The old man was still stiffly wiping the corners of the room. He was a bit surprised at how stiff his movements were today, as if he couldn’t lift his hands. He wondered if it was arthritis, but he didn’t feel any pain.
If he wipes it like this, wiping the tables would take a while, along with the chairs and benches in this house. Xi Liu loves cleanliness so much that when she was at home, the little child takes a rag and wipes the table every day.
Thinking about his little granddaughter, the old man was a little happy. Xi Liu could come back to see him because she missed him, something he couldn’t even dream of. The more he thought about it, the happier he was, and the stiffness under his hand eased a few points.
He didn’t know why, but his thinking seemed to be getting slow. Now, he had to think about everything for quite a long while.
The old man sighed. He was so old, but he couldn’t accept his old age.
He wiped the table, slowly held the table, and slowly walked to the front of the big cabinet in the room. His blue hands opened the cabinet, and his hands trembled slightly, pulling out what was wrapped in a piece of cloth, from the bottom.
Opening it slowly, there were all kinds of beautiful ribbons that little girls liked. The old man touched these lovely ribbons, and a smile appeared on his face.
In previous years, when he went to the market, he would always buy a ribbon for Xi Liu. At that time, he was poor and didn’t have much money to buy good-looking clothes. Later, when Xi Liu left, he slowly saved some money. Every time he went to the market, he knew his little granddaughter was not at home, but he couldn’t help but buy it back and kept them, thinking about how happy Xi Liu would be if she saw them.
Thinking about it, he himself became happy.
Unexpectedly, these ribbons could be handed over to Xi Liu one day. The old man stood in front of the cabinet, holding the cloth and looking at the ribbons inside. His face that was covered with dark scars slowly showed a smile.
This smile was stiff, but full of expectation. For several years now, there are times when the old man would lay in bed, unable to sleep, looking at the pictures drawn by his little granddaughter on the wall, and regretting it.
He regretted sending his sweet Xi Liu away. He missed her, he couldn’t sleep at night, thinking about how well Xi Liu ate, how well she slept, whether the people who adopted her treated her well, whether she cried, whether she missed her grandpa …
But when he got up the next day, all these regrets should be hidden.
He told himself again and again that Xi Liu was still young, and she was smart and clever. Such a good child shouldn’t suffer hardships with this cranky old man. He couldn’t even buy better clothes for the child, so it was better to let her go, to enjoy the happiness.
Once or twice, the old man saw other spoiled little girls, wearing beautiful clothes, beautiful shoes and various ribbons tied on their heads, which were beautiful in the sun.
They didn’t have to wash clothes, do housework, and stay in a shabby house every day where they couldn’t even watch TV. The old man wanted his granddaughter to live like this. Even if he missed this little Xi Liu who he brought up from infancy, he had to endure.
But now, his Xi Liu came back to see her grandpa.
The old man looked at the ribbons in a daze and smiled for a long time. He hugged the cloth carefully, and walked out of the house slowly, sitting in a chair outside, with a pair of turbid and white eyes, full of hope, looking at the farthest distance of the trail.
Wei Mingyan arrived at the bamboo forest with someone in his arms.
He put the little girl down and took out a pair of shoes that had been put away before.
This was a pair of small leather shoes, which were very red and bright. With a glance, you would know it was in a style that little girls liked.
The handsome Taoist priest threw the shoes to Zhong Hua, “Burn them.”
The young man quickly took them, rekindled the fire, and threw the shoes inside. The shoes were leather and smelly. He was choking and coughing, it made Xi Liu looked back at him in worry.
“You know what to do, right?”
Wei Mingyan ignored the bitter-faced Zhong Hua, leaning against a bamboo. He slightly lowered his eyes and looked at the little girl.” You’ve learned a lot around Wang Jinchuan. Things about lying to people too, right?”
Xi Liu’s white face showed some affirmation. She nodded and spoke in childish voice, “Xi Liu can lie.”
“Good girl.”
The Daoist priest leaned down slightly, shook the bell and watched the choke marks on the girl’s neck fade away and turned white again, before revealing a light smile.
He touched the girl’s head and warmly advised, “Don’t cry later and let Grandpa go in peace, okay?”
