Jiang Qingyi rushed over, supported the old lady, and helped her hold the umbrella, her words choked with sobs.
"It'll be good when you come back, it'll be good when you come back."
The dry palm patted the back of Jiang Qingyi's hand. The old lady's kind eyes were full of smiles, and then she looked at Xiao Yi and Xiao Xiao.
"Grandma, this is Xiao Yi, he, he is..."
After hesitating for a long time, Jiang Qingyi was too embarrassed to speak out, but Xiao Yi took over the topic and spoke frankly.
"Grandma, my name is Xiao Yi, I am Qingyi's boyfriend, and this is Xiaoxiao, my sister."
The old lady was not surprised when she heard the word boyfriend. She just looked Xiao Yi up and down with her eyes and then said it after a while.
"Okay, okay~"
"Grandma, it's cold outside, let's go back quickly."
He and his senior sister supported the old lady, and the group headed home through the wind and snow.
………
Grandma's house is not big, and the yard is also very small.
There are two wing rooms on the left and right and a utility room for storing sundries. The house is old and has rusted in many places. There is a small vegetable patch in the back of the yard, but it is already covered by heavy snow.
"Have you had dinner?"
Jiang Qingyi shook her head.
"Grandma, we have been driving all day and we haven't eaten yet."
"Okay, then you clean up the house for Xiaoyi and Xiaoxiao, and I'll make some noodles for you."
As she spoke, grandma walked towards the kitchen with her body hunched over.
The kitchen is a kind of earth-built kitchen. There is no gas stove or coal stove in the small kitchen. There is only a stove made of piled adobe. Firewood is needed for cooking and lighting a fire.
"Grandma, let me help you light the fire."
With a grin on his face, Xiao Yi ran to the stove to fill the firewood without hesitation.
As the grandson-in-law who comes to visit, Xiao Yi still has some foresight.
Besides, the old lady is very old, how could Xiao Yi bear to let her work alone.
"It's okay, it's okay. The kitchen is messy, so be careful of getting your clothes dirty."
“It’s not as convenient to cook in the countryside as in the city.”
The old lady looked at Xiao Yi, with a smile in her cloudy eyes.
"Grandma, don't underestimate me. I was good at making fires when I was a kid. That means there are no sweet potatoes now, otherwise I would definitely put two sweet potatoes into the stove. The one that comes out will be more fragrant."
As he spoke, Xiao Yi had skillfully folded a few dead branches and a handful of hay and stuffed them into the hall and lit them with matches.
After a while, a puff of fire smoke came out from the stove. Xiao Yi choked, coughed twice subconsciously, touched his nose with his hand and smiled awkwardly.
"Haha, I haven't sat in the hall for a long time, and I suddenly feel a little uncomfortable."
The old lady squinted her eyes and looked at the black ash on Xiao Yi's nose. She nodded happily and stopped chasing Xiao Yi away.
Although grandma is eighty years old, her hands and feet are very flexible. She can add water and do it in one go, but her movements are very slow and careful.
While the fire was burning, a gray little native dog smelled the fragrance and ran into the kitchen. First he barked at grandma twice, and then he stopped at Xiao Yi's feet, circling around, seeming to look at this.
New guests I've never seen before.
Then he lay down comfortably on the pile of firewood.
"Ami~"
Grandma called out.
A few seconds later, Jiang Qingyi walked in. She looked at Xiao Yi, who was sitting in the pot door with a disgraced face, covering her mouth and snickering.
This was the first time she saw Xiao Yi being so down-to-earth.
"Ami, go get some eggs."
Grandma spoke slowly and softly, but her accent was very pleasant to the ears.
"Okay grandma."
After a while, three bowls of steaming egg noodles were served on the table.
The little native dog lay quietly under the table without barking, waiting for its owner to feed it.
This is the good thing about rural native dogs.
obedient.
He won't eat food that doesn't fall to the floor, and he won't jump on the table to grab food from the owner.
While we were eating around the fire, grandma came out from the back room with two new quilts in her arms. Seeing this, Xiao Yi hurriedly put down her chopsticks and walked over: "Grandma, let me do it."
"No, no, no, just eat quickly. It's cold and you'll feel warm after eating."
Grandma smiled with squinted eyes, and the wrinkles on her brows relaxed. From the texture between her eyebrows, Xiao Yi could tell that grandma must have been a famous beauty in the countryside when she was young. Otherwise, it would be impossible for Jiang Qingyi to inherit such excellent genes.
.
After eating, Xiao Yi sat alone on the wooden bed in the wing room in a daze, while Xiao Xiao walked around the small room.
The senior sister and her grandmother went to the back room to talk.
Jiang Qingyi and her grandmother haven't seen each other for several years, so they must have a lot to say.
"Brother, grandma's house is so shabby."
Looking at the dusty desk lamp, I muttered a little.
"Yeah, it's a bit broken."
With a long sigh, Xiao Yi looked at the snow-covered vegetable garden behind the small window and sighed.
