No matter how unwilling Gu Nianzhi was, there was no way she could continue to “Interrogate”an old man who was almost 100 years old and suffering from Alzheimer’s.
She could only nod with a smile and say, “Sorry to bother you then. Can I go to the courtyard next door and take a few photos? I think the courtyard there is quite nicely maintained.”
The middle-aged woman did not even raise her head. She said plainly, “The courtyard next door used to be the Qin family’s. It’s now under the name of the He family’s young master. It has nothing to do with us.”
This meant that she could not make the decision over there.
Gu Nianzhi turned to look at the courtyard over there.
The flowers and trees there were sparse and well-arranged. There was also a row of hydrangeas planted by the side of the courtyard wall. They were clustered together with the hydrangeas here. It was bustling with activity, with bees and butterflies surrounding it.
There was a huge camphor tree planted by the courtyard door. It was green and had a faint fragrance.
She saw that there was no one around and impatiently walked out of the door. She walked in again and walked directly to the side of the courtyard wall that was half the height of a person. With one hand on the brick railing, she leaped over it like a hurdle.
Huo Shaoheng:”…”
She was quite agile, like a thief..
Huo Shaoheng was angry and amused at the same time, but he couldn’t help himself. He followed behind Gu Nianzhi and jumped over as well.
The middle-aged woman turned around and saw the two people who had been in her courtyard just a moment ago had run over to the opposite courtyard. They had also jumped over the wall on her side of the courtyard. Her face instantly darkened, she softly used C city language to complain about “Little Red Man.”.
Gu Nianzhi flipped over the wall and realized that the courtyard on her side was actually much bigger than the one next door. It was only because it was in the innermost part of the courtyard that it did not look obvious from the outside.
She walked around the courtyard and saw that there was a hand-copied corridor inside. It was all teak.
The main building was a western-style house. The large round stone columns made of white marble were very imposing, but they were not particularly eye-catching because they were hidden in the deep corridors of the trees.
Gu Nianzhi walked around the house and took a few photos before walking back to the courtyard. She stood behind the cluster of Hydrangeas and smiled as she waved at the people in the courtyard next door, she said, “Sorry for disturbing you today. We have to go home.”
She had wanted to say goodbye to Huo Shaoheng together, but perhaps she had spoken a little louder, and the old woman who seemed to have fallen asleep had woken up again.
She opened her eyes and saw Gu Nianzhi poking her head out from the flowers next door and waving at her.
Although Gu Nianzhi was almost half the height of the little girl in her memory, the smile on Gu Nianzhi’s face, the curved corners of her lips, and the small dimples on her lips were all very familiar to this old man, they all brought back a vague memory that she had not had for a long time.
In an instant, Gu Nianzhi and the seven-or eight-year-old neighbor girl magically overlapped.
The old woman suddenly sat up and looked directly in Gu Nianzhi’s direction, she blurted out in fluent English, “Grace, come here, don’t do that again. Your Mom and Dad will be home soon.”(Grace, come here, don’t do that again. . Your Mom and Dad will be home soon.)
Gu Nianzhi:”…”
Huo Shaoheng was stunned as well.
He quickly reacted and took a step back from the camphor tree. He hid himself completely, leaving Gu Nianzhi alone in the old woman’s sight.
The middle-aged woman next to the old woman was shocked as well, but she quickly recovered and smiled at Gu Nianzhi. “See, my grandmother remembered wrongly again. She thought you were her neighbor from many years ago…”
Gu Nianzhi opened her mouth and said in confusion,”… but my name is Grace. Could it be that your neighbor has the same name as me?”
This was obviously a name that she had just made up.
When she first saw the old woman, Gu Nianzhi somehow remembered that she had seen the name Grace somewhere before, so she used it for some reason.
The middle-aged woman nodded with a smile, “My grandmother said that there was a little girl next door. Her name was Grace, and she was very close to my grandmother. She practically watched her grow up. “Look, so many years have passed. My grandmother has forgotten her own children, but she still remembers the little girl next door. Sometimes she would take her out and Nag about it.”
Gu Nianzhi knew that Alzheimer’s patients had no concept of time.
They remembered things from a long time ago, but did not remember recent events.
Their memories did not follow a regular pattern. They might forget most of the people and things in their lives, but they would never forget the most profound things in their memories, they would also constantly pull them out of their memories and replay them over and over again, just like watching a faded black and white old movie.
They did not have a specific concept of time. They might have thought that what had happened decades ago had only happened yesterday.
Or they might have moved what had happened yesterday to decades ago.
Gu Nianzhi did not know much about Alzheimer’s disease. She only remembered that amnesia and memory disorders were one of the main symptoms.
But just because they had the same name, could this nearly 100-year-old man with Alzheimer’s disease have mistaken her for someone else?
Gu Nianzhi had a hunch that it wasn’t that simple.
