Chapter 27: Extra 1

Zhang Rui always felt that the good things he did when he was young paid off well.

He was born in 1950. His family was very poor. There was not enough food to eat. When they were struggling, his eldest brother left home to join the army.

With one less mouth to feed, the family was a little better off. But they also lost a worker.

Fortunately, his brother sent money home every year, which helped the family. So when things were still hard, the Zhang family was already doing better.

As the family improved, the letters from his brother became less frequent. Eventually, he only learned that his brother had a job that required secrecy. After that, no more letters came, only money and tickets year after year.

When he grew up and his second brother got married, Zhang Rui felt he was good at reading people. He disliked his second sister-in-law at first sight, believing she didn’t care for his brother.

It was true. Even if they didn’t spend much time together, he could sense her feelings toward his brother. It didn’t matter; his brother was enchanted and kept staring at her.

Zhang Rui was spoiled, being the youngest. His parents loved him the most. After his brother left, all their affection was focused on him. Naturally, he wasn’t very tolerant. He often quarreled with Ding Yushu at home.

Later, he started working and learned a craft from a carpenter. However, the carpenter thought he was stealing skills, so Zhang Rui arrogantly left.

He felt good leaving, but was scared to go home. Not wanting to give up, he secretly went to Lanshan to think about how to break the news to his parents.

While waiting, he met a little girl. She fainted while coming down from Lanshan, and he happened to be passing by.

Lanshan was a remote place; sometimes no one would visit for days. When he found her, he thought to take her away.

The moment she opened her eyes, she called him “Dad.”

His mother had asked him to marry long before, but he didn’t want to. He was disgusted by his brother’s marriage and felt that marriage wasn’t good at all. The relationships between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law in the village were well known.

Zhang Rui didn’t want his life to become like that—busy, with no pursuit, lost in the crowd.

So when he heard the child call him dad, he had an idea and decided to adopt her.

Raising a child isn’t easy, but he loved children, especially Tian Jiao, who was five and could take care of herself. All he needed to do was provide for her.  

The key is that this girl is beautiful, and it is prestigious to take her out. 

Initially, the idea was playful and lighthearted. 

Later, he often felt thankful for having a genius daughter. 

In the future, when people talk about children, he will have something to say, and it will be easier to talk about grandchildren because his daughter can marry a son-in-law. 

He enjoys life differently than others. 

It’s not that he doesn’t want women at all. He did meet women he liked later in life. He just prefers to enjoy life as it is and does not want the constraints of marriage. 

People around him come and go. His former friends are burdened by life and occasionally complain to him. His wife always complains that he does not earn enough. 

At that moment, Zhang Rui was thankful he didn’t have these worries. 

Some say: How lonely it is without a partner. 

Is he lonely? 

Not at all. 

He is busy making money and caring for his daughter. When his daughter grows up and gets married, he will be busy taking care of his grandchildren. He truly has no time to feel lonely. 

What makes him so focused on one thing? 

…

It’s strange. 

Zhang Rui has always thought that his daughter is not quite human. This idea comes from the odd things that have happened to her since she was little. 

Later, when Erbao disappeared, the way she looked for him made him realize that she might not be entirely human. 

At first, he thought his daughter was like a weed, but then he discovered she could talk to the sky and control lightning. Sometimes, when his mother complained about no rain, it would pour around the village that day and water the crops. 

Or during a thunderstorm, when the new sister-in-law said Erbao was afraid of thunder, the thunder would stop immediately. 

Especially that time, after teasing his daughter and Xiao He, he saw Xiao He fall down and a bird poop on his head. He washed it for a long time, feeling upset and not daring to see his daughter. 

But she felt guilty and tried to comfort him. 

That time, he heard thunder, but when his daughter glared at him, the thunder stopped. 

He thought, could it be that Tian Jiao’s biological father is a god? 

Is he upset because he knows she likes someone? 

Zhang Rui even thought humorously about what would happen if Tian Jiao got married. Wouldn’t her biological father be so angry he would die? 

In fact, it was true. Tian Jiao got married in a hotel. 

The twenty-year-old girl was delicate, pretty, and graceful. She was not as thin as a movie star, but rather plump and attractive. 

She stood at the hotel entrance wearing a bright red wedding dress, greeting guests alongside a young man in the same outfit. Zhang Rui clearly saw dark clouds in the sky at that moment. 

Many guests worried it would rain, but Zhang Rui felt no concern. 

As expected, it did not rain that day. Instead, when the wedding started, the weather was sunny, while it poured in other parts of the city. 

However, the heavy rain lasted only half an hour. Then the sky cleared up, and a rainbow appeared above their hotel, looking particularly beautiful. 

Later, when his daughter gave birth, the weather was gloomy for a long time. It even rained heavily when she cried. But after the baby was born and his daughter was sent back to the ward, the rain stopped, and bright sunshine and a rainbow appeared outside the window. 

The girl looked at the rainbow and called out, “Dad.” 

Zhang Rui secretly wiped his tears, realizing she wasn’t calling him. 

After that, his daughter never got pregnant again. He never heard of his son-in-law using contraception, yet she just didn’t get pregnant! 

Zhang Rui thought that it must be because of his daughter’s powerful father, who prevented her from getting pregnant. 

After all, giving birth is scary for a daughter. 

He agreed with this idea. 

He just didn’t know who his daughter’s biological father was. 

This is a question he pondered all his life but never voiced. 

Anyway, she is his daughter, and that is enough. 

Zhang Rui remained calm. 

He never married but has a daughter, a son-in-law, and a granddaughter. 

When he died, Zhang Rui smiled. He lived a very content life. 

There may be another small part. After writing a thousand words, I still feel it is not right. I will think again to see if I can write it smoothly.