As soon as she heard ‘Grandpa’, Xi Liu’s eyes began to tear up. She tried to blink to hide her tears, choking her immature voice and whispering, “I won’t cry. I want to make Grandpa happy.”
“Good.”
Wei Mingyan straightened up and glanced at the little girl’s feet. Now, there was a pair of red leather shoes with two rabbit ears made of fake fur, cute and lovely.
Zhong Hua helped Xi Liu trim her hair earlier. Now, she was wearing a Mickey Mouse patterned dress, with red shoes under her feet, her hair neat and tidy, her complexion white, and her eyes a little watery from the tears she just had.
Xi Liu flashed a smile at the handsome Daoist master, sweetly, as if he had lived in a honey jar since childhood and was brought pampered.
Zhong Hua came over. She came forward, took him by the hand, raised her little face, smiled and said, “Brother, let’s go find Grandpa.”
“He must have missed me.”
“Okay, brother will take you to Grandpa.” The young man’s eyes were a little red, but he tried to squeeze out a smile. He held the hand of the little sister who he had watched since childhood, and walked slowly in the opposite direction.
Someone on the road saw them, and greeted them, “Huahua is back? You’re a big manager now, your future is really bright!”
Zhong Hua smiled and answered a few words, then said goodbye and continued on his way.
The two villagers that were carrying hoes were a little puzzled, they saw that he walked away while holding something in his hand.
Wasn’t his hand empty?
The old man was waiting in front of his house when he saw two people coming along the path. He stood up with a stiff body and looked forward.
“Grandpa!!!”
The crisp voice of the little girl sounded, and then a small figure rushed over. The old man’s thinking was a little slow now, so before he could react, a little girl squeezed into his arms.
The little girl hugged him and acted so coquettish that his heart softened, and his eyes were full of relief.
“Grandpa, I miss you so much. I miss you so much every day …”
The old man’s hands trembled and patted his granddaughter on the back. He opened his mouth to speak, but he was a little slurred because of his stiff tongue.” Grandpa … also … misses Xi Liu …”
He didn’t notice that something was wrong with him, while Xi Liu and Zhong Hua noticed but pretended they didn’t.
Zhong Hua closed his eyes, hid the sadness in his eyes, and came over with a smile.” Grandpa Gen, I met Xi Liu on the road and brought her back. You see, I haven’t even bought the food yet.”
“It’s all right… all right…” The old man waved his hands, his expression was full of pure joy. He paused for a moment, he looked hesitantly at the path behind the two, “Who … sent Xi Liu back?”
Zhong Hua was stunned, he couldn’t figure out how to answer. The little girl who acted coquettish in the old man’s arms spoke first, “It’s Mom and Dad. They went to the county to run errands first. We just happened to meet Older Brother, so they asked him to bring me here.”
The old man nodded and asked, “Xi Liu, how are your parents treating you?”
“They are good. Mom and Dad said they love Xi Liu. They buy me a lot of food and toys, and they also bought me new clothes. Grandpa, do you think my shoes look good?”
As if showing off, the little girl stretched out her feet and showed the old man the red shoes she was wearing. In fact, the old man’s vision was a little blurred, but he smiled and nodded happily as he looked at the blur of red.
“Looks good … looks good, our Xi Liu looks good in everything.”
His brain was half-stiff, and he had no idea why the granddaughter in front of him was still as tall as when she had left a few years ago. He just happily took her by the hand and asked.
“Xi Liu, did your parents send you to school?”
“Yes. All the children at school liked me, saying that I was pretty and liked to play with me. The teacher liked me best. Every meal time, they would give me chicken drumsticks…”
The little girl’s childish voice was crisp and full of happiness.” I also made a lot of friends and have a lot of picture books. Grandpa, listen, Mom and Dad take me to the playground every week, and we play a lot…”
“So, is Xi Liu happy?”
“Of course I’m happy, Grandpa. My parents are very kind to me. When I first arrived, I couldn’t sleep, so they came to sleep with me. They never let me go out alone at night. They always stayed with me, always talked to me, and let me watch TV. Grandpa, look, do you see the Mickey Mouse on me? Does it pretty?”
The old man smiled happily, “Pretty, very pretty…”
He stroked his granddaughter’s hair in front of him and asked, “Didn’t your Mom and Dad buy a ribbon for you?”
