novelTele Chapter 38 Father
Chapter 38 Father
After the host finished speaking, seeing that Jiang Hua remained silent, he turned his gaze to Jiang Yuan.
"Excuse me, could you tell me more about your brother? I'm sure the whole internet is very interested right now..."
"I……"
Jiang Yuan saw his father shaking his head at him through the host, and he felt extremely frustrated, his face turning bright red.
"Fuck your mother, do you think profiting from human blood is delicious?"
Sun Fumin could no longer tolerate it, so he stepped forward and punched the host.
The host was so stunned by the punch that he saw stars. Before he could figure out what was happening, he was punched in the face again.
Is it really necessary to reopen old wounds?
Sun Fumin bent down and punched a few more times to vent his anger, but after he finished, he suddenly regretted it—not that he regretted striking, but that he realized, "It's over, I can't explain this now!"
Sure enough, when he looked up and scanned the room, he found that everyone was looking at him with surprise, their eyes less enthusiastic and more puzzled.
"Why did you hit him?"
The assistant behind the host froze for a few seconds, then quickly stepped forward, pushed Sun Fumin aside, stood in front of Jiang Hua, and said coldly:
"Is it because you feel guilty?"
Mr. Jiang, please answer directly: is the loss of contact between you and your family your problem, or your son Jiang Ning's problem?
This is no longer an interview; it has turned into questioning and interrogation.
It is said that the emotions of the people are the easiest to manipulate. No one expected that one second they were happily welcoming Jiang Hua and calling him "Grandpa Jiang"; the next second, just because they did not go along with the emotions of the people and said the wrong thing, the situation immediately began to change in the opposite direction.
There wasn't much discussion at the scene, but everyone felt a sense of oppression, an oppression they couldn't quite put their finger on.
All they knew was that they desperately wanted to find out the truth, or they would either continue chanting "Uncle Jiang" or be consumed by an inexplicable rage.
As for the internet, people used to say that the internet is not a lawless place.
But now, in this era of great regression, this place has slowly begun to evolve into an illegal area.
In an instant, just a moment, a deluge of questions arose:
"It must be Grandpa Jiang's fault! Otherwise, why wouldn't he dare to speak up? His guilty conscience is undeniable!"
"So all that gentleness before was just an act? He even dared to hit a reporter; looks like a barbarian at heart!"
"Disappeared? I bet he was forced out by Grandpa Jiang! Maybe he's a tyrant at home, and his son couldn't stand it, so he went into hiding!"
"I used to feel sorry for him, but now it seems there's always a reason why someone is pitiful! He wasted our goodwill; it was just a huge publicity stunt!"
Malice swept through all the live streams and comment sections like a tidal wave, and the blessings and sympathy that had flooded the screens were instantly replaced by sharp doubts and insults.
If a comparison must be made, malice is ultimately in the minority, and most people are neutral. These people watch their supporters and malices argue wildly, finding it quite entertaining, but suddenly feel a sense of emptiness in their hearts.
Just as the two sides were still deadlocked and the situation on the scene was becoming increasingly agitated, Sun Chengxian quickly ran up to Jiang Hua with his phone in hand. Jiang Hua looked down at it for a while and gave a bitter smile.
Jiang Hua pushed his phone aside, stepped forward, picked up the microphone from the ground, and gently patted it with his hand. The "pat pat" sound immediately attracted everyone's attention.
Jiang Hua calmly said, "As netizens have said, I am indeed not a qualified father, and I have let everyone down..."
"Wait a moment!"
On the auxiliary road of the expressway entrance at Shanghai North Railway Station, Nan Shaofei suddenly stood on his motorcycle and shouted:
"Wait a minute, everyone check your phones, search for Zhang Jimin..."
"Hello everyone, my name is Zhang Jimin. I used to be Jiang Ning's colleague and good friend. Jiang Ning doesn't want to talk about his private affairs, and I didn't want to either, but seeing so many people attacking him online, I just can't stand it..."
With the release of this video, the situation reversed once again. The emptiness that countless neutral observers had just felt was instantly filled:
"Oh my god, I'm totally in tears this time. What kind of plot is this? What have I been through today...?"
"He chose to give up his well-paying job for his deceased wife, then became depressed and cut off all contact with the outside world. What kind of man is he? Should I praise him or scold him?"
"This must be love! We seem to have really misunderstood Grandpa Jiang..."
"Remove the 'seems like' part; we've been adding our own drama from beginning to end..."
"That's right, Grandpa Jiang moved us, but we ended up holding him hostage."
"The case is solved. I suddenly understand: according to the recent revelation, Jiang Ning has been locking himself at home for the past year, grieving. He hasn't shown up these past two days, and it all seems to make sense."
"Damn, that's a huge exaggeration..."
