Chapter 49
The houses in small towns are closely packed together, and the streets are narrow, making it impossible for vehicles to pass through. The government often calls for urban renewal, requiring at least every road to be wide enough for rescue vehicles to pass through. However, after several years, nothing has changed except that the moss on the brick walls has grown over a larger area.
Yao Yingmo parked the rented car in a parking lot a few streets away, and then he and Zhou Yu dragged their suitcases and walked slowly in the familiar alleys at the pace of a small town.
The old apartment they lived in was at the end of the alley. When they were young, it was a playground for the children and a place for adults to gather and chat. But as time passed, people left one after another, moving outward, upward, towards big cities, and towards the sky.
The bustle of the past seemed like an afterimage, passing through time, reflected in the eyes, and ringing in the ears. Yao Yingmo and Zhou Yu stopped at the same time, tripped by memories that were more biting than the humidity of Qingming Festival.
The raindrops as fine as needles fell, and the tingling sensation gradually turned into a sharp sting. The two suddenly came to their senses and continued to walk deeper without saying a word.
The folding umbrella I carried with me was still safely in my bag, but it did not keep out the rain, nor could it block the raindrops falling on my soul.
The alley was not long enough to get wet, only the ends of the hair and shoulders were damp.
The exterior walls of the old apartment are darker than every other house along the road, and the traces of smoke have not been removed to this day, just like the burns branded on the souls of the people who lived here at the time, which have not healed to this day.
Yao Yingmo calmed herself down and took out a bunch of keys, on which was still hanging the magical girl pendant she loved as a child. However, the pink and white magic wand had turned yellow and faded, as if to imply that there was no magic in this world, that the magic wand could not be kept brand new forever, and that time could not be reversed.
The old iron door had long been rusted and deformed. Yao Yingmo took a step back and let Zhou Yu push the door hard until the dark stairwell was completely exposed before his eyes.
Zhou Yu consciously took Yao Yingmo's luggage and went upstairs.
His steps were steady, his back straight, a stark contrast to the sullen, thin, and perpetually bowed-headed teenager he once was. Yao Yingmo's persistent care, the warmth of his roommates, the appreciation of his professors, and the uplifting atmosphere of the big city had finally pulled him out of the mire, turning him into the small tree that Yao Yingmo could occasionally shelter from the elements.
Yao Yingmo picked up his mobile phone, turned off the shutter sound and flash, and carefully captured the scene.
Zhou Yu's footsteps paused on the second floor. Yao Yingmo thought he was waiting for her and hurried up the stairs.
The entrance door on the right side of the second floor is painted in a bright light green, which is out of tune with the age of the area. It is obvious that it is newly painted, and you can even smell the pungent odor of the wet paint.
"Someone has moved in." Yao Yingmo walked behind Zhou Yu and said softly.
This was the home where Zhou Yu and his grandmother lived together for nearly twenty years. After his grandmother passed away two years ago, Zhou Yu decided not to renew the lease. Now it seems that this room has started a new life.
Zhou Yu responded with a low "hmm", then turned around and walked up to continue.
The sound of a lock opening on the left interrupted him.
"That place was rented out a while ago to a newly assigned civil servant. The location is not good, and there was an accident there before, so the rent is cheap, which is perfect for young people just entering the workforce. He's quite easy to get along with, but he likes fancy things. He even changed the color of the door."
The person who was speaking was wearing a red short-sleeved shirt with large flowers and bright blue shorts. He had a hunched back and a head full of white hair, but he had a voluptuous figure and looked very strong.
"Grandma Yang."
Yao Yingmo greeted him with a smile, and Zhou Yu also met his gaze, which was rare, and nodded politely with a smile.
"Xiaoyu has grown up." Grandma Yang said hello kindly and then asked, "Why are you back?"
Yao Yingmo keenly noticed that there was something wrong with these words. It sounded like he didn't want them to come back.
Thoughts raced through her mind, but she kept the smile on her face and answered truthfully, "I came to visit the grave."
Granny Yang paused for a moment before saying, "Ah, yes, it's time to come back and visit your grandmother during the Qingming Festival."
"Yes." Yao Yingmo said, "Grandma Yang, Xiaoyu's luggage is quite heavy. I asked him to take it upstairs first."
"Okay." Grandma Yang said, "You are a good child."
Zhou Yu turned and left, and Yao Yingmo looked at Grandma Yang quietly.
There was worry and sadness in Grandma Yang's eyes. Yao Yingmo had only seen this look a few times, and each time it was for the same reason.
An ominous premonition loomed in his heart, and Yao Yingmo subconsciously bent his knuckles and pinched his fingertips into the flesh of his palm.
She didn't speak until she heard the sound of a door opening and closing upstairs. Her voice was dry and stagnant. "Xiao Yu has come in. Please go ahead."
Grandma Yang sighed and said solemnly, "I saw the child's father in the market a while ago."
Zhou Yu's father?
He was a very dangerous man. Yao Yingmo had finally pulled Zhou Yu out of his clutches, but he didn't expect him to appear again, even wandering around their hometown in a brazen manner.
