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Psst! We're moving!
The couple who loves to travel on the first floor has returned.
Though it might sound a bit disrespectful to the elders, Jiang Beibei really thought that Song Lang’s dad’s hearing was even more sensitive than Song Da Miao’s.
Before Jiang Beibei’s foot had stepped into the hallway, Song Lang’s dad opened the door and loudly and enthusiastically called out, “Xiao Bei! Come here quickly, Uncle brought you some great stuff!”
“Uncle Song!” Jiang Beibei fluttered over like a little bird, smiling, “You’re back!”
Her vision blurred for a moment, and before she could see clearly, she found her neck, head, and hands filled with a bunch of things.
“A big haul!” Song Lang’s dad said, “Your aunt wanted to buy everything she saw!”
Inside the house, Song Lang’s mom responded, “Bei Zi, it’s all for you, hold them tight!”
“Thank you, Auntie!”
Song Lang’s dad pointed toward the inner room and said, “Your auntie is in the bathroom, we just came back and were holding it in, haha.”
Song Lang’s mom said, “What bad things are you saying about me again?!”
Jiang Beibei had a colorful light-up flower crown on her head, a flashy conch necklace hanging on her neck, holding a bunch of local specialty products as she returned home.
“Grandma!”
When grandma was home, the house was warm, with lights, hot food, sounds in the living room, the air smelling like grandma’s scent—like an old plush sweater. Whenever the door opened, these familiar things came rushing in, and in Jiang Beibei’s heart, a single word would pop out: home.
“Beibei, look who’s here.”
“Visitors? Grandma Liu!”
On the sofa lay an old lady, her head tilted watching TV, wearing a red cashmere sweater with a scarf, thick fluffy pads on her knees, and she was idly shaking her legs.
This old lady’s son was a former colleague of Jiang Beibei’s parents. Both had died in the 925 operation. Her daughter had married abroad, but the old lady found living abroad lonely and inconvenient because of the language barrier, so she came back to live with old neighbors.
She would come over every now and then to visit, stay for a few days, chat with Jiang Beibei’s grandma, then go back home. She was nice but very familiar and outgoing.
“Little girl is back,” Grandma Liu sat up and said, “This old lady is bothering you again!”
Jiang Beibei laughed, “Warmly welcome!”
Grandma said, “Beibei, Grandma and Grandma Liu are thinking of traveling.”
Jiang Beibei was quite surprised, “Grandma, what made you do this? These past days, you’re learning to drive and now you want to travel…”
Grandma said, “These past few days going back to Dongshan, so many changes. The house is still the same old house, but the people living there are gone just like that…”
She was old after all, and when talking about life and death, tears immediately fell from the old lady’s eyes.
“Sigh… do you still remember old Wang from Dongshan Unit Six? He passed away last week! We played mahjong together the night before. In the morning, he went outside and fell at the mahjong parlor’s door on a snowy day, sigh…”
Grandma wiped her tears with a small handkerchief and continued, “Grandma and Grandma Liu talked it over, and we both feel life can’t go on like this. When you get old, who knows if you’ll be able to get up one day.”
“…Alright then!” Jiang Beibei understood the point, “Where do you want to go? I’ll pay for you!”
“No need for you to spend!” Grandma immediately stopped crying, tossed the handkerchief aside, and said, “Keep your money for the car. Grandma has a pension, I’ll chip in a bit, buy a good car, drive it for a few more years.”
Grandma Liu nodded, “Your grandma said when she waited for the bus at the station, she saw young girls freezing and stomping their feet. After the snowfall, the buses are crowded, and when us old folks get on, people give up their seats. You young girls have to squeeze to go to work, it’s so inconvenient.”
“I don’t lack money,” Jiang Beibei said, “If I want to buy it, I can still pay the loan off. Grandma, don’t worry about that… Just tell me where you want to go. I’ll sign you and Grandma Liu up for a group tour. We’ll pick the more expensive one, arrange a good route, you two go and have fun.”
“I already talked to Uncle Song about it, planning to travel abroad a bit, it’s cheaper before the Spring Festival.”
“With Uncle Song and Aunt Qiao together?”
