With the arrival of winter, Old Mrs. Cheng has been feeling increasingly tired recently, and has even seen her adoptive father, mother, and elder sister Gu Mingzhu in her dreams several times after falling asleep.
She always had a feeling that her time was up.
When people get old, they always like to reminisce about the past.
Leaning on the rattan chair, the old lady somehow thought of the fortune teller who took Zhou Jiao to have her fortune told that year.
She opened her eyes, which were made sleepy by the sun, and looked at the sky. She really couldn't sit still, so she picked up the small quilt on her legs and stood up.
Hearing the noise, Mr. Cheng opened his eyes, looked, and then closed them again. "If you want to get something, just call Auntie."
"Forget it, walking around is good for your health."
When Mr. Cheng heard her say this, he knew that his wife wanted to go out, so he immediately sat up and said, "I'll accompany you."
"Did you forget that you have a date with your old friend? I'm going to go find Jiaojiao."
Old Cheng looked at her with amusement, "So you're going to look for Jiaojiao? Go ahead, let Xiao Zhu drive you there. It's just the right time to pick up the kids from get off work."
This Xiao Zhu is not the Xiao Zhu beside Zhang Guoqing. The guard Xiao Chen beside the old man has been replaced in the past 20 years, but the aunt is still the same aunt.
After the old lady got in the car, she gave an address. Xiao Zhu was startled for a moment, then recovered his composure and didn't ask why the location had changed. His job was to protect the leader's safety and obey his orders.
That area was full of alleys. After wandering around for a while, Xiao Zhu even went into the wrong alley. Finally, he found the place with the help of the old lady.
It's not Xiao Zhu's fault. When he came back here twenty years later, the name of the alley had been changed, and the stone lions in several courtyards in the alley had been destroyed.
The old lady found an elderly man passing by and learned that the owner of the yard was still there. After thanking him, she got into the car and remained silent for a moment before asking Xiao Zhu to take her to pick up Zhou Jiao first.
Although she had concealed the matter from her husband under the guise of Zhou Jiao, she suddenly remembered that it would be inappropriate for her to visit him with Xiao Zhu in a military uniform.
Zhou Jiao didn't pay much attention to the car she saw not far from the main gate when she left work. Zhang Guoqing wouldn't pick her up from work all day unless there were special circumstances, especially since he had meetings these days.
When she saw Xiao Zhu getting out of the car and walking towards her, she realized that it must be the old lady. She raised her hand to stop her and quickly walked towards the car.
She was indeed an old lady with a smiling face and a kind expression.
"Aunt, why are you here? Just give me a call and I'll come find you. Are you cold?"
The old lady waved to her, and when she got into the car, she held her hand tightly, and with a smile, she tucked the fine hair on her temples behind her ears, looking at her with eyes full of love.
"Haha... It's not cold, it's warm in the car. Are you tired from working all day?"
Zhou Jiao shook her head with a smile.
The elders in other people's families always tell them to work hard and achieve something, but in her family, not only the old lady, but even her father often tells them not to work if it's too tiring.
"Xiao Zhu, let's go back." The old lady blinked at her, "Aren't you curious?"
"You always say that we should go wherever we want."
The old lady smiled and clapped her hands without saying a word.
Seeing that she didn't speak, Zhou Jiao smiled and said, "The weather is getting cold, shouldn't you move back to the compound?"
"It's very troublesome."
Zhou Jiao didn't try to persuade him anymore after hearing that.
Although Cheng Sijin and his wife are not at the Cheng family's old house, Cheng Ruzhu lives nearby. The third generation who are in college often bring their children home to accompany the elderly except on weekends.
Perhaps if she asked repeatedly, the old lady would worry about her and her father moving back, but she didn't want to make things difficult for the elderly who deserved to enjoy family happiness, so it would be better for her to visit more often.
If you are willing, even the biggest city will become small.
"It's much more free living outside. Your uncle has some old friends coming over tonight, so it's going to be quite lively."
"Is it calligraphy or porcelain this time? I just found a nice piece of calligraphy on the street a few days ago, and I was thinking of showing it to my aunt one of these two days."
Zhou Jiao knew that despite his military background, Mr. Cheng was still a scholar at heart. He hadn't had the opportunity before, but now he went to the state-owned cultural relics store whenever he had the time.
When it comes to antique shops, Zhou Jiao is on par with him. The old lady heard from her husband that she had met this girl several times in the middle of the day. This girl has a sharp eye and always picks good things.
So at this moment, hearing her say this, the old lady laughed happily, "Your uncle and the other old men must be regretting not going out for the past two days."
Zhou Jiao laughed when she understood what he meant. She was just strolling around during her lunch break, and she had no idea that the city was so small that she'd run into familiar faces from time to time.
As soon as the car reached the entrance of an alley, Mrs. Cheng asked Xiao Zhu to stop the car and wait there.
Zhou Jiao still had a good impression of this area. She followed the old lady thoughtfully. As they got closer to the yard, she finally understood the purpose of the old lady bringing her here.
but……
It was still the same courtyard with blue brick and tile houses, and the mottled vermilion gate was still as old as it was twenty years ago. The only difference was that it was not half-open.
The old lady squinted her eyes, put her hands on the animal-head door knocker, and knocked, making a "dang dang dang" sound.
"Aunt, she probably hasn't gotten home from get off work yet."
The old lady shook her head, "Wait."
This wait lasted for five minutes.
A middle-aged man approached, carrying a heavy sack. "Who are you looking for?"
Hearing the suspicion in her tone and the way she looked at them nervously, the old lady knew they had misunderstood and said with a smile, "Is the Liu family's elder sister living here?"
After hearing this, the middle-aged man looked at her again, hesitated for a moment, and replied in a deep voice: "That's my aunt. Wait a moment, she will be back soon."
After saying this, the other party walked into the courtyard silently, threw down his things, and then said in the puzzled eyes of the old lady and Zhou Jiao: "My aunt doesn't like outsiders to come in."
Zhou Jiao averted her gaze with amusement. This expert really acted like an expert.
Helplessly, the old lady was standing there waiting with a cane, so Zhou Jiao could only move closer to the wind to at least shield the old lady from the cold wind.
After waiting for so long, an old lady with bound feet finally came back, staggering back with small steps. As she approached, she shook her head and said with a smile, "Here comes the debt collector."
"Aunt, do you know me?"
"Well, come in."
The old lady pulled Zhou Jiao and followed.
Zhou Jiao, filled with questions, entered the courtyard, unable to restrain her gaze from the corner of her eyes. Twenty years had passed, and she was finally able to enter.
"Big sister, you're wrong. You don't owe me anything. I haven't seen you for so many years, but you haven't aged at all."
In the main hall, Old Lady Liu waved her nephew away and shook her head. "Don't lie in front of a real person. I was able to escape this disaster because of your kindness."
Upon hearing this, Old Lady Cheng smiled and did not deny it anymore. Wasn't it because she trusted the other person's real ability that she came again?
"You know my rules. I told this girl my last fortune telling many years ago. This time, I'll tell her one fortune for each of us. Once the debt is paid, it's over."
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