Chapter 56: A Grandmother |
"Wow, that big brother is so amazing…"
"Is the little sister's hair on fire? Will she be okay…"
"Is she Red Boy…"
"Oh, she's a girl. Red Boy is a boy, or was he a girl…"
"Blue fire, so that's Blue Boy, haha…"
…
Zhu Guangfa couldn't remember the last time his daughter had been as lively as she was today.
His daughter buzzed around her mom, chattering nonstop.
Du Xiuzhi had wanted to keep her in suspense and tease her a bit, but she couldn't resist her daughter's pestering.
Du Xiuzhi stood below, reaching out to help him with them.
Zhu Guangfa's eyes widened in surprise.
"Why can you hold things?"
"You're just noticing?" Du Xiuzhi shot him a look.
Then she said, "I'm not exactly sure myself. Mr.
Shen formed a hand seal, and I just felt a wave of faint blue light rush towards me. Then, I felt my body grow heavy, like I was standing on solid ground.
That constant feeling of weightlessness, of drifting with the wind, was gone…"
"Although people still can't see me, I feel like there's not much difference between me and a living person…"
This wasn't strange. After all, the Nine Nether Demon Lord could imprison tens of thousands of resentful souls in his banner.
He could not only start wars but also bewitch people's hearts and absorb their Vital Energy. Although he wasn't a ghost cultivator, with the blessing of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, he already possessed some abilities of one.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Guangfa's spirits lifted, and he said excitedly, "Then let's go ask Mr. Shen to let you stay by my side forever."
"You think those two wisps of energy I transferred to you are something good? Prolonged exposure will corrode your bodies and turn you into the living dead…"
"Is it that serious?"
"Then, Mom, how long can you stay with us?"
Zhu Tingting, who was standing nearby, quieted down, her little face filled with sadness.
Zhu Guangfa also wore a solemn expression.
"Alright, don't be like this.
To be able to reunite with you both is already the greatest fortune. Why must we ask for more?" Du Xiuzhi reached out and hugged them both.
Seeing his daughter's sadness, Zhu Guangfa quickly changed the subject.
"These two bottles of liquor… isn't that too small of a gift for Mr.
Shen?"
Du Xiuzhi smiled and said, "To Mr. Shen, anything you give is too small.
Since that's the case, just give him the best you have."
"Alright then. We'll go out later and buy some more things. Just giving two bottles of liquor doesn't seem right."
"But this Xifeng Liquor, you still haven't been willing to drink it?"
"Hehe~, I'm keeping it as a memento."
Zhu Guangfa scratched his head and smiled foolishly.
His words piqued the curiosity of Zhu Tingting beside him.
"What memento?"Du Xiuzhi smiled and explained, "This is the liquor your dad brought for your maternal grandfather the first time he visited my home. It was also bought with his very first salary."
"But why is it at our house now? Didn't Maternal Grandfather drink it?"
"No, because your maternal grandfather couldn't bear to drink it either, so I eventually brought it back with me."
Speaking of her father, Zhu Guangfa asked in a low voice, "Have you seen them?"
Du Xiuzhi shook her head and said with a smile, "It's probably because you took such good care of me.
They were very satisfied with you and had no lingering attachments, so they left."
Zhu Guangfa just gave her a deep look, pursed his lips, and said softly, "That's not it, really…"
He had always been unable to get over Du Xiuzhi's death from illness, feeling that he hadn't taken good care of her.
*
Yin Xingyue's hometown was a very small, very remote village.
The village was basically full of old people and children, and Yin Xingyue had once been one of them.
But she didn't admit to being one of the Left-behind Children, because her father was dead, not away working, leaving her in the village. Sometimes, she even felt a little happy about that.
Yin Xingyue's grandmother was called Granny Yin. Everyone called her that; not even Yin Xingyue knew her real name.
Even that surname wasn't her own; it was her grandfather's.
Granny Yin had lived a hard life.
She lost her husband in her youth, her son in her old age, and then her only granddaughter…
So Granny Yin completely fell apart. Her back wouldn't straighten anymore; she could only walk with a hunched back, her head bowed low.
She walked very slowly, but also very carefully. She didn't know why she was still alive, but for now, it seemed she wasn't dying anytime soon.
Sometimes, being alive was a form of suffering.
But for Granny Yin, it was just what it was.
She had suffered so much in her life that she had grown numb.
For her, there was no joy in living, and no sadness in dying.
Living was just living. It had no meaning.
However, the one thing that often made her sigh with regret was letting her granddaughter Xiaoyue go with her mother.
She couldn't understand why Xiaoyue would commit suicide.
Isn't it good to be alive?
She often asked herself this, but she had no answer.
But she wanted Xiaoyue to be alive.
She hoped to see her, to hear her call her Grandmother…
So she regretted it. Deeply, deeply regretted it…
And so her back became even more hunched…
"I didn't want this to happen…"
This was the phrase most often on Granny Yin's lips.
But—
Xiaoyue had raised a puppy. The puppy was very obedient.
Whenever Xiaoyue called, it would come running happily.
But one day, Granny Yin asked her, where was the puppy?
She had smiled and said it was divided.
Half was given to Fourth Uncle, and the other half to Wang Dana from the west of the village.
At that moment, she knew she couldn't keep Xiaoyue by her side anymore.
She had to be like her father, go to school, go to a better place to study.
But why did it turn out like this? I didn't want this to happen…
Granny Yin regretted it.
She struggled to pull the small pull cart behind her. The Village Entrance Shop Owner had given it to her.
He said it was a promotional gift from a detergent company; the elderly in the city liked to use them for grocery shopping, so he gave one to her to make it easier to collect scraps.
And right now, her small pull cart was piled high with scraps—cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, scrap iron wire, and so on, filled to the brim.
Granny Yin had to pull them to the town to sell. The town wasn't actually far, about ten li away.
On a bicycle, it would take half an hour.
But for the hunched-over Granny Yin, the town was more than far enough.
Each round trip took her half a day.
Granny Yin put her hands behind her back, pounded her waist, and stopped to rest again.
But she didn't rest for long before she continued pulling the small pull cart, back on the road.
This time, it felt much easier.
But she quickly realized that this effortless feeling meant someone was pushing from behind.
She turned around and saw a familiar figure standing behind her, looking at her with a bright smile.
"Grandmother~"
Under the afternoon sun, her smile grew even more radiant.
Granny Yin felt no fear, no surprise, only an indescribable sense of peace and joy.
She grinned, revealing a mouth full of remaining teeth. Even every wrinkle on her face seemed to overflow with a smile.
"It's Xiaoyue," she said.
"Grandmother~" Yin Xingyue called out again.
"Are you here to take Grandmother with you?"
Death is actually something to be happy about.