Do those disreputable won outside Su Rongcheng deserve to use Grandma’s things?
Su Rongcheng still wouldn’t give up and sent another ssage: When will your hand heal? Can we still conquer the snow mountain this year as promised?
No, we’re not going. He lay back on the bed to reply.
"Then when will we go? Next year? Next year, Dad wants to be a dad, I’m afraid I won’t be able to go!"
We’ll never go again!
After he finished sending this ssage, he tossed his phone aside, closed his eyes, and ignored Su Rongcheng.
On the second sleepless night, he had no trace of drowsiness.
The room was so quiet that it seed he could hear every tick of his watch’s second hand. As life took a step, the watch ticked a second. Or maybe, in this world, there had always been just one person with one watch.
Since he couldn’t sleep, he decided not to. He walked to the window, pulled back the curtains, and despite the late night, the city was still aglow with lights, responding to the sparse morning stars in the narrow sky. He stood in the dark corner, a shooting star streaked across the sky, and a glimr of light flashed in his heart.
He decisively changed clothes and left the hotel.
At four in the morning, there wasn’t a single pedestrian on the street. The streetlights shimred gently, and the branches of the pagoda trees stretched out, slicing the light into mottled fragnts, serene and cool.
He walked among them, slow and steady.
Slowly, so as to think; steady, because there was light ahead.
From the hotel to the newspaper office, it was a twenty-minute walk on a normal day, but today it took him almost an hour. He walked from night into twilight, watching as the distant sky gradually brightened and the surrounding streetlights dimd by the minute.
Inside the Chenjiang Newspaper’s office, night shift colleagues were working in an orderly manner. On so patchwork of tables in the large office, a woman was curled up, asleep.
He paused slightly, found a work jacket in the closet, and covered her with it. Then he pulled up a chair and sat down.
In the air was a faint sweet scent. Leaning back, he gradually fell asleep at dawn.
Tu Hengsha was awakened by the commotion in the office. The sky was bright, and people were starting to arrive for work.
"Tu Hengsha, did you work overti last night?" asked Photography Departnt Director Chen Qi as he saw her wake up.
"Hmm..." She sat up, noticing the jacket covering her and the breakfast on the table.
"If you work overti again and don’t go back ho, there’s a sofa bed at my place. It’ll be more comfortable to sleep on when unfolded," Chen Qi added.
"Okay, thank you." Tu Hengsha thought Chen Qi was sotis a contradictory person, undoubtedly very strict, yet sotis always helping when one was in distress.
The clothes were n’s. She glanced at Su Ronggui, who sat upright in the distance, then touched the bowl of porridge, which was still warm.
She didn’t eat.
She didn’t know why she was being so stubborn. The issue with the article about the won in Dust Lung Village had been explained clearly; he didn’t know about it, so she couldn’t bla him. Why, then, did she still present herself as unwilling to forgive him? Actually, he owed her nothing, did he? But seeing him just felt unpleasant, and she couldn’t find a reason.
This unpleasantness persisted. She didn’t plan to get along with him well, spent her days going out to cover news with other reporters, and had no ti to get along well with him.
On the day before her day off, Tu Hengsha was tangled again.
They had originally planned to visit Grandma together, but under such circumstances, should they still go?
However, Su Ronggui received a call from Grandma that day, asking him not to visit her. She had agreed with other elderly won in the alley to go to the temple for incense.
Su Ronggui fiddled with his phone for a long ti before finally sending a ssage to Tu Hengsha: We’re not visiting Grandma tomorrow.
Upon receiving the ssage, Tu Hengsha could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Since he wasn’t going, it was more convenient for her to go. First, it was indeed to visit Grandma. Even if she and Su Ronggui were not on good terms, Grandma was worth her sincere treatnt; she wouldn’t take her anger out on the elderly. Second, it was about that gift. She had already opened it—a very beautiful butterfly hair decoration that looked quite valuable. She couldn’t accept it. Since it was from Grandma, it was better to return it to her. Giving it back to Su Ronggui would only lead to them pushing it back and forth, and she didn’t want to get entangled in such awkwardness with him.
The next day, she took the gift to Yangrou Geda Alley. Before going, she contacted Fan Yue and learned she wasn’t off today, and Cui Pei also had to work, so Grandma was alone at ho.
The courtyard door was ajar. She called a few tis from outside for Grandma but received no response.
"Grandma, I’m coming in!" She pushed open the courtyard door and entered. It was silent, not like soone was there.
Suddenly, with a couple of whimpers, Bangbangtang darted out.
It had been days since she had seen Bangbangtang, and inexplicably, it seed to have gotten fatter. She laughed as she petted it, "Okay, okay, I brought you sothing tasty. But you can’t keep eating like this, you need to lose weight!"
But unlike its usual affectionate behavior around her, Bangbangtang bit her pant leg and whimpered, as if trying to drag her sowhere.
Dubious, she let Bangbangtang lead the way, following it.
Bangbangtang led her to the entrance of Grandma’s bedroom, then turned back to bark at her.
"Who’s here, Bangbangtang?" A weak voice from Grandma ca from inside the bedroom, which wasn’t closed.
"Grandma, it’s !" She stepped inside and saw Grandma lying on the floor. Alard, she exclaid, "Grandma, what happened? Grandma!"
"It’s nothing, it’s nothing..." Grandma waved her hand. "Getting old, becoming useless, ended up falling inside the house."
"Grandma!" Tu Hengsha didn’t know the extent of Grandma Xu’s fall and didn’t dare move her recklessly. Touching Grandma’s hand, she found it burning hot. She then felt her forehead, which was frighteningly hot. So was Grandma ill or had she fallen? Although anxious, she didn’t panic, having experienced scarier scenarios while taking her mom to see doctors from a young age. "Grandma, I’ll call an ambulance!" She continued holding Grandma’s hand.
The ambulance arrived quickly, and the dical staff lifted Grandma onto a stretcher. Tu Hengsha followed them to the hospital.
During the consultation process, Tu Hengsha learned that Grandma Xu had actually been sick for several days, had taken dicine from the clinic, but hadn’t improved. The night before, she had developed a high fever. That morning, while struggling to get up and busy with washing and taking dicine in the house, she beca dizzy and fainted.
At that ti, aside from Bangbangtang, there was no other person present. Grandma fainted and slowly ca to. It just so happened that Tu Hengsha arrived at that mont.
Fortunately, this ti the fainting didn’t cause any injuries. Grandma was admitted to the hospital for treatnt, the nurses gave her an IV, and having held on alone for so long, with a sense of security now, she was exhausted and fell into a deep sleep.
Tu Hengsha stayed by Grandma, feeling conflicted about whether to inform Su Ronggui. She couldn’t understand what important things he had, not even visiting Grandma as promised.
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