Mi Yang stopped there for a while before slowly walking back along the path.
Mi Zehai and Cheng Qing were not in the room. They probably went out to discuss the items given by Mi Hong. Mi Yang lay back and thought for a while. He was not surprised by the cold attitude of this grandfather. In the past years, his personality was more eccentric than it is now. However, Mi Hong gave all the things to Mi Zehai, which made Mi Yang feel uneasy.
It's like a traveler who has packed his luggage, arranged everything and is ready to go on a long journey, with no intention of returning.
Mi Yang thought for a while, and because of the fatigue from the bumpy train journey, he fell asleep unknowingly.
Mi Yang stayed with his parents in Shanhai Town temporarily. Cheng Qing only had time to take him to see Old Lady Cheng. Before she could say a few words, she had to go back: "Mom, I'll go first. My father-in-law is taking care of him alone. There's no one at home to cook."
Old Mrs. Cheng filled a bag with fresh vegetables and brought two pigeons to her. She asked in a low voice, "Are you sick again?"
Cheng Qing frowned and said, "It has never healed. It looks more serious this time. I haven't been able to get out of bed and walk for the past two days since I came back."
Old Mrs. Cheng sighed and said, "I went to see her a few days ago, and your father-in-law helped her walk around the yard for a while. For an old person, once he lies down, it's hard for him to get up again."
Cheng Qing took the things and was about to go back. Mi Yang suddenly stopped and looked up and asked, "Grandma, can I make a long-distance call from the phone at home? I want to make a call."
Old Madam Cheng nodded and said, "Sure, just add a zero in front. Come here, little darling, I'll take you there. Who do you want to call?"
Mi Yang followed and said, "Give me a friend, Bai Luochuan, who came to our house last time and ate half a pot of fried cakes."
Old Mrs. Cheng laughed and said, "Oh, it's him, I remember him!"
Cheng Qing was in a hurry to leave. She glanced at the time and said to Mi Yang, "Yangyang, mom is leaving first. You can go back to grandma's house by yourself after you make the call. If you don't remember the way, let grandma take you here, okay?"
Mi Yang nodded and said, "I remember the way. Follow the gravel road in front of the door and turn right at the end."
Cheng Qing said: "Yes, don't play too late."
Mi Yang responded, sent Cheng Qing away, and went back to Cheng's living room to make a phone call.
Old Mrs. Cheng cleans the house very carefully and takes special care of everything. She likes to cover them with something. Not only is there a layer of gauze covering the sofa, but there is also gauze on the TV and lampshades. Even the phone is wiped clean and the desktop phone is covered with a plain and beautiful handkerchief.
She opened her handkerchief, pushed the phone to Mi Yang, and said, "Do you know how to dial? Grandma will help you."
Mi Yang said: "Yes."
He had memorized Bai Luochuan's phone number by heart, but he needed to transfer another line when he dialed the military. When they asked, he reported the number and Bai Luochuan's internal number. This time, the call went through quickly. It was picked up after two rings. As soon as the other party said "Hello", he heard that it was Mi Yang's voice and immediately said, "Hey! Yangyang, you called, wait, don't hang up, wait..."
Mi Yang recognized the voice of Aunt Wu, the Bai family's nanny, and heard her calling for someone to come down. After a while, he heard footsteps and a child's panting voice: "Hello, Mi Yang?"
Mi Yang rubbed the tip of his nose and smiled, "It's me."
The voice on the other end quickly rose in a proud tone: "I knew you would call me! Have you arrived? How is grandma? When will you be back?"
Mi Yang patiently answered the other party's rapid-fire questions, but hesitated a little when it came to the last question, and said, "Maybe it will take some time."
Bai Luochuan asked: "How many days will that take?"
Mi Yang hesitated for a while and said to him: "I may not be able to go back for a long time. My grandma is very ill. My mother said today that she would ask for a long leave for me."
Bai Luochuan asked, "School, aren't you coming either?"
Mi Yang said nothing.
Bai Luochuan was silent for a while, but he still tried to speak in a gentler tone: "It's okay, I'll wait for you, no matter how long it takes."
The two chatted for a while. Although Old Lady Cheng doted on him, Mi Yang also remembered that long-distance calls were very expensive at that time. After a brief conversation, he hung up.
Bai Luochuan said, "Wait! This number is yours, right? I can find you by calling this?"
Mi Yang said: "This is my grandma's house, you can remember it, but I am usually at my grandma's house, there is no phone there, so I will come every Wednesday and call you when you get out of school, okay?"
Bai Luochuan had been quite depressed until he heard him say that. He then became slightly happier and said, "Okay, then it's a deal. You must come on Wednesday."
Mi Yang originally thought that he could just stay in Shanhai Town for a short period of time, but his grandmother's condition was getting better and worse. When it was at its worst, Cheng Qing secretly prepared clothes for her funeral. This happened several times, and scared the young couple Mi Zehai and Cheng Qing so much that they cried twice. Mi Zehai was serving by the bed and couldn't leave, and Cheng Qing was unwilling to leave because she had to take care of her husband and parents-in-law. She felt relieved to have the child by her side, so she had to ask Mi Yang for a long vacation and take care of him together.
Bai Luochuan soon learned about Mi Yang's leave.
At that time, they had called each other several times on Wednesdays. Although Bai Luochuan didn't say it, he could feel that he was counting the days with his fingers waiting for him to come back. But he never expected that he would wait for another long vacation, even until the summer vacation, and would not come back to school for half a year.
When they called each other the next Wednesday, Bai Luochuan was in a bad mood.
He lowered his voice and said to Mi Yang: "I'm sick."
Mi Yang felt guilty, but he could only whisper, "I'm sorry."
Bai Luochuan originally wanted to be nicer to Mi Yang, even nicer, so that he would come back soon and not leave.
But he found that his wishful thinking was of no use.
He also knew in his heart that Mi Yang would definitely take a long vacation this time and stay in Shanhai Town.
Mi Yang coaxed him, "You can come with Grandpa Bai. Grandpa Bai comes to visit his hometown every year. You can follow him this year. I will stay here and not go anywhere. When you come, I will pick you up at the station, okay?"
Bai Luochuan was silent for a while, then suddenly said, "You don't want to come back at all."
He hung up after he finished speaking.
Mi Yang called again but he didn't answer, it was obvious that he was angry.
Mi Yang called several times, but seeing there was no hope, he could only hang up the phone, sighed, and go back to his grandmother's house.