"You are returning to school on Monday, right?" Aunt Shan made small talk in Cantonese as they ate. "Edison waited until last minute to finish his homework. Did you have a lot of homework, William?"

Homework? Will had absolutely no idea. He hadn't even thought about something like school.

"You should speak in English or James can't understand what you are speaking la." Uncle Jackie said to his wife.

"Aiya! I forgot. Sorry, James."

"No, it's fine. I don't mind at all. Whatever you are comfortable with." James waved his hand. "But I noticed that, like in my family, the kids all speak in English while all the parents speak in your native language."

"That's because we are CBC—Canadian-born Chinese." Vivien explained.

"That's right CBC. Represent!" Edison shouted proudly.

"Represent!" A teenager from the other side of the restaurant called out. A few customers from other tables glanced over amusement before returning to their meal. Everyone laughed at the display but there were a few who weren't amused.

Aunt Shan smacked Edison on his head.

"Ow."

"What do you mean CBC! Are you so proud that you can't speak your parent's language? Your heritage?" She scolded her son, unconsciously switching back to Cantonese in her annoyance.

"That's right!" Mama Lee wagged her finger at Will, motivated by her sister. "CBC. CBC. What's so funny about that? That sounds like your report card. You should be more like Edison, at least he is AAA." She said, making reference to his grades.

Edison had a smug smile on his face when he saw Will look his way. Using a single finger, he slowly and pretentiously readjusted his glasses.

James sent Vivien an apologetic look for starting the conversation and decided to change the mood. "Well, I guess I'm CBP since I'm Punjabi, but my mother is Tamil so I guess I'm also CBT."

Vivien immediately slapped James' arm. "Eww! That's disgusting, James! You're so immature."

"Looks like you know what that means, Viv." Edison burst out into a full body laughter. "I'm guessing you enjoy CBT?"

"The both of you are gross!"

"What about my dad?" Edison suddenly pointed at his dad, not knowing whether to laugh or be shocked at what he discovered. Uncle Jackie face was twisting as he suppressed his laughter.

"What? What are they talking about?" Aunt Shan looked around in confusion. When Uncle Jackie composed himself he leaned in and whispered in her ear. "Aiya! That's filthy, who would do something like that?"

"What is it?" Mama Lee asked her sister.

"No, I can't tell you. It's too unclean." Aunt Shan shook her head.

"Tell me, I can handle it." Aunt Shan hesitated before leaning in a whispering in her sister's ear. "What!? Crazy! Do they think they are monks or something?"

Papa Lee looked to his wife for an answer.

"No." She flat-out refused.

Papa Lee pulled out his phone to check.

"Dad, no! Don't look it up!" Vivien had a look of horror on her face, but was relieved when Mama Lee snatched his phone away. Meanwhile, James and Edison were cackling away like hyenas as the entire scenario played out.

While everyone else was amused or disgusted by the topic, the grandfather, father, and son trio—like little Casey, remained ignorant about what the discussion was about. If it was the past Will, he would have understood, but the current Will was just glad to be around his family and was enjoying food that would be considered a delicacy in the future.

"CBC, CBT, or AAA it doesn't matter. As long as you get into a good university, and find a good job, that's all that is the most important thing." Grandpa said once everyone calmed down. "Back when I was your age, because I didn't have a good education, I had to work in the mines with my father."

"Grandpa, you told us this story like a million times." Edison complained.

"Wait, Grandpa. You and Great-grandpa were miners?" Will was surprised by what he heard.

"Of course. It was tough work mining for coal. We would wake up before the sun was out and by the time we finished the sun had already set. And we barely made enough to support our family, you don't know how good you have it. It was very dangerous work back then, many people lost their lives..."

Will listened to his grandpa's account with his full attention. The reason he was so interested in this was because of his Bloodline abilities—[Night Vision] and [Seismic Sensitivity]. Although they were not considered top-class like some of the hunter or warrior bloodlines out there, he had survived many situations because of these two bloodline abilities and his above average [Perception].

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

As was indicated in the name, Bloodline abilities came from ones own bloodline—their DNA, their ancestry, their heritage. Will had always wondered about his abilities but now it made sense after he heard from his grandpa about their lineage.

Eventually the meal came to an end and people were getting prepared to leave.

"You can hear more next time, William. Grandpa needs to go now." Aunt Shan said.

"What?" Grandpa asked.

"The rain stopped, don't you want to go to the park and practice tai chi, Father?"

Tai chi? That rang a bell in Will's head. Isn't tai chi usually associated with meditation? Maybe Grandpa knows something about it. Even after an entire week of practice, Will was still struggling with the meditation exercises he read online.

"That's fine, Auntie. I can take Grandpa to the park."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Will bought a truck!" Edison interjected.

"William did?"

"I saw it earlier. It's outside."

"You bought a truck, Will?" Vivien asked. Everyone was surprised he made such a large purchase but they were only finding out about it now.

I wonder how they'd react if they find out I'm about to build a house. Will couldn't help but think to himself.