Xi Liu paused, smiled and said, “Yes, but I forgot to wear it. I’m wearing the one you bought for me before, grandpa, I would never throw it away.”
The smile on the old man’s purple face hasn’t come down since his granddaughter came back. He carefully and stiffly took out the cloth from his pocket and opened it carefully, revealing all kinds of beautiful ribbons inside.
“You see, Grandpa bought this for you. I don’t know if you like it. There’s a Mickey Mouse one in it. Grandpa remembered that our Xi Liu likes Mickey Mouse the most…”
He reached out to take out the Mickey Mouse ribbon alone, his hand fell on it but it was all a foggy mess in front of him, and he couldn’t see anything.
Xi Liu looked at the old man in front of her, who’s eyes had begun to turn white. She quickly blinked her eyes to hide the tears. She picked up the Mickey Mouse ribbon and wore it on her head.
She asked, “Grandpa, do I look good?”
The old man looked up slowly. His eyes already had a white layer, like the eyes of the deceased.
He could no longer see it, but he still smiled slowly and stiffly.” It looks good, when Grandpa bought it, I felt Xi Liu would certainly look good.”
The tears in the little girl’s eyes could no longer be held back. She pursed her lips to suppress her sobs and burrowed into her grandfather’s arms.
Her voice was sweet, full of pampering, “How come Grandpa says everything looks good when I ask! You must be coaxing me!”
“No, Xi Liu is really pretty. Grandpa won’t lie to you.”
The old man was smiling, but his head was sunken.
He whispered, “Xi Liu, Grandpa is a little sleepy. I’ll go lie down for a while, okay?”
“I’ll help you Grandpa.”
“Xi Liu has grown up. So understanding, Xi Liu ah, grandpa wants to hear you talk about mom and dad …”
“Well… Dad is very tall, very strong, can protect us, and his eyes are very bright. He always calls me a good girl. Mom is very pretty, very kind to me …”
Wei Mingyan, leaning on his cane, watched the old man and a young child go in. He walked over, and went in, too.
“Xi Liu. Grandpa… grandpa will go to bed first, you go outside and eat some candy ah…”
When the old man on the bed heard the movement, he reluctantly let go of his granddaughter’s little hand and let her leave first.
The handsome Daoist watched the young girl go out, sat on the edge of the bed and said, “Xi Liu is gone, do you have anything to say to me?”
“I… I remember.” The old man lying on the bed smiled bitterly and said in a hoarse voice, “I rolled down the cliff with firewood on my back. It was so high… I wouldn’t survive …”
“You asked me what was under the cliff…”
“Under there, there really was a creek, lots of pretty rocks, and little birds landing on me and chirping …”
Wei Mingyan, leaning on the cane and rubbing the wood in the palm of his hand, whispered, “You thought of your granddaughter, whom you haven’t seen since you sent her away. you wanted to see her, so, you got back up.”
“Yes, yes ah …”
The old man spoke with a wry smile, “I couldn’t be at ease. My Xi Liu, was so small, so well behaved. I couldn’t feel at ease …”
“Master…” He had begun to turn stiff and couldn’t move anything except his mouth, so he could only lie rigidly on the bed, looking at the ceiling with his completely white eyes.
“Can you… Help me calculate one last time. Figure out how Xi Liu, would live in the future, and whether she would be happy or not …”
He couldn’t see, and naturally he didn’t know when Wei Mingyan took out his tortoise shell, threw it on the bed, but didn’t look at the result.
The handsome Daoist’s magnetic and pleasant voice faintly said, “Her life is peaceful and smooth, her parents love her, her husband is considerate, and her children and grandchildren are filial …”
The old man on the bed smiled, “Good, good …”
Wei Mingyan sat by the bed, watching a soul come out. Without obsession, it went to reincarnation with peace of mind.
“Grandpa!!!”
The little girl, who had been holding back, finally couldn’t help it and burst into tears.
She stumbled to the bedside, holding the old man’s hand, crying with tears all over her face.
“Just cry. After a good cry, go get your body back and bury it with him.”
One hand gently touched her head. The little girl sobbed and looked at the handsome Daoist in front of her with red and swollen eyes, “Where will Grandpa go? Will it be like Uncle too?”
Wei Mingyan looked at the old man who died with a smile on his bed and whispered.
“Heaven.”
