Chapter 37 Childhood Love Grandpa
It is the rainy season in Beijing in August. Before I knew it, it started raining outside the window.
It was unclear whether it was because she didn't want to answer or because he was afraid that her answer would go against what he expected, so Xu Zhijian quickly changed the subject and handed the USB drive to her.
At least now, I can be thankful for one thing. She firmly rejected me a while ago, but now she hesitates.
It seems that explaining things clearly is still useful. With this mentality, Xu Zhijian felt much better.
"It's raining. I'll take you home later. Stay and have dinner with me."
Knowing that his emotions always came and went suddenly, Wen Nian didn't plan to say much and looked out the window hesitantly.
The rain is quite heavy, and this place is quite far from home. Taxis can't enter the community, so it's better to wait until the rain stops before leaving.
She looked away: "Okay, thank you for your help."
The polite tone was something Xu Zhijian had never heard before.
He was stunned for a moment, his thin eyebrows slightly frowned, and he felt a strange feeling in his heart: "Why are you being so polite to me?"
"Go down and wait."
After saying that, he walked out of the bedroom first.
As soon as he walked out of the door, he ran into Xu Xiaoyu who was hiding behind the wall and eavesdropping.
“…”
Xu Xiaoyu was about to run away, but Xu Zhijian held her head down and asked, "What are you doing?"
She smiled dryly, winked and tried to change the subject: "Brother, I didn't expect you to be so humble."
Then, meeting Wen Nian's blank gaze, he immediately shut up and waved at her: "...Hello, sister."
Wen Nian narrowed her eyes: "Hello."
Xu Zhijian glanced at Xu Xiaoyu unhappily. "That's perfect. You play with your sister first. I'll go downstairs to see if there's anything to eat."
My aunt has been on leave these days, so I can only cook for myself except for ordering takeout.
"Okay!" Xu Xiaoyu saluted him, consciously squeezed Wen Nian's hand, and pulled her downstairs, "Let's go play games!"
"Okay." Wen Nian was dragged away and laughed: "You can play games at such a young age?"
"Of course, that's what our family does. You can play any game you want."
For the next few dozen minutes, Wen Nian and Xu Xiaoyu played games in the living room while Xu Zhijian was busy in the kitchen.
"Don't worry, sister. My brother is quite good at cooking." Xu Xiaoyu said as she manipulated the joystick, adding, "He's still very virtuous."
After all, he is her brother. Since he is sincere to her, she, as his sister, should not destroy the relationship between them.
We have to find a way to save his image.
"Really?" Wen Nian didn't expect that such a great word as cooking could be associated with Xu Zhijian.
"Yes, I heard that the cooking we used to do was terrible. My brother was alone at home and couldn't stand it, so he had to fend for himself." Xu Xiaoyu said with a smile, as if she was gloating.
Wen Nian glanced at the busy figures in the kitchen and smiled faintly: "Is that so."
He's pretty awesome then.
She is not very good at cooking.
Perhaps she had a rebellious mentality. When she was a child, her mother always said that women must be virtuous, and cooking was the most basic of the basics. The more she heard that, the less she wanted to do it well.
The food she cooked was always unpalatable, so after a while she stopped cooking.
"Clean up and it's time to eat." Xu Zhijian brought the last dish to the table, took off his apron, and went to the refrigerator to get a few bottles of drinks.
Xu Xiaoyu: "Let's finish this one!"
As he said this, Xu Zhijian was already walking towards them.
I squatted between the two of them, glanced at the screen, and couldn't help laughing.
Wen Nian, who was at 0-10, tightened his lips and wanted to say very much: Are you polite?
"Don't lead others astray." Xu Zhijian patted Xu Xiaoyu on the back of the head.
The latter protested, curling his lips and glaring at him: "If playing games is considered bad, then you are extremely bad."
"Well, that's true." He carefully moved closer to Wen Nian and instructed in her ear: "Go to the left."
"Shh, don't talk!"
Xu Zhijian said innocently: "I will. If I don't go left, I'm doomed."
Wen Nian was so busy that he couldn't listen to the man. However, the man kept chattering and in the chaos, he lost his grip and fell to the ground.
The sound of the game ending sounded.
She was rigid.
Xu Zhijian stood up silently and apologized for his mistake, "It's none of my fault. It's all Xu Xiaoyu's fault."