"Let's go see it." Aunt Shan said before waving to a nearby waiter. "Can I get the bill?"

"What are you doing?" Mama Lee asked, seeing that Aunt Shan was taking out her wallet. "It's fine, William invited everyone today, so we can pay."

"Nonsense, little William just bought a brand new car. He needs to save money. We can pay for him."

This went back and forth for awhile before eventually Will intercepted the waiter and paid the bill. After showing the truck to his family, Will took Grandpa to the park.

"What's wrong with you?" Grandpa asked once they were on the road.

"Hmm?"

"Are you not sleeping well? You're pale. You look worse than when you stay up late playing your games."

"It's nothing much." Will waved it off.

"Hmph, I might be old but I'm not stupid. You're acting strange today."

Will reacted by taking a second look at his Grandpa. This old man was more perceptive than he gave him credit for and he didn't even have a boost in [Perception].

"You think I don't know my own grandchildren? I haven't lived this long for nothing. It's a girl isn't it?"

"No...well sort of..."

"Not a problem like your sister's, I hope." There was an undertone of warning in Grandpa's voice. "I want to live to see more great-grandchildren but it's much too early for you."

"No, nothing like Viv." Will sighed before deciding confide in his grandpa. "Me and this girl, we sort of made a promise to see each other again, but not for awhile."

"Do you love her?" Grandpa asked. There was no judgement on his face.

"Yeah."

"Then what's the problem? Just live your life. Be a man. Live and be the best you can be until you see her again. Then you won't be ashamed to face her, right?"

Will mulled over what his grandpa said. He knew that Sara had great expectations of him but he didn't know if he'd be able to live up to them. She always wanted to help people and make the world a better place. But Will wasn't like that, he only cared about the people close to him. In a way, he was similar to Charlie Patton and the ZS Financial Group who forced Sara to her death.

I can only try my best.

"You're right, Grandpa."

"Of course I am." Grandpa nodded in approval while Will could only chuckle at his grandpa's self-confidence. "And that means studying hard and getting to university."

"Alright, Grandpa, I'm sure I'll be fine. You said it earlier, grades don't matter."

"But your grades are disgraceful. Can you even get into university like that? You little blockhead!" Grandpa gave Will a smack on the head.

"Hey, I'm driving!"

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When they arrived the park was already filled with other aunties and uncles practicing tai chi. Like a wave, they flowed together in sync with each other's movements.

"You said you wanted to learn about meditation?" Will's grandpa asked.

"Yes, I've never seen anyone sit down and meditate before."

"Because you don't need to sit down. Tai chi itself can be a form a meditation. It is called mindfulness meditation."

"Oh, I know this one 'awareness of the moment without judgment', my mind keeps wandering."

"Mmm." Grandpa nodded.

"I tried it but it's hard to do that no judgement part."

"That's because you need something to focus your mind. Try it while we practice. Do you remember your forms?"

"No." Will shook his head. He vaguely recalled learning tai chi as a child but that had been decades ago.

"Just follow along then." Grandpa said as he led Will to the group. Will's Grandpa joined in without warning and seamlessly harmonized with the group.

Will followed along and mimicked the movements but it still felt unnatural to him at first. He improved as time went by and he slowly recalled the movements. Like riding a bike after a long period, his body soon went into autopilot. All Will had to do was focus on his movements and his breathing.

He let go of all his thoughts.

His plans. His burdens. His urgency. His past.

The only thing that matter was the moment.

He felt the grass shifting beneath him as he moved. The gentle breeze against his skin. He smelled the crisp and earthy air after the rain. It was like he was experiencing it all for the first time.

It felt a giant weight had been lifted off of him and Will felt a profound feeling of serenity that seemed eternal and transitory at the same time.

And then the moment ended.

Before he knew it, the practice had come to an end and Will came back to himself. His grandfather merely nodded and smiled at him, having a chat with a few of his friends.

"Old Wong! You brought your grandson?"

"Heh, this is William, my youngest daughter's son. How is he? He takes after me."

After a bit of banter, they were soon on their way.

"What time are you doing this tomorrow?" Will asked as they headed back to his truck.

"If it's not raining again, 5 am."

"Why so early?"

"What, too early for you?" Grandpa teased.

"I'll be here but I'm just curious."

Grandpa raised his brows a bit, Will's answer catching him off guard a little. He hadn't been expecting Will to stick with it. "Too much pollution from all the cars if we practice too late."

"Ahh." Will nodded in understanding. I guess one good thing is that Grandpa will really enjoy the air in a couple months, since the pollution will be non-existent.

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Without the need to go to work anymore, Will spent the time relaxing for the first time in what felt like forever. He finally got himself a haircut, going back to the short and comfortable crewcut he was familiar with. The rest of the weekend passed by leisurely and before too long it was time for him to go back to school.

School had been the last thing on his mind when he first came back and he had never had any plans to go back, but after thinking about it a little he decided that there was something he needed to do at school to save himself some headache going forward.

There was also someone he needed to meet.