On the flower slope, the sound of the wind still continues.
Ye Qingliu slowly turned around, his gray-blue eyes looking in the direction where Sun Guixiang and the others left.
The lenses reflected the flowing light and shadow, making it impossible to see the expression in his eyes.
But those tightly pursed thin lips seemed a little softer than before.
The return bus traveled smoothly through the twilight. The bus compartment was no longer as noisy and exciting as the trip, but rather filled with a sense of tiredness and tranquility after a period of satisfaction.
Most of the elderly people leaned back in their chairs with their eyes closed, or chatted in low voices about what they had seen and heard in the past few days.
Sun Guixiang was also tired, dozing off with her head nodding, her hand still subconsciously holding Ye Qingliu's slightly cold fingers.
The car stopped briefly at a highway service area to allow everyone to get off and move around and use the restroom.
The elderly people got off the bus one after another and stretched their muscles.
Sun Guixiang also woke up and pulled Ye Qingliu downstairs to get some fresh air. At the entrance of the supermarket in the service area, the fat aunt saw them with sharp eyes and immediately nudged Grandma Zhang and Grandpa Li next to them. The few of them exchanged glances.
When Sun Guixiang and Ye Qingliu came out of the bathroom and were about to return to the car, Aunt Fat, Grandma Zhang, Grandpa Li, and several other elderly people who were impressed by Ye Qingliu during the trip surrounded them with smiles and blocked their way.
"Auntie Sun! Little boy! Wait!" The fat aunt's voice was still loud, but her face showed a childlike mystery and excitement.
Sun Guixiang was stunned for a moment: "His aunt? What's going on?"
The fat aunt took out a steaming roasted sweet potato carefully wrapped in a transparent plastic bag from her bulging backpack like a magic trick.
"Here, little one! Freshly baked at the service area! So sweet and fragrant! Auntie Fatty bought it especially for you!"
Without saying anything, she enthusiastically stuffed the heavy, hot roasted sweet potato into Ye Qingliu's hand.
Ye Qingliu was caught off guard and subconsciously caught it. The scorching heat and heavy touch through the plastic bag made his fingertips tremble slightly.
He looked at the food in his hand, which gave off a strong smell of fireworks, in some surprise, and a rare look of confusion flashed in his gray-blue eyes.
Before he could react, Grandma Zhang smiled and handed him something - a small, lifelike green grasshopper made of straw.
"Little boy, take it and play with it! I'm an old woman and I don't know anything else, but this is the only skill I have! I weave it with the freshly picked young grass from the mountain!" Grandma Zhang had a kind yet a little embarrassed smile on her face.
Then, Grandpa Li came over carefully holding something.
It was a perfectly shaped pine cone packed in a transparent plastic box, with distinct scales and the unique fragrance of mountain pine trees.
"Here, young man! I picked it up under the largest ancient pine tree! The biggest and most complete one! Keep it as a souvenir!" Grandpa Li's eyes were full of sincere love and gratitude.
Several other elderly people also handed over their gifts: a bag of dried bamboo shoots, a local specialty, a few peace apples obtained from the temple, which were said to be blessed, and even a bunch of colorful wild flowers picked from the roadside...
The items are not expensive, and even a bit clumsy and rough.
But each one carries the most simple intentions and purest love of the elderly.
Ye Qingliu's arms were soon filled.
The heat from the roasted sweet potatoes pierced his palms through the plastic bag. The straw grasshoppers felt prickly. The pine cones exuded a crisp pine scent. The rich aroma of wildflowers mingled with the sweet fragrance of the roasted sweet potatoes.
All kinds of sensory information come flooding in, strong and chaotic, with irresistible warmth and weight.
Ye Qingliu stood there stiffly, holding a bunch of "gifts" in his arms that were incompatible with his cold temperament.
The gray-blue eyes behind the silver-rimmed glasses clearly reflected the faces in front of him, which were full of wrinkles but filled with sincere smiles.
There was astonishment and bewilderment in his eyes, and even a hint of helplessness as if he had nowhere to escape the surging warmth.
He subconsciously looked at Sun Guixiang beside him, as if seeking some guidance or shelter.
Sun Guixiang looked at her child's rare, somewhat embarrassed and bewildered look, and then at the undisguised love and joy on the faces of the older sisters, who treated them as if they were their own grandchildren, and her eyes suddenly became hot.
Tears instantly welled up in her cloudy eyes, but she smiled so happily that every wrinkle on her face relaxed.
"Take it! Little boy! Take it quickly!" Her voice was nasal but unusually loud. "This is because your aunt, grandma, and grandpa love you!"
She stretched out her hand and helped Ye Qingliu gather the various gifts in his arms, which were filled with the scent of the mountains and the warmth of the old man's body. Her skinny fingers were filled with unquestionable determination.
"Hurry up and thank everyone! Say 'thank you grandpa and grandma'!" Sun Guixiang gently touched Ye Qingliu's arm, her voice full of encouragement and expectation.
Ye Qingliu held a heavy heart of "love" and once again glanced at the expectant smiling faces in front of him.
His thin lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something.
Everyone in the car fell silent, their eyes focused on him.
Finally, the voice as clear as an icy spring rang out, still steady, but it seemed to lack some of its usual coldness and hardness, and to have a barely perceptible sluggishness:
"Thanks."
Just two simple words, no title.
However, this is enough.
"Hey! Good boy!"
"No thanks, no thanks! It's my duty!"
"Next time, come out and play with grandma, kid!"
"Take it, take it! They're all good stuff!"
The old people immediately burst into satisfied and relieved laughter and responses, as if they had received the most precious recognition.
The fat aunt clapped her hands with joy.
Sun Guixiang looked at her child, his arms full of gifts. Amidst the sincere laughter and joy, he remained standing straight, his expression cold.
But deep in those gray-blue eyes, the lake surface that had been frozen for thousands of years seemed to be quietly melted by the warmth in the twilight, forming a tiny but real ripple.
He lowered his head slightly, and the lenses of his silver-rimmed glasses reflected the bright lights of the service area, covering up the extremely unfamiliar softness that flashed across his eyes.
The roasted sweet potato in my arms exudes a continuous, warm and solid sweet fragrance.
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