"The old man starved to death during the famine years. You haven't been back since you came here, didn't you know?" Xing Zhaozhao asked in surprise.
Grandma Tan's face turned pale instantly. Although she had prepared herself for the worst, hearing the end of her father's life still caused her immense heartache and grief. She clutched her chest and sobbed softly, "I was delirious at the time, I don't even know how I got through it. Not long after, someone found me and took me abroad for treatment. I only recently returned. My hometown has changed so much, I couldn't find my way back. I only came here today and then I met you. I never expected..."
Xing Zhaozhao helped the old lady Tan up: "How about I take you back to see her now? Although you are no longer here, the village has already given you a proper burial."
Grandma Tan shuddered. What if she couldn't get back then? Wouldn't that expose her secret?
Grandma Tan shook her head, clutched her chest, and looked at Xing Zhaozhao: "I'm feeling unwell. I was in a rush to leave this morning and didn't bring my medicine. Could you take me home?"
Upon hearing this, Xing Zhaozhao didn't dare to delay. She picked up Grandma Tan and carried her down the mountain to the road. Just then, she saw a car passing by and flagged it down, asking the kind driver to give her a ride.
As Xing Zhaozhao helped Grandma Tan leave in the kind person's car, Tan Zhe happened to drive by, passing by without realizing that the person he was looking for was in the car that was passing by.
Tan Zhe parked his car at the foot of the mountain and rushed up. He searched the area around the abandoned cellar but couldn't find his mother, leaving him bewildered. Had he made a mistake? Had his mother not come here? But where else could she have gone?
Tan Zhe scratched his head in exasperation, then yelled into the mountains, "Mom..."
Of course, no one agreed to his request.
Tan Zhe couldn't find it outside, so he went to the abandoned cellar. He immediately saw a footprint on the large pool of dried blood his mother had left behind. It was a footprint that had come out of the cellar.
His heart skipped a beat with nervousness.
Someone came out of the door today.
Could she have run into his mother?
And then? Where did they go?
Tan Zhe paced anxiously in the abandoned cellar, clutching his head. Unable to think of anything, he punched his head repeatedly, yelling, "You idiot, think of something!"
His mother had only recently regained her senses and didn't know many places around here. Besides this place, the only place he could think of that she might go was home.
Tan Zhe quickly went down the mountain and drove home.
At this moment, Grandma Tan and Xing Zhaozhao had already arrived at her home.
After Mrs. Tan was hospitalized, Tan Zhe gave the caregiver a day off to rest at home, so there was no one at home right now.
Xing Zhaozhao helped Grandma Tan sit down on the sofa and asked anxiously, "Where is your medicine?"
Grandma Tan continued to feign clutching her chest, pointing to her room: "Over there, in my room, the medicine bottle on the bedside table is it."
Xing Zhaozhao went in and took out a large, bulging medicine bottle: "Is this it?" It was all in English, with the words "Vitamin C" written on it, but she couldn't understand it.
Grandma Tan nodded: "That's right."
"How many pills do you want to take?" Xing Zhaozhao asked as she opened the medicine bottle.
“One is enough,” said Grandma Tan.
Xing Zhaozhao fed Grandma Tan the food.
Grandma Tan slumped on the sofa for a while and eventually recovered.
She gratefully grasped Xing Zhaozhao's hand tightly: "Thank you, I'm so glad I met you, otherwise I'm afraid I would have lost my life."
Xing Zhaozhao smiled nonchalantly and said, "No need to be polite, it's good that you're alright."
Grandma Tan said with tears in her eyes, "Good child, I never thought that I would meet a fellow villager across the world and save my life. You mustn't leave today, let me treat you well."
Xing Zhaozhao shook her head with difficulty and said, "No need, I have something to do."
"Is it in a hurry?" Grandma Tan asked.
Xing Zhaozhao hesitated for a moment, then said, "...No, that's not it."
"Then stay and have a meal with me," said Grandma Tan.
Xing Zhaozhao looked apologetically at Grandma Tan and said, "But I promised my husband I would rush back before dinner."
Seeing that she wouldn't budge, Old Mrs. Tan sighed helplessly and had no choice but to compromise: "Then sit here with me for a while longer and tell me about the village. It's been decades, and I've been thinking about it a lot."
Without waiting for a reply, Grandma Tan began to ask Xing Zhaozhao in detail about some of the older people in the village, some of whom were still alive and others who had passed away.
Xing Zhaozhao told Grandma Tan everything she knew in detail, then looked at Grandma Tan and smiled in surprise, saying, "I didn't expect you to remember so much. You were not in your right mind at that time, I thought you had long forgotten."
Grandma Tan said with a sigh, "I wasn't always crazy. I was sometimes good and sometimes bad. Many elderly people in the village took good care of my father and me. I still remember them."
"Anyway, now that you're back, you can come back with me to visit," Xing Zhaozhao said with a matter-of-fact smile.
Grandma Tan's expression suddenly changed.
Xing Zhaozhao sensed something was wrong and asked, puzzled, "What's wrong?"
Grandma Tan gave a bitter smile: "I've been here too long, I'm afraid I can never go back."
Xing Zhaozhao assumed that when she said she couldn't go back, she meant that the living environments on both sides were different and she couldn't adapt. She even smiled and comforted her, "It's okay, you can just go back and visit occasionally, just like I only come here occasionally."
Grandma Tan looked at her intently: "Are you willing to help me?"
Xing Zhaozhao nodded with a smile: "Of course."
Grandma Tan suddenly stood up and turned to leave.
Xing Zhaozhao stood up curiously and asked, "Where...are you going?"
"There's fruit in the kitchen, I'll go cut some for you. Please sit here as you like." Grandma Tan walked away quickly without turning her head.
Xing Zhaozhao had no suspicions and casually wandered around the living room. She saw a photo of Old Mrs. Tan and a young man hanging on the wall. She recognized the man; he was Professor Tan, whom she had met at the company before.
Grandma Tan returned unnoticed and quietly stood behind her.
Xing Zhaozhao turned her head and suddenly saw him, startled: "You're back? Why didn't you say anything?"
Grandma Tan smiled faintly and asked, "What are you looking at?"
Xing Zhaozhao pointed at Tan Zhe in the photo, about to ask, "This..."
Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly felt a chill in her chest. Looking down, she saw that Old Mrs. Tan had somehow gotten a knife in her hand, its long blade plunged straight into her chest…
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