Zhou Heng stretched his hand out to pat Grandma’s back. Grandma’s expression slowly became normal, and at this moment, there was a sound of someone’s phone ringing that rang out in the air; it was Zhou Heng’s phone.
Zhou Heng placed the blanket over Grandma’s legs before standing up to pick up the call. “Hello…”
Grandma took in a breath of fresh air. She felt so much better, and there was a bodyguard standing beside her. She said, “I am thirsty, help me get a bottle of water from the car.”
“Yes, Old Madam.” The bodyguard turned around to head towards the car.
At this moment, Yue Wanqing held two bags in her hands and walked out from the supermarket. She did not see Grandma and went around a corner.
Grandma was looking at this busy street at the time. Suddenly, she turned her line of vision back. She did not know why she turned. It was as if there was something in the air that told her to do so, and she saw Yue Wanqing’s back profile.
Grandma felt her heart skip a beat. Her dry, clouded eyes were filled with tears instantly.
Yue Wanqing turned at the bend and left. Grandma felt as if she were entrenched. She placed both of her dry, bony hands on the wheelchair and pushed it quickly, chasing behind Yue Wanqing.
Yue Wanqing made a turn. At that moment. It was a green light, and she walked onto the pedestrian crossing to cross the road.
She came to the other side of the road and headed in the direction of the Ning family villa.
She did not know because she did not turn her head back. There was an old grandmother following behind her. Passerbys all turned their heads to look. They did not know why this old grandma was shedding tears all the way there.
40 years have passed. In Grandma’s mind, she still remembered Dou Dou to be the way she looked like when she was eight years old. A person looked extremely different at 8 and 48 years old, and maybe Grandma did not know what Dou Dou would look like one day. She did not know if there was a day where Dou Dou would stand before her and be unable to recognize her.
But at this moment, her heart felt as if it had been stabbed by a knife. Blood was thicker than water. The person that she had been searching in the seas of people for 40 years… There was a voice telling her to follow the person in front of her, and do not let this person get lost once again.
She was in her 30s when she had this daughter. Those eight happy years were so short. Everyone said that children were sins from a person’s previous life. They would come back in this life to ask the parents to repay their debts, but it was not the case. How could the eight happy years pay for the 40 years of pain and struggle. She has spent all of her life for this daughter, and now, she was reaching the end of her time on earth.
Zhou Heng hung up and turned his head back. He froze entirely. The phone in his hand fell onto the floor with a loud thud. “Xiao Hui…”
At this moment, the bodyguard took the cup of water in his hands, and also came out of the car. He saw Old Madam had disappeared, and he was entirely flabbergasted.
Zhou Heng bellowed out loudly. He was also at a loss for what to do so, “What are you frozen there for? Go and search for her quickly. If you are unable to find her, all of you will be dead!”
Yue Wanqing walked onto the grass patch of the villa. She stood before the large doors of the villa as she took her keys out. She wanted to open the door. At this moment, the door opened by itself instead. Ning Zhenguo stood inside the villa, smiled, and said, “Wanqing, you are back!”
Yue Wanqing was shocked. “Zhenguo, you didn’t go to the office today?”
Ning Zhenguo took the bags in Yue Wanqing’s hands. “I went, but when you called me, I was driving home. I heard Qingqing say that you were unable to look for the person. I was afraid that you would be upset, so I came back quickly to comfort you.”
There was a blissful and satisfied smile on the corners of Yue Wanqing’s lips. She sighed and said, “I am a bit upset, but it is not serious. You all don’t have to treat it as a big issue. Let’s go, let’s go home. I will cook dinner for you tonight.”
“Okay.” Ning Zhenguo nodded his head and held Yue Wanqing’s hand as he brought her through the door.
Yue Wanqing stepped over the door with one leg, and suddenly heard Ning Zhenguo say with surprise in his voice, “Eh, Wanqing, who is this grandma?”
Yue Wanqing heard his words and turned back, and it was only then that she saw Grandma.
The grandma’s white hair was messed up in the wind. She had just wiped the tears on her face, there was no trace of tears on her face, but the elderly person’s sunken eyes were full of red blood vessels, and she was staring at Yue Wanqing.
Yue Wanqing was 48 years old this year. She did not have money to take care of herself, but she still looked youthful, and had a quiet aura. She looked pure and beautiful, and Ning Qing had inherited her good looks.
The years had been extra forgiving on Yue Wanqing. Her 48 years made Yun Wanqing seem like a small flower on the side of the river stream in the River South.
Grandma looked at her facial features. Her features still resembled what she looked like when she was young, but she had changed too much. Grandma felt as if she was unable to recognize her anymore.
But Grandma knew. She knew already…
Yue Wanqing looked at Grandma. Maybe it was the image of Grandma looking pitiful on a wheelchair in the midst of a cold winter day that made her heart feel bad. Her entire heart ached. She went forward, and with a bright smile on her face, she said, “Grandma, who are you? Why are you here? This is my home.”
Grandma heard her voice. It sounded really pleasant. She replied in a daze and tried hard to tug at the corners of her lips up. She looked for her voice, but she did not know what she was saying. “I….I followed you here. I, I….”
“Grandma, did you get separated from your family members so you followed me here? Then do you remember your family member’s contact number? I will help you contact them.”
Grandma shook her head quickly, “I don’t remember…. I don’t remember anymore…”
She did not want to go anywhere other than here. She did not want to go anywhere else.
Ning Zhenguo felt that the elderly person looked pitiful and said, “Wanqing, since Grandma has been separated from her family members, and it is also late now, why not allow her to stay overnight in our house for a night? I will report it to the police tomorrow morning, and let’s see who will come forward to identify her.”
