With the door open, the sound of cicadas chirping outside can be heard.
Zhang Cuilan looked at the items in the box, her eyes full of nostalgia.
She has lived a satisfying life.
Born in the north, he dropped out of school early because of the poverty of his family. When he was eighteen, he met his partner in a factory. The wedding was held a year after they met.
In an era when parents ordered marriages to be arranged, her marriage was one of the few people who could control it themselves.
The days after marriage were very sweet, and soon I became pregnant.
However, there were unforeseen circumstances, and the good luck in the first half of my life probably ran out from this point on.
Due to an accident, the child was not saved. Perhaps the accident caused fatal damage to the body. From then on, Zhang Cuilan has never been pregnant again.
In that era, it was considered a sin to have no offspring.
Her husband was privately persuaded by relatives and friends to find another one, as if she had lost the ability to bear children and was like an item that could be discarded at any time.
Even she herself thought so at the time.
I no longer have any expectations for life, so I took the initiative to mention the divorce to my husband after he came home from a tiring day.
What he got was an angry response from the other party.
Zhang Cuilan will never forget the scene in her life when her husband, who has always been kind to others, became furious after learning that she was getting divorced.
Later, in order to avoid other people's gossip, the two of them left the place where they grew up together and traveled to many places, settling in many places in the country.
As time passes, the growth of age begins to put a burden on the body.
Perhaps the hard work in the early years left the root of the disease in her husband. Following a serious illness that could not be cured, Zhang Cuilan was the only one left in this world.
Holding onto the real estate she had worked hard for most of her life, she began to live alone.
She had no hope of living at that time.
He has no children and his wife has passed away.
Just when Zhang Cuilan had no expectations for the future, a mother and daughter moved into an empty house opposite her home.
After a simple exchange, I learned that the mother seemed to be going to the capital to find someone.
With my daughter who is less than two years old and can't even speak clearly.
The mother is full of hope for life, and it seems that after finding that person, her life will be happy again.
It was that hope for life that gradually affected the frustrated Zhang Cuilan. She had no nostalgia for the future and wanted to try to live longer for the first time.
Until... that day the mother came back from the trip.
He didn't show up for two days after returning home.
Zhang Cuilan, sensing something was wrong, chose to call the police. After opening the door, there was nothing strange inside the room.
Until I found the pair of figures on the bed.
The adult was already stiff, and the girl was very weak after not eating for nearly two days.
After picking up the girl from the hospital, Zhang Cuilan tried to contact the other person's family. However, due to the inconvenience of information transmission at that time, after learning that the girl had no other relatives in her hometown, she had already taken care of the other person for a long time.
It was also during that time that she established a special relationship with this child.
Childless Zhang Cuilan was accompanied by relatives for the first time.
There is a feeling that old age brings a son.
Zhang Cuilan finally chose to adopt the girl. After completing all the procedures, she transferred the girl's household registration to her own home.
The surname was changed to that of my deceased wife.
As Zhao Xuanying, she became her granddaughter.
Perhaps in order to cut off the past, Zhang Cuilan unexpectedly gave Zhao Xuanying two years of age at that time. In order to let him grow up better, she sold the real estate she had worked hard for most of her life.
Traveled to many places.
Finally settled in this city.
But after all, she is old, and due to the damage caused to her body after a miscarriage in the early years, until now, her body will feel a knife-like pain every rainy day.
I have raised Zhao Xuanying for sixteen years, and she is about to grow up before my eyes.
But Zhang Cuilan didn't know how long she had to live.
She was worried that after she left, the child who had been clinging to her would not be able to accept the reality until he started to interact with the young man living next door.
Zhang Cuilan has a very good impression of Liu Weicheng.
Although the other party always left early and came home late when he first moved here, and was taciturn and didn't like to talk much, but I don't know since when, the other party seemed to have changed.
Not only did he take the initiative to greet himself, but he also became eloquent and heard stories about the other party from his granddaughter.
Like setting up a fried skewers stall in front of a middle school, and always accompanying her home.
Even after I was hospitalized for heatstroke and ran around, I was able to do things very reliably.
Now that I have taken over the school cafeteria, life has begun to flourish.
The most important thing is that he is not too old.
Although Zhang Cuilan did not interfere too much, she also watched the process of the two getting along.
After observation, it was found that this man named Liu Weicheng was very outstanding among his peers, and his granddaughter also became dependent on him without knowing it.
That silly girl who only knew how to study before, unconsciously began to think about him.
When sharing interesting stories with myself, as long as I talk about Liu Weicheng, there is always a smile in those eyes...
The wooden box contained various items, including pieces of paper that looked like letters, but most of them were missing due to fire.
Liu Weicheng was a little curious about what was in the box.
But before he could ask, Zhang Cuilan, who pulled out the photo from the bottom, closed the wooden box, turned around and sat by the bed.
He raised his hand and stroked the yellowed photo, and continued to talk about it.
"This is the photo of Yingying's mother. This is the only one left..."
After calling the police and entering the house, Zhang Cuilan found the photo and some unburned letters at the bottom of the extinguished basin.
If you put it in a wooden box, it will inevitably be discovered by Zhao Xuanying who is cleaning the room.
Faced with those letters, Zhang Cuilan said that her deceased wife had written them to her before her death, and most of them were burned due to an accident.
That child was so naive that he didn't even have the slightest doubt in the face of such lies.
But from time to time, she would dig it out, find the only photos of her mother, and look at them carefully.
Zhang Cuilan handed the photo over, and Liu Weicheng on the side took it confusedly. The old photo had turned yellow and felt like it could tear with a little force.
Observe carefully and look at the woman in her prime in the photo.
She has a very similar appearance to Zhao Xuanying. The woman in the photo has a faint smile on her face and seems to be full of endless fantasies about the future.
Such a person... what on earth have he experienced before he would choose to abandon his daughter and leave alone.
Liu Weicheng did not know what happened at that time.
Just looking at the photo in my hand, I don't know how long it took before I heard Zhang Cuilan's somewhat hoarse but very clear enunciation of the question.
"If I'm no longer here one day, can you help me take care of Yingying?"
"..."
The tone of his words was very calm. Liu Weicheng looked away from the photo in silence and looked at the old woman sitting by the bed.
Looking at the other party's eyes that were no longer bright, but seemed to penetrate his soul.
"Take care of that child... for the rest of your life."