Shachi is a coastal town. It’s not really small, but its location is not very good and the transportation is not very convenient. It has not been able to develop in the good times like other coastal cities.
Although the place was not very prosperous, the scenery was really nice. Along the way, Xin Xiaolu listened to Xin Yan talk about many things about the place. In fact, he himself was not very familiar with the place. After all, he had only been there a few times during the summer vacation when he was a child. After his mother died, he rarely went there. However, he still carefully described to her twice the small town full of sea breeze and stars in his memory.
After getting off the plane, the two took a bus for two hours and finally got off at the bus station in the city.
Xin Yanlai got off the train with his luggage, holding Xin Xiaolu's slender wrist, carefully letting her avoid the surging crowd at the station, as if he was afraid that she would be swept away by the crowd. He pulled a large suitcase and a shoulder bag slung across his body, while Xin Xiaolu pulled a small, light suitcase, and the two walked out hand in hand.
"We still have to take a bus to town. I haven't been here for a long time. There should be a van taking people there. I'll go and take a look. Xiaolu, are you feeling uncomfortable? If you are, let's find a place to rest and eat something." Xin Yanlai treated Xin Xiaolu very considerately. When Xin Xiaolu fell asleep in the car, he would hold her head in his arms and let her sleep. If she was noisy, he would put headphones in her and play soothing music. He also prepared water, food and fruits for her, just like the father in the front seat, but that father took such good care of his own little daughter.
Xin Xiaolu felt a little carsick. The planes and cars didn't stop all the way, especially since there was a baby in the car. The baby probably couldn't stand the smell in the car and kept crying. Xin Xiaolu felt that when he was a ghost, the screams of fear heard by those people were not as loud as the crying of a baby. It was really scary.
Xin Yanlai took Xin Xiaolu to sit outside under the ventilated bus stop, twisted the water for her to drink, bent over and took off his hat to fan her. In this season, the temperature in this city is already quite high. The two of them were wearing a single long-sleeved shirt and long pants, and they were sweating.
Xin Xiaolu recovered after sitting for a while, stood up and said, "Let's go and take the bus."
Xin Yanlai: "Is it okay?"
Suddenly, a horn blew nearby. Xin Yan looked over and shouted in surprise, "Grandpa?"
There was a car parked in the lane next to him. It was neither new nor old and had obviously been used for a long time. The window was open, revealing an old man with a serious expression sitting in the driver's seat. He was wearing a pair of glasses. Although his hair was gray and his face was wrinkled, judging from the vaguely visible shape of his eyes and his high nose bridge, he must have been a handsome man when he was young, and he definitely looked like Xin Yanlai.
"Get in the car, the food is ready." Grandpa's tone was light and did not sound very kind, but when he looked at his tall and big grandson, he could not hide the concern in his eyes.
Xin Yanlai didn't expect that his grandfather would come to pick them up himself. Although he called his grandfather and told him that he would bring his sister over for the summer vacation, his grandfather only responded briefly on the phone. He said that he would take the bus to the town by himself and asked his grandfather to wait for him at home.
"Xiaolu, this is grandpa."
Xin Xiaolu: "Grandpa."
Grandpa: “Yeah.”
The two got in the car, and Xin Yanlai let Xin Xiaolu sit in the back seat alone. "If you feel uncomfortable, just lie down for a while. It will take a while to drive here. I'll put my coat over you. Open the window later so you don't catch a cold. I'll use my bag as a cushion for your head."
Xin Yanlai sat in the passenger seat and opened the window to let the wind blow into the car.
My grandfather was driving the car, and although he looked focused, his eyebrows almost popped out when he heard his grandson talking to the slender and quiet little sister.
He had been waiting here for an hour, and the car was parked in a parking lot not far away. Just now, he saw his grandson from a distance. He looked like his mother, tall and long-legged, well-mannered, and a clothes rack. He looked youthful in simple jeans and shirts. Children of this age always change quickly. Even though he had seen him during the Chinese New Year, he looked taller now and seemed different from that time.
But... is this child really his younger sister? Look at how attentively he was bending over to guard the little girl just now, and then look at the worried look in his eyes when he turned his head from time to time to look at her. Even if he is nearsighted with a thousand degrees, he can see it clearly.
She's not a sister at all, she's just my uncle's stepdaughter. There's really no relationship between us. They're so close and caring to each other, she could be like a sweetheart.
Young people cannot hide what they like at all. Even an old man like my grandfather can tell at the first sight.
Although he saw it, the grandfather didn't say anything. Everyone has such moments. The old man secretly guessed that his grandson came here so suddenly because his father didn't agree with his idea, so he brought the little girl to hide with him.
As long as he thought of the man surnamed Xin's disapproval, grandpa felt very unhappy. He just thought that you were a stinky thing, and you only knew how to force my grandson to do it. You even said that you were his father, but you wouldn't even be a father, so why didn't you agree? When he thought about it this way, the remaining awkwardness in his heart disappeared, and he felt that he had to make his grandson happy as he wished.
Moreover, Xin Xiaolu has a slender frame, is fair-skinned, weak and doesn't talk much. She looks like a well-behaved child. Her grandfather is old and he can't help but feel love when he sees such a little girl... It can be seen that Xin Yanlai's aesthetic and hobbies are inherited from her mother.
My grandfather's house is on the seaside. It is a single-family house in the town. The house is not big, with two floors. The roof is painted blue. From a distance, a small blue-roofed house on the seaside looks like a fairy tale.
"Xiaolu, look over there, that's grandpa's house."
Their car turned a bend and saw a large expanse of sea and undulating small houses. The slightly warm sea breeze blew over with a unique smell of the seaside, sweeping away the stuffiness in the car. Today was a sunny day, and the sun shone on the sea, making it look sparkling. Xin Xiaolu leaned against the car window, listening to Xin Yanlai's words and looking at the single-family blue house in the distance.