She thought for a moment, then supported herself with one hand on the courtyard wall, which was half the height of a person, and flipped over like a hurdle.
The old woman panicked, and pushed the middle-aged woman away. She stumbled down the steps to meet Gu Nianzhi, still speaking standard Oxford English.
“Grace! I’ve told You many times! Don’t do that again! You Naughty Girl!”(Grace, I’ve told You many times! Don’t do that again! You’re Too Naughty!)
Gu Nianzhi quickly went up to support the old woman and said in surprise, “Your English is really good!”
The middle-aged woman followed her and also supported the old woman on the other side. She said with slight pride, “My grandmother was the first batch of overseas students to study in the UK. There were very few female students studying in the UK at that time.”
Gu Nianzhi nodded and smiled. “I can hear that the old lady’s English is impeccable.”
The old man looked at Gu Nianzhi from a closer distance and felt that she looked familiar. He frowned and looked gu nianzhi up and down before muttering,”… taller…”
Gu Nianzhi:”…”
This time, she heard it clearly. The old woman really thought of her as her neighbor’s little girl!
Was It Qin Suwen? !
Judging from the time, Qin Suwen had lived here before his family was destroyed in the car accident..
Gu Nianzhi’s heart skipped a beat. She smiled and said in English, “Auntie, would you know when my Mom and Dad Will Be Home? I am really hungry.”
The old lady patted her hand and smoothed her hair. She stroked her lips and said,”… you’ve grown up, Little Darling. What do you want to eat? Do you still want to eat caltrop cake?”
Gu Nianzhi did not move, allowing the old woman’s bony hand to brush past her face. She said softly, “You’ve got the wrong person. I’m not your neighbor, Grace.”
“Why not?”The old woman seemed to understand what she was saying and frowned, “You’re her. I remember very clearly that your lips were very special. They were like pointy little caltrops, and there were small dimples on the sides of your lips. You loved to eat water chestnuts flour cake when you were a child, and you loved the water chestnuts flour cake that I made the most. Your mother always said that it was because you loved to eat water chestnuts that you grew water chestnuts lips…”
The old man would never stop talking about the past.
She looked up at the camphor tree opposite her and fell into deep thought. She murmured,”… it’s been a hundred years, right? This tree is so tall.”
She looked up at Gu nianzhi again, “Even if it’s been a hundred years, I still remember how you didn’t get burned.”
Gu Nianzhi’s heart shook, and her body swayed a few times.
That’s right, the old woman was talking about Qin Suwen, the girl who used to live next door!
And from the old woman’s words, Gu Nianzhi learned for the first time what Qin Suwen looked like before he got burned!
He had a pair of sharp lips and a small dimple..
The middle-aged woman noticed the change in Gu Nianzhi’s expression and quickly said apologetically, “Don’t worry about it. My grandmother is sick. She doesn’t remember it very well, so it doesn’t count.”
“I remember it very well!”The old woman emphasized firmly, “I remember it very well. In a hundred years, I’ll remember it for a century! Grace is a very beautiful little girl! She’ll come back! She’ll come back here, climb over the wall, and ask me for some caltrop cake!”
As she spoke, she looked at Gu Nianzhi’s fair and tender face and was confused again. She reached out and touched her face, she asked in confusion, “Your Face has recovered? It’s so badly injured… When I read the newspaper, I was almost scared to death… now I see that you haven’t changed at all… Have you had plastic surgery?”
Gu Nianzhi recalled that Qin Huichang’s colleague had said yesterday that the car accident back then had become a sensational piece of social news, and that the photo of Qin Suwen being burned had even been published in the newspaper.
If it had been in the present, that kind of photo would never have appeared in the newspapers and other media. Even if it had, the mosaic would have been so hard to make out.
But in that era, the photo of her being burned had been published in the newspapers. It was probably uncensored, otherwise it wouldn’t have caused such a huge impact on these people.
Look at this old woman next door. She was already suffering from Alzheimer’s, but she still remembered some of Qin Suwen’s past.
If it wasn’t for the things that left the deepest impression on them, these old people with dementia wouldn’t have remembered.
And this kind of exclusive memory was even clearer and more accurate than the memories of healthy old people.
Gu Nianzhi didn’t know what to feel at that moment.
She should be happy. After all, after investigating for so long, there was finally a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.
However, this glimmer of light made her shudder.
It was spring in C city, and the temperature was gradually rising. The sun shone through the treetops, making people feel warm. Even wearing a thin coat was too hot.
Gu Nianzhi stood in the sunny courtyard, but a chill rose from the soles of her feet. She felt cold all over her body. For the first time, she was a little timid and did not dare to face this potentially terrifying truth.
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This was the first update of the day: Chapter 1778, “The chilling dawn.”.
It was a reminder to everyone of the recommended tickets!
And the monthly ticket ~ ~
8 p.m. Second Update.
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