Upon hearing that Liu Shiran agreed to come over for dinner, Granny instantly wanted to close up her stall and head home to prepare for the evening meal, though she was stopped by Su Yizhou and Liu Shiran.
"Granny, there's no rush. We usually eat quite late at home anyway. Just pack up whenever you normally would; I still need to go home to drop some things off."
After getting the address from Granny, Liu Shiran left Su Yizhou behind to keep Granny company while she went home to drop off the items she had bought today.
Not waiting for her usual closing time, Granny watched Liu Shiran leave, then hopped on her tricycle and rode home with the two little ones. Along the way, she kept asking Su Yizhou what kind of dishes he liked.
Detouring through the vegetable market, she pulled a few crumpled banknotes from her pocket, handed them to the pork butcher, and bought some meat to take back.
Looking at Granny as she was now, Su Yizhou wanted to tell her something like "we can just eat whatever is already at home," but knowing Granny's stubborn insistence, he kept his mouth shut.
Instead, he just sat in the backseat of the tricycle, feeling a complex mix of emotions as he played with Ji Qianxi's little hand, occasionally glancing at her expression to check whether he could get away with continuing.
*Sigh, I wonder if Ji Qianxi will still be this blank and let me play with her hands a few years from now.*
Perhaps Ji Qianxi was simply born a bit slow-witted about this sort of thing, so she just let this bad guy bully her without making any particular reaction.
Seeing Granny buy meat to take home made her happy as well; a child's mind doesn't overthink things—she only knew that tonight, her best friend from kindergarten was coming home with her for dinner.
Most importantly, there was meat to eat tonight!
Su Yizhou: *Could it be that in your heart, I rank even lower than a piece of pork belly?*
In truth, Ji Qianxi got to eat meat two or three times a week, but most of the time it was just minced pork Granny added for her nutrition, or bits fried into vegetable dishes.
Granny herself rarely ate any. Whenever Ji Qianxi asked, she would just brush it off by saying she didn't like it.
By dinnertime, Liu Shiran arrived as promised. As soon as she reached Granny's house, she ran straight to the kitchen to help out, only to be "shooed" out by Granny, who muttered:
"There's no such reason in the world for a guest to come over and help cook! I've never heard of such a thing."
Helpless, Liu Shiran could only stay in the living room and watch the two little ones play to pass the time.
She observed the room. Although every brick and tile looked somewhat weathered and old, it was still spotlessly clean, free of any excess dust.
Before long, Granny walked out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of preserved mustard greens with pork, a plate of green vegetables, and a pot of pumpkin. She dished up rice for everyone, apologizing for not being able to host them properly.
This didn't sound like mere polite boilerplate; one could faintly sense a trace of lingering guilt mixed into Granny's words. Yet these dishes were clearly the absolute best Granny could possibly prepare.
Su Yizhou didn't answer Granny; he just kept shoveling rice into his mouth to respond to her kind intentions.
Liu Shiran kept putting meat into Ji Qianxi's bowl until the little girl's cheeks were stuffed round and bulging, at which point she finally stopped with a satisfied smile.
Granny, however, only picked up a few strands of green vegetables, silently eating large mouthfuls of plain rice to go with them.
The more Liu Shiran watched, the heavier her heart felt.
Seeing her son finish eating, pull out a tissue to wipe the grease from Ji Qianxi's mouth, and pull the little girl outside to play, Liu Shiran couldn't help marveling that her son had finally learned how to take care of someone.
In truth, Liu Shiran had noticed a young man's portrait hanging on the wall during dinner. Something had been bottled up inside her that she desperately wanted to ask, and it was only when she saw her son take Ji Qianxi outside to play that she finally dared to speak:
"Granny, what's hanging on that wall... is that Xiuxi's...?"
Hearing this, Granny spoke with visible difficulty:
"That's Xiuxi's old man. He went out to work on a construction site before, and a reinforcing bar crushed him. He didn't make it."
Liu Shiran fell silent, blaming herself for her own curiosity as her expression turned awkward and distressed.
Granny picked up on her discomfort, and, stirred by old memories, said in a hoarse voice:
"Her old man passed away when Xiuxi was only three years old. Her mother saw that continuing to live with an old crone like me had no future, and felt it would be hard to remarry with Xiuxi in tow, so she just dumped Xiuxi here and ran off by herself. I can't really blame her mother, it's just that Xiuxi has had it far too pitiful—so young, her father gone and her mother running off. To tell the truth, I've lived long enough in this life; my only worry is that if I die, there won't be anyone left to take care of Xiuxi."
With those words, Granny seemed to age several years in a single instant. Every word conveyed the reality that Ji Qianxi was her sole reason for living.
Liu Shiran's heart ached even more. No wonder Ji Qianxi was so sensible at such a young age. Granny was simply forced by circumstance; otherwise, who would want their own granddaughter running around with her at such a tender age instead of just going to school?
"Granny, I've always liked this little doll Ji Qianxi anyway, and look, Su Yizhou likes her a lot too. On weekends, she can just come home with us and have a good time. She's so sensible, she doesn't need me to look after her much at all. When Monday comes around, we can just drop her off at school on our way. What do you think of this arrangement?"
This was a massive favor to Granny. She had no idea whether she could ever repay it, nor did she know if she even had the time to do so. She was never someone who liked troubling others, but for the sake of her granddaughter...
Not knowing how to repay this kindness, tears swirled in her weathered eyes. She stood up unsteadily, wanting to kneel right down before Liu Shiran, and muttered through her tears:
"Thank you so much! Truly, thank you so much!"
Liu Shiran could hardly bear such a gesture. She hurriedly caught Granny's trembling hands, supported her, and helped her back into her seat, calling out:
"Granny, what are you doing this for? You're making me feel terrible. There's nothing to worry about, please don't fret."
Whether startled by Granny's actions or moved by deep sympathy for Ji Qianxi's rugged life, Liu Shiran's voice also trembled as she continuously soothed Granny's emotions.
Seeing that it was growing dark and the two children would soon be back, Granny managed to compose herself and hide her turbulence.
Fearing that it would be hard to navigate the night road in the dark, Liu Shiran had to head back early. As they walked from the living room to the door, Liu Shiran felt the hand that Granny continued to grip tightly. She knew that this elderly woman, who had kept her back straight her entire life for the sake of her granddaughter, was finally bending.
The warmth of the palm conveyed Granny's intense gratitude, along with a helpless sense of having nothing to offer in return.
To Liu Shiran, this was merely a trivial matter.
Yet to Granny, this was kindness offered by someone completely unrelated by blood, someone who had been practically a stranger just hours before. One had to realize that even their own relatives gave their thorny family situation a wide berth—so in her heart, this was far, far more than just a trivial matter!
Granny stood at her doorway, watching the mother and son vanish into the distance at the end of the field path, and stroked her granddaughter's head.
"Child, go play at Brother Zhou's house on the weekends from now on, alright? When you grow up, you must remember their kindness! Do you understand?"
She gazed gently at the bewildered Ji Qianxi, then simply smiled.
"It's nothing. Just remember it, you can figure it out slowly as you grow up."