Countdown: Humanity's struggle to survive against yesterday

Chapter 37 Questioning

Viewers on mobile phones, televisions, and computers were instantly moved by this sincerity and humility, and flooded the screen with comments.

"Oh, Uncle Jiang, you're too kind. We don't deserve such a bow!"

"Yes, yes, you don't need to thank us. Thank yourself for your perseverance and never giving up!"

"It brought tears to my eyes. It was just a simple expression of gratitude, but it warmed my heart..."

At first, the comments were chaotic, with some expressing emotion, some feeling touched, and some feeling sorry for the person.

But in just a few seconds, the comments section became perfectly uniform, all the text converging into the same sentence, densely covering the entire screen, with not a single superfluous comment or a single disorderly word—

"Uncle Jiang, you must be tired from your journey. Welcome to Shanghai!"

This sentence, which started as a comment from one person, resonated with ten, a hundred, and ten thousand people, and eventually became the sentiment of all netizens.

Whether in live streams, short video comment sections, or news bullet comments, all are filled with this warm and sincere blessing.

It's as if everyone has forgotten that we are living in a time of great regression.

Perhaps it is precisely because we are in a time of great regression, with so much negative news lately, that Grandpa Jiang's unique story makes people feel even more moved.

At the scene, Jiang Hua and his son heard the shouts coming from afar and could vaguely see the neat barrage of comments on their phone screens. The father and son smiled at each other and waved to the camera again.

Then, Jiang Hua said in a gentle but clear tone:

"Thank you everyone, thank you to everyone who cares about us and helps us."

After the two finished speaking, Jiang Yuan stepped in front of Sun Fumin and the others. His steps were steady, and his face showed more maturity than when he had experienced many ups and downs.

He straightened his back slightly, bowed deeply to Sun Fumin, Sun Lingmin, Sun Chengwu, and the others, his tone respectful and sincere:

"Brother Sun, Brother Lingmin, Brother Chengwu, and all the villagers of Sanmiao Village, thank you for escorting us all the way. Without you, my dad and I wouldn't have made it this far."

Sun Fumin quickly stepped forward, reached out to help Jiang Yuan up, his eyes slightly red, patted his shoulder, and spoke in a cheerful tone tinged with heartache:

"Silly child, don't thank me! We're all family. Protecting Uncle was something we did willingly."

Sun Lingmin added with a smile, "Yes, Jiang Yuan, we've all seen you grow from being so naive to so sensible, and we're all happy for you. If anything like this happens again, the people of Sanmiao Village will stand up for you again."

Sun Chengwu patted Jiang Yuan's arm, saying little but very sincere: "Have a safe journey. When you see Yuanzi, give him your regards."

Jiang Yuan nodded vigorously, tears welling in his eyes, but he smiled and replied, "Definitely! Thank you all. See you tomorrow, and I'll definitely thank you properly then."

At this moment, Jiang Hua slowly walked over, cupped his hands in greeting to Sun Fumin and the other two, as well as the villagers behind them, and said in a gentle but solemn tone: "Let's go, everyone, let's go home and have a drink."

"Okay, sure!"

Sun Fumin instinctively answered, but then paused in surprise: "What do you mean, Second Uncle?"

"What I mean is, let's go back to Sanmiao Village for a drink!"

"Um?"

Jiang Yuan, Sun Lingmin, Sun Chengwu, Sun Chengxian, and all the netizens watching the live stream were filled with confusion upon hearing this.

"What does this mean?"

"Why did Grandpa Jiang suddenly say he wanted to go to Sanmiao Village for a drink?"

At this moment, a media worker carrying a camera quickly approached and handed over a microphone: "Excuse me, Mr. Jiang, what do you mean by 'going home'? Don't you mean you're not going to see your son?"

"Of course we want to see!"

The microphone was very loud, and the sound spread throughout the entire venue in an instant.

Most of the onlookers looked confused, but then someone held up their phone and started explaining, and everyone started talking about it, still not understanding.

