Train delays are a characteristic of this era!
Bonnie and the others waited for more than an hour before the train finally pulled into the station with a clanging sound.
"Gu Ye, the car is here, the car is here..."
Bonnie patted Gu Ye's arm, very excited. She missed her parents, grandparents and great-grandparents.
Since being transferred away from the island with Gu Ye, they've seen each other very rarely. And each time they do meet, it's always a brief visit.
"Yes, they're here. I haven't seen my parents in so long."
Gu Ye understood Bao Ni; his father-in-law and his family truly doted on his wife.
Gu Ye found someone he knew and took Lin Tao into the station to pick him up on the train.
This was the final stop. After most of the passengers had disembarked, Gu Ye and his companion boarded the sleeper car with Bao Ni's parents. The four adults and one child were already carrying their belongings and heading out.
"Father, Mother, put it down quickly." Gu Ye ran a few steps and took the things from his father-in-law's hands. Lin Tao also came over and helped his grandmother.
The group didn't have time to talk; getting off the bus was the priority.
"Grandpa, Grandma, Father, Mother..." Bonnie waved excitedly and called out as she watched the group of people approaching from afar.
When Grandpa Bonnie saw his eldest granddaughter, he waved to her. At over eighty years old, his eyesight and hearing were still sharp, and he was in good health.
"Grandpa, Grandma, Father and Mother, thank you for your hard work."
Hao Mei, holding the child's hand, quickly greeted them as well.
"It wasn't hard at all. We had sleeper berths all the way, so it wasn't tiring at all."
Bao Ni's mother had come twice before, to help Lin Tao's wife during her postpartum period and to help take care of the baby until the baby was a few months old and ready to go to daycare.
"Get in the car first, we'll talk about it when we get home."
Seeing that Grandma looked a little tired, Bonnie quickly told everyone to get in the car.
A jeep couldn't fit so many people, so Bonnie told Lin Tao the address of her family's courtyard house. They took everyone back first to rest for a while before having dinner.
There was a little incident in the middle. Lin Tao's youngest son was a bit shy. He didn't recognize his grandparents, and he wasn't familiar with his aunt either. He absolutely refused to ride in the jeep and wanted to stay with his mother.
Hao Mei had no choice but to take the bus with her family of three.
Bonnie helped her grandmother into the car, her mother held Lin Bo's child, and Bonnie's father sat in the passenger seat. The group squeezed together and sat down.
There was no traffic congestion at this time, and the jeep arrived at the courtyard house smoothly and parked at the entrance.
"We're home, let's get out of the car."
"This house must be quite old."
Grandpa looked at the gate, a sense of the weight of time passing through him lingering.
"I don't know the exact time, but it should be around 180 years ago."
Bonnie opened the gate and led the way inside. After passing the screen wall, they entered what was called the first courtyard. Bonnie didn't really understand the layout of the courtyard house, so she just made things up.
The house has been cleaned up; Bonnie has tidied up all seven or eight main rooms in a row.
"Grandpa, Grandma, Father, Mother, come in and rest for a while. The rooms are all ready. Grandma, would you like to lie down for a bit?"
Bonnie led the guests into the main room, where the furniture was all original, including old-fashioned chairs, which were probably handcrafted during the Republic of China era, but Bonnie didn't know anything about them.
"No need yet. I've been lying down in the car, so I'm not that tired. I'll feel better after a while."
Grandma didn't want to lie down; she wanted to rest first.
Gu Ye had already gone to boil water, and Bao Ni washed some apples and pears; there wasn't much fruit available at this time.
Bonnie's dad wandered around, looking at the furnishings in the room; they really were different.
Lin Bo's son is quite well-behaved; he sits next to his grandmother and eats by himself.
Gu Ye boiled water, and Bao Ni took out tea leaves and brewed a pot of tea. She also made malted milk powder for Grandma and the children so they could drink something warm.
Lin Tao and his family of three got off the bus and followed the address to the address. When they saw the Jeep parked at the door, they knew they had come to the right place.
"This area is full of courtyard houses, all well-preserved. I never expected the Gu family to have such a wealth. My sister-in-law is really tight-lipped."
Hao Mei felt a pang of sadness; houses in Beijing were something they wouldn't even dare to dream of.
"Alright, what does this have to do with us? Your parents have come all this way, so watch your words," Lin Tao cautioned Hao Mei, telling her not to say anything irrelevant, as his mother was very strict.
The gate wasn't closed, and they went straight in.
"Grandma, where are my mother and the others?"
When Lin Tao and the others came in, they didn't see his parents, nor did Bao Ni and her husband.
"He went to check on the vegetable garden and will be back soon."
Grandma just drank a cup of malted milk powder and feels warm all over; she doesn't want to move.
"Bonnie's family also has a vegetable garden, where is it?"
Hao Mei was quite curious; there was more to this courtyard than met the eye.
Lin Tao was also curious, but he didn't wander around, as that would be impolite.
“Ni, your vegetable garden is great. Your dad will have something to do now. He was worried because he didn’t farm this year.”
Lin Tao heard his mother's voice and went out to greet her.
"You've arrived. Let's go see Bonnie's vegetable garden. It's really nice."
Bao Ni's mother was still holding some freshly picked vegetables in her hand, which she would eat for lunch.
"This vegetable looks great! Bonnie's amazing!"
Lin Tao hadn't farmed in ages; many things had become unfamiliar since he left the island.
"Bonnie, your yard is quite big! You can even grow a vegetable garden here!"
Hao Mei didn't look at their faces to see where they came from. The courtyard was paved with large stone slabs, so you couldn't grow vegetables there.
“It’s not small. That used to be a garden, but I turned it into a vegetable garden.”
Bonnie didn't go into details. She told her parents to wander around on their own while she and Gu Ye went to cook.
She had dumplings on the train and noodles off the train. She planned to make hand-pulled noodles and buy some other dishes from a nearby restaurant, since there wasn't enough time to cook them fresh.
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