Fingertip

Chapter 21: old lady

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After having a varied breakfast, Xu Shiqi felt that getting up early today was well worth it.

Before I knew it, it was past 8:30. When I went downstairs, I found that the business of this store was really good, and there were many cars parked outside. However, a wonderful breakfast did not end well. After Wen Jialuo drove the car for a distance, his face suddenly became very ugly.

"What's wrong?" Xu Shiqi asked hurriedly.

Wen Jialuo didn't say anything, frowned, parked the car on the side of the road, then ran to a trash can and squatted down.

Xu Shiqi sighed and guessed that this would be the result. He returned to the car, found a bottle of water, unscrewed it, and handed it to Wen Jialuo, who had already thrown all his breakfast into the trash can.

"Thank you..." Wen Jialuo raised his head, his eyes were watery and his face was still blue.

As fragile as that night. Xu Shiqi leaned over and gently stroked her still trembling back, sighing: "Your stomach is too rough, you can't stand eating too well." Seeing that the girl was still retching and her fingers were cramping, she reached out to grab her. The girl immediately held her hand back, intertwining them, with her fingertips bent and pressed hard against the base of her hand, and their palms inevitably pressed tightly together, feeling cold.

Being pinched was a bit painful, Xu Shiqi couldn't break free, and could only let his five fingers open weakly: "Is it serious? Is your stomach hurting again?"

"… It's okay." Wen Jialuo finally recovered, slowly stood up, and then dragged Xu Shiqi back to the car.

Xu Shiqi sat in the passenger seat and looked at the white spot on the back of her hand where she was pinched. She thought that although she was thin, she was quite strong. She shook her hand and asked, "Are you really okay?"

"I told you it's okay." Wen Jialuo held the steering wheel, stepped on the accelerator, and the car sped away.

Xu Shiqi sat down quickly. Seeing the girl's expression, she knew that she was being disliked for being long-winded, but she still had to say what she had to say: "It's not normal for you to do this."

The girl slowed down, glanced at her, pursed her lips and said nothing.

Well, that's a little confusing. Xu Shiqi adjusted his sitting position: "What I mean is that it's not right for you to suddenly stop eating or to suddenly eat a lot. I suggest you go to the hospital and find out the reason."

"There's no reason," Wen Jialuo said calmly, "I'm just hungry and want to eat. What's wrong with that?"

Xu Shiqi wanted to say that it was wrong, of course it was wrong. She felt that the girl's sudden change had something to do with herself. Of course, she didn't fantasize like she did that night, but she intuitively knew that it was probably related to knowing her secret. Because she suddenly became hungry and it seemed to have happened in the past few days. So Xu Shiqi was helpless, as if she had a responsibility that she shouldn't have.

"No," Xu Shiqi gritted his teeth, "I'll go to the hospital with you, at least to check your stomach."

Wen Jialuo was silent for a while, changed lanes, and turned right at an intersection: "No need to go to the hospital, there will be a doctor coming to the old house to check my grandma's body today."

Xu Shiqi looked at the way home getting farther and farther away, and couldn't help but feel helpless about being held hostage by the girl again: "Do I have to follow you back to your old house?"

"Didn't you say you would accompany me to see the doctor?"

I mean, can I go to the hospital with you? Xu Shiqi was too lazy to say this out loud. Anyway, this girl could be very domineering sometimes, and she had experienced it before.

But why, after she knew about my situation, she still interacted with me as usual, even more than before

When walking on the smooth cobblestones again, Xu Shiqi thought that if she knew she would come here next time, she would wear flat shoes no matter what. But today, the heels of the low boots she wore were very thin and high, which made her look like she was looking for gold when she lowered her head to find the way, and her speed was as slow as a snail.

The girl waited for her in front for a while, then walked back impatiently and pulled her back: "Why are you trying to wear high heels when you have a bad sense of balance?"

Xu Shiqi blushed immediately. She had never been criticized for wearing high heels before, and she was so thin that she would look like she was on stilts. Xu Shiqi tried hard to follow Wen Jialuo's pace, trying to ignore how the girl's hands were firmly holding her.

After studying all the tall evergreen trees on both sides of the road, she immediately shook off the girl's hand when she saw the tall building that looked like a castle in front of her. She felt Wen Jialuo looking back at her, and immediately felt a little guilty, so she had to bite the bullet and lower her head to stand behind the man.

Wen Jialuo stood at the door for a moment before pushing it open and going in.