Yue Wanqing agreed. She bent her body down and held grandma’s hand. “Grandma, you can stay here in my house for the night. I will let my husband help you search for your family tomorrow.”
“Okay, okay.” Grandma nodded her head as she held onto Yun Wanqing’s hand.
After that, Grandma finally entered the main doors of the villa.
Yue Wanqing made a table full of dishes, and the trio sat around the dining table to eat.
Yue Wanqing sat beside grandma. She used her chopsticks to take a chicken thigh and place it into grandma’s bowl. “Grandma, I boiled this black chicken for a long time. It tastes good, you should eat more.”
Grandma nodded her head in response. She had a bite of the chicken thigh. The wrinkles on her face were all spread out as she smiled happily. Grandma squinted her eyes as she smiled. “Yeah, it really tastes very good.”
Yue Wanqing took another bowl of soup for Grandma.
At this moment Ning Zhenguo asked, “Wanqing, how was the situation when you all went to Sunshine Orphanage yesterday? It was unclear on the phone. Can you tell me what happened exactly?”
“Sunshine Orphanage?” Grandma listened on and froze. She turned her gaze sideways to look at Yue Wanqing. “Yesterday, you also went to Sunshine Orphanage?”
“Yeah.” Yue Wanqing nodded her head and said, “I ended up in an orphanage when I was eight years old. After that, my mother picked me to enter the Ning family to raise me as her daughter-in-law.”
Grandma chewed her rice, and her cheeks froze. Her hands that were holding chopsticks were shaking. She controlled herself and ensured that tears in her eyes did not trickle down.
Her Dou Dou, the only daughter of the world renowned of the king of wineries. She was actually born with a golden spoon in her mouth. Her Dou Dou should be revered by many in the world, and she had a bright future waiting for her.
But, but her Dou Dou was actually raised as someone else’s daughter-in-law when she was only eight years old… She was so young then…
How could Grandma not feel bad?
Yue Wanqing lifted her gaze to look at her house. There was a grateful smile on her face. “Since the day I came into this home, my mother-in-law was also my mother. She treated me just like her own daughter. She personally taught me how to read and sent me to university. After I graduated from university, I married my husband…”
As she spoke, Yue Wanqing and Ning Zhenguo looked at each other and broke into a smile. “Although I was an orphan, the Ning family gave me everything any other kid would have. Now, looking back on things, although there were difficulties on the way, I now feel very fulfilled and satisfied…”
Yue Wanqing really felt very accomplished. She had a daughter, she had a grandson, and there was a lover that would accompany her till she got old. She was happy that she did not leave the main doors of the Ning family. It would be much more exciting if she did so, but she already felt satisfied and happy, and she was absolutely grateful.
Grandma turned her head sideways. She secretly wiped away her tears. With a laugh, she said,, “…Wanqing…do you have pictures of yourself when you were young? Can you let…Grandma have a look?”
After dinner, Yun Wanqing and Grandma went to the room upstairs. Yue Wanqing carried a book out and said, “Grandma, you can have a look. I have many pictures of myself when I was young.”
Grandma opened the photobook, and she had a careful look at each page, her hands shook as she touched the photos of Yue Wanqing when she was 8 years old, and tears covered her face.
Her eyes, and her tiny lips with his features — it was really her Dou Dou.
Grandma wiped her tears as she nodded her head. “At that time, photography was not in fashion. It was only wealthy families who would go to take photographs. It looks like the grandmother in the Ning family was really nice to you.”
There were many pictures of Grandma Ning carrying Yue Wanqing. As a mother, even with a side profile and a back profile, Grandma could feel that Grandma Ning really pampered Yue Wanqing.
“That’s right.” Yue Wanqing nodded her head, “There are some times that I would think, because I was an orphan, that was why Heavens gave me such a good mother as compensation.”
Grandma nodded her head, and she held Yue Wanqing’s hands as she said, “That’s right, Grandma Ning was so good towards you. We will compensate her in the future.”
“Compensate?” Yue Wanqing did not understand.
“Oh, I was saying, Grandma Ning treated you so well, you must have treated her well also, so it can be treated as compensation….” Grandma changed the subject and said, “Wanqing, you said that you gave birth to a daughter. Where is she now, how come she is not living with you? Do you have a photo of her. Grandma wants to have a look.”
Speaking about her daughter, Yue Wanqing had a sweet smile on her face. She took her phone out of her pocket and showed the photos inside her phone to Grandma. “My daughter is called Ning Qing. She is the biggest pride in my life, Grandma. You can have a look; this is my daughter.”
Grandma looked at the girl in the photo as she froze. In disbelief, she said, “This… is your daughter?”
“That’s right.” Yue Wanqing started talking non stop and said, “My daughter married three years ago. My son in law is Lu Shaoming… Grandma probably doesn’t know who Lu Shaoming is, but I trust and am very satisfied with this son-in-law of mine. Yeah, they gave birth to a chubby baby son last year. Grandma you can have a look. This is my grandson, Lu Qinwen. Do you think he is cute or not?”
Grandma felt the miracle of fate in this world. Lu Shaoming! Lu Shaoming; how could she not know who Lu Shaoming was?
When Lu Shaoming was just born. She carried him in her hands as she played around with him. These few years, he was very close with Zhou Dayuan. In her eyes, Shaoming and Dayuan were her grandsons.
In her home, although she did not get out of the main doors, she also heard people mention about both Lu Shaoming and that Mrs. Lu of his. She heard that Mrs. Lu did not gain Song Yajing’s favour in the beginning and went through many diffculties…..