so earlier? If I had known, I wouldn't have even booked a hotel, we could have just stayed at your place."
"Hehe, wait for me, I'll be right there."
After finishing breakfast, while Chen Fan was chatting with his parents in the hotel lobby, in less than 40 minutes, Luo Wenjie came bursting through the hotel entrance.
"Over here..."
Chen Fan stood up with a smile and waved, then explained to his parents: "The guide I found for you is here."
Luo Wenjie laughed and walked over quickly.
But when he reached the three of them, this guy suddenly fell to his knees in front of Chen Fan's parents.
"Happy New Year, Mom and Dad."
"Chen Fan and I are sworn brothers, so uncle and auntie are also my parents."
This series of actions left Chen's parents completely bewildered.
What's going on?
When did we get another son?