“I said it’s best not to go with them, we don’t want to trouble them with taking care of us two old folks,” Grandma smiled, “But Da Song and Aunt Qiao are so sincere, they insist on coming, saying it’s good to look after us… We leave this Sunday.”
“Awesome!” Jiang Beibei teased Grandma, “You stylish old ladies really know how to live. Unlike us, sigh, still have to work.”
“You should earn money. If you live well, Grandma won’t worry.”
“Okay, okay, I know,” Jiang Beibei said, “What did you make for food today?”
“No food made,” Grandma pushed her on the butt, “Go peel the radish skin, I’ll stir-fry it for you later.”
“Hey, Grandma, you don’t even cook for your granddaughter anymore?” Jiang Beibei laughed, washing her hands to cook soup.
In the living room, Grandma Liu whispered, “Has she found a boyfriend?”
“No, not yet,” Grandma shook her head.
“It’s time. Before school, I thought she was too young to talk about this… Old Li, hurry up and push her, one less thing to worry about.”
“As for me, even if I close my eyes now, I only think about two things,” Grandma said, “One is my granddaughter, she has to live a good life. The other is that fugitive. Grandma’s eyes are about to close, but the bad guy who killed my son and daughter-in-law before she dies hasn’t been caught. I can’t rest.”
She began to wipe tears again.
The 925 Leopard Operation had captured the number one suspect and dismantled the drug den, but the domestic drug dealer Zhao Erzi who betrayed the operation escaped and has yet to be caught.
“A few years ago, I still asked about him, but not anymore,” Grandma Liu said angrily, “I curse him to die in a garbage heap with no one to pick up his body! Hope he dies soon!”
The two old ladies reminisced for a while, then Grandma suddenly remembered the young guy Jiang Beibei had mentioned before and immediately forgot about the drug dealer.
“Beibei, come here!” Grandma called, “You told me about that young guy on the phone last time, what’s the story?”
Jiang Beibei shuffled over, holding half a radish and smiling foolishly.
“Hehe, Grandma… If I say, the guy I like is really close to me, will you guess who?”
Grandma, I even gave you a hint, since you’re my real grandma, you guessed it!
Grandma: “Your colleague?”
Jiang Beibei shrugged, losing the smile, “Forget it, I’ll just tell you directly.”
She pointed outside the door and winked, “Really close.”
Even Grandma Liu was stunned for a while.
“From our building?!” Grandma finally gasped, the wrinkles around her eyes almost smoothing out.
Jiang Beibei shyly looked down and drew a circle on the floor with her foot.
“Oh my!” Grandma clutched her chest and after a long pause stood up and tapped her arm, “Really? Tell Grandma the truth, is he a guy from our building?”
Jiang Beibei nodded like a little chicken pecking rice.
Grandma was so shocked she barely dared to breathe and anxiously asked, “Who?”
At this moment, Grandma Liu slapped her thigh and said, “That one! Isn’t it the one from the first floor!”
Grandma turned her head, “Little Song?”
“No no, the one opposite Da Song’s place! Li Li’s son! What’s his name again!”
“Xi Zhou?!”
Jiang Beibei was shocked: “No!”
“Then it must be the one on the third floor!” Grandma Liu pointed decisively like a general commanding, “That lawyer! What’s his name, starts with… hey, my memory!”
“Da Qin’s son?”
Grandma suddenly understood, turning to Jiang Beibei: “Is it Yuan’er?”
Jiang Beibei showed no expression: “Guess. Both of you guess once — are you going to wait until the very end to get it right?”
After saying this, she actually looked a little wronged, and her eyes instantly reddened.
“Stop guessing, you’re never going to guess it anyway!”
Tears dropped with a plop from her eyelashes, even making a sound.
Grandma playfully hit her: “Look at your shallow tear dimples, is this really something to cry about?”
Grandma Liu immediately realized her mistake and said, “If it’s that kid Yan Qingming, he’s more than ten years older than you, dear.”
Jiang Beibei hiccupped a little through her crying: “Why don’t you guess Chu Yao! It’s my Yao ge! I mean Yao ge!”
Her voice was loud, but her spirit was weak.
Grandma Liu completely shut up, looking shocked and afraid to say anything further.
Grandma was stunned too, not sure what to say next.
