"How would I do that, silly? I didn't even have your father back then! Here, I'll keep your money for you first. Of course, this is not all for you, it's also for your marriage. I might not be able to supervise you by then so you have to be wise about this money, okay?" she warned jokingly.
I nodded obediently. "Whatever you say, Granny."
"There you are!" a voice called, not far away from where we were.
Granny waved enthusiastically. "Xiao Gao! Are you passing by?"
I turned to him and noticed that when sitting down, I was only half a head shorter than him. I slowly got up and it became evident that he was a head shorter than I was.
"Are you Doctor Gao?" I asked, walking toward him.
He handed me the document he was carrying with a smile. "You must be her grandson. How handsome!"
"Oh, thank you." I forced a smile and looked down at Granny's name in the document file.
He pointed at Granny and said to me, "I'm going to talk to her for a bit."
He walked over to her, tapped her shoulder, and pointed up towards the hospital building. I couldn't hear what they were talking about but after a short while, I heard Granny say, "I'll go up now then, Xiao Gao."
Doctor Gao smiled at my direction as Granny called out, "Remember to come up later, okay? I still have things to tell you."
The doctor walked toward me as soon as Granny strolled back into the hospital.
"What was that about?" I started.
"I managed to coax her back inside so I can talk to you about this," he replied.
"Is her condition very serious?" I asked.
"Are you aware that she's had surgery before?"
I shook my head. "I don't... I didn't know about that."
"Fortunately, she did her surgery in our hospital and we have the records. 17 years ago, she had a slipped disk and it was corrected. Her health had been decent up until six years ago when she was diagnosed with rectum cancer and had to have the affected areas removed. Half a year ago, we saw something in her lungs and we were afraid that there's been a shift. We wanted her to do a scan every two months but she was against it.
"She dragged it on for half a year before she finally started feeling unwell. Her condition became twice as severe than before but because of her age, we could not do a medical puncture to extract the sample. We don't really suggest surgery as well because it carries a high risk and the cancer cell might just continue to grow. Do you understand?"
"I do." I ran a hand over my face. "Tell me what I need to know now."
"She seems fine at the moment, but that's not going to last. We suggest that you spend as much time as you can with her. She might not have much of it left so you have to be prepared."
I nodded, instantly feeling the pressure from work and Granny weighing down on me.
I accompanied Granny over the three free days that I had. We talked and laughed and while I had little memories of when I was young, Granny remembered them well.
Work was very busy but I found time to visit Granny every weekend.
Doctor Gao's words started coming true and Granny's condition gradually worsened.
I couldn't catch up with her deteriorating speed. Fortunately, I managed to get the cards in her pouch to treat her illness.
On the 10th, Granny said in a trembling voice, "My pension will be issued today."
That was her last sentence before she passed away that night.
I was informed the next morning at nine in the morning when Doctor Gao called me with Granny's phone. He offered to help with her funeral arrangements as well.
I declined kindly and applied for half a month's funeral leave before heading down to the hospital.
Two weeks later, after her burial, Doctor Gao handed me a bag.
In it was Granny's items, including the mini pouch.
I wasn't interested in the bank cards. I wanted to find out more about the newspaper cutting.
I couldn't forget the story that she shared with me.
There wasn't any newspaper cutting inside the pouch. Instead, there was a little booklet.
I flipped it open and discovered that it was a telephone directory.
My number was on the first page.
I turned to the last page and saw some crooked words.
It was rather illegible but I was still shocked by her ability to write.
I attempted to decipher her writing.
"I'm sure you're wondering who the priest is, Darling. He's the ancestor of Uncle Wu, my neighbor. I did not get your fortune checked but I did get Uncle Wu to read your father's fortune. He said that your father will earn a different kind of money; he traveled abroad in the end. You can visit him to get yours read. Add a 0 before your birth date and that's the password to the cards. Don't forget."
The cards were mostly empty by now, but of course, she did not know that.
I remembered Uncle Wu but I wasn't really familiar with him since I rarely went home.
I decided to go to Granny's place and visit Uncle Wu the next day or over the weekend.
Since there was no will, the house deed was naturally transferred to my father.
I made a long distance call and Dad made a verbal pact to leave the house to me.
The house was unique because it was allocated by the nation in the past.
Half a courtyard house, or rather, a house split into two units, and Uncle Wu was in the other unit.
I knocked on his door.
The place felt foreign and I could only hope that I did not make a mistake.
A lady answered the door; she looked about my age.
"What is it?" she asked suspiciously.
"I… just got home…" I stuttered.
"Oh, you're Granny's grandson?" she asked in realization.
I nodded.
"You don't have the key, do you? It should be somewhere inside here. I'm Wu Su, your neighbor," she introduced herself.
"Wu Su? Wu? So you know Uncle Wu?" I asked.
With a frown, she answered, "My dad's been dead a long time now."
"I'm so sorry," I quickly apologized, embarrassed.
"Why are you looking for him?"
"You must know my Granny. She wished for me to look for your father to get my fortune read," I said, deciding that it was alright to put this on Granny. She wouldn't blame me.
With a patronizing smile, Wu Su responded, "Your grandmother trusted my dad's bullsh*t? He also said that he could live till 108, but there he was, gone 50 years early. He's full of nonsense."
"A pity her last wish won't be fulfilled. Perhaps she was suffering from dementia and had forgotten that Uncle Wu had passed away a long time ago. I'll just grab the key and go then. I'm sorry to disturb you," I said.
"No problem. Follow me," she said before turning around.