Chapter 8 Chapter 8 When I woke up, the sky fell
*
"——hiss, it hurts! Grandpa, please be gentle."
The smell of safflower oil lingered in the bedroom for a long time. Gu Mengran leaned against the head of the bed, his pale face twisted into a ball, and the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.
His right foot was tightly held in Meng Gaoyang's hand. The old man's rough palm was covered with safflower oil, and he repeatedly rubbed Gu Mengran's slightly red and swollen toes.
The sour and sharp pain stimulated his brain, and Gu Mengran couldn't help but pull his feet back. Every time he pulled his calf back, he would be slapped. After four or five times, Gu Mengran bit the corner of the quilt and dared not move, complaining from time to time.
The old man sat at the end of the bed and rubbed Gu Mengran's feet. His face looked very ugly. He looked up at Gu Mengran from time to time, wanting to say something but stopping himself, and his eyes were particularly complicated.
Gu Mengran finally couldn't bear the torture of both body and mind. He smiled at his grandfather, pursed his lips, and asked tentatively: "Grandpa, I fainted at that time, right? How long were you unconscious?"
"Don't you know whether you are dizzy or not?" The old man glared at him fiercely.
Gu Mengran said confidently: "I am unconscious, how would I know?"
Meng Gaoyang stopped talking, and the bedroom fell into a strange silence again.
With his eyes closed, Gu Mengran fainted in the supermarket warehouse. His last memory was Liang Zhao finding him, and then nothing else. Rather than how long he was unconscious, he was actually more concerned about how he came back.
There was no need to hide anything from grandpa, so Gu Mengran just asked if he wanted to.
But upon hearing this, the old man's face became uglier, and he rubbed his feet harder and harder, "How did you get back? Liang carried it back for you! I really should have used my phone to record it for you at that time, look at you like that."
"What's wrong with me?" Gu Mengran smelled something bad and straightened his back.
Meng Gaoyang said sarcastically, imitating his tone at the time: "'Liang Zhao, Liang Zhao, my legs hurt so much, don't leave, Liang Zhao.' Xiao Liang was kind enough to bring you back home, but you hugged her tightly and refused to let go, even crying and repeating Xiao Liang's name."
Gu Mengran: …………
It’s over, the sky fell when I woke up!
Before Gu Mengran could digest it, the old man suddenly looked up at him, no longer teasing or scolding, and said solemnly: "Gu Mengran, tell me the truth, you and Liang Zhao... Forget it, are you sick?"
One sentence after another, without any buffer, Gu Mengran naturally connected the two sentences together.
His already pale face instantly turned as pale as paper. He hurriedly looked away and whispered back, "Grandpa, don't be so feudal. Experts say that liking the same sex is innate, not a disease."
"What?" Like a thunderclap, Meng Gaoyang stood up from the bed.
He stared at Gu Mengran without blinking, his brows furrowed, his eyes filled with confusion and shock.
Gu Mengran was stunned, his lips trembling slightly: "Didn't you ask me this?"
Meng Gaoyang: "A bag of rice fell on your toes and knocked you unconscious. I asked you if you have any disease. Gu Mengran, what are you talking about? Who do you like?"
It’s over, it’s over, it’s really over now!
He just... came out to Grandpa all of a sudden?
Gu Mengran was unwilling to face the reality. He closed his eyes and slapped his forehead heavily. "Wait a minute, wait a minute, Grandpa, I feel a little dizzy. I need to go to sleep first—"
"Get up and explain it to me clearly." Meng Gaoyang grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the quilt.
Can't escape! Gu Mengran opened his eyes in despair, ready to face the storm, but the next moment, his grandfather came into his sight and smiled, gossiping, "Who do you like? Liang Zhao?"
Gu Mengran was stunned, "Grandpa, you, you're not angry?"
"Why should I be angry? At your age, when you are just beginning to fall in love, isn't it normal to have someone you like?"
"But, but...Is it okay if I like boys?"
Meng Gaoyang frowned, "Why not? Men and women are not all human beings. Haven't you seen those weird foreigners marrying rice cookers and mobile phones? And some young people marrying old men, that's not okay."
Gu Mengran's pupils were shocked. He accepted it just like that?
It was like a dream. He never thought that his grandfather was such an open-minded parent.
Shocked and moved, he lowered his head and his eyes were slightly red.
The old man didn't give him a chance to shed tears, and gently pushed his shoulder, "I'm asking you a question, do you like Xiao Liang? Does Xiao Liang know? When will you be together?"
Gu Mengran shook his head and said nothing.
Meng Gaoyang was not discouraged. With a gossipy face, he analyzed to himself, "That's for sure. You did everything you could to trick him onto the ship. Besides wanting to save him, you also wanted to seduce him."
“Cough cough cough…”
Gu Mengran almost choked to death on his saliva and coughed for a long time before he recovered.
There was no trace of emotion left. Gu Mengran patted his chest and nudged the old man with his elbow. "That's not the case! That's enough. You're still so gossipy at your age."
"Forget it." The old man sighed with a hint of disappointment and sat back on the end of the bed. "Then tell me about you. What happened? You didn't have any injuries except your toes. How did you faint?"
This made it even more impossible to tell the truth. Gu Mengran slid into the bed calmly, pulled up the quilt to cover most of his face, and said in a muffled voice: "I was scared and had a little hypoglycemia. I fainted all of a sudden."
"Really?" The old man was skeptical.
"Of course, if I really was sick I couldn't hide it from you, Grandpa! Now I am the backbone of our family, and most of the supplies are with me, I can't let anything happen to me."
"Okay. As long as there's nothing serious, your foot will probably need to be healed for a few days. Just lie down and have a good rest." Meng Gaoyang patted his thigh, stood up, and walked towards the door slowly.
