Translator: Noodletown Translated Editor: Noodletown Translated
Hao Ren took the bumpy bus to the seaside and walked the rest of the way to his home. When he was about to yell ‘Grandma’, Hao Ren found that Xie Yujia was there already in her white apron!
“What… What are you doing here?” Hao Ren asked in surprise.
“I’m here to keep Grandma company,” Xie Yujia answered calmly.
“Why, Ren? Do you have a problem with that?” Grandma walked out of a room on the first floor and went to Xie Yujia’s side.
“No… No problem,” Hao Ren put his backpack on the couch and asked Xie Yujia nervously, “How did you get here?”
“By bus. However, it only took me to the entrance, so I walked the rest of the way,” she answered.
Hao Ren nodded. He assumed that Xie Yujia must have handed in her exams early, so she got here earlier than him. However, it was a half-an-hour walk from the bus stop to the house. It must have been hard for a girl like her to walk under the heat.
“Why didn’t you come back with Ren,” Grandma complained to her.
“I didn’t know when he would be back since he may have some activities with other classmates. Besides, I am here for you!” Xie Yujia smiled brightly.
“Poor girl… You had to walk so long,” Grandma looked at Xie Yujia and said. It was a one-hour bus ride and a half-hour walk from the school to here. It could be counted as an exercise for Hao Ren but not an easy task for a girl like Xie Yujia.
“Grandma, can I cook the fish the same way as last time? Steamed?” Xie Yujia changed the topic.
“Sure, whatever way you want. As long as you are the chef, I will love it!” Grandma said pleasantly.
“Okay!” Xie Yujia nodded and went into the kitchen.
Hao Ren noticed the empty house and asked, “Where are my parents, Grandma?”
“Ah… Them! Speaking of them sets me off,” Grandma appeared to be annoyed, “They went to Beijing for some big national project this time and won’t be back for a month.”
“They went together?” Hao Ren asked.
“Yeah, they said it’s a multi-fields project, and they didn’t tell you because they didn’t want to affect your mood during the exams,” Grandma said.
Hao Ren thought to himself, “If it would, then my exams would be affected years ago.”
He was already used to that.
Hao Ren sighed lightly and asked, “Then… Do you want to go live with Zi for the month?”
He thought that Grandma must feel very lonely at the house by herself. Uncle Wang couldn’t do more than cooking and taking care of the flowers and vegetables, so it would be more relieving if Grandma stayed with Zhao Yanzi’s family.
“We shouldn’t bother them this time. I’ve decided to go to the countryside for a while. A good friend of mine from a long time ago got in touch with me a few days ago. She said that she is living in Zhejiang Province now, and the mountains and rivers in her village are gorgeous. She is surrounded by her children and grandchildren there, and she invited me to live there for a while,” Grandma said.
“By yourself?” Hao Ren was worried.
“I am much healthier than before, so I will be fine. Plus, living in the countryside and talking with my old friend about the past will be a lot of fun,” she sighed, “A big family surrounds her, but I am here all alone. Both my son and daughter-in-law are not here, and you are my only grandson. Who knows where my great grandchildren are at this moment…”
Hearing this, Hao Ren stopped her and comforted, “Alright, alright. I’ll take you there as soon as I finish my exams.”
He thought, “If she goes there and sees the large family, who knows what she will be thinking by the time she comes back…”
There wasn’t much that Grandma could do since Hao Ren was the only child. In her traditional view, the responsibility of carrying on the family and extending the bloodline was all on Hao Ren’s shoulders.
Uncle Wang went back home for some family issues, so there were only the three of them in the giant house. If Xie Yujia didn’t come, there would only be Hao Ren and Grandma which would feel even lonelier.
Since there were just the three of them, Xie Yujia didn’t cook a full table of dishes. She made three vegetable dishes, a meat dish, and a bowl of soup; very well matched and balanced.
They were quiet when Grandma didn’t say anything at the dining table. Xie Yujia took small bites as Hao Ren swallowed his rice without even looking at her.
Grandma watched the two of them as she ate. She noticed that something was wrong.
“Zi is not coming here this week?” Grandma thought of Zhao Yanzi and asked.
“Um… Her parents took her to Nanjing, and they won’t be back until Sunday,” Hao Ren said.
“Oh…” Grandma sounded a little disappointed.
After hesitating, she asked again, “Those two girls from last time, Lu Linlin and Lu Lili… Are they not coming here either?”
Grandma liked it when there were more people, but the house was as quiet as an ancient castle. She used to look forward to Hao Ren’s return every day. But now, she has started to look forward to the girls’ visits as well.
“Grandma…” Hao Ren shrugged, “They both have their own things going on and can’t come to spend time with you every week.”
“But they told me that they would come over every weekend…” She murmured. She adored the sweet and beautiful twins.
Hao Ren felt terrible seeing the disappointment in his grandma’s eyes. She only wanted to have people over for some company.
“Stay here for the night with Grandma, little Yujia,” Grandma suddenly looked at Xie Yujia and said.
Xie Yujia hesitated for a second as her pretty eyes blinked a few times. She picked up her cell phone and replied, “Let me phone my aunt.”
She stood up and walked to the French windows facing the ocean. After a little bit, she hung up the phone and came back.
“My aunt said that it’s ok if I’m staying at Hao Ren’s place,” she said.
Grandma smiled happily at her answer, and it boosted her appetite suddenly as well.
She asked a lot of questions, and the kids answered them one by one. They seemed like a real family at the table.
After dinner, Xie Yujia and Hao Ren cleaned up the dishes together.
Although Xie Yujia had confessed to Hao Ren in the library, there was still something weird going on between them. They cleaned everything up quietly and quickly moved away when they ran into each other from time to time.
Unlike those crazy and wild girls at school, she was candid and reserved at the same time.
Hao Ren also wasn’t one of those guys who would pursue girls casually and could pretend that nothing had happened after being rejected.
Grandma was watching TV in the living room while Xie Yujia and Hao Ren were doing the dishes in the kitchen without a word.
“Later, you can sleep in my parents’ room. It’s empty because they went to Beijing,” Hao Ren said in a dry voice after a long period of silence.
“Um, ok,” Xie Yujia wiped the dishes dry smoothly as she answered.
Then, nothing more was said.
