Chapter 33: Silence
The four of them played in the amusement park until night and only left after watching the park's fireworks show. Jiang Tangxia and Jiang Qian went straight back to the hotel, while Ms. Miao took Ren Fenghe home.
In the taxi, Ren Fenghe leaned tiredly against the door, his eyelids heavy. Children's physical strength is far less than that of adults. When watching the fireworks, she yawned frequently because of sleepiness, and at the same time tried hard to keep her eyes open so that the fireworks could be seen.
"You can sleep leaning on grandma. She will call you when we are almost home." Ms. Miao put her arm around Ren Fenghe's shoulders and leaned towards her to make it easier for her to lean on her.
Ren Fenghe rested his head in Ms. Miao's arms.
Ms. Miao is strong and a little fat. It is much more comfortable to lean my head on Ms. Miao's body than on the hard car door, as if it fell on a pillow. Soon, Ren Fenghe fell asleep, and the sound of slow and even breathing could be heard.
The driver looked at the two of them through the rearview mirror and asked curiously, "Aunt, are you taking your granddaughter out to play?"
Ms. Miao gently stroked the back of Ren Fenghe's head and replied with a smile: "How can I have a granddaughter? It would be great if she really was my granddaughter. She is smart, lively and perceptive. This is the child of my relative."
Ms. Miao was cautious and did not tell anyone that Ren Fenghe was the employer's child.
"Your children are about old enough to have children, right?" The driver is tired and sleepy after a day's driving, and he loves to chat with someone, which can also cheer himself up.
Ms. Miao kept an eye on Ren Fenghe, and made sure that he was sleeping soundly and would not be woken up before she took over the conversation with the driver.
"Hey, there's no such thing as not being old enough for this kind of thing. Besides, let alone getting married, my daughter has never been in a relationship before."
The driver said cheerfully, "They're urging me to get married. When I was 25 or 26, I wasn't in a relationship or married, but my family was urging me to get married."
Ms. Miao shook her head and said, "I don't like doing these things. Children have their own choices. Besides, they don't have to get married."
"Marriage is not necessarily good. My only hope is that my children can have more hobbies and interests, so that they won't be lonely when they get old."
"Your idea is quite trendy. The young passengers I carry often say during conversations that they don't plan to get married." The driver didn't expect to hear such words from the old man and glanced at the rearview mirror with admiration.
"I don't know whether it's new or not. This is my life experience. Marriage can lead to divorce at any time, but square dancing, as long as I can still move my hands and feet, I can dance for the rest of my life."
"Auntie, do you only do square dancing? You've worked hard for your children all your life. Now that you're old, you should enjoy your life. You should also go to other provinces, have more fun, and see more."
Ms. Miao was stunned, not knowing what to think. After a while, she said softly, "I'm always worried about my child being alone."
"You are so old, how can you still be a child?" said the driver with a smile.
Ms. Miao said earnestly and with emotion: "No matter how old your child is, he or she will always be a child."
The two chatted for a few more sentences, and the car gradually became quiet in the second half of the journey, and the driver stopped talking.
The lights outside the car are busy, but the inside of the car is quiet.
The phone in Ms. Miao's pocket made a message alert sound.
She opened WeChat, took out her reading glasses from her backpack and put them on.
Like other people of her age, she seemed a little clumsy when using these high-tech devices, but she knew all the functions they should have, and she learned very seriously when her daughter taught her.
Jiang Shen and her daughter both sent her messages.
Afraid that Jiang Shen might worry about Yuanyuan, she opened Jiang Shen’s chat box first, and Jiang Shen sent a voice message. She clicked it and put the phone to her ear. It was Jiang Shen asking them where they were.
Ms. Miao looked at the familiar street scene outside the window, made a judgment in her mind, and said to her phone, "It will take seven or eight minutes."
Jiang Shen replied almost instantly. Ms. Miao clicked on the voice call again and accidentally switched the playback from the receiver to the external speaker.
Ren Fenghe, who had slept for the entire car journey, also got up at this time. She felt so much pain in her bones from sleeping so much in the car. When she heard Jiang Shen's voice, she rubbed her eyes and stretched.
"I'll pick up Yuanyuan at the gate of the community, and then I'll ask the driver to drop Yuanyuan off at the gate. Auntie, you can just take this taxi home. You don't have to go back and forth. You've had a hard day today, so go home and rest early." Jiang Shen said.
"Are you awake?" Ms. Miao said.
Ren Fenghe nodded, still a little confused.
Seeing that she had woken up, Ms. Miao naturally raised her voice and replied, "Yuanyuan hasn't taken a shower yet."
It means she can't go back yet.
"Bathing" triggered Ren Fenghe's key words, and she subconsciously emphasized: "I can wash myself."
"I know. Grandma is worried," said Ms. Miao.
Well, Ren Fenghe calmed down. The caring words made her unable to help but nestle in Ms. Miao's arms like a kitten and rub against her coquettishly.
Jiang Shen replied in a second: "Thank you so much for troubling you."
"Do you want to talk to Xiao Shen?" Ms. Miao put the phone in front of Ren Fenghe.
Ren Fenghe thought for a moment, pressed the talk button, and asked, "Surprise inspection, have you finished eating the meat buns?"
A helpless voice came from the phone, and Jiang Shen said, "All three meals today were meat buns, so of course I ate them all."
Ren Fenghe immediately shouted: "Weight loss plan, failed!"
Ms. Miao couldn't help laughing, took the phone handed to her by Ren Fenghe, and listened to the voice message again.
