Chapter 51: Grandfather
As Mi Yang stepped over the wooden threshold into the room, his mind flashed to the old house several years later. He looked around, comparing it to his memories. Except for the newness of the colors, it was exactly the same. The Eight Immortals table in the main hall, the hanging scroll of a crane wishing longevity, and the grand armchair his grandfather most often sat in…
After walking in, Mi Zehai lifted the door curtain and heard a cough, mixed with the old lady’s gentle murmuring, “Why did you call the child back? Yangyang is here too? Let them go quickly, be careful not to catch the sickness…” followed by another cough.
Mi Hong sat on the edge of the wooden bed. Beside him was the bowl of medicine he had just brought, and a peeled candy wrapper—the same candy he had given Mi Yang just now. Mi Hong whispered a few words of persuasion to the old lady, and only then did she nod in agreement. “Alright, let’s just see him. It’s a good time to give him something.”
Mi Yang was short. After coming in, he first looked up and saw his grandmother on the wooden bed, and then he saw the three-stringed lute on the small table by her bed. He had seen this lute many times. Every time Mi Zehai brought him to the old house to see Mi Hong, he would see it. After so many years, it was still in its original place. Mi Yang had never seen his grandfather use it. The three-stringed lute was hanging there, already rotten, but Mi Hong wouldn’t let anyone take it down even on his deathbed.
A cough sounded in his ear. Mi Yang was gently pushed, and he saw Cheng Qing whisper, “Yangyang, Grandma is calling you.”
Mi Yang quickly walked over, leaned on the edge of the wooden bed to look at the old lady, and carefully called out, “Grandma.”
The old lady looked to be in good spirits, but her lips were pale. She had been beautiful in her youth, and her features were still there. She looked like a kind and beautiful old lady, especially when her eyes curved into a smile. Mi Hong took very good care of her. Even after so many years in a sickbed, she still maintained her final dignity, dressed neatly, with her hair combed tidily. Besides the smell of medicine, there was no other scent in the room.
She looked at Mi Yang, a gentle light in her eyes. She probably wanted to reach out and touch her grandson but then remembered that she was sick and hesitated to get closer. Mi Yang reached out and held her hand. She was old, and the skin on her hand was loose and dry, but it was still warm and strong. The old lady held his hand for a moment, her smile even happier. She said to him, “Yangyang, Grandma hasn’t seen you in almost a year.”
Mi Yang nodded. “I’m staying for a long time this time, to be with Grandma.”
The old lady smiled again. “That’s good. But your other grandma misses you too. She came to see me a few days ago and showed me a photo. I told her that I have the same photo here. Your mother also mailed me one!” She patted Mi Yang’s hand and coaxed him, “Grandma is already half-cured just by seeing you. You don’t have to stay here with me. Go and see your other grandma.”
Mi Yang held her hand and didn’t let go, not saying a word.
The old lady held his small hand and then looked up at Mi Zehai and Cheng Qing. “I didn’t plan to send a telegram. My body is always sick. I was sick for a long time a while ago, and your father got scared and called you back. But it’s good that you’ve come back. There are some things I want to give you.”
She took a small wooden box from beside her pillow and handed it to Cheng Qing. “When you got married, I gave you a gold bracelet. This is the other one. You keep it. You can use it to get a wife for Yangyang in the future.”
Cheng Qing quickly refused. “Mom, you don’t have to prepare these for us. Yangyang is still young! In the future…”
The old lady smiled. “It’s because he’s so young that I’m giving it to you.”
The unspoken second half of her sentence was that she knew she probably didn’t have much of a future.
Cheng Qing looked at the old lady’s current condition, and her eyes couldn’t help but redden. She took the small wooden box with trembling hands.
The old lady couldn’t talk for too long. Her lungs were not good, and she started to gasp and cough again. Mi Hong’s face changed, and he shooed Mi Zehai and the others out, staying behind to personally take care of his wife, his hands trembling with panic.
Mi Zehai and Cheng Qing didn’t just wait. They had both grown up in Shanhai Town and were familiar with the environment here. Mi Zehai went out to buy some honeycomb briquettes, and Cheng Qing rolled up her sleeves and tidied up the kitchen, deftly chopping vegetables and cooking, trying her best to make some soft and delicious food for the old lady.
When Mi Zehai was moving the coal, he was a little careless with his strength and grunted as he bent over. Cheng Qing heard him and quickly went over, wanting to lift his clothes to have a look. Mi Zehai refused, but she still lifted them. When Cheng Qing saw that his wound was red and about to split open again, she couldn’t help but cry. “You didn’t say anything on the way. How did it get so serious!”