This confusion and discussion quickly reached Jiang Hua's ears in a buzzing sound.

His expression changed, he took a step back, and solemnly bowed again to the surroundings. This scene puzzled even Jiang Yuan, let alone everyone who was paying attention to the matter.

After bowing, Jiang Hua said apologetically into the microphone, "First of all, thank you all again for your concern for this old man. Thank you so much for your help; without your help, I might not have been able to come to Shanghai. But..."

At this point, everyone present and netizens held their breath, eager to hear what the next twist in Grandpa Jiang's story would be.

At the same time, they were also very surprised by what this person was thinking. Why did he suddenly say he wanted to go home after finally coming to Shanghai?

Some netizens with bad tempers have started flooding the screen with comments, believing that this is all a show and that there is probably no such thing as a son at all, and that it's all just a publicity stunt.

Just as these negative emotions were growing stronger, Jiang Hua's words silenced the entire room.

"I'm sorry everyone, I've let you down, but I really can't just go see Xiao Ning like this. I think it might cause him trouble!"

"Xiao Ning?"

"Jiangning..."

This was the first time anyone had heard this name. It was very common; there were probably eight hundred people with the same name in the whole country, if not a thousand.

At first, many people didn't understand the meaning behind Jiang Hua's words, but seeing the worried expression on his face, some gradually realized the key point:

"Grandpa Jiang is right. He was protecting his son."

"That's right. If this were before the Great Regression, this would have been an immense fortune. But now it's a major disaster, and this kind of attention might not be a good thing."

"What do you mean by immense wealth? Not everyone wants to be famous. Grandpa Jiang is very open-minded. He just wants to live an ordinary life and doesn't want his son's peaceful life to be disrupted."

"Wow, it has to be Grandpa Jiang. Only Grandpa Jiang like him is worthy of our affection."

"Yes, Grandpa Jiang still doesn't consider himself a celebrity. He's just an ordinary person. Ordinary people should live ordinary lives. He doesn't dare to see his son, not because he doesn't want to, but because he's afraid of scaring his son."

"Isn't anyone curious why his son hasn't reacted at all, given how much this is trending online?"

"Yeah? Why isn't his son reacting at all...?"

As soon as a netizen raised a question, the comments in the live stream rooms were immediately swayed.

After hearing the voice coming through the earpiece, the host immediately asked, "Mr. Jiang, could you tell me about your son? Also, does your son know you're in Shanghai?"

"I...I don't know."

"You don't know what it means?"

When Jiang Hua heard the host ask again, a look of pain flashed across his face.

Then, as if realizing something, he quickly added:

"Please don't misunderstand, my son is fine. The reason I said I didn't know is because we've lost contact with him. I only know his address in Shanghai, but I don't know his specific situation right now. That's why I came to Shanghai; I just wanted to see him..."

"What caused Jiang Ning to suddenly disappear? Does this disappearance mean he has severed ties with you? What role are you playing in this?"

Is this a very pointed question?

Jiang Hua realized in an instant that he had just said the wrong thing, and that the host seemed to be stirring up trouble.

Jiang Hua had no time to regret it; he simply stared coldly at the so-called host. The two froze for a moment, one holding the microphone while the other remained silent.

The atmosphere at the scene suddenly became eerie, and even the atmosphere in the various live streaming rooms online changed accordingly.

"What gives you the right to say that about my brother...?"

The next second, Jiang Yuan suddenly stepped forward and shoved the host aside, causing him to stumble and stagger. His young face was full of anger: "My brother... because..."

Sun Fumin instinctively clenched his fist, about to step forward to explain.

However, Jiang Hua suddenly shouted, "Xiao Yuan, shut up!"

After saying that, Jiang Hua stepped forward and pulled Jiang Yuan back, then quickly helped the host, who had already regained his footing, ask, "Young man, are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" The host steadied himself and raised the microphone again. "Mr. Jiang, could you please tell us about your relationship with your son? I believe many people online are interested in this right now..."