"If you do this, he'll have to eat boiled chicken breast all day tomorrow."
Ren Fenghe laughed.
After confirming Jiang Shen’s message, Ms. Miao clicked on the message sent by her daughter.
"Mom, what time will you be back? Have you eaten yet?"
Ms. Miao, wearing reading glasses, carefully identified the words on the screen. She sent a voice message to reply, "In another hour, have you eaten? Have you eaten?"
"I've eaten. Do you want a midnight snack? I'll make some for you when you get back. We can have another meal."
, Ms. Miao smiled and said, "Okay, I'll wait for your good skills."
After reading the message, Ms. Miao put away her reading glasses and arrived at the community.
After paying the money, Ms. Miao put on her bag and got off the car with Ren Fenghe.
As soon as he got off the car, Ren Fenghe saw a tall figure not far away.
The figure was dressed in black, even the woolen hat he wore was black. If he hadn't been standing under the street light, he would almost blend into the night. Even though he was wearing a lot of clothes, his thin figure was still noticeable. The whistling wind blew the hem of his clothes to one side, and the fluttering hem made him look like he was trembling in the wind.
Hearing the noise, the man shifted his gaze from the phone and looked forward.
Seeing a man, one big and one small, coming out of the car, he walked over. Even though he was wearing a mask and his eyes were covered by his bangs pushed down by his woolen hat, Ren Fenghe seemed to still be able to see the curved curve that often appeared on his face through the mask and the hair.
"Are you back? Yuanyuan, was the amusement park fun?"
He walked over to them naturally, took the hand that was not holding the phone out of his coat pocket, bent down and held Ren Fenghe's hand.
His hands were kept in his coat pockets and were especially warm. Ren Fenghe's hands were also warm in the taxi with the heater on. When the two warm hands were clasped together, Ren Fenghe felt his palms were sweating.
But when she looked at Jiang Shen who was holding her left hand, and then turned to look at Ms. Miao who was holding her right hand, Ren Fenghe inexplicably didn't want to pull her hand away.
"It's fun!" Ren Fenghe answered loudly.
After sleeping for a while, she regained her energy.
Jiang Shen said enviously, "That's great. I can't even remember the last time I went to an amusement park."
They chatted casually and soon returned home.
Ms. Miao quickly took Ren Fenghe to the bathroom to wash up.
Jiang Shen packed up Ms. Miao's backpack which had become a mess after a day of work. He took out the garbage bag and threw it into the trash can. After taking out Ren Fenghe's things, he put the washed lunch box in.
Ren Fenghe's busy and enjoyable day soon came to an end. She stood at the door and said goodbye to Ms. Miao reluctantly.
"Okay, go back to sleep." Ms. Miao waved at Ren Fenghe and closed the door.
Her day wasn't over yet.
While waiting for the elevator to go downstairs, she accepted the expenses transferred by Jiang Shen, looked at the time, and decided to take the subway home.
Walking out of the subway station, Ms. Miao came to a world completely different from Jiangshen’s community.
There are chaotic and disorderly stalls all along this road, and the ground is always wet, I don’t know if it is oil or water. It was already night, but it was busier than day, with the smell of oil smoke mixed with tobacco and alcohol filling the air.
She walked on the street as usual, hearing the sound of beer bottles colliding and the drunkards shouting "Cheers" and "If you don't drink, you're not giving me face."
After walking along this road, she turned into a dim alley, walked a little further, and arrived at the foot of a residential building.
Ms. Miao took out her key chain and used the blue round sensor coin on the key chain to swipe open the door of the residential building.
There were only stairs here. After a day outside, Ms. Miao was almost exhausted. After climbing to the sixth floor, she was panting and took a long time to relax before she opened the door and went home.
When she got home, it took exactly one hour, just as she had calculated.
The lights were on in the house and there was no sound at all.
Finally home, Ms. Miao couldn't help but sigh and relax. She changed her shoes and put away her backpack.
The sound of packing up and the clacking of slippers filled the whole room.
When she finished all this, she walked into the kitchen and saw the midnight snack her daughter had warmed up for her.
She couldn't help but smile with relief, walked out of the kitchen and went to her daughter's room. Without knocking, she opened the door and went in.
The person in the room was sitting at a desk. Next to the desk was a trash can filled with crumpled up waste paper.
Ms. Miao patted her daughter's shoulder.
The daughter shuddered and turned her head to find that Ms. Miao was staring curiously at the things on her desk.
Only then did she realize that her mother had returned. She hurriedly put away the things on the table, not wanting Ms. Miao to see what she had drawn. Her ears and face turned red.
Ms. Miao nodded helplessly and gestured "ok", indicating that she didn't want to watch it anymore, then turned and walked out.
After packing up her things, the daughter hurried out with Ms. Miao and very proactively took out things from the kitchen. She pointed at the midnight snacks she had made and motioned for Ms. Miao to eat more.
Ms. Miao's day finally came to an end when she ate the hot meal made by her daughter.
"How was your day?"
"It's my first time going to an amusement park. I was so drunk. Next time, I'll take you there too."
"I won't go. It will be troublesome to go to these places."
"Please go and experience it too."
In the quiet house, not a sound was made, but the mother and daughter were able to communicate about what they had done today.
The window above the dining table reflected the figures of mother and son. Ms. Miao was chewing something while moving her hands, as if gesturing something.
"The New Year is coming soon. I'll go shopping for New Year's goods with my mom then."
Her daughter nodded and gestured as if to show her agreement.
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