Chapter 73

"No, no, how can this be done?" Grandma Chen hurriedly hid behind, and even her voice trembled a little.

Resistance was written all over her body. She even bumped her arm against the back of the chair without paying attention. However, she didn't feel any pain. She just kept waving her hands at Yang Ye, "How can you give me such a valuable thing? No, no, I can't accept it."

"Please accept it," Yang Ye pushed the porcelain bowl in front of her, his tone sincere, "This bowl is just an ordinary item to me, not very important, but for you, it can at least make your future life more stable."

"But..." Grandma Chen looked up and saw her, her cloudy eyes revealing a bit of panic. Her hand froze in mid-air, she wanted to move forward to touch but didn't dare. Her eyes were full of hesitation and nervousness when she couldn't make up her mind.

Yang Ye saw her concerns and gently patted the rough back of Grandma Chen's hand. "Please listen to my story."

She lowered her eyes, hiding her emotions in the shadows beneath her eyes, and even her voice became softer. "I am the third child in the family, with two older brothers. My father was very harsh on my brothers, but very tolerant of me. He only asked two things of me: to live a good life, and to marry into a good family. My father once told me that as long as I was safe, he and my brothers would take care of everything else for me."

"But at that time, something happened at home. My father lost his position and my brothers were also implicated. So he hoped that I could find a good family. He really hoped for many years."

Zhou Yiheng stood by and listened quietly to Yang Ye's story, his eyes occasionally falling on Grandma Chen's slightly trembling hands.

"Later, I got married with great difficulty, but my father passed away in the second year after my marriage." Yang Ye pulled the corner of his mouth, with a helpless smile. "In fact, my father's condition was not good before I got married. My father had done many great things when he was young. He was very proud and could not bear to hear any rebuttal. In other words, my father held not only power, but also the means of livelihood for many people. So when faced with some necessary bowing and changes, he was unwilling to do it. Later, when it came to things at home, my father changed completely. He locked himself up at home. Even if he was coaxed to go outside, he had to dress up at home first. He didn't want others to think that he was bad in the past. He also mentioned to my mother more than once that he didn't want to live in the present day. If possible, he would rather go back to his old age."

"Before marrying my husband, my father used his old ways to say a lot of unpleasant things to him. He's a powerful man, and I thought he'd be annoyed by his behavior. But he said he cared about me, and that he did that just to let him know I had a family behind me. Even though they weren't very good back then, at least I had my father's backing."

She paused for a moment, and her voice became much softer. Suddenly, her throat felt sore and dry, mixed with an indescribable sob, which made her heart feel stuffy and unable to breathe. Yang Ye swallowed her saliva, "Maybe he saw how good my husband was to me and felt that he was the one who could take care of me for the rest of my life, so my father left without any worries."

"I knew my father was going to die, so I was just sad for a while. But not long after my father passed away, I went out to buy something one day, and the police station suddenly called me. They said something had happened to my mother too." A faint curve appeared at the corner of Yang Ye's mouth. In her seemingly calm eyes, there was something suppressed, as if the tide was rising, and the sea that was about to hit the shore was surging closer.

"When I rushed home, I was completely stunned. I couldn't believe it at all, but the person who took care of my mother said that my mother had severe depression, but she just didn't tell me. My brother found the doctor who treated my mother and he also said that when my father was alive, my mother still had someone to worry about and had hope for the future, but as soon as my father left, the string in her heart broke. Maybe when she saw us, she could still think of something to say, but at night, she couldn't sleep all night. I was only thinking about myself at the time and didn't notice it much, but I didn't expect that because of my negligence, it became the biggest regret in my heart."

"Grandma Chen, I'm not giving you this bowl out of pity." Yang Ye looked at Grandma Chen with a serious look in his eyes. "You are like my mother. You have lived to this age, not for anything else but for someone to come and talk to you, to come back and visit you. The visits and care left by fake things are ultimately fake. With this bowl, you don't have to pretend to be Yang Ye anymore, and you don't have to feel guilty towards them all the time. You will have confidence in your heart, and when they come to see you, you can also feel real peace of mind."

Xiao Xiao put Yang Ye's thing into the wooden box that Grandma Chen had brought earlier. She put the thing in Grandma Chen's hand and said, "The boss said so, Grandma Chen, just take it."

The wooden box was still a little cold. Granny Chen sat there, hesitating for a long time. She looked at Xiao Xiao, then turned her head and looked at Yang Ye carefully. After a long silence, her skinny fingers clenched tightly. Her eyes were red and her voice was a little hoarse. "Thank you, thank you, Boss Yang, you are a good person."

"You too," Yang Ye said.

The wind blowing through the grocery store door brought a chill. Zhou Yiheng looked away as he saw Grandma Chen walking away. The moment he turned around, he saw Yang Ye still standing beside him. The words she had just said flashed through his mind. He was a little confused, "Boss, why did you give her the things?"

Seeing the shadow getting smaller and smaller at the entrance of the alley, Yang Ye raised his eyes to look at him and lowered his voice, "I want to make amends."

"Make up for it?" Zhou Yiheng's eyes were filled with confusion, and he obviously didn't understand the meaning of these two words.

Yang Ye didn't say anything, but just looked at the empty alley again.