Jiang Beibei snapped the radish in half with a crack and said fiercely, “I might as well not tell you!”
Then she stomped back to the kitchen, chopping radishes angrily.
Grandma said, “Hey, this girl’s temper is just like her dad’s, usually she looks obedient, but say one wrong thing and she’ll glare at you.”
Grandma Liu lowered her voice and asked, “Is it the one from the funeral home? Lao Li, that won’t do... think about it, before Liberation, that job was looked down on as the lowest of the low... That kid doesn’t say much when he sees me, kind of creepy.”
Grandma waved her hand, shaking her head: “Don’t talk about it, let it be. At home she yells at me, but when she’s outside she doesn’t dare say a word.”
Chu Yao had been home for a while.
Just as he stepped onto the second-floor landing, he heard Jiang Beibei shouting from the opposite door: “Yao ge! I said Yao ge!”
Standing quietly at his own doorway, Chu Yao thought for a long time but couldn’t figure out what topic would make her shout his name so loudly at Grandma.
But judging by the tone, it didn’t sound good.
Chu Yao quickly checked himself: Had he done anything recently to upset her?
He didn’t think so.
He opened the door and saw his mom sitting in the living room, holding a jade bracelet up to the light for inspection.
“Where’s this from?” Chu Yao asked.
“Guess, Chu Wuchang.”
“Did Dad give it to you?”
Mom carefully handed him the jade bracelet, saying, “Look at the quality.”
Chu Yao frowned, “I don’t get it, but my sixth sense says it’s expensive.”
“Your Uncle Song brought it,” Mom said, “Your Uncle Song just came back from a trip. I asked him to bring a pair.”
Chu Yao frowned again, “How much?”
“I’m not telling you,” Mom said, “But if you break it, I swear I’ll tear you apart and throw you out.”
Clearly, it wasn’t cheap.
“What’s with suddenly buying this stuff?” Chu Yao’s mouth twitched as he handed back the bracelet.
He took off his coat, poured a glass of water, and tilted his head back to drink.
Mom seized the moment: “It’s a dowry for Beibei.”
For the first time ever, Chu Yao choked on water painfully, coughing while frowning and glaring at his mom.
“You…” He trailed off, unsure how to put it.
He got tangled up in his thoughts.
After a while, he said, “…Bride price, is that okay?”
Mom snapped, “Bride price? Get out of here. I’m giving a dowry.”
Chu Yao tried to compromise as much as he could, “They’re basically the same thing.”
“No they’re not! You want to pay a bride price, go ahead, I don’t care. But I’m not giving you a single cent, you stinky kid.” Mom carefully wrapped the bracelet again and softened her tone, cheerfully, “But Beibei, I want to prepare a proper dowry so she can marry off in style.”
Chu Yao muttered softly, “Not going far, just from across the hall to our place.”
Mom jumped up and gave him a sweeping kick, “Dare say that behind closed doors! If you’ve got guts, say it to Beibei with the door open. Coward!”
Dad opened the door and came in, saw the scene, and quietly backed out again.
Mom shouted, “Come back! Where are you going?”
Dad walked in again, calm as ever: “I just saw the Black Mountain Demon beating the Cowardly Ghost. Thought I’d come to the wrong place.”
When Jiang Beibei came out to take out the trash, she happened to see Chu Yao cleaning the trash chute.
He was wearing a black turtleneck sweater; maybe the collar was tight because he pulled it away from his neck with one hand. In the night, he looked especially pale.
Jiang Beibei giggled silly inside, thinking, “Mom, look at this boy — he glows!”
“Taking out the trash?”
“Yeah.”
“What did you eat tonight?”
“Pickled radish.” Jiang Beibei pouted.
“I thought you’d eat some meat since Grandma was back.”
“Radish is fine, it doesn’t make me fat.”
“You’re not fat, eat more.” Chu Yao took the trash from her hand and threw it away.
Jiang Beibei looked up at him; even something like him throwing out her trash seemed effortlessly cool.
“Yao ge.”
“Mm.”
“I really like you!” Jiang Beibei felt like a fan at an idol concert wildly waving her glow sticks and loudly confessing.
But in reality she just said: “It’s so cold today…”
“Go back early.”
“Yeah, got it.”
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