"He was released from prison early." Yao Yingmo pinched his brows. "Do you know what he's doing here?"
"I didn't ask," Grandma Yang said. "How could I dare? After all that commotion back then, everyone was terrified. No one dared to talk to him."
Grandma Yang's voice trembled as she spoke. Thinking back to that time, Yao Yingmo still felt a lingering fear, which was why she had to get Zhou Yu out of the way.
"I understand." Safety is the most important thing.
Yao Yingmo asked again, "He only showed up once?"
If it only appears once, it might be a coincidence, but if it appears more than once, then it can be confirmed that he has ulterior motives and is probably coming back to find Zhou Yu.
If they had only looked for Zhou Yu, whether he wanted money or wanted to rely on him for support, it would have been relatively easy to resolve. Yao Yingmo and the legal team at the time were still in contact, and if they could send him to jail once, they could send him to jail a second time.
What Yao Yingmo was worried about was that when Zhou Yu couldn't be found, he would change his target and harass and attack the neighbors.
If someone was affected and hurt, she and Zhou Yu would feel guilty for the rest of their lives.
Granny Yang: "I've only seen it once, but Lao Wang and the others also said they've seen it."
The situation that Yao Yingmo feared most finally happened.
She took a deep breath and asked, "Did they tell you where they saw it?"
Granny Yang sighed, "People have seen it in the market, in the park, and at the alley entrance."
The situation seemed to be more serious than she had guessed.
Yao Yingmo quickly and sternly warned, "Grandma Yang, next time you see that man, please pretend you didn't see him and don't talk to him. Also, please tell the other neighbors to be careful about their own safety."
"Also, if you see him, please tell me and I'll take care of the rest."
"You don't have to worry about us." Granny Yang took Yao Yingmo's hand and patted the back of her hand soothingly. "You and Xiaoyu are still children. Don't carry everything on your shoulders."
The warm and rough touch had only appeared in distant memories. Yao Yingmo was stunned on the spot, and the forced calmness and sharpness in his eyes softened in an instant.
In a trance, she thought she was back to her childhood. Before going out to school, her mother would hold her hand like this and remind her to walk to the side of the road and be careful of people and cars on the road.
She thought back to when her grandmother was still alive, when she had learned all of her grandmother's skills and brought Zhou Yu away from here to live in the capital. Her grandmother had also held her hand like this, thanked her repeatedly, and told her not to work too hard.
There's no going back.
Yao Yingmo lowered her eyes and whispered, "Grandma Yang, I'm already 25 years old."
"At 25, you're still a child. I'm 75, and I have three of you," Grandma Yang said with a smile. "So, you really don't have to worry about us."
"……good."
Yao Yingmo agreed on the surface, but in his heart he was thinking about telling Grandma Yang's daughter that it would be better to be more vigilant.
Grandma Yang's loving eyes seemed to see through everything, but she didn't say anything more. Instead, she let go of Yao Yingmo's hand and turned back home, "Wait for me here."
Feeding each other's dogs is exactly what Yao Yingmo learned here about the human touch. Whenever someone in the neighborhood is in need, everyone here will offer help without hesitation.
The same thing happened to Yao Yingmo's parents, but the ending was not very good, which caused Yao Yingmo to be afraid to show kindness for a long time. It was not until she met Shi Xuze that she picked up this habit again.
Grandma Yang is particularly good at making glutinous rice sausages. When she was younger, she would take them to the market to sell. Now that she is old and her legs and feet are not so good, she makes less and no longer sells them at the market herself. Instead, the middle-aged owner of the pork stall next door comes to her regularly to pick up the goods and sell them.
Today happens to be the day when Grandma Yang makes glutinous rice sausage. The whole old apartment is filled with the aroma of rice, which makes people nostalgic and hungry.
There was a faint sound coming from upstairs. Yao Yingmo subconsciously frowned and looked up, and the noise disappeared again.
Maybe it was her illusion.
Yao Yingmo withdrew his gaze and happened to meet Grandma Yang's eyes as she came out carrying a bag of glutinous rice sausage.
"Here, take this bag of glutinous rice sausage back home. Xiaoyu and I will cook it for dinner tonight."
Yao Yingmo took the bag and thanked her sincerely, "Thank you, Grandma Yang. This is the dish I miss most in the capital."
Granny Yang smiled from ear to ear, "Then you're in for a treat today. Come find me when you want to go back to Shoucheng, and I'll bring you some."
"Yes, thank you."
After exchanging a few more words with Grandma Yang, Yao Yingmo walked upstairs with a large bag of glutinous rice sausages.
At the corner of the stairs, a piece of black clothing flashed by so fast that Yao Yingmo thought he was dazzled.
"Could it be a cockroach?"
Yao Yingmo didn't take the anomaly seriously. After all, it wasn't surprising to see any small animals or insects in an old apartment.
Zhou Yu breathed a sigh of relief and tiptoed back home before Yao Yingmo.
So when Yao Yingmo walked upstairs, what he saw was the open entrance door, two open suitcases lying on the floor in the living room, and Zhou Yu squatting between the two suitcases in deep thought.
"……What are you doing?"
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