The spring breeze blew over her, sweeping through her hair and lifting the hem of her long skirt. Yang Ye stood in the wind until it died down. Only then did she sigh softly, a look of melancholy in her eyes that she couldn't erase.

That emotion was hidden in her eyes, as if she herself didn't even notice it.

"I once had a regret," Yang Ye said. But after saying it, she realized it might not be right, so she added, "I should say that over the past few decades, I've left behind too many regrets, but I probably won't be able to let go of that until I die."

The wind lifted the strands of hair from her forehead and gently brushed her cheek. Yang Ye's gaze drifted towards the distant buildings, and it seemed to pass through the steel and concrete, landing on a vast emptiness that even she couldn't describe.

She stood there quietly. Silence wasn't simply a state of emptiness, but rather a deeper withdrawal. Zhou Yiheng stared at her thin back. That was the first time he clearly felt the deep loneliness that enveloped Yang Ye. In that moment, he suddenly understood what Li Cheng had said before: "We don't know how she has lived alone in the same place for decades."

"In the 1920s, she and I were targeted by the Rangers hiding in Beiping," Yang Ye said, her voice trembling. "We desperately ran to a small alley. She told me to crawl over first, but when I jumped from the eaves of the wall, I tripped over a stone on the ground and was a little slow. But when I was about to pull her over from the other side of the wall, the Rangers had already arrived. I just shook her hand, but before I could hold it tightly, the Rangers opened fire, and she died in front of me."

The girl who was once so bright and lively, as bright as the midday sun, what Yang Ye finally caught was just a body that could no longer make any sound, had no breath, and only had a little residual warmth left.

"There are some regrets that cannot be compensated by money or any good things." Yang Ye looked at Zhou Yiheng calmly and sighed.

*

Chen Cheng and Chen Ming haven't come for a month, and there hasn't even been a phone call.

The old house, previously bustling with activity, suddenly became deserted. Grandma Chen, as always, rose early to pick the freshest vegetables from the market. Upon returning, she would soak cold rice with hot water and sugar for breakfast. Then, she would pull up a chair and sit at the doorway, picking vegetables. She would see children passing by, and if she found one familiar, or heard them calling out for her, she would answer them and share the candy she had bought long ago.

After lunch, she would retreat to her room and lie down for two hours, sometimes dozing off, sometimes just lying there. She would get up to either fold yellow paper silver ingots or sew winter clothing. She'd finish dinner before six, then sit in bed and wait for the seven o'clock news broadcast, watching for a while and listening to the national events that seemed so far away to her. She had no idea when she would fall asleep, or when she would wake up—maybe two, maybe three, and then she'd just repeat the day's events.

The lives of the elderly are probably not much different. Although they are quiet, they are still tormenting.

It was just after four that day, not even five. The sky outside was barely light, and the streetlights at the entrance of the alley were still on. Granny Chen, carrying a basket, walked down the quiet alley. There wasn't much rice or flour at home, and if she'd eaten it for breakfast, there wouldn't be much for lunch, so she planned to grab a breakfast at a restaurant.

The owner of the breakfast shop just opened the shutter door and put a few trays of meat buns on the stove.

"The buns have just been steamed." Grandma Chen came to the steamer and took a few looks.

The boss stood up and wiped his hands. Seeing that it was a regular customer, he smiled and said, "It's just been steamed. You have to wait another five or six minutes."

"Then give me a bowl of white porridge first, and then give me a meat bun when the dumplings are ready. I'll sit and wait," said Grandma Chen.

She chose a small table near the door and placed the vegetable basket at her feet.

"Okay," the boss turned around and scooped a full bowl of porridge from the thermos in the corner, then took an iron spoon from the table and handed it over. "The porridge is just cooked, you can drink some first to fill your stomach. I'll bring you the buns when they're ready."

"Thank you," said Grandma Chen.

Outside, the sky gradually brightened, and the breakfast shop began to bustle. The owner was busy at several tables, his feet constantly on the floor. After the machines beeped several times, he finally came over from the counter. With flour-stained hands, he closed the valve of the steamer and moved several trays of freshly steamed buns and steamed buns to the table at the entrance of the shop and arranged them there.

The lady boss came back with the dishes and saw Granny Chen sitting at the door. She greeted her familiarly, "Grandma, why are you here so early today?"

"Hmm," Granny Chen responded, and she picked up some pickled mustard greens from the small bowl in front of her to eat with the porridge.

The proprietress brought the meat buns that Granny Chen had ordered to her table. Since the shop was still empty, she had time to chat with Granny Chen. "Did my mom say a while ago that you were moving to the city to live with your son?"

"Yes," Grandma Chen nodded, with a little embarrassment on her face.

"Be careful when you go there. There are a lot of cars in the city. Last time I took my dad to the city for medical treatment, the cars were driving around recklessly and the things were expensive. For example, these buns, which we sell for 50 cents or 1 yuan here, would cost you at least 2.5 yuan in the city," the proprietress said with a smile. She then asked, "When are you leaving? Do you want us to help you move your things?"

"No, no," Grandma Chen waved her hand and said vaguely, "They are busy recently, and I don't know when they will go over."

The boss lady said "oh" and didn't ask any more questions. When she heard the boss calling her, she hurried to the counter to help.

Grandma Chen ate quietly for a while. When she finished everything in the bowl, she picked up the basket, put the money on the table, said something to the boss, and left.