Chapter Seventy Grandma wants to go back to Pingtouzi

  It's been several years since grandma has lived with us, from the initial discomfort to now basically adapting, but these seem to be what we see on the surface.

  After all, Pingtouzi was the place where Grandma had lived for most of her life. There were shadows of her hard work when she was young, and every detail of her household chores. Since coming to our home, Grandma was initially very uncomfortable. She no longer had a field to farm, no sisters to work and chat with, no familiar stove, no large water tank, only gas stoves, liquefied gas, TV, chatting with neighbors, occasionally playing mahjong with Li Nainai from next door when she felt like it. However, Grandma's interest was not in these things. She would rather spend her time listening to opera, tidying up the house, and planting seasonal vegetables in our backyard. Moreover, she was a devout Christian, and every weekend, regardless of the weather, she would go to church without fail.

  It was still dark outside when I got up to use the bathroom, and I noticed that my grandmother's room light was on. The door was also slightly ajar, leaving a small gap. I wondered why her light was on so early, even though I knew older people tend to be light sleepers, and my grandmother had always been an early riser, getting up at 6:00 AM sharp every day. But when I glanced at the clock, it was only 5:30. Had I disturbed her with my noise? I peeked through the gap in the door and saw that she hadn't gotten out of bed. She had simply put on a robe and sat up, wearing her reading glasses and holding a book - probably the Bible - slowly turning the pages and muttering to herself, but so quietly that even if I were standing right outside the room, I wouldn't have been able to hear her. I didn't go in, but instead quietly returned to my own room, feeling like my grandmother looked lonely and isolated, as if she still didn't quite fit in here after all these years. I never mentioned this incident to anyone, not even my mom.

  But soon, one evening after dinner, when everyone was taking a walk to digest, she slowly spoke up, "Jieqiong, I've been living with you for many years now, right?" My mother smiled and said, "Yes, mom, you're used to living here. I'm your daughter, where else would you live? Even if you stay for a few more years, it's fine. It's just that soon, Mao Di will take you to the house he bought to live in, but it's not far from us, so you can still come back and play with the neighbors often, and I'll also visit you frequently."

  Grandma didn't catch the implicit meaning of what grandma was saying, so grandma let out a sigh and said: "Jieqiong, actually I'm telling you this today not because I want to go live with your brother, but because I really miss Pingtouzi and want to go back for a visit. It's been three and a half years since I left Pingtouzi, and now that it's summer vacation the kids are all at home and don't need me to take care of them as much. I just want to go back and see our old home, see those sisters of mine, and see the fields we used to work on..." As she spoke, grandma started to choke up with emotion, missing her hometown so much.

  Her mother fell silent, she was usually too busy and hadn't noticed that her grandmother was so homesick. In fact, that home had special memories for her as well, after all, she had lived there for over 20 years. She had experienced childhood memories of flying kites, herding ducks, watching cattle, and fragments of going to school and playing with friends, but they were all buried deep in her memory.

  "Jieqiong, you don't have to worry, your Mao Di and Li Xiaoqin's matter has passed for so long, even if I go back, nothing will happen to me, who can do anything to me? Our home, our fields are all there, that is where we started."

  My mom looked at my grandma and thought of going back to visit, although she didn't say anything at the time. After returning home, she discussed it with my dad and uncle, and finally decided that my mom would accompany my grandma to Ping's house, tidy up the house, and take care of it. Although it had been three and a half years since they last went back, my uncle had always asked Liu Dabai next door to help take care of the house, so it shouldn't be too bad. My grandma still wanted to stay there for a while, although my mom and uncle didn't have time to accompany her. But I and my cousin had plenty of time. The task of accompanying my grandma naturally fell on me and my cousin, and we were willing to do it. Although I was always waiting for Xuan's phone call, but there was no news at all.

  On the tenth of July, the sun was shining brightly. My mother had also taken a day off in advance and arranged everything at the store, so she drove our family's Volkswagen with me, my cousin, and my grandmother to Pingcunzi. From home to my grandmother's house, it takes about 45 minutes by car. Along the way, my grandmother saw rows and rows of green rice paddies, pointed at them, smiled and said: "What a familiar feeling! You should know what those things are outside now, right? You won't be like when you were little anymore?"

  I smiled awkwardly and said: "Grandma, my good grandma, don't tease me, I know now that it's rice seedlings not leeks."

  Grandma stroked my head and said, "Hehehe, don't make fun of our family's little girl, Grandma is happy today..." Although the road to Grandma's house was a bit bumpy, Mom drove slowly and finally arrived at the entrance of Grandma's house after a while.

  When I was still a student, although there were many good cars in the city, they were absolutely not affordable for ordinary families. Although my parents had a lot of money by then, but because it was too showy, my mom only bought a Volkswagen last year, and it's shared between my dad and mom.

  As soon as Mom's car stopped, it attracted a lot of people to gather around and watch. After all, in Pingtou Village, few people drove cars, and those who did were mostly seen on TV.

  After grandma got out of the car, everyone knew that it was the Lu family who had returned. Liu's wife came forward first and said: "Big sister, you've finally come back, it's been almost four years. Wait a minute, I'll go get the key to your house."

  Old mother grabbed Liu's grandmother and said, "Liu's mother, we have brought the key. You come to our house for a visit later, but we need to clean up first."

  Grandma Liu smiled and said, "I'm so silly, this is your home, how can you not have the key? You're all too excited to see your mom come back. Come on, let's go to my place first and take a rest, then I'll help you guys clean up."

  My grandmother and this Liu Nainai had always gotten along well, so we naturally didn't get angry. My cousin and I very politely called out to Liu Nainai and then headed towards her house. The crowd of onlookers pointed and whispered among themselves, saying: "Look, the Lus are back again, and it seems like they've made some money too - they're even driving a car! You can't say that their family, despite being landlords who were ostracized, didn't have any smart or capable members. Now that they're driving a car when they come back, it's not surprising."

  There was also a woman who said with envy, "Who knows, even in the city, not everyone can afford to buy a car. Is this their own or borrowed from somewhere? It's unknown..."

  Yi Xing said with a sneer: "Gui Hua, you're just jealous. You used to be jealous of Jie Qiong being more likable than you, and now you want to be the daughter-in-law of the Huas. Now that you can't have what you want, you're saying the grapes are sour."

  That Guihua got upset and said, "Cut it out, what's wrong with me, Guihua? I'm a good hand in the village, I can farm, do household chores, Lu Jieqiong is okay, isn't she just married to a city man? What's so special about that. And no matter how you say it, I'm better than Li Xiaoxin anyway." With that, Guihua walked away. The others looked around for a while and chatted about nothing in particular before dispersing when it was almost lunchtime.

  Grandma Liu warmly entertained us, scooping out peanuts and a few candies for us to eat. She was also worried that my cousin and I wouldn't be used to eating them, what a simple and honest old lady! Later, she helped us clean up the house together. We found that except for the dust, everything else remained unchanged, and the dust wasn't as much as we had imagined. It turned out that Grandma Liu would sweep the floor every time there was a festival or holiday, thinking that our grandmother would come back during the holidays, but she never did, until this time.

  After finishing the cleaning, my mother went to the kitchen to prepare lunch, leaving only my grandmother and Liu's wife chatting. My cousin mysteriously told me: "Cousin, this afternoon, I'll take you to a secret base." I nodded in agreement, and my cousin seemed very excited, and I was also curious.

  Want to know where Big Brother's secret base is? Who will I meet again? Please stay tuned for the next chapter.

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