Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, falling upon Grandma and Song Tingyou.
The long shadow belonged to Song Tingyou; the short shadow was the span of Grandma’s remaining years.
For an eighty-year-old elder, every bowl of rice in this mortal world counted—one bowl less with each meal.
Parting was near. Grandma held the porcelain bowl in her hands, gazing at Song Tingyou with reluctant yet loving eyes. Her tone was calm and kind as she exhorted the little girl she had raised from childhood.
“Yiyi, promise Grandma that from now on you’ll take good care of yourself. Remember to eat your meals on time every day. Grandma knows you have a strong will—when you can’t solve a problem, you get so anxious you can’t eat. Life is long. If you come across a problem you can’t solve, just set it aside for a while. Slow down, take a rest. None of that matters. Compared to scoring first place, Grandma cares more about your health. Eating every meal well is more important than surpassing everyone else.”
“Grandma never went to school and doesn’t understand profound principles, but Grandma knows this: the wind is strong on the mountain, and climbing high is not easy. Whether or not you reach the very top, as long as you’ve tried your best and given it all you’ve got, you’ll never have regrets in this life.”
“If you have the ability, go see the summit. If you can’t make it to the top, then stroll around at the foot of the mountain. Walk steadily, live solidly, and live in peace—that is the best kind of life.”
“Yiyi, no matter the time, no matter the place, Grandma’s heart will always be with you.”
Tears fell from Song Tingyou’s eyes, straight down into the fluffy white rice.
One drop, two drops, three drops, four drops, five drops…
Tears streamed down relentlessly, drop after drop, falling onto the rice in the bowl and seeping into the crevices between the grains.
Song Tingyou lifted her tear-filled eyes; her cheeks were crisscrossed with tear streaks. “Grandma, I’m not leaving. I’ll still live with you.”
Grandma’s eyes glistened with tears. She picked up a towel to wipe Song Tingyou’s face. “Silly girl, at my age, what can you get by staying with me? Nothing but poverty.”
Song Tingyou sobbed, “Grandma, I’m not afraid of poverty. I’ve grown up like this all my life. I don’t find it bitter. As long as I’m with you, I don’t feel any hardship.”
Grandma smiled serenely. “Yiyi, you must leave with your sister. There’s more than one person in this world who loves you—your sister loves you very much too. She missed out on more than ten years with you. She must feel regretful and really wants to live with you.”
“Yiyi, go to a better place. Aim high. Don’t end up like Grandma, trapped in the trivialities of daily life her whole life.”
“Grandma never studied. I can barely recognize a few characters. It’s not that I didn’t want to go to school—it’s because when I was little, I was too poor to afford an education. I’ve always envied educated people, you know.”
“Yiyi, become the kind of person Grandma always wanted to be but never could. Go out into the big world, see many things, and live a good life.”
Tears flowed from the old, weathered corners of her eyes, tracing down her careworn cheeks—slowly, silently, desolately.
Grandma took Song Tingyou’s hand and placed it in Song Xinya’s. “Miss Song, Yiyi will be with you from now on. I can tell you’re a very good person. You’ll treat Yiyi well.”
Song Xinya led Song Tingyou by the hand and walked outside. Grandma went to the door to see them off.
Her small, stooped, thin figure stood before the worn wooden door, like a dry, withered yellow leaf on a winter branch, swaying and ready to fall.
Her face looked calm as she waved toward Song Xinya and Song Tingyou, who were walking to the end of the alley. “Take care on the road!”
Song Tingyou turned back every few steps.
Grandma waved her hand. “Go on, go on. From now on, when Grandma misses you, I’ll call you. When you miss Grandma, you call me too. It’s fine. We just won’t live together anymore. No big deal. We can still see each other later. It’s fine.”
Song Tingyou sniffled, turned around, and followed Song Xinya to the end of the alley, where she got into the luxurious, beautiful Porsche.
At the end of the narrow alley, in front of the dilapidated house, Grandma tottered back into the courtyard.
The moment her foot crossed the threshold, her calm face could no longer hold. Tears poured down without stopping.
She had sent away the little girl she had raised from childhood.
Her son was in prison. Her granddaughter had left. From now on, she would live alone.
Grandma’s tears fell thick and fast, one after another, soaking her face in cold wetness.
Her little girl was going to live a good life now. In her heart, she was happy.
Crying, Grandma cleared the table.
Old age made her steps unsteady. She picked up the bowls and chopsticks and shuffled toward the kitchen.
A rumble came from the sky, and raindrops began to fall from above.
In the courtyard, in a large basin, soybeans were still soaking.
Grandma ran out of the kitchen, grabbed the edge of the big basin with both hands, and dragged it toward the house.
The basin, filled with water and soaked soybeans, was heavy.
The thin old woman pulled the heavy basin, inching it toward the house.
She moved as slowly as a turtle.
By the time she had dragged the basin completely inside, she was soaked to the bone, like a drowned rat.
Grandma’s fingers, gripping the rim of the basin, turned white with protruding knuckles, veins bulging and throbbing.
The ground was uneven. Her heel caught on a raised spot, and she and the basin both started to tip backward.
A pair of young, strong hands reached out sideways. One hand firmly steadied Grandma, while the other pressed the tilting basin back down.
Grandma’s heart, which had leaped into her throat, settled. Startled but relieved, she saw the person who had saved her: “It’s you.”
Jin Ruizhi: “It’s me, Grandma.”
Grandma: “Yiyi isn’t here anymore. You won’t find her if you come here.”
Jin Ruizhi helped Grandma up. “Grandma, I came to see you.”
Grandma asked in surprise, “You came to see me? What for?”
A flash of white lightning came, followed by a thunderclap that boomed, making the earth tremble.
Jin Ruizhi ran out of the house. “Grandma, I’ll move all the soybeans inside!”
Grandma hurried out to help him, but he pushed her back into the house.
“Grandma, the ground is slippery. You stay inside. I can handle it alone.”
Jin Ruizhi carried all three large basins of soybeans into the house just as the rain came pouring down in torrents, crashing loudly.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead, a clear, handsome smile spreading across his face. “I won. Before the rain started, I saved the soybeans.”
Grandma handed him a clean cloth. “Wipe your sweat.”
Jin Ruizhi took the towel and casually wiped his forehead.
Grandma asked, “Master Jin, you still haven’t told me why you came to see me.”
Jin Ruizhi’s clear, dark eyes fixed on Grandma, then moved to her forehead.
There, on Grandma’s brow, was a shallow scar from a bump.
That day, Grandma’s forehead had struck a tricycle. It hadn’t been intentional harm on his part, but the incident had happened because of him.
A dull thud was heard as Jin Ruizhi fell to his knees on the ground.
The young man’s face was pale as jade under the light, his features sharp and chiseled like a knife. Thick lashes cast shadows on his cheeks like a fine net, seeming to trap a sky full of stars.
He placed his hands on the floor, lowered his proud head, and kowtowed to Grandma, touching his forehead to the ground.
He laid out what had happened that night, telling her everything, and apologized to her.
“To ask for forgiveness from the one I’ve wronged is nothing but a shameless act of moral coercion. Grandma, I don’t ask for your forgiveness. I only ask for—”
He looked sincerely at Grandma and said, “Grandma, let me take care of you from now on. I’ll care for you just as I would my own grandmother.”
He was determined to do his best, helping Youyou look after her grandmother.