There were several people sitting in the lobby, talking quietly. When they saw them come in, someone immediately called out in surprise: "Jia Luo, did you just finish breakfast?"

That person was Wen Jialuo's mother, whom Xu Shiqi had met before.

"Yeah." Wen Jialuo responded.

Luo Linyi smiled and asked, "All the food I ordered for you is Cantonese style. How is it?"

"Not bad." Wen Jialuo answered again and pulled Xu Shiqi out from behind him.

"You are..." Luo Linyi looked at her for a few seconds.

"I am Baohua's classmate. I've been here once. Hello, Auntie." Xu Shiqi replied with a smile.

"She accompanied me to have breakfast." Wen Jialuo said, and walked with Xu Shiqi to the sofa, "This is my uncle and aunt, and this is my second uncle and second aunt."

Xu Shiqi followed her gestures and greeted her in a daze, with a stiff smile on her face. Even though she was so close to Baohua, it was only between the two of them. She really didn't expect that the first time she saw Baohua's parents would be here, and she didn't expect that Wen Jialuo would introduce them.

"I remember you." Luo Linyi said at the side. She continued to look at Xu Shiqi, thinking that the reason they met was to help her daughter solve the problem of eating well. She didn't expect that they continued to keep in touch, and even went to have breakfast together today. Did she really cure her daughter's problem? "Jia Luo didn't let me accompany her to eat, it turns out she had a companion. How was the meal?"

"It's very rich," Xu Shiqi smiled, "but Jialuo's stomach is not very good, she needs to be taken care of." This was the first time she called a girl's name without the surname, and surprisingly she didn't feel any discomfort when she said it.

"That's right," Luo Linyi began to think, "Then what should I eat?"

While they were talking, Wen Jialuo was chatting with the elders on the other side. It was only a few words, and then everyone stood up.

Several people came down from upstairs. The one walking in front was an old man in his sixties, followed by two young men carrying boxes.

The sons and daughters-in-law of the Wen family all gathered around. Today, the old director of the military hospital came to examine the old lady in person. The old lady didn't allow anyone to go up to see her, and the old director also said that they had to be quiet, so everyone was waiting downstairs.

"How is the old lady's health?" asked the eldest son of the Wen family.

The old director pushed his glasses and said, "There are no changes in her health, but winter is also a killer season for the elderly, so you should pay special attention to measuring your blood pressure every day. If you are worried, just go to the hospital for a comprehensive check-up. And you should come back more often to accompany her. She will get lonely when she is old." He seemed a little angry, "Why is that old guy not at home? He is still running outside in the middle of winter." After speaking, he turned around and saw Wen Jialuo, and glared at him, "Kid, why are you still as thin as a stick of firewood?"

Luo Linyi smiled: "Old Dean, she has already started asking for food."

"Oh, being able to eat is a blessing, and it applies to everyone." After the old dean said this, he waved his hand casually, and everyone sent them out together.

Xu Shiqi walked at the end and tugged at Wen Jialuo's sleeve. Wen Jialuo looked back and saw her leaning forward, motioning for her to call the old doctor, but she didn't respond. Several adults escorted her out. She stopped at the gate and turned around: "Let's go upstairs."

"Hey, you can't do this." Xu Shiqi shouted anxiously, but couldn't resist Wen Jialuo's pulling. It was not until he went upstairs and saw her suddenly cautious eyes and gentle movements that Xu Shiqi couldn't help but hold his breath and tiptoe carefully on the mahogany floor.

Wen Jialuo gently pushed open a door. The large curtains opposite the door were tightly drawn, and there was an old table lamp on, filling the room with a soft orange color.

"who?"

"Grandma, it's me." Wen Jialuo walked to the bed, bent down and looked down at the silver-haired old man lying quietly on the bed.

The old lady had just been dragged by the nagging old director to do a series of examinations, and she was a little tired. She lay in the soft big bed and wanted to rest for a while, but she couldn't fall asleep. As she got older, she naturally had less time to sleep. She didn't want to disturb the children, but her little granddaughter was very careful and could find problems when she saw her taking a nap.

"Jia Luo." Hearing his granddaughter's voice, the old man fumbled to put on his reading glasses, looked at her, and then slowly noticed the person next to her, "Who is this?"

"A friend." Wen Jialuo tucked the quilt for her and turned up the temperature of the air conditioner. "You still can't sleep at night?"

