Meanwhile, far away in the capital, Chi Yiyuan was embroiled in a war with his parents.
He never imagined that his parents would go behind his back and arrange for him to take a leave of absence, intending to send him to Germany.
What's more, they had made it clear that they had already secured a place for him at a school in Germany.
Chi Yiyuan had never considered going abroad, even though his parents and younger siblings were all in Germany.
However, he did not want to go to Germany.
For him, home was wherever his grandfather was.
Without his grandfather, he had no home.
The home his parents had in Germany had nothing to do with him.
If there was any connection, it was merely biological.
"I said I'm not going. My home is here," Chi Yiyuan said, his eyes red.
Chi Niandong looked at his son, disappointed that he wasn't living up to his potential.
So many people wished they could go abroad, yet his son, presented with the opportunity, refused.
"Chi Yiyuan, you need to be grateful!" Yu Xiyue said coldly to her son.
He was less like a son and more like an adversary.
How could she, Yu Xiyue, have given birth to such an unthinking child?
They said the old man was a great man and that his children would surely be well-raised, but in her opinion, Chi Yiyuan had been so thoroughly indoctrinated by the old man that he had become estranged from his own family.
"Grateful? Grateful for what? Grateful that you abandoned me when I was just a child and left on your own? Or grateful that when I was on the verge of not surviving, when I was sick, when I had no clothes to wear, no one cared?"
Chi Yiyuan sneered.
He had no need for belated affection.
Moreover, in his current situation, it couldn't even be called affection.
They intended to decide his future according to their own desires!
This was something Chi Yiyuan could not accept.
"Chi Yiyuan, you have no choice but to come with us."
Hearing his son's words, Chi Niandong felt a pang of guilt.
He knew that if his son stayed in the country, he would never accept any care from them, so they could only have him leave.
"I said I'm not going!"
Chi Yiyuan was resolute.
"You must go. Chi Yiyuan, are you unwilling to leave that little vixen Su Xiaotian? Tell me, what is it about a country girl that makes you value her so much?" Su Dan Novel Network
Chi Yiyuan hadn't expected his mother, Yu Xiyue, to say something like that.
"You constantly tell me to be grateful, but do you yourself know what gratitude is?" Chi Yiyuan's clear voice resonated powerfully.
If they were grateful people, after their son had been saved by someone, even if they couldn't repay the kindness with a gushing spring, they should at least have shown some appreciation.
However, these parents of his, since their return to the country, had never visited the Su family to express their thanks. Instead, they believed that the Su family was leveraging the influence of the Chi family.
He didn't know where they got their confidence from, that the Chi family still had such influence to be leveraged.
His grandfather had retired from public life years ago, and now, at best, he was merely a legend of the past.
Those who knew would say, "Elder Chi was quite the figure in his day," while those who didn't wouldn't even bother to look twice.
On the other hand, the Su family was now flourishing. What kind of blind confidence did his mother have to look down on a child from the Su family?
"Chi Yiyuan, shut up. Is this how you speak to your mother?" Chi Niandong reprimanded.
"Mr. Chi, how do you think I should speak to Ms. Yu?" Chi Yiyuan retorted sharply.
He no longer bothered to call them Father or Mother.
"Fine, fine, you're really something. Chi Yiyuan, if you don't come with me to Germany, don't blame me for being ungracious!"
Chi Niandong was finally enraged. He believed his wife's assertion that Chi Yiyuan would be corrupted if he continued to stay in the country.
Of course, Chi Niandong didn't think Chi Yiyuan was being corrupted by his father, but rather by those country folk.
Deep down, Chi Niandong looked down on families like the Su family and the Tan family.
Yet, both his own father and Uncle Du were very close to these country people.
He couldn't change the older generation, but he felt he still had time to change the mindset of the younger generation.
He was determined to take this son with him this time.
Perhaps, due to some "brainwashing," he was unwilling to go abroad now.
But once he actually arrived in a foreign country, he would surely see the difference between the two sides.
As long as he could face the disparity, he would definitely not want to return in the future.
Now, the only thing left to do was to ensure Chi Yiyuan left with them.
The more Chi Niandong thought about it, the more he felt his approach was entirely correct.
Moreover, he was absolutely convinced that he was doing this for Chi Yiyuan's own good.
He was even moved by his own actions.
Although Chi Yiyuan hadn't lived with him, he still wanted to be a qualified and responsible father.
He felt no different towards this child than he did towards his later-born children; he wished them all well.
"Dad, Mom, since he's unwilling to go, let him continue to stay in this backward place. Why must we force an outsider to join our family?"
The youngest son of the Chi family, Chi Yiyang, watched his parents laboriously try to persuade Chi Yiyuan to go abroad, and he felt annoyed.
Their family didn't need outsiders.
Their current life was good and harmonious; if such a person were added, one could imagine what the future would be like.
"Xiaoyang, this is your elder brother. We are a family, and we are meant to live together," Chi Niandong quickly said to his younger son.
However, he himself didn't notice that even though his younger son's words were too harsh, he didn't blame him at all.
In fact, he felt that it was the elder son's fault for being less sensible than his younger brother.
"But, Dad, he doesn't want to go. Seeing you like this makes me uncomfortable."
"Xiaoyang, if your brother is unwilling to go, it's because he's not as sensible as you are, Xiaoyang. You should persuade him!"
As Chi Niandong spoke these words, his eyes and brows were filled with tenderness.
The stark contrast between his demeanor towards his younger son and his stern expression when speaking to Chi Yiyuan was evident to anyone.
Only Chi Niandong believed that he was being fair to both his sons.
Chi Yiyuan sneered. Were they putting on a show of fatherly love and filial piety here?
He didn't mind them performing fatherly love and filial piety, but couldn't they at least refrain from dragging him, an outsider, into it?
Yes, Chi Yiyang had already made it clear: he was an outsider.
"Chi Yiyuan, you're already grown up. Can't you avoid making your younger brother worry about you?"
Seeing her younger son's aggrieved look, Yu Xiyue felt immense heartache.
Children, it was the ones you raised yourself who were closest to you.
Compared to Chi Niandong, Yu Xiyue's attitude was even worse.
If someone didn't know, they would never guess that this was a mother speaking to her own child.