Chapter 141: Only Five Years to Live

The word "pull" may not be accurate. To be more precise, she wanted to make friends with Wen Zhile in order to lay the foundation for future interactions.

Her father often asked her to pay attention to the good talents in the school, and classmate Wen was an excellent talent.

After the exam, Wen Zhile simply said hello to Fang Mi and left. Fang Mi was sorting out the test papers that had just been collected and was not in a hurry to "pull" her.

After class in the afternoon, Wen Zhile took a taxi to Mudan Hutong.

It was snowing and so cold that she had no patience to wait for the bus.

Qu Jinghong was busy preparing dinner in the kitchen. He heard a knock on the door and went out to open it. As soon as he opened the door, he saw his granddaughter's smiling face.

"Grandma, tomorrow is another day off. I'll come and accompany you."

Wen Zhile glanced at her grandmother's apron and picked up the bag in her hand: "I bought some fruit."

"Come in quickly, it's cold outside." Qu Jinghong smiled and pressed the girl's scarf. "It's minus three degrees Celsius today. Why are you bothering here? You might as well go home and warm up."

This winter, both the family housing and military housing in Beijing have installed central heating, which is warmer and less troublesome than burning coal in previous years.

The grandfather and grandson walked quickly into the kitchen. Wen Zhile put down the vegetables and ran to the stove with a few sweet potatoes: "I'm wearing a down jacket, so I'm not cold."

Qu Jinghong looked at the sweet potato in surprise: "Where did you buy it?"

Wen Zhile chuckled and said, "There was a vendor selling roasted sweet potatoes on the road, so I got off the car and bought some raw ones."

"Silly girl, other people buy cooked ones, why do you buy raw ones?" Qu Jinghong was amused by her words.

The little girl squatted down with a smile. The stove was burning brightly. She took two sweet potatoes and put them on the side of the stove to roast: "They taste better when you roast them yourself."

"The weather forecast said that the temperature will drop in the next few days, and it will be colder than the past two months. Grandma, please move to my house. I will have winter vacation soon, and I can play with you at home."

"Okay, then grandma will go to your house."

In previous winters, Qu Jinghong also took turns living at his children's homes, usually moving in in mid-December.

“Is the heating in your house warm?”

"It's warm. I can wear only a shirt at home and still feel comfortable."

Qu Jinghong smiled and said, "The heating in that family compound is better than that in the military compound. Your grandma Ye said she still wears sweaters at home."

Wen Zhile has curled lips, which may also be because Grandma Ye is not resistant to freezing so she wears more clothes.

"Grandma, what are you having for dinner? I want to...eat for free."

"Okay, it's time to take it out of the pot. I've put in some hand-rolled noodles." She was used to making extra food for the next meal, so she walked to the stove and took down the small pot that was on it.

Wen Zhile turned around to get the bowls and chopsticks: "Grandma's cooking is so delicious, I'll beat the noodles while you take a rest."

Qu Jinghong made way for her.

"Do you know what Xiao Qiao likes to eat? Is there anything she avoids? What dishes should we prepare for her when she comes to dinner tomorrow?"

On the night of the appointment with Xiao Qiao, Wen Zhile called her grandmother and told her about this, and Qu Jinghong readily agreed.

"I don't know, but Xiao Qiao usually strains her voice when reciting lines, so she probably can't eat spicy food."

She only knew that her cousin's wife couldn't eat spicy food, but as for what she liked to eat...she would have to ask her cousin in her previous life.

Anyway, when they usually have dinner together, my cousin's wife can eat a few bites of all the dishes, so she probably has no dietary restrictions.

"Xiao Qiao is from Jiangnan..." Qu Jinghong hesitated for a few seconds, "For the main course, we'll order drunken shrimp and Dongpo pork. For the other dishes, we'll go to the market tomorrow morning to see what fresh vegetables are available."

"Okay! We're going to have a feast tomorrow."

After dinner, the grandfather and grandson chatted for a while by the stove, and went to bed on the kang when it got dark.

The stove was connected to the kang, which was warm. Wen Zhile went to her room and found a short-sleeved shirt to change into. She started sweating soon after getting into bed. Qu Jinghong was lying beside her, and the little girl was lying on her side facing her.

"Grandma, you smell so good."

Qu Jinghong smiled and said, "How can you smell good when you are old?"

"Grandma is still young."

"Our Zhizhi is already in college, and grandma is 72 years old."

"Seventy-two is still young."

"Okay, okay, Zhizhi said grandma is young, so grandma is young."

Wen Zhile leaned against Qu Jinghong and felt a lump in her throat.

In my previous life, at the end of 1995, my grandmother collapsed at home. After going to the hospital, she was diagnosed with a serious illness. Although the operation was successful, the doctor said that in the best case scenario, she could only live for five years.

It’s better for her to die, because only by dying can I go back to 1989 and see my healthy grandma.

"Grandma, you smell so good, like soybean flour."

"It looks like glutinous bean flour cake. Grandma will make it for you tomorrow."

"Hahaha, ok."

It's snowing outside the window again, with the snow fluttering and rustling in the breeze.

Wen Zhile woke up and leaned against the window to look outside.

Grandma was still sleeping. She quietly dressed herself up, took a broom and swept a path in the middle of the yard. Her hands were red and numb from the cold. She quickly went to the entrance of the alley and bought two bowls of hot soy milk and brought them back.