"Grandpa." Gu Mengran called him, "Where's Liang Zhao?"
Meng Gaoyang: "Help me steer the wheelhouse. Otherwise, how do you think I can get away?"
"What about those people who just got on board? Won't they help?"
"Captain, first mate, it's good to help as long as you don't cause any trouble."
Gu Mengran frowned in dissatisfaction, "When will they leave?"
"We'll get off the boat after we pass Shaozhou Lock in three days." The old man smacked his lips and turned back to instruct Gu Mengran, "Don't worry about it, take good care of it. Liang Zhao and I can handle it, and when the water level is deeper, we can start automatic navigation and it will be free."
Gu Mengran was always worried about outsiders staying on the boat.
When he heard that he would leave in three days, he closed his eyes and fell asleep peacefully.
*
Lying down all the time is not a big deal, it's just boring.
Grandpa and Liang Zhao took turns on duty and were very busy. Several retired crew members stayed in their rooms all day long playing cards and Landlord. It was rare to see them. Gu Mengran was bored to death.
He was free anyway, so he found something to do.
Take the initiative to serve as the head chef.
The injured toe made it difficult for him to walk, but fortunately Gu Mengran had foresight. He silently took out an electric wheelchair from the space and drove it into the kitchen every time it was time for dinner without anyone's help.
Porridge and steamed buns in the morning, stir-fried and stewed at noon, fried chicken and grilled skewers in the evening. Three meals a day are cooked in different ways, the crew members are happy to eat, and Gu Mengran is also happy in it. Not only does it kill time, but also his cooking skills are getting better and better.
Three days passed in a flash, and in the evening when the sun was setting, the Fengyi arrived smoothly at the Shaozhou Ship Lock and joined the long queue of ships waiting to pass through the lock.
It was Gu Mengran’s first time to experience passing through the lock by boat. He found it novel, and as soon as the Fengyi got in line, he drove his wheelchair to the cab and looked around cautiously.
The door of the cab was open, and yellow mist drifted into the room with the river breeze, and the entire cab was filled with the smell of sulfur.
The yellow fog became thicker and visibility plummeted. In just three days, we received no less than ten text messages with red fog warnings. Even when sitting in the cab with the widest view, the entire field of vision was covered in yellow fog, and the visual visibility was estimated to be less than 30 meters.
Gu Mengran leaned against the glass and couldn't see anything clearly. He sat back in his wheelchair in disappointment, a sigh escaped from his lips, "This fog is so thick that I can't see how many ships are ahead. Grandpa, when can we pass the lock?"
"It's still early!" The old man who was driving the boat casually turned on the electronic radar and took a closer look. "It will take four or five hours to queue up, and it will take more than three hours to officially pass through the lock. It will probably be late at night."
Meng Gaoyang waved his hand and said, "Go and have fun. I'll wake you up when we pass the gate at night."
“Slurp——”
The wheelchair turned around on the spot, and Gu Mengran drove away dejectedly.
The old man's loud voice chased after him: "Make some braised meat tonight!"
"Okay." Chef Gu responded.
After three days, Gu Mengran's toes were almost healed, and as long as he didn't exert too much force, he could walk without any problem. But Gu Mengran insisted on sitting in a wheelchair because -
It only takes five minutes to drive a wheelchair from the cab to the kitchen, which is much faster than walking.
However, it is not very convenient to go downstairs in a wheelchair. The old man wants to eat braised meat in the evening, so Gu Mengran can only limp downstairs with a basket and go to the supermarket on the first floor to get the meat.
After three days of consumption, there was not much fresh meat left in the supermarket.
Gu Mengran put two pieces of top-quality pork head and a piece of pig's trotter into the vegetable basket, and took advantage of the fact that no one was around to put the rest of the tenderloin and pork belly into the space.
Braising meat is troublesome, so just braise more at one time. Anyway, there is still space for storage if you can’t finish it.
Thinking of this, Gu Mengran simply carried his basket and walked around the supermarket. He ordered some eggs, chicken feet, and frozen chicken legs, some kelp and dried bean curd for vegetarian dishes, and then some marinade and dark soy sauce, filling the basket to the brim.
I have to say, after this tour, it really felt like I was shopping in a supermarket for free.
Half an hour later, Chef Gu returned to the kitchen and started working.
Washing vegetables and meat, boiling water for blanching, and preparing the brine, I wish I could split myself into two people.
The vegetables were not cooked, and the meat had to be braised for a while before it could be flavored. Gu Mengran first put the blanched pig head and pig trotters into the pot, but felt that the meat was a little too little, so he took out another ten kilograms of beef from the space.
Pork and beef in one pot; chicken legs, chicken feet, and eggs in another. The high-power induction cooker is turned to the maximum power. In just one hour, the lingering white mist brings out the rich aroma of meat, filling the house with fragrance.
The temperature started to rise, and even the air conditioner in the kitchen couldn't drive away the heat, it was steaming hot.
The kitchen was completely empty, as it would take some time for the meat to be marinated. Gu Mengran wiped the sweat off his forehead and came out of the kitchen. He was about to go to the living room to get some water to drink, but as soon as he reached the corridor, he ran into Liang Zhao coming towards him.
Ever since his grandfather recounted that socially devastating episode, Gu Mengran had been avoiding Liang Zhao, intentionally or unintentionally. In addition, Liang Zhao had been on night shift in the cab these days, so they had hardly been alone together.
At this moment, Liang Zhao, with sleepy eyes, walked towards him. Gu Mengran had no way to avoid him, so he hurriedly slid the kitchen sliding door and pretended that he was about to go in.
"Gu Mengran."
It was too late. The light above dimmed slightly, and the smooth floor was covered with a heavy shadow.
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