The two of them went to the bathroom one after the other to take a shower and change into clean clothes.
"We haven't eaten yet, we've been running all this way," Li Yuzhu said. "Let's go out for a meal, then come back and rest."
Zhu Xiaofei nodded after hearing this, and walked out of the room with Li Yuzhu, locking the door behind them.
They took the elevator downstairs. Zhu Xiaofei wanted to go for a walk, so the two of them didn't eat at the hotel and went straight out onto the street.
There was a night market not far from the hotel, and Li Yuzhu asked, "Little sister, what would you like to eat?"
Zhu Xiaofei said, "Let's have lamb skewers."
Zhu Xiaofei has only ever eaten lamb skewers once in her life, and she will never forget that experience.
She had only recently lost her sight when her mother brought her to the provincial capital for eye treatment. That evening, her mother took her to the night market for barbecue, which was the first time she had ever eaten lamb skewers.
While eating lamb skewers, she said, "Mom, you should eat some too."
The mother said, "I'm eating, you eat."
Zhu Xiaofei could hear but not see. No matter how she listened, it didn't sound like her mother was eating lamb skewers. She put down the skewers, reached out and grabbed her mother's hands. Her mother was holding a steamed bun.
Zhu Xiaofei snatched the steamed bun from her mother's hand, took a few bites, and said with tears in her eyes, "Mom, you eat the meat skewers."
Her mother suddenly hugged her and cried.
To Zhu Xiaofei's surprise, her mother passed away not long after she returned home from the provincial capital, leaving her blind and struggling to survive in the world.
After her mother's death, it was as if the whole world had turned upside down on her, and fate ultimately turned her into a homeless beggar.
As Zhu Xiaofei thought of this, tears welled up in her eyes without her realizing it.
Li Yuzhu reached out and wiped away her tears, asking, "Why are you crying again?"
Zhu Xiaofei said, "It's nothing, I just suddenly thought of my deceased mother."
"The dead can't be brought back to life. What's past is past. Don't dwell on unpleasant things. Let's go eat."
After Li Yuzhu finished speaking, she took Zhu Xiaofei's hand and led her to a barbecue stall table, where they sat down and ordered forty skewers of lamb.
Lamb skewers in those days were very affordable, with large slices of lamb and long skewers. Unlike the fake lamb skewers of the 21st century, forty lamb skewers were enough to fill two people up.
Li Yuzhu ordered two bottles of chilled beer, opened one, and poured a glass for Zhu Xiaofei, saying, "Have some beer; lamb skewers taste even better with beer."
Zhu Xiaofei picked up her glass and took a few sips of beer. The cool beer was indeed very refreshing.
After finishing their meal, they returned to the hotel and went into their room.
The air conditioner had already cooled the room down, and stepping inside felt like entering two different seasons; the sweat on my body quickly dried.
There was only one large bed in the room. Li Yuzhu said, "Let's sleep here!"
Neither of them were particularly large. Li Yuzhu weighed at most 110 pounds, and Zhu Xiaofei weighed less than 100 pounds. A large bed was spacious enough for two women to sleep in.
The next morning, after the two of them went to the bathroom to wash up, Li Yuzhu asked when they returned to their room, "Little sister, where do you want to go? I'll take you around for a few days."
Zhu Xiaofei asked, "Sis, what's the date today?"
Li Yuzhu said, "Today is July 6th. I know you want to go back to visit your uncle's grave. It won't be a problem. We'll stay for a few days and then go back. Where would you like to go?"
"I really want to go home and visit my parents' graves."
Li Yuzhu nodded after hearing this. She could understand Zhu Xiaofei's feelings at this moment. She had been blind for so many years, and it was normal for her to want to go home and visit after regaining her sight.
Around 10 a.m., I drove back to Zhu Xiaofei's hometown. Last year when I came back, the taxi driver told me that the house had completely collapsed, but I didn't know what the collapse looked like.
Her home was no longer a home; her old house had mud-brick walls. After years of wind and rain, the walls had all collapsed, leaving only ruins, and the weeds in the yard were over a meter tall.
Zhu Xiaofei stood in front of the gate, looking at her home with tears in her eyes.
Li Yuzhu said, "Don't be too sad about what happened to your family. Let's go visit their graves and then go back."
Zhu Xiaofei nodded after hearing this, wiped away her tears, and turned to get into the car.
Guided by Zhu Xiaofei, Li Yuzhu drove to her family's ancestral graves, where, unsurprisingly, she knelt before her parents' graves and wept.
Li Yuzhu said, "Your eyes are still healing, so you shouldn't cry like this. It's enough that you came to see me; let's go back now."
After hearing this, Zhu Xiaofei nodded through her tears, stood up, and walked out of the cemetery with Li Yuzhu.
Back home, Li Yuzhu's mother was looking after the children in the living room. Dong Qing's son and daughter are both in school now, and he only takes care of Li Yuqiu's son at home.
Zhu Xiaofei walked into the living room and called out, "Mom?"
With tears in her eyes, the mother said, "My daughter, your eyes are really healed."
Zhu Xiaofei said, "Mom, my eyes are really healed."
My mother said, "You should move back from your eldest sister's place from now on."
Zhu Xiaofei said, "I'll listen to my mother and come back to live here from now on."
The mother said, "Eldest son, why don't you take your sister to her room to rest?"
Zhu Xiaofei had lived in the house for a few months. Li Yuzhu took her upstairs and into the room where she used to live.
She felt both familiar and unfamiliar with the room. She had lived there for more than three months before, and this was the first time she had seen what her bedroom looked like.
Li Yufei returned home after get off work at noon and went upstairs into Zhu Xiaofei's bedroom.
Zhu Xiaofei was cleaning the bedroom when she asked, "You are...?"
When Zhu Xiaofei first saw Li Yufei, he was very handsome, so it was normal for her to ask that question.
Li Yufei stepped forward and hugged Zhu Xiaofei tightly, tears welling in her eyes, saying, "It's me, Yufei! Your eyes are finally healed."
Zhu Xiaofei nestled in Li Yufei's arms, tears welling in her eyes, and said, "Thank you for taking care of me all this time."
Li Yufei said, "I said last year that I would take care of you for the rest of my life, no matter whether your eyes could be cured or not. But now that your eyes are cured, I won't force you. Will you marry me?"
With tears in her eyes, Zhu Xiaofei said, "I'm willing, but if you're marrying me to pay off debts, forget it. A marriage obtained in this way is not what I want, and I really can't afford such a marriage."
Although Zhu Xiaofei couldn't see before, she had long developed feelings for Li Yufei, even love for him.
With Li Yufei's qualifications, what college student couldn't he find? Yet he kept waiting for him.
But I didn't even finish the first year of junior high school, and I always felt that I wasn't good enough for him, which is why I said what I just said.
Li Yufei said, "At first, I did want to marry you to pay off my debts, but that's not the case anymore. I truly love you. You're a good girl. Promise me, will you marry me?"
Zhu Xiaofei said, "I promise you."
Li Yufei said, "I've invited my two older sisters and their husbands over this afternoon. Shall we get engaged tonight?"
Zhu Xiaofei nodded in agreement after hearing this.
In the afternoon, Li Yufei led Zhu Xiaofei into a gold jewelry store. The saleswoman asked, "Hello, sir and madam, what kind of jewelry are you looking for?"
Li Yufei said, "Beautiful lady, please help my girlfriend choose a gold necklace first!"
Zhu Xiaofei said, "Yufei, don't buy any more. My older sister bought me two gold necklaces, and they're just sitting at home!"
Zhu Xiaofei insisted on not buying a necklace and ultimately did not buy one, only two engagement rings.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
