Grandpa nodded repeatedly. "That's good, that's good."
He followed Li Chuchu's line of sight and saw Shen Yanshan behind her.
He was slightly stunned.
This grandson - in - law was really good - looking, just like a movie star.
Grandma took Li Chuchu's hand and led her into the house. "Chuchu, grandma cooked a whole table of dishes today. I just don't know what you like. Come in and have a look. If there's something you want to eat, grandma will cook it for you."
This house was a bungalow allocated by grandma and grandpa's unit more than thirty years ago. After all these years, it looked shabby and dilapidated from the outside, with a few bricks missing from the corners.
There were quite a few potted plants placed under the outside wall corner. They must have been carefully tended by the old people.
Thirty years ago, grandma and grandpa had been a well - off family. When Li Chuchu was one year old, they had even given her two gold bowls.
Thirty years later, signs of decline were already visible in the family.
The floor inside the house was clean and tidy. Although the furniture was old, it was spotless.
Li Chuchu walked into the house and was really shocked when she saw the table full of food.
There were chicken and meat, just like celebrating the Chinese New Year in advance.
Wasn't it only two days away from the New Year?
"Grandma, are there only the five of us for lunch today?"
There was enough food for ten people.
Grandma pulled Li Chuchu's hand and made her sit at the table. "Yes. You rarely come back. Your uncle will also have lunch with us today."
Li Chuchu didn't feel comfortable refusing, so she sat down following grandma's lead.
Sheng Li rubbed his hands and looked at the table full of dishes with a smile. "Today I'm also benefiting from Chuchu. Even your grandma's signature stewed pork with preserved vegetables is on the table. Come to uncle's house for dinner tomorrow. I'll ask your aunt to cook some delicious dishes for you."
Grandma picked out two pieces of the best fatty meat and put them in Li Chuchu's bowl. She urged at the same time, "Eat quickly, eat quickly. You must be starving after the long journey. This is the good meat grandma bought from the supply and marketing cooperative this morning."
Grandpa looked at Li Chuchu with a beaming smile. Although he didn't say anything, his eyes showed love and barely noticeable worry and pity.
How could this child be so thin?
It seemed that a gust of wind could blow her away.
Hadn't she been having a good time these years?
The dishes in Li Chuchu's bowl were almost piled up like a hill. She didn't know where to start. Grandpa gently stopped grandma's hand from constantly adding dishes. "Let the child eat first. She can pick what she wants herself."
Only then did grandma stop reluctantly. "Yes, Chuchu, you eat first. Grandma is just too excited."
She hadn't eaten all morning, and with the car sickness, her stomach was already empty.
Not only Li Chuchu and Shen Yanshan who had been on the bus for six hours, but also Sheng Li who had been waiting at the station all morning was already starving.
The three of them buried their heads in eating.
Grandma found there were no soup spoons on the table. When she got up to get them from the cabinet, grandpa also got up following her.
He walked behind grandma and whispered secretly to her, away from the others at the table. "Did you see Chuchu's boyfriend?"
Grandma nodded. "He seems okay, but his face looks a bit fierce. And he's so quiet. We don't know if he treats our Chuchu well."
"Chuchu mentioned in her letter before that she got a job as a radio announcer in the factory where Xiaolan used to work. She probably only earns thirty or forty yuan a month. Chuchu didn't say what his job is. He's probably just doing odd jobs outside."
Hearing this, grandma was shocked. She tried to keep her voice down and sighed. "How much can he earn from odd jobs? Are the two of them relying on Chuchu's meager salary to live? This won't do!"
"Did Chuchu find a freeloader?"
Grandma was greatly alarmed. She looked back uncertainly. "Judging from that grandson - in - law's bearing, he doesn't seem like one..."
Grandpa Sheng Juokai sighed. "I'm not sure either. Let's try to find out later in a roundabout way."
Grandma Qiu Hua glared at him and pointed at his nose seriously. "If you don't know, don't talk nonsense! Comrade Sheng, do you know that fabricating facts at random will be punished by the organization?"
Sheng Juokai was embarrassed. "Yes. Comrade Qiu, I'll definitely keep it in mind. I won't make this mistake again."
Qiu Hua snorted. Thinking of something, she added in a low voice, "If we want to find out later, we have to be more subtle. The child just came back. Don't put pressure on her. Don't let Chuchu think we called her back to make things difficult for her. Oh, right. Chuchu didn't mention Li Jianmin. She came here for the New Year this year. She must have suffered some grievances. Ask her about it later."
Sheng Juokai nodded. "Don't worry. I know what to do."
Qiu Hua looked back at Chuchu who was eating. She let out a long sigh. "Chuchu's eyes are exactly the same as Xiaolan's. It's as if they were carved from the same mold. When I first saw Chuchu just now, I was in a daze, as if Xiaolan had come back."
The sigh carried a long - lasting yearning and endless grief.
Sheng Juokai sighed and patted Qiu Hua's shoulder consolingly.
He hadn't told her about Chuchu's job before because he was afraid Qiu Hua would be sad.
The loss of their daughter had always been a heartache for the old couple.
Over the years,
they still often dreamed of the moment when they first heard the news of their daughter's death.
...
Grandma came back with the soup spoon.
She filled a bowl of fragrant chicken soup for Li Chuchu. "Come, Chuchu, try the chicken soup grandma made. It's so delicious. This chicken is an old hen bought from a rural relative. It's the most nourishing. Even women in confinement drink this."
Li Chuchu was flattered.
She took the bowl with both hands.
She took a sip and said, full of emotional resonance, "This soup does taste different from the one I made. It's the rural free - range chicken. No wonder it's so delicious."
These words made grandma beam with joy. She wished she could take out all the delicious things in the house.
"Drink more if you like it. There's another one at home. We'll kill it for you on New Year's Eve."
The chicken in the front yard was in danger.
Li Chuchu agreed with a smile.
After the meal, grandma took out the fruits to entertain Chuchu. The apples were cut into pieces and the cores had been removed.
They were sitting in the living room when suddenly a few neighbors came.
An old man swaggered into the house. Seeing Li Chuchu and Shen Yanshan, he joked, "You're having lunch? Lao Sheng, this is the precious granddaughter you've been talking about these days."
Sheng Juokai clearly didn't like this old man.
"Yes. Why aren't you having lunch in your own house? What are you doing here?"
This old man used to be worse off than his family, but in recent years, he seemed to have had good luck. His son and daughter had both made good progress. Every time they met, he would brag about how good his family fortune was and how his children would bring back a lot of gifts to honor him during festivals.
Xiaolan was a sore point for the old couple.
Xiaoli was a returned educated youth who had missed the opportunity to enter a formal factory. He still hadn't found a formal job.
Wasn't this guy just rubbing salt into their wounds?