The old man was still stiffly wiping the corners of the room. He was a bit surprised at how stiff his movements were today, as if he couldn’t lift his hands. He wondered if it was arthritis, but he didn’t feel any pain.
If he wipes it like this, wiping the tables would take a while, along with the chairs and benches in this house. Xi Liu loves cleanliness so much that when she was at home, the little child takes a rag and wipes the table every day.
Thinking about his little granddaughter, the old man was a little happy. Xi Liu could come back to see him because she missed him, something he couldn’t even dream of. The more he thought about it, the happier he was, and the stiffness under his hand eased a few points.
He didn’t know why, but his thinking seemed to be getting slow. Now, he had to think about everything for quite a long while.
The old man sighed. He was so old, but he couldn’t accept his old age.
He wiped the table, slowly held the table, and slowly walked to the front of the big cabinet in the room. His blue hands opened the cabinet, and his hands trembled slightly, pulling out what was wrapped in a piece of cloth, from the bottom.
Opening it slowly, there were all kinds of beautiful ribbons that little girls liked. The old man touched these lovely ribbons, and a smile appeared on his face.
In previous years, when he went to the market, he would always buy a ribbon for Xi Liu. At that time, he was poor and didn’t have much money to buy good-looking clothes. Later, when Xi Liu left, he slowly saved some money. Every time he went to the market, he knew his little granddaughter was not at home, but he couldn’t help but buy it back and kept them, thinking about how happy Xi Liu would be if she saw them.
Thinking about it, he himself became happy.
Unexpectedly, these ribbons could be handed over to Xi Liu one day. The old man stood in front of the cabinet, holding the cloth and looking at the ribbons inside. His face that was covered with dark scars slowly showed a smile.
This smile was stiff, but full of expectation. For several years now, there are times when the old man would lay in bed, unable to sleep, looking at the pictures drawn by his little granddaughter on the wall, and regretting it.
He regretted sending his sweet Xi Liu away. He missed her, he couldn’t sleep at night, thinking about how well Xi Liu ate, how well she slept, whether the people who adopted her treated her well, whether she cried, whether she missed her grandpa …
But when he got up the next day, all these regrets should be hidden.
He told himself again and again that Xi Liu was still young, and she was smart and clever. Such a good child shouldn’t suffer hardships with this cranky old man. He couldn’t even buy better clothes for the child, so it was better to let her go, to enjoy the happiness.
Once or twice, the old man saw other spoiled little girls, wearing beautiful clothes, beautiful shoes and various ribbons tied on their heads, which were beautiful in the sun.
They didn’t have to wash clothes, do housework, and stay in a shabby house every day where they couldn’t even watch TV. The old man wanted his granddaughter to live like this. Even if he missed this little Xi Liu who he brought up from infancy, he had to endure.
But now, his Xi Liu came back to see her grandpa.
The old man looked at the ribbons in a daze and smiled for a long time. He hugged the cloth carefully, and walked out of the house slowly, sitting in a chair outside, with a pair of turbid and white eyes, full of hope, looking at the farthest distance of the trail.
Wei Mingyan arrived at the bamboo forest with someone in his arms.
He put the little girl down and took out a pair of shoes that had been put away before.
This was a pair of small leather shoes, which were very red and bright. With a glance, you would know it was in a style that little girls liked.
The handsome Taoist priest threw the shoes to Zhong Hua, “Burn them.”
The young man quickly took them, rekindled the fire, and threw the shoes inside. The shoes were leather and smelly. He was choking and coughing, it made Xi Liu looked back at him in worry.
“You know what to do, right?”
Wei Mingyan ignored the bitter-faced Zhong Hua, leaning against a bamboo. He slightly lowered his eyes and looked at the little girl.” You’ve learned a lot around Wang Jinchuan. Things about lying to people too, right?”
Xi Liu’s white face showed some affirmation. She nodded and spoke in childish voice, “Xi Liu can lie.”
“Good girl.”
The Daoist priest leaned down slightly, shook the bell and watched the choke marks on the girl’s neck fade away and turned white again, before revealing a light smile.
He touched the girl’s head and warmly advised, “Don’t cry later and let Grandpa go in peace, okay?”