"Otherwise, why did they choose to come to Shanghai to visit him in person when they couldn't get in touch with Grandpa Jiang?"
"Aaaaaah! We're really profiting from someone's tragedy! Is it too late for me to apologize to Grandpa Jiang...?"
"Me too, me too..."
"Seconded +10000..."
The internet is abuzz with discussion again. When Grandpa Jiang first arrived in Shanghai, he expressed his gratitude to the entire internet, which made everyone feel that he was a father and a man who had found a new way of life in a time of great decline. The whole internet resonated with and admired him.
At that moment, after Zhang Jimin's video was exposed, another kind of emotion was completely ignited across the internet. The previous doubts and arguments disappeared, leaving only overwhelming heartache, guilt, and emotion.
Zhang Jimin's video is still spreading rapidly. In the video, his tone is heavy and tinged with regret:
"Jiang Ning was one of the most outstanding researchers in our institute. A year ago, his wife tragically passed away from illness, and since then, he has completely changed. The once cheerful, talkative, and enthusiastic person has become taciturn, even quitting his high-paying job and locking himself in his home in Shanghai, refusing to contact anyone, including his parents and younger brother..."
The live stream chat was flooded with comments like "I feel so sorry for Jiang Ning," "I'm so sorry, Uncle Jiang," and "I'm in tears."
The scene shifts back to the highway toll station in Zhongshan District, Shanghai, where tens of thousands of people glared angrily at the news anchor after watching the evening news.
"That's outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!"
"Good for him! That bastard should be beaten to death..."
"Kill him! Kill him!"
The sudden shout startled the host, who scrambled to his feet, grabbed Jiang Jianghua's clothes, and knelt down, his face filled with terror, crying, "Grandpa Jiang, help me!"
"call……"
Jiang Hua took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a few seconds, then bent down, helped the host up, waved his hand, and calmly said, "You can go now!"
After saying this, his energy and spirit visibly waned, and he suddenly swayed.
"Dad..." Jiang Yuan quickly stepped forward to help him up.
"Uncle Jiang!" A gasp of surprise rang out from the crowd.
Jiang Hua was helped to his feet, looked at the host again, and said coldly, "Aren't you leaving yet..."
"Okay, okay, I'll go, I'll go..."
After the host finished speaking, he and his assistant quickly and carefully retreated.
This scene was witnessed by all the onlookers, and their faces froze, filled with remorse. At that moment, they looked at the host as if he were a dead man.
"Let him go!" Jiang Hua shouted again.
Upon hearing this, the onlookers who were about to unleash their fury on the host stopped in their tracks.
The next second, a loud shout suddenly came from the side road: "Grandpa Jiang, let's go home!"
Then another person called out, "Uncle Jiang, let's go home."
Finally, everyone shouted at the same time, "Uncle Jiang, let's go home."
This scene, witnessed by all onlookers and netizens, made them feel deeply ashamed.
However, Jiang Hua stood there blankly, his eyes filled with confusion. He would look back at himself and then at the skyscrapers of Shanghai under the starry sky.
"Uncle Jiang, don't worry, no one will laugh at Jiang Ning..."
Among the onlookers, no one knew who suddenly shouted that.
The phrase "No one will laugh at Jiangning" exploded across the sky like an arrow piercing the clouds. Countless onlookers froze for a moment, then intermittently joined in chanting "No one will laugh at Jiangning," eventually unifying into "Jiangning, Jiangning..."
Even faster than the outcry was the speed of the internet. When countless people realized that what Grandpa Jiang was most worried about was his eldest son, they immediately typed out the name Jiangning.
These two words spread like wildfire across major websites and live streaming platforms.
For a moment, it seemed as if the entire Chinese internet was filled with the words "Jiangning".
"Jiangning, Jiangning..."
"Jiangning, Jiangning..."
Jiang Yuan was stunned by the unified roar of the crowd. He looked up blankly, not understanding what was going on. When he looked down again, he saw his father with tears streaming down his face.
……
Many years later, one evening, Jiang Yuan held Jiang Ning's big hand as they strolled along the ridge of the field.
Jiang Yuan looked up and asked in a childish voice, "Brother, do you know when you first became famous?"
Jiang Ning pursed his lips and remained silent.
Jiang Yuan asked again, his voice full of pride: "Brother, do you know who helped you become famous?" After saying that, he proudly puffed out his little chest.
Jiang Ning remained silent, her lips pursed...
As the sun set, the two went home.
Jiang Yuan lay quietly on Jiang Ning's back, his two little hands gently wrapped around his brother's neck, his little head resting on his brother's shoulder, like a sleeping big cat.
As they neared home, Jiang Yuan suddenly said, "Brother, take good care of Dad from now on..."