Xu Xiaoyu: "...I'm too lazy to spray."
Xu Zhijian: "Okay, let's eat."
"Let's go." Wen Nian exhaled, put down the joystick, and said to Xu Xiaoyu.
Xu Xiaoyu nodded obediently.
Xu Zhijian prepared five dishes and one soup, including both meat and vegetables, and they all looked excellent.
Smelling the food, Xu Xiaoyu's hatred immediately dropped completely. She quickly came to the table and said, "I want two big bowls of braised pork!"
"Two big bowls, you won't die if you don't eat them." Xu Zhijian accused.
In a blink of an eye, his tone changed, and he almost held his throat as he handed the soup to Wen Nian first, "Try this, it has your favorite shrimp paste added in."
Wen Nian: "Thank you."
Xu Xiaoyu looked around in amazement, suddenly feeling like a third wheel.
It took less than two minutes to understand the duties of a light bulb.
He took a bite of the meatball, made a particularly exaggerated expression, and exclaimed: "Wow! It's delicious!"
Then he picked one up for Wen Nian: "Sister, try it."
Wen Nian cooperated and took a bite. When Xu Xiaoyu asked anxiously about it, she nodded and said, "It's delicious."
Xu Xiaoyu chuckled twice. "I've always said that my brother cooks delicious food, but he doesn't cook often. But if I marry him, I'll definitely be able to eat it every day. I can't imagine how happy I'd be, don't you think?"
The topic changed so suddenly from cooking to getting married that Wen Nian almost didn't react.
He pursed his lips and uttered the word "yes" with great difficulty.
Xu Zhijian on the opposite side couldn't help laughing out loud, with the word "smug" written all over his face, but he quickly restrained himself.
Afraid that Wen Nian would feel uncomfortable, he picked up a piece of fish for Xu Xiaoyu and told her to shut up: "Children, don't talk about these topics. Eat yours."
Is this her reward?
Xu Xiaoyu immediately understood, shook her head and buried her food in her food, feeling contempt in her heart.
Tsk tsk, brother, you also installed it.
After a while, a bell rang.
Xu Zhijian glanced at the caller and clicked on speakerphone.
"Hello."
Soon, a hurried voice of a middle-aged woman was heard, with tears in her voice: "Hey... Zhijian... you guys should come back soon... Your grandfather suddenly had a myocardial infarction... He is gone..."
The hand holding the spoon paused, and the color on Xu Zhijian's face suddenly disappeared, and along with it, the air in the room fell silent.
He was silent for several seconds before he spoke: "When did it happen?"
"……last night."
Wen Nian suppressed grief in his eyes and turned to comfort Xu Xiaoyu, but found that she not only did not look sad at all, but she even ate faster, as if she was afraid that she would not be able to eat in the next second.
The chopsticks hit the porcelain bowl, making a quick, crisp sound.
Wen Nian blinked and said nothing.
Xu Zhijian talked to his aunt for a few words and explained that his parents were abroad and couldn't come back. "Okay, I'll take Xiaoyu back tomorrow."
Xu Xiaoyu suddenly looked up, and just as the phone was disconnected, she protested: "I'm not going! I don't want to go to that godforsaken place with a bunch of psychopaths!"
He was so angry that he stood up from the stool.
Xu Zhijian frowned: "You have to go even if you don't want to."
Then he said to Wen Nian, "You eat first. When you're done, ask me to take you home. I'll go upstairs and clean up."
She nodded: "Go ahead. I can take a taxi back by myself when the rain stops."
"No need, I'll take you there." After saying that, he went upstairs under Xu Xiaoyu's condemning gaze.
Wen Nian said nothing more and turned to meet Xu Xiaoyu's half-dead expression.
He paused for a moment, "What's wrong?"
Xu Xiaoyu lay on the chair, staring at the ceiling, feeling hopeless: "I don't want to go..."
Thinking of what she just said, Wen Nian guessed: "Do you have a bad relationship with your relatives?"
"It's not just bad, it's terrible. I go there once a year during the Chinese New Year and that's enough. What does the old man's death have to do with me? I didn't know him well."
Not knowing the full story, she refrained from comment and said gently, "This kind of thing should only last two or three days, just hang in there."
"I don't want to stay even for an hour." Xu Xiaoyu cried out to the sky, then hugged Wen Nian's arm and begged pitifully: "Sister, can you go with me?"