As soon as she heard ‘Grandpa’, Xi Liu’s eyes began to tear up. She tried to blink to hide her tears, choking her immature voice and whispering, “I won’t cry. I want to make Grandpa happy.”
“Good.”
Wei Mingyan straightened up and glanced at the little girl’s feet. Now, there was a pair of red leather shoes with two rabbit ears made of fake fur, cute and lovely.
Zhong Hua helped Xi Liu trim her hair earlier. Now, she was wearing a Mickey Mouse patterned dress, with red shoes under her feet, her hair neat and tidy, her complexion white, and her eyes a little watery from the tears she just had.
Xi Liu flashed a smile at the handsome Daoist master, sweetly, as if he had lived in a honey jar since childhood and was brought pampered.
Zhong Hua came over. She came forward, took him by the hand, raised her little face, smiled and said, “Brother, let’s go find Grandpa.”
“He must have missed me.”
“Okay, brother will take you to Grandpa.” The young man’s eyes were a little red, but he tried to squeeze out a smile. He held the hand of the little sister who he had watched since childhood, and walked slowly in the opposite direction.
Someone on the road saw them, and greeted them, “Huahua is back? You’re a big manager now, your future is really bright!”
Zhong Hua smiled and answered a few words, then said goodbye and continued on his way.
The two villagers that were carrying hoes were a little puzzled, they saw that he walked away while holding something in his hand.
Wasn’t his hand empty?
The old man was waiting in front of his house when he saw two people coming along the path. He stood up with a stiff body and looked forward.
“Grandpa!!!”
The crisp voice of the little girl sounded, and then a small figure rushed over. The old man’s thinking was a little slow now, so before he could react, a little girl squeezed into his arms.
The little girl hugged him and acted so coquettish that his heart softened, and his eyes were full of relief.
“Grandpa, I miss you so much. I miss you so much every day …”
The old man’s hands trembled and patted his granddaughter on the back. He opened his mouth to speak, but he was a little slurred because of his stiff tongue.” Grandpa … also … misses Xi Liu …”
He didn’t notice that something was wrong with him, while Xi Liu and Zhong Hua noticed but pretended they didn’t.
Zhong Hua closed his eyes, hid the sadness in his eyes, and came over with a smile.” Grandpa Gen, I met Xi Liu on the road and brought her back. You see, I haven’t even bought the food yet.”
“It’s all right… all right…” The old man waved his hands, his expression was full of pure joy. He paused for a moment, he looked hesitantly at the path behind the two, “Who … sent Xi Liu back?”
Zhong Hua was stunned, he couldn’t figure out how to answer. The little girl who acted coquettish in the old man’s arms spoke first, “It’s Mom and Dad. They went to the county to run errands first. We just happened to meet Older Brother, so they asked him to bring me here.”
The old man nodded and asked, “Xi Liu, how are your parents treating you?”
“They are good. Mom and Dad said they love Xi Liu. They buy me a lot of food and toys, and they also bought me new clothes. Grandpa, do you think my shoes look good?”
As if showing off, the little girl stretched out her feet and showed the old man the red shoes she was wearing. In fact, the old man’s vision was a little blurred, but he smiled and nodded happily as he looked at the blur of red.
“Looks good … looks good, our Xi Liu looks good in everything.”
His brain was half-stiff, and he had no idea why the granddaughter in front of him was still as tall as when she had left a few years ago. He just happily took her by the hand and asked.
“Xi Liu, did your parents send you to school?”
“Yes. All the children at school liked me, saying that I was pretty and liked to play with me. The teacher liked me best. Every meal time, they would give me chicken drumsticks…”
The little girl’s childish voice was crisp and full of happiness.” I also made a lot of friends and have a lot of picture books. Grandpa, listen, Mom and Dad take me to the playground every week, and we play a lot…”
“So, is Xi Liu happy?”
“Of course I’m happy, Grandpa. My parents are very kind to me. When I first arrived, I couldn’t sleep, so they came to sleep with me. They never let me go out alone at night. They always stayed with me, always talked to me, and let me watch TV. Grandpa, look, do you see the Mickey Mouse on me? Does it pretty?”
The old man smiled happily, “Pretty, very pretty…”
He stroked his granddaughter’s hair in front of him and asked, “Didn’t your Mom and Dad buy a ribbon for you?”