That house used to be occupied by my grandparents, but later my grandmother passed away and my grandpa was left living there alone. He is retired and has nothing to do now. He just stays at home to take care of flowers and go fishing every day. When Xin Yan saw the new paint on the roof and walls, he knew that my grandpa had probably just repainted them not long ago.
He felt funny and said to his grandfather, "Grandpa, you are painting by yourself again. Since you knew I was coming, you bought some paint and put it there. I can help you paint. We painted together when we were little." He usually acted like a little parent at home, but he acted like a little boy in front of his grandfather. Xin Xiaolu didn't look outside anymore, and looked at Brother Milk with some curiosity.
Grandpa was also happy in his heart, but his face still had that expression, "You know what paint is, when I was a kid, I played with my paint and made a mess of the wall."
Xin Yan came and laughed: "But it's very fun."
Xin Xiaolu felt that when they arrived at the beach, Brother Milk would turn into Sunshine Milk Brother with the smell of the ocean, and would laugh out loud.
The car drove up a small gentle slope and stopped on a cement flat ground outside. The three people got out of the car and pulled their luggage into the yard. The yard was surrounded by a circle of wooden fences. The wood was probably used for a long time and the color was a little mottled, but the rose vines climbing on it had bloomed many pink flowers, and large hydrangeas were also placed on the fence, which set off the old wood with a bright pastoral scenery.
The yard and the house were cleaned very cleanly. Grandpa asked Xin Yanlai to take Xin Xiaolu upstairs to see the rooms, and he went into the kitchen to prepare to cook.
Xin Yanlai led the way with the luggage in front. He walked up the stairs and turned sideways to say to Xin Xiaolu, "There are four rooms upstairs. There is one room with the best view. It was where I lived before. But I told my grandfather to clean it up and let you live there. I'll live in the room next to you."
The room he mentioned was indeed very good, with great lighting, floor-to-ceiling windows on two walls, and two balconies, from which you can see the sea outside. The sheets and quilt covers in the room were all light blue, and they must have just been washed and dried, with a faint scent of laundry detergent. The large wooden bed looked clean and soft, and one could tell at a glance that it would be very comfortable to lie on it.
Xin Xiaolu also saw a white glass bottle on the table, with a few fresh champagne-colored roses in it. There were such roses blooming downstairs, and it was obvious that grandpa had just cut them today. Xin Xiaolu thought to himself, this grandpa is quite romantic.
Xin Yan came to help Xin Xiaolu settle down and asked her to take a rest. He put down his luggage in the next room and went downstairs to the kitchen to help his grandfather. The house was a bit old, and the wooden floor in the house inevitably made noises when stepped on, and the sound insulation was not very good. Xin Xiaolu could vaguely hear the voices of the two people talking downstairs, but strangely, this feeling made people feel very safe and peaceful.
Xin Xiaolu put on his slippers and went to the next room to take a look. Xin Yanlai's room was not bad, but it only had one window and the view was not as good as the next room. There were also a few roses in glass bottles on his desk.
She walked downstairs and heard her grandfather asking Xin Yanlai, "Have you called your dad to tell him that you are here?"
Xin Yanlai responded, "Okay, I'll call right away."
He turned on the phone and called his father, who quickly answered. As soon as he said the word "Dad", Mr. Xin on the other end yelled, "You bastard, have you grown courage? You have so many tricks up your sleeve, and you still dare to run away? Fine, if you have the guts, don't come back..."
The sound of grandpa chopping vegetables suddenly became heavier, and he said with a cold face: "Xin Yujing, my grandson is here to accompany me, are you so unhappy?"
Mr. Xin seemed to be strangled by someone and was instantly silenced. After a while, he said in a timid voice: "Dad... um, you're here, hahaha, it's nothing, I just said it casually... It's good for Yan to accompany you during the summer vacation, I have no objection..."
Grandpa still said in that calm tone, "Well, they have arrived safely, don't worry, we will eat now, I will hang up first."
Mr. Xin on the other end of the phone: “Okay, okay.” Even though we were so far apart, one could almost see Mr. Xin’s humble look just by listening to his voice.
Xin Yanlai curled his lips, hung up the phone cooperatively, and calmly turned off the phone and put it back in his pocket. He saw Xin Xiaolu lying on the handrail of the stairs looking at him, and he laughed again, blinking at her embarrassedly. Obviously, he already knew his father's reaction, and also knew what his grandfather's reaction would be.
Xin Xiaolu thought to himself again, Brother Niu Nai seems really happy to come here.
She is also very happy.
Grandpa cooked four dishes and one soup, all home-cooked dishes. The three of them sat together, and Xin Yan came to serve the soup to the two of them, "Grandpa, come and drink the soup." "Xiaolu, this soup is delicious, you try it."
Grandpa: “Yeah.”
Xin Xiaolu: “Yeah.”
The two of them nodded, one in front and one behind.
The meal was quite good. After the meal, Xin Yan rummaged through the drawers and found an old box. He took out a wind chime made of shells.
"When I was a kid, I picked up a lot of shells on the beach and made this wind chime." Xin Yanlai untied the knotted rope, picked up the wind chimes, and hung them by the window of Xin Xiaolu's room. There was a small hook there, which was just the right size for hanging them.
"If there's wind at night, it will blow, making a ding-dong sound, along with the sound of waves. When I was a kid, if I couldn't sleep well or had nightmares, I could fall asleep well just by listening to the sound of the waves and this wind chime." He fiddled with the shell wind chime, with the blue ocean and sky as the background.
There is also a particularly bright sunshine.
The author has something to say: Don't think about cheating yet, every time he appears, we are closer to the ending, let's just have a happy summer seaside romance