With a heart full of trepidation, I reached out my slightly trembling hand and slowly touched the drawer handle. My life or death depended on what was inside.
I grabbed the handle and pulled, but the drawer didn't come out; it was locked.
I found the key my grandfather left behind, unlocked the drawer, and slowly pulled it out, my eyes following the drawer as it was pulled out, peering inside.
When I was halfway through pulling it out, I was startled and my hands started to tremble. I saw a tattered leather book inside.
I've never seen my grandfather hold this book. Could it be some kind of ghost-catching manual? It has a cowhide cover and looks very precious.
Thinking of this, I excitedly pulled out the drawer and reached out with trembling hands to pick up the leather-bound book.
Immediately, the excited expression on my face froze, because the leather book clearly bore the four large characters: "Zuo Family Genealogy".
Reluctantly, I picked up the family tree and flipped through it quickly, hoping that what I wanted would fall into it.
In no time, I finished flipping through the family genealogy, and my last shred of hope was shattered as the genealogy was finished.
I slumped into a chair, silently took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a light drag, looking utterly dejected. Actually, I was overthinking things. I had already prepared myself to face death calmly, but Hu Ergou's provocation made me feel like I had grasped at the last straw. But now I can finally give up. If Grandpa left anything behind, he would have kept it in this room. I've searched everywhere, and there's nothing there.
"Is this my family's genealogy?" I opened the leather book in my hand and flipped directly to the last page, intending to start reading from there.
The last name is my own name, Zuo Changming. Then my father is called Zuo Yunhu, my mother is called Cheng Huihui, my grandfather is called Zuo Zongdao, and my great-grandfather is called Zuo Yuanshan. Seeing this, I suddenly noticed a line of small characters below my great-grandfather's name. I recognized it as my grandfather's handwriting. It roughly means that we moved from Kyoto to Dafeng Village and settled there.
The pages at the beginning of the genealogy only record names, not geographical names, and they are probably all people from more than a hundred years ago, so it is impossible to verify their identities.
It turns out my grandfather moved here from Kyoto. I don't know if he has any relatives there.
But none of that matters anymore. I am my grandfather's only bloodline. After tonight, our lineage will be completely severed.
"Alas, everything is predestined, and nothing is up to us." I sighed softly, closed the leather book, and put it back in the drawer.
I was already in despair, but then hope suddenly rekindled, and now it's all back to despair. It's all in vain. But somehow, ever since I saw that family tree, I've had a strong will to survive. But thinking about that horrible, filthy thing, even Hu Ergou is no match for it. No matter how unwilling I am, what can I do? It's just a meaningless resistance.
Well, let's take it one hour at a time. Fifth Grandpa is probably getting impatient. Let's go back and have a nice dinner with him, cherish this little bit of time we have left, and try not to have too many regrets.
I got up and left the room, glanced back at the place where my grandfather had once lived, then gently closed the door and headed towards the kitchen.
When I arrived at the kitchen door, I didn't go straight in. Instead, I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down, put on a natural-looking smile, and then stepped into the kitchen.
Just as I had guessed, my fifth grandfather didn't touch his chopsticks. I quickly went to my seat and said apologetically, "Fifth grandfather, you can eat first, you don't have to wait for me."
"It's alright, I have wine." Fifth Grandfather turned his head to look at me and asked, "Is everything settled?"
"Well, it was just some minor work-related stuff, I've taken care of it." I made up a random excuse to get by.
"Eat up, we've made such a big table of food, there's not enough for just the two of us," said Grandpa Wu as he picked up his chopsticks and ate.
"How about I have a drink with you?" I suddenly wanted to have a drink too, just to make it the last time I would drink in my life, the last time I would drink with my fifth grandfather.
"Okay, but are you still staying at the courier station? You can't ride your bike after drinking." Grandpa Wu tilted his head back and took a big gulp of wine, then turned to look at me and asked.
"It's okay, I'll call Tong Liu over. He can ride my bike and take me to the courier station." I only suddenly remembered to call Tong Liu over to eat together.
I took out my phone and called Tong Liu. Tong Liu said he had just returned to Dafeng Village and would be coming over soon.
I guess Tong Liu was too ashamed to stay in the neighborhood, and Hu Tudao should still be in the hospital, so Tong Liu didn't need to learn any skills and just ran home.
I poured myself a glass of wine, intending to drink just one glass so that even if I got drunk, I wouldn't black out.
Actually, I don't know if my sudden urge to drink was to keep my fifth grandfather company, or if I was just feeling timid inside.
Grandpa Wu and I ate and chatted about some interesting things. Soon, Tong Liu walked in.
I handed Tong Liu a set of chopsticks and a bowl and said, "This time it's your turn to watch me drink. Later, you can take me to the courier station on my electric scooter."
Looking at the table full of food and the bottles of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor), Tong Liu's Adam's apple bobbed, and he said, "Alright, I'll watch you drink this time. Before, when we went out together, it was always you watching me drink, which was quite embarrassing."
"Alright, you just need to eat three bowls of rice today." I patted Tong Liu on the shoulder and encouraged him.
Tong Liu was a little aggrieved, so he took a bowl and filled it with a large bowl of rice. The three of us ate and chatted.
Erguotou is still too strong for me, so I only take a small sip each time.
While I was still sober, I advised my fifth grandfather not to drink so much alcohol in the future and to take care of his health.
Fifth Grandfather readily agreed, but he never stopped drinking.
I sighed inwardly. It's a habit of decades, and I doubt he can change it. I hope that when he can no longer work, my 100,000 yuan or so will make his life more comfortable.
We ate until dark. I finished a glass of Erguotou, and Tong Liu ate three bowls of rice as promised. As for the rest of the Erguotou, Fifth Grandpa finished it all. Seeing that he was still like nothing had happened, I had to admire his drinking capacity.
Before leaving, I gave my fifth grandfather a hug, something I never did before. This grown man, who hadn't blushed after drinking so much, turned red when I hugged him. He pushed me away and yelled, "Get lost!"
I turned away with a smile, tears welling up in my eyes uncontrollably. I gently wiped away the tears and went to my electric scooter. Tong Liu was already sitting on it, and I sat on the back seat as well.
Half an hour later, Tong Liu took me back to the courier station, and then I took a motorcycle taxi back to my neighborhood.
I walked towards my small room and saw from afar that the door was half open. I was startled and hurried over. Had I been robbed?
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