Mi Hong happened to come in to put down the medicine bowl. He looked up and saw the gruesome scar on Mi Zehai’s abdomen, but he only glanced at it, as if he hadn’t seen it, put down the medicine bowl, and turned to go out.
If he had asked, Cheng Qing, as a junior, would definitely have said “it’s fine.” But to see it with her own eyes and be treated with such coldness made Cheng Qing feel a little heartbroken. Even if he wasn’t his biological son, he had raised him for so many years. Mi Zehai respected Mi Hong as his own father and was extremely filial. Now, to see his father not even ask about his son’s injury was beyond her expectations.
Mi Zehai, however, didn’t care at all. His brow was furrowed. He put down the hem of his clothes. “It’s nothing. It’ll be fine after I put some medicine on it. Don’t you say anything either. Mom is still sick. We can’t let her worry.”
Cheng Qing nodded and turned back to cook, holding her breath and not saying a word.
Until after dinner, Mi Hong didn’t say another word to Mi Zehai. He was busy around the old lady, looking down on everyone. Twice, he even had his injured son move a wooden cabinet—just because the old lady had said that the cabinet seemed to be blocking the wind and she was having a little trouble breathing.
Mi Zehai was a blindly filial person. He didn’t spare any effort to help, completely ignoring Cheng Qing’s glances. What could Cheng Qing do? She felt sorry for her husband, so she could only roll up her sleeves and also go to help, only wishing she had a little more strength to move the cabinet.
When they returned to their room that night, half a courtyard away, Cheng Qing dared to complain a little.
“He only has himself and the old lady in his heart,” Cheng Qing’s eyes were red with anger. Her husband’s wound had not yet fully healed. She had been so careful on the way here. Now, seeing the wound a little red again, she was terrified. “He bled so much at that time. You were afraid of worrying the family and didn’t let me say a word. Now, he’s seen it himself and doesn’t even ask…”
Mi Zehai coaxed her a couple of times. When Cheng Qing was about to say more, he became a little angry and lowered his voice. “Qing’er! Stop it.”
Cheng Qing put the towel she had used to wipe his wound in the basin and went out with red-rimmed eyes.
Mi Yang lay in bed, pretending to be asleep, not daring to make a sound. His parents were arguing, and it was a family problem. It was best for him to “not know anything.”
Mi Zehai sat in the chair and sighed. He suddenly heard two knocks on the door. At first, he thought it was Cheng Qing. His own tone had been a little harsh just now, so he quickly went to open the door. But the one standing at the door was Mi Hong.
Mi Hong’s face was still the same as during the day, as if the whole world owed him money. He looked at him with a heavy gaze. “You, come out with me for a bit.” He then walked out by himself.
Mi Zehai quickly followed him, not even having time to grab a coat.
Mi Yang also stopped pretending to be asleep. After a moment’s hesitation, he also got up and quietly followed. He was small, and the shadows of the trees under the moonlight were dark. A child like him, walking with light footsteps and hiding in the bushes, would not be noticed at all.
Mi Zehai followed Mi Hong outside. He stood in front of his father, a little awkward, not sure how much of Cheng Qing’s words his father had heard just now. He was about to explain when Mi Hong stopped him.
Mi Hong said in a deep voice, “I don’t have much time. I just came to say a few words to you. I have to go back to the main hall to take care of her in a bit.”
Mi Zehai repeatedly agreed and then asked him, “Dad, why don’t I take care of Mom tonight? You’ve been working so hard for so many days. You should rest…”
Mi Hong shook his head. “No need. I’ve been taking care of her for a lifetime. I’m used to it. This is not something you should be doing.”
His words had a sense of exclusion, but Mi Zehai didn’t notice anything. He was a filial son. Whatever his father said, he would do.
Mi Hong gave him many things, all old objects: two valuable antiques, a slightly worn passbook. He still said to him in a half-warm, half-cold voice, “There’s not much money here. I’ve saved all my life, and it’s only a little over a thousand yuan now. I’m not very capable. Don’t you look down on it.”
Mi Zehai was so choked up he couldn’t speak. He tried to refuse, but the next thing Mi Hong took out made his forehead break out in a sweat.
Mi Hong took out a land deed. “This is the deed to the old house. Your mother and I have had no other children in our lives. You should take it.”
Mi Zehai’s voice rose, and he waved his hands repeatedly, saying anxiously, “Dad! How can I? Even if Mom… you’re still here. If you give this to me, what will you do?”
Mi Hong still had that fierce expression, and his tone was also dry. “If she’s gone, what’s the point of me living?”
He then stuffed the things into Mi Zehai’s arms, turned, and walked away.
Mi Zehai couldn’t call him back. When he tried to follow, Mi Hong cursed at him in a low voice and wouldn’t let him into the main hall.