"Grandma is old." The old lady smiled and nodded at Xu Shiqi, who quickly responded.

"Who said that? You're still young." Wen Jialuo also smiled and picked up the thermos cup on the table. "Would you like some water?"

"Um."

Xu Shiqi sat quietly by the side and watched.

Wen Jialuo sat by the bed, with a gentleness she had never seen before on her face. She was very obedient, and the thorns on her body fell down consciously. The old lady looked at her granddaughter with an extremely loving look, and it was obvious that they had a very good relationship.

The old lady stood up and drank some water from her granddaughter's hand. Her eyelids began to droop again. Wen Jialuo helped her lie down and gently stroked the quilt: "Grandma, sleep for a while. I'll watch over you."

The feeling of having her granddaughter leaning on her side was like going back to 20 years ago. But it was the opposite back then. In the summer, she sat under a big tree in the yard, watching over her granddaughter who was taking a nap, fanning her from time to time. The memories were so good, the old lady smiled with her eyes squinted for a while, and then slowly closed her eyes.

Xu Shiqi stood aside as if isolated, but she just didn't want to get involved in this warmth. But when she saw the old lady's eyes moving under her wrinkled eyelids, she knew that she must still be uneasy. She was originally standing by the desk beside the bed, and when she turned her head, she saw a pile of thread-bound books with celadon blue covers on the table. She leaned over and opened the top one, which turned out to be a neat copy of "Dream of Red Mansions" in small regular script. But judging by the number, she must not have copied it all.

Xu Shiqi suddenly had an idea. She picked up the top book, flipped through it, and then read it softly.

"Lin Daiyu, who doesn't drink much and doesn't eat crabs, had someone bring her an embroidered cushion to sit on the railing while she fished with a fishing rod. Baochai played with a branch of osmanthus in her hand for a while, leaned over the window sill to pinch the osmanthus buds and threw them into the water, attracting the fish to float up and eat. Xiangyun was distracted for a while, asked Xiren to wait, and then told everyone on the hillside to eat as much as they wanted. Tanchun, Li Wan and Xichun stood in the shade of the weeping willows to watch the gulls and herons. Yingchun was alone in the shade of the flowers, threading jasmine flowers with a needle..."

When she just started reading, the people on the bed and beside the bed responded. Wen Jialuo turned her head immediately, looking at Xu Shiqi's profile immersed in the orange light, so gentle and moving. I remember the first time I saw her in this woman's shop, probably because she was sitting, when she looked up and spoke, her eyes were slightly fluttering, half frivolous. Now, perhaps because of the opposite position, Xu Shiqi lowered her eyes, finally showing the same gentleness as her voice. Not everyone can read "Dream of Red Mansions" with charm, but that mouth opened and closed, it hooked people's souls, but still had a solemn face.

When the old lady heard the sound, she only moved her eyelids slightly without opening them. She listened quietly to the sound flowing in her ears, like the most fragrant spring water, washing her old body again and again, and she fell into boundless relaxation...

After seeing off the old dean, several adults went upstairs together. As soon as they stood at the door of the old lady's room, they heard a poem from the Dream of the Red Chamber:

"I had a clear sleep by the fence in autumn, and the clouds and the moon were indistinguishable. I ascended to heaven not to admire Zhuangzi's butterfly, but to recall the past and seek Tao Yuanming's alliance. I fell asleep reluctantly as the wild geese broke away, and woke up in shock to be annoyed by the crickets' chirping. When I wake up, to whom can I tell my sorrow? The withered grass and cold smoke are full of infinite love..."

Several people looked at each other and gently pushed open the door. They saw Jia Luo leaning over the bed, patting the quilt gently as if she was soothing a child to sleep, while the girl standing next to her was reading "Dream of Red Mansions" in a long and distant tone, using the bedside lamp and singing Kunqu opera.

The huge room seemed less empty because of the cozy atmosphere beside the bed.

The eldest son of the Wen family tiptoed forward to take a look. The old lady had fallen asleep, her face was calm, and her breathing was steady. He saw that the two girls were still concentrating on what they were doing, so he smiled slightly, tiptoed out of the room again, and carefully closed the door.

Several people went downstairs again, and the eldest of the Wen family asked softly, "Is that really Baohua's classmate?"

Luo Linyi nodded, and several people exchanged glances. The eldest daughter-in-law of the Wen family decisively began to call her daughter and asked her to return to the old house immediately.