Chapter 155: Separated by Yin and Yang
While the residents in the building were complaining about their own affairs, Wen Zhile changed into a short down jacket and went out. After walking out of the unit door, she glanced at the window on the first floor. The window there was tightly closed and the curtains were drawn.
The old man was just covered with his mouth and dragged away by his family.
She retracted her gaze and got into the car: "Mom and Dad, don't be angry. He can say whatever he wants. Just fight back. Don't take it seriously. If you follow his words and logic and get angry, you will lose. We can't punish ourselves because of other people's logic. It's not worth it to get angry."
Shu Ying and Wen Shuren had never thought that their daughter's thoughts would be so clear. They were afraid that their daughter would feel uncomfortable if she heard it upstairs, but now they can rest assured.
"I'll listen to you, and Mom and Dad won't be angry."
"Okay, Dad, let's go, it's getting late."
Before the car drove away, Wen Zhile looked at the window again.
The old man on the first floor must have been a second-rate person when he was young, so he is still not quiet even now that he is old, and he takes advantage of his age to scam people everywhere.
In his previous life, he went to his parents' house and asked them to introduce his cousin to his granddaughter. His granddaughter was only eighteen years old and was studying in a university in another city. His parents declined several times, but he got annoyed and blocked his mother's door and cursed her when she was the only one at home.
Wen Zhile was at school at the time. Later, it was heard that her mother slammed the door and went home after hearing a few words, and called the police to arrest her.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the police arrived, the old man fell to the ground. A check-up in the hospital revealed that he had a stroke.
The old man's son originally wanted to accuse their family, but the neighbors and police officers testified that the mother never touched the old man and never spoke a word during the whole process. They were jealous of the Shu family's background and did not act more outrageously. The matter ended like that.
Thinking about the time, it seems to be the first few days of school after this winter vacation.
However, everything in this life is caused by oneself, so the time may change.
The car drove out of the community and merged into the bicycle traffic. Wen Zhile listened to his parents chatting about family matters in front and reminded them, "Mom and Dad, the old man on the first floor must feel upset for not talking back just now. He may find fault again recently. You should be careful."
"The old man is so old, but he can be very hardworking. He is not afraid of being hospitalized." Wen Shuren turned the steering wheel. "If he really comes to make trouble again, he will choose a time when his son is not around. When he is at home, he will listen to his son's advice."
"Xiao You is such a good person, how come she has to deal with such a father-in-law." Shu Ying took out two oranges from the drawer in front of the car and handed one to her daughter. "His daughter-in-law is Teacher You who teaches you professional courses."
Wen Zhile showed surprise at the right time, and Shu Ying turned around and continued chatting with Wen Shuren.
As they were talking, the car drove into Mudan Hutong, and a military vehicle was parked at the gate of the innermost courtyard.
Wen Shuren stopped the car and said with a smile, "Big brother and his family have arrived."
In the afternoon, Qu Jinghong returned home early, and soon Shu Ye and his family arrived. Shu Ying and his family were the last to arrive.
Wen Zhile ran to find her grandma as soon as she entered the house. Everyone in the family was in the main house. The little girl called everyone one by one and stopped beside her grandma to lean on her: "Grandma, I went to a classmate party this afternoon, and my parents had to wait for me to come back, so I came late."
Qu Jinghong touched her head and said, "It's not too late. Your uncle and his family just got here."
Wen Shuren put down the vegetables he had brought and said, "Mom, Xiaoying and I brought some fresh vegetables and a few pounds of prawns for us to eat tonight."
Shu Ying then asked, "What kind of dumplings do we want to eat tonight?"
Qu Jinghong thought for a moment and said, "I think it should be celery and meat. Your dad likes dumplings with this filling the most. I haven't made dumplings for him for half a year, so he must be tired of it."
Shu Ye, Shu Ying and others were silent for a moment, then smiled and helped the old man up and walked towards the kitchen.
Every year on New Year’s Eve, the whole family would make dumplings together. Qu Jinghong would also make some by hand and place them in front of the old man’s portrait in the main house.
Wen Zhile turned around to look at the handsome old man's remains, his eyelids drooping slightly.
Shu Chengan walked up to her and heard her say, "It would be nice if grandma was still here."
In the 1970s, the two of them were suddenly sent down to the countryside for reform. From then on, they had to do a lot of hard and dirty work every day, and were often dragged out for criticism. During this period, Shu Qingzhang was often beaten twice as much in order to protect his lover. The place where they were sent down was remote and backward, and there was no proper hospital, so he was left with hidden illnesses.
When he was rehabilitated, he was already in very weak health, and he passed away just two months after returning to Jingzhou.
Wen Zhile's memory of her grandmother only refers to the two months when her grandmother returned to Beijing when she was three years old in her previous life. It has been so long that she can no longer remember it clearly.
Shu Cheng'an pursed his lips, feeling uncomfortable. When he was a child, his parents were busy with work, so he spent half of the year with his grandparents.
The two of them walked into the kitchen a step slower, and the little girl immediately went over to help. Although she didn't know how to mix stuffing or knead the dough, she knew how to make dumplings.
Fill the dumpling skin with fillings, close it and pinch it hard, and a round dumpling in the shape of a gold ingot is ready.
Qu Jinghong sat next to his granddaughter and deliberately put the dumplings he made together with hers. He cooked them first, put them into a bowl and placed them on the altar. Then he went back to his room, adjusted his silver hair and hairpins in front of the mirror, stared at himself for a while, and then went out to light incense.
"Half of the dumplings in this bowl were made by our granddaughter. Eat slowly and don't burn them."
"I haven't made you celery dumplings for half a year. Are you angry? Why don't you come into my dreams?"
"You can't blame me for this." The old lady looked at the portrait on the wall, her hands on the edge of the table, and whispered, her eyes and eyebrows revealing the demeanor of a little girl, "It's all your fault. My granddaughter has been stranded in the countryside for so long, why didn't you show up and tell me?"
She smiled, but her eyes were filled with tears.
"People often say that when a person dies, they are gone. Souls and spirits are all nonsense. So even though something so serious happened at home, you didn't even come to my dream to make trouble, right?"
"Qing Zhang, after you finish eating this bowl of dumplings, come into my dream tonight and let me see you."
Wen Zhile couldn't bear to hear this anymore, so she tiptoed into the bathroom and washed her face.
In the middle of the night, she dreamed of her grandmother.
Although his memory was vague, his mother looked like his grandmother, gentle and beautiful, so Wen Zhile recognized him at first sight.
The slightly hunched figure in her impression became straight in her dream, tall and majestic, looking at her with a smile.
She was wearing the same clothes that grandma often took out to look at in the photo of them in school when they were young: a black student outfit from the Republic of China period. She told her to take good care of grandma, make her laugh more, and not let her cry.
After waking up, the pillowcase was wet. Wen Zhile sat up and was dazed for a while before going out to wash up, and washed the pillowcase by the way.
When drying clothes, there was another pillowcase hanging on the clothes drying rack. She was both happy and sad. She was happy that her grandma might have dreamed of her grandma last night as she wished, but she was sad that after death, there is no life. She was happy when she dreamed of her grandma, but she felt even more uncomfortable after waking up.
The sound of the family members chatting happily could be faintly heard in the main house. Wen Zhile glanced at her watch, cheered herself up and ran inside. After running two steps, she suddenly heard a knock on the door. She stopped and turned to open the door.
It’s only nine o’clock, who would come?