Xi Liu paused, smiled and said, “Yes, but I forgot to wear it. I’m wearing the one you bought for me before, grandpa, I would never throw it away.”
The smile on the old man’s purple face hasn’t come down since his granddaughter came back. He carefully and stiffly took out the cloth from his pocket and opened it carefully, revealing all kinds of beautiful ribbons inside.
“You see, Grandpa bought this for you. I don’t know if you like it. There’s a Mickey Mouse one in it. Grandpa remembered that our Xi Liu likes Mickey Mouse the most…”
He reached out to take out the Mickey Mouse ribbon alone, his hand fell on it but it was all a foggy mess in front of him, and he couldn’t see anything.
Xi Liu looked at the old man in front of her, who’s eyes had begun to turn white. She quickly blinked her eyes to hide the tears. She picked up the Mickey Mouse ribbon and wore it on her head.
She asked, “Grandpa, do I look good?”
The old man looked up slowly. His eyes already had a white layer, like the eyes of the deceased.
He could no longer see it, but he still smiled slowly and stiffly.” It looks good, when Grandpa bought it, I felt Xi Liu would certainly look good.”
The tears in the little girl’s eyes could no longer be held back. She pursed her lips to suppress her sobs and burrowed into her grandfather’s arms.
Her voice was sweet, full of pampering, “How come Grandpa says everything looks good when I ask! You must be coaxing me!”
“No, Xi Liu is really pretty. Grandpa won’t lie to you.”
The old man was smiling, but his head was sunken.
He whispered, “Xi Liu, Grandpa is a little sleepy. I’ll go lie down for a while, okay?”
“I’ll help you Grandpa.”
“Xi Liu has grown up. So understanding, Xi Liu ah, grandpa wants to hear you talk about mom and dad …”
“Well… Dad is very tall, very strong, can protect us, and his eyes are very bright. He always calls me a good girl. Mom is very pretty, very kind to me …”
Wei Mingyan, leaning on his cane, watched the old man and a young child go in. He walked over, and went in, too.
“Xi Liu. Grandpa… grandpa will go to bed first, you go outside and eat some candy ah…”
When the old man on the bed heard the movement, he reluctantly let go of his granddaughter’s little hand and let her leave first.
The handsome Daoist watched the young girl go out, sat on the edge of the bed and said, “Xi Liu is gone, do you have anything to say to me?”
“I… I remember.” The old man lying on the bed smiled bitterly and said in a hoarse voice, “I rolled down the cliff with firewood on my back. It was so high… I wouldn’t survive …”
“You asked me what was under the cliff…”
“Under there, there really was a creek, lots of pretty rocks, and little birds landing on me and chirping …”
Wei Mingyan, leaning on the cane and rubbing the wood in the palm of his hand, whispered, “You thought of your granddaughter, whom you haven’t seen since you sent her away. you wanted to see her, so, you got back up.”
“Yes, yes ah …”
The old man spoke with a wry smile, “I couldn’t be at ease. My Xi Liu, was so small, so well behaved. I couldn’t feel at ease …”
“Master…” He had begun to turn stiff and couldn’t move anything except his mouth, so he could only lie rigidly on the bed, looking at the ceiling with his completely white eyes.
“Can you… Help me calculate one last time. Figure out how Xi Liu, would live in the future, and whether she would be happy or not …”
He couldn’t see, and naturally he didn’t know when Wei Mingyan took out his tortoise shell, threw it on the bed, but didn’t look at the result.
The handsome Daoist’s magnetic and pleasant voice faintly said, “Her life is peaceful and smooth, her parents love her, her husband is considerate, and her children and grandchildren are filial …”
The old man on the bed smiled, “Good, good …”
Wei Mingyan sat by the bed, watching a soul come out. Without obsession, it went to reincarnation with peace of mind.
“Grandpa!!!”
The little girl, who had been holding back, finally couldn’t help it and burst into tears.
She stumbled to the bedside, holding the old man’s hand, crying with tears all over her face.
“Just cry. After a good cry, go get your body back and bury it with him.”
One hand gently touched her head. The little girl sobbed and looked at the handsome Daoist in front of her with red and swollen eyes, “Where will Grandpa go? Will it be like Uncle too?”
Wei Mingyan looked at the old man who died with a smile on his bed and whispered.
“Heaven.”
