"He is..." Grandpa didn't dare to recognize the person at all. It would be bad if he admitted the wrong person.
Mu Shaoling walked in in a straight suit, stretched out his hand to wrap his arms around Ruan Bai's waist politely and intimately. This action made Grandpa understand the relationship between the two.
"Are you the Li Zong that my son was talking about?" Grandpa smiled and stood in front of the fire pit and said, "Grandpa has remembered your name a long time ago. Xiaobai's father told me that you have been together for five years.
It’s been more than 10 years, and I’m about to get married now.”
Ruan Bai was very worried that Mu Shaoling would retort, so he quickly interrupted and said, "Grandpa, you look so thin. Are you not used to living in Japan?"
"I'm old, all old people are like this." Grandpa hunched his waist and went to another shabby room with a fire stick.
After searching for a long time, the old man found two small stools, took them out and placed them on the kitchen floor. He called to his grandson-in-law: "Come on, son, sit here. There is no good furniture in the house."
Looking down at the two old wooden stools on the ground, Ruan Bai glanced nervously at Mu Shaoling, worried that he would dislike them and not sit down.
Mu Shaoling, however, considerately considered her grandfather's feelings. He put down his usual bossy airs and sat on the stool without any objection. He also held her hand and said, "Sit down. Let's chat with grandpa for a few words."
Grandpa sat on the small stool that already existed in the kitchen.
"You talk to grandpa, I'll go out to buy some food." Ruan Bai pushed the suitcase aside, then took the money from the bag and glanced at Mu Shaoling worriedly.
Mu Shaoling understood what she was worried about and nodded to reassure her.
"Then I'll go first." Ruan Bai glanced at his grandfather before going out.
After walking through the red brick courtyard and exiting the gate, Ruan Bai looked up and saw many people standing a few meters away from the door.
She could still vaguely remember the names of some neighbors.
In the words of these neighbors, she was the daughter of a "bitch", so she must also be a "bitch" when she grows up. As a person involved, she often heard those gossips after dinner when she was a child.
Ruan Bai walked towards the small shop selling vegetables.
The discussion behind him was much smaller than before, but it was also rich in content.
It was as if the arrival of her and Mu Shaoling had reawakened the old gossip that these people had long forgotten.
"Is this the novice from the old Ruan family?" an aunt pointed at her behind her back and asked others in a low voice.
Someone immediately answered, "She must be. Although her appearance has changed drastically, her appearance is still the same. I recognized her as Xiaobai's child at a glance."
"Tsk, things are different these days. Thirty years in Hedong and thirty years in Hexi. Look at this girl's future. Look at our girl, she can only marry a small policeman in the county."
"Aunt Wang, don't say that. The girl you married is the best among all the girls in our town."
"It's not that good. Her father and I agreed to our daughter's marriage because our son-in-law gave us a gift of 200,000 yuan and bought her father a car worth more than 100,000 yuan. My son-in-law has no merits, except that he is rich!
I hate it!"
Someone stood up to praise Aunt Wang: "Your daughter has really married into a good family. I think this little girl is probably going to be a mistress for that family. Look at this man's car. It's worth several million."
?Maybe it’s the man Xiaobai just hooked up with outside, and he’s eager to bring it back to show off to our fellow townspeople.”
"Then this little Bai is quite vain, with the same shameless virtues as her biological mother who was abducted by a rich man..."
…
Ruan Bai bought vegetables, meat for cooking, ribs, and seasonings at the store.
When I returned, those gossipy ladies were still there.
When she walked through the courtyard and entered the door, she saw Mu Shaoling holding a bowl with leftovers in his hand. He was about to throw it away, but her grandfather stared at the bowl of leftovers reluctantly, obviously trying to stop him.
It's hard to speak.
"Grandpa, eating this bowl of vegetables will not do any good to your body. On the contrary, it will cause harm." After Mu Shaoling finished speaking, he decisively disposed of the bowl of leftovers.
Grandpa sat down silently and did not speak.
Ruan Bai stood at the door carrying something. She couldn't tell what she was feeling, but an indescribable sense of security poured into her heart.
The man was neatly dressed and walking around the kitchen, holding the broken bowl with his slender white fingers. The diamonds inlaid on the expensive watch on his wrist were shining brightly in the dark and dilapidated house. Everything was out of place.
Realizing that she was standing at the door and looking distracted while carrying the dishes, Mu Shaoling put down the old bowl that even had a broken rim, raised his head and asked, "You're back? What did you buy?"
Ruan Bai was touched by his cooperation and did not dislike it.
All the other houses in the town use natural gas, and even the poorest ones use gas tanks. Only the old man is still using the fire pit and burning branches collected from the forest.
Mu Shaoling stayed in the town for a whole year and understood the folk customs of the town.
The conditions in Luojia Town are so limited, all because of the inaction of the previous leadership.
Now that the leadership has changed, the economy here will develop rapidly. This time the government and developers have vigorously jointly developed the town, which also illustrates the future value of Luojia Town.
Mu Shaoling bought a gas tank and the deliveryman installed it in only twenty minutes.
"You go stay with grandpa, and I'll do it." Mu Shaoling walked to the cutting board, worried that she didn't know how to use a gas tank, or that the old kitchen knife was too dull and might accidentally hurt her hand.
"It's okay with me, you go and sit down, otherwise I'll be very sorry to go."
Ruan Bai was very grateful to him and felt guilty, how dare he use him to cook dinner.
Moreover, Ruan Bai was surprised that he could cook?
Mu Shaoling looked at what she was cutting, and then the old man called him over to talk.
Whether it was during her years in the UK or when she was a teenager in a small town, Ruan Bai had cooked. When her grandfather was busy with farm work in the fields when she was a child, she would help pick beans together on Saturdays and Sundays. The sun was going down.
, she ran home and cooked dinner for her grandfather and herself in advance, using firewood to burn it.
Although the food I ate in those years was not very good, it was still enough to fill my stomach.
During the years when she was studying, she had money from her father and money she earned from part-time jobs. At that time, she felt satisfied that she was living in paradise and her cooking skills became even better.
After making the sweet and sour pork ribs, Ruan Bai brought them to the table and glanced over at her grandfather. She saw that her grandfather was smiling so hard that there was only a slit left in his eyes.
Mu Shaoling gestured gracefully, still acting like a big boss as always, but his grandfather listened attentively, not only appreciating his grandson-in-law, but also grateful to God for having the vision to allow his granddaughter to find such an outstanding man.
"Stop talking about grandpa, come over and eat." Ruan Bai put the food on the table and called.
The store sent three high plastic stools, and an old table that could be propped up in the warehouse was also set up. Grandpa is also very embarrassed now, worried that his grandson-in-law will dislike him.
"Li Zong, the small town is not as good as the city. You can make do with it and try Xiaobai's cooking skills." Grandpa raised his chopsticks and gave Mu Shaoling a piece of ribs.