However, although the house is very dilapidated, it is very clean, except that some of the furniture is a little yellowed.
"Brother, let's go buy something tomorrow?"
In such a hurry on the way, Xiao Yi didn't prepare any gifts. The most important thing was that Jiang Qingyi didn't allow it.
She said that grandma is so old and doesn’t need anything. She is very satisfied just being able to see people.
"good."
"Tomorrow happens to be New Year's Eve, so let's go to town to prepare some New Year's goods."
About half an hour later, Jiang Qingyi walked in, her eyes slightly red, she must have just cried.
Xiao Yi stepped forward and hugged her, saying softly: "Where is grandma?"
"I've already gone to bed. Old people go to bed earlier."
………
Xiao Yi slept peacefully that night.
From time to time you can hear the sound of snow falling from the eaves to the ground.
Before dawn the next day, Xiao Yi got up quickly.
By this time, the heavy snow had stopped, and the world was covered with snow.
The front house and backyard were filled with two feet of snow.
Xiao Yi first tidied the bed, then found a broom from the kitchen and began to carefully clean up the fallen snow in the yard.
When grandma woke up, she saw through the window a young man in a sweater bending over and working hard to sweep the snow.
She didn't make a sound, she just sat at the table and watched quietly. Then she took the needle and thread beside her and began to mend the clothes carefully.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! After cleaning the entire front room, Xiao Yi straightened up, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then walked to the backyard with a broom.
"Would you like to take a break?"
Jiang Qingyi handed over a bowl of tea and hurriedly reached out to pat the snowflakes on his body, her eyes a little distressed.
"I'm not tired. I've been working for a while and I'm full of strength. After I clean up the backyard, we'll go to town to buy some New Year's goods after dinner. I don't know how to get there yet."
Holding her head high and drinking from the tea bowl, Xiao Yi wiped the water from the corner of her mouth and laughed.
Pursing her lips and saying nothing, Jiang Qingyi watched him walk towards the backyard, rubbed her hands and started waving the broom in her hand, the tenderness in her eyes gradually settling.
The back of the yard is not big, so Xiao Yi cleared the snow in about half an hour.
If the snow is not cleared away and the road is slippery, the elderly can easily fall if they are not careful.
For their age, once they fall down, it means they are almost done.
This small mountain village should be my senior's last spiritual haven besides that apartment.
Xiao Yi naturally doesn't want this to happen.
On the way, the gray little local dog even ran over to keep Xiao Yi company.
Back at the house, Jiang Qingyi was cooking in the kitchen, and Xiaoxiao was lighting the fire at the pot door.
The senior sister's gentle oval face was flushed by the firelight on the stove, her slightly naturally curved hair was tied into a bunch, her peach-blossom eyes were filled with water from the smoke, and from time to time she lightly covered her mouth and coughed.
Seeing Xiao Yi looking over, Jiang Qingyi smiled lightly.
Very strange feeling.
It had been a long time since he had gone home, but there was an inexplicable sense of warmth lingering in Jiang Qingyi's heart.
The thing that concerned her the most was Xiao Yi. He didn't mind the shabby life at home at all. Instead, he quickly adapted to it, and she seemed to like him very much.
"What are we going to eat? I can smell the aroma from so far away."
Xiao Yi leaned closer and naughtily smelled the senior sister's hair, Xiao Yi said with a smile.
"Pancakes, and some porridge."
While the two were talking, grandma was sitting in the small courtyard, basking in the sun. It was rare that the snow stopped, but there was little light in the Sichuan and Chongqing areas. Grandma just sat quietly, with the little native dog lying on her lap.
Take a nap on top.
During breakfast, grandma was still sitting in the yard and shouted Xiaoxiao.
"Grandma is eating!"
"You guys eat first."
Looking back, grandma smiled kindly.
"Why should we eat first? Grandma won't eat with us? It'll be cold after a while."
The little girl took a sip of the porridge and felt puzzled, while Xiao Yi patted her head, feeling annoyed.
"Eat your food!"
It is indeed a custom in some places that the guests finish eating first, and then the woman can eat.
Xiao Yi can do nothing about this bullshit bad habit.
It's not that he doesn't want grandma to serve the table together, it's just that he doesn't think it's necessary.
If you stick to yourself all your life, why break it?
Besides, there are many good intentions, and there is no need to show them here.
The elderly have been accustomed to it all their lives, so it is best to follow the local customs.
After dinner, Jiang Qingyi took Xiaoyi and Xiaoxiao to the town to buy new year goods.
Grandma followed behind with her native dog to see her off.
Grandma didn't stop until she reached the old locust tree at the entrance of the village.
Crouching and watching Jiang Qingyi and the others go away, grandma walked back slowly with a smile in her eyes.
At this time, the entire small mountain village was already full of smoke.
Fireworks were set off in every house, and grandma turned a corner and entered a house.
The native dog started chasing the house cat at the door.