"ah?"
How could she accompany him on this matter?
"There's not even anyone there to keep me company. Even if my brother goes there, he definitely won't be able to take care of me. Plus, there will be so many psychopaths bullying me."
"Don't cry..." Wen Nian put his hand on her back helplessly, thought for a moment, and politely refused: "It's not that I don't want to, but I, an outsider, can't get involved in your family affairs."
Xu Xiaoyu's eyes lit up: "So, you are willing! Not an outsider, not an outsider, how can my sister be an outsider, aren't you my brother's girlfriend?"
"?" Wen Nian: "I don't--"
"An ex-girlfriend is still a girlfriend." Xu Xiaoyu took the initiative and softened after saying it, shaking her arm: "Please, sister."
Wen Nian: "..."
I feel like I've been tricked. I've dug a hole for myself.
Unable to resist the child's nagging, she finally agreed in a daze.
"Yeah! I'm going to tell my brother right now!"
—
"Will you go with me?" Xu Zhijian asked expectantly.
"No." Wen Nian touched Xu Xiaoyu's head, "I'll accompany Xiaoyu."
It's almost Saturday, so if I take a day or two off, I should still have time.
Xu Xiaoyu nodded vigorously: "Yes, yes, who will accompany you? You are being sentimental."
"..." Xu Zhijian folded his arms and choked, urging her, "Hurry up and pack your things. I've booked a flight for tomorrow morning."
As he spoke, he opened his phone and sent another photo to Wen Nian.
After Xu Xiaoyu reluctantly left, he asked Wen Nian, "Do you want to take anything with you?"
Wen Nian had already brought enough daily necessities with him when he went to Ningcheng this time, so he didn't lack anything. "No, I have to send the USB drive to the company first."
"Okay, I'll go see you off now. Why don't you stay and sleep here tonight?"
After saying that, seeing that she didn't respond, Xu Zhijian added: "...Xiaoyu's room has bunk beds, so it's just right for you to sleep with her."
Wen Nian looked at him for two seconds and agreed.
—
The next morning.
Before getting on the bus, Xu Xiaoyu came out carrying a full schoolbag and suitcase.
They took a taxi and had to carry the things all the way out of the community.
"Are you going on a trip? Bringing so many things with you." Xu Zhijian stood at the door and complained.
Xu Xiaoyu didn't care: "These are all my treasures, let's go."
Wen Nian was about to help her get some, but Xu Zhijian took it first, opened the bag and took a look. It was full of various snacks. He chuckled twice and said, "If you didn't know, you would think you were running away from the famine."
Xu Xiaoyu snorted.
Pulling the suitcase with one hand and holding Wen Nian with the other, she followed slowly behind him.
She whispered to Wen Nian, "Sister, you don't know how bad the food is there. There's not a single supermarket within a few miles. These are our lifelines."
It sounds like the countryside.
Wen Nian's home is located in a small city in the 18th tier, very close to the countryside, and he has been there before.
However, many places are now building new countryside, and the environment has been greatly improved. It is not so bad that there is no supermarket within a few miles and people think that it is an exaggeration of children.
She laughed: "Is it a remote place?"
Xu Xiaoyu hummed twice. "It's so far off the beaten path that I call it a deserted place. I don't know how my brother managed to survive there. He's obviously more picky than I am."
Wen Nian: "Has he ever lived there for a long time before?"
"Well, I heard that before I was born, my brother would live there every summer vacation. He ended up being corrupted and became more fluent in swearing than anyone else."
"But then I had a conflict with the people there, and I haven't been back for a few years."
"I didn't expect that when I went back, it was because of something like this." She sighed, "He used to have a good relationship with Grandpa, and he thinks about him every day. I guess he must be feeling very uncomfortable now. I decided not to criticize him for the next few days."
Wen Nian pursed her lips and didn't respond.
Suddenly I remembered that Xu Zhijian had said before that his parents were often not at home when he was a child. Perhaps it was this distant grandfather who gave him the love he longed for in his childhood.
Childhood love... She didn't seem to have it either.
But unlike him, she has both parents by her side, but all she gets is endless pressure.
She once thought that she and Xu Zhijian were the people who knew each other best in the world. At this moment, Wen Nian was shocked to realize that, in fact, they only knew each other well after they grew up.
They have never touched upon the unknown past.
Suddenly I feel some anticipation for his childhood.
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