When Xiaoying woke up again, she was already in a hospital room. After her arm was put in a plaster cast, Qiuyan led her out of the hospital. With one hand holding an old lady, and the other a little red cart, he helped Xiaoying into a taxi. Xiaoying had always been the self-reliant, stubborn type. She fumed, “I only hurt my arm, my legs are perfectly fine. You…”

Qiuyan said: “But it wasn’t too long ago when you used your ‘perfectly fine’ legs to collapse onto the sidewalk. Ah, there were a few old men nearby who charged in to try and save the pretty old lady. I had to tell them that I was basically done with my shift already, it was safer for me to help you. Don’t want those old men spraining their backs trying to lift you.”

Xiaoying’s face reddened and she leaned back against her seat and continued quietly mumbling complaints to herself. When they arrived at her building, the self-reliant Liu Xiaoying firmly refused Qiuyan’s help. So she slowly climbed up the stairs, and Qiuyan held the small pulley car and followed her from behind. The old lady yelled as she walked, “Don’t rush me! See, look, this stair is higher than the others.”

A bit speechless, Zhong Qiuyan said, “...I’m not rushing you, Liu Xiaoying.”

The old lady turned around and scolded, “Cheeky kid.”

The two continued this banter as they slowly ascended the stairs for what felt like a century. They finally reached the fifth floor, and Xiaoying fished around in her pockets and pulled out the key.

Qiuyan entered Xiaoying’s place for the first time. The two-bedroom teacher’s condo was about 80-something square meters. The furniture had an outdated style, but everything was tidy and clean. Xiaoyingt tiptoed and hung her keys back up on the hook next to the entrance door. She walked to the dining table and lifted the heat-insulating cover. The dishes underneath were untouched. It was already past eight at night. Cradling her cast, she quietly leaned against the dining table for a moment, then she turned to ask Qiuyan: “Have you eaten?”

The dishes made by Xiaoying, who spent her entire life self-studying culinary delicacies, were extremely delicious. Qiuyan ate with relish, almost burying his head into his bowl of rice. Xiaoying sat on the other side of the dining table holding her plastered right arm. Behind Qiuyan’s seat stood a low cabinet filled with trophies and awards, such as xxxx year’s Exemplary Worker Liu Xiaoying. Aside from her awards, there were also ones belonging to her husband. On top of the cabinet, there was a small photo frame holding a picture of two elderly individuals and one young boy around the age of 10. Xiaoying often found herself blankly staring at that photo recently.

Thinking about it, that young boy was already 31 this year. Two years ago, around the same time of the year, the weather frequently switched between sunshine and rain. Liu Xiaoying had just left her condo in the afternoon to head to a calligraphy class for seniors. When she descended to the third floor, she saw that it had started raining outside, so she walked back up to fetch her umbrella. Even back then, she was already often forgetful. When she arrived at the fifth floor, she had already forgotten why she had come back. She held herself up against the wall and pondered, retracing her thoughts with difficulty through the passageways of her neurons. When the rain turned into a downpour, she finally remembered that she was there for her umbrella.

On that day, Xiaoying walked downstairs with an umbrella sandwiched under her arm. She took each step half-dejectedly and half-angrily. When she arrived at the first-floor building exit, she leaned against the side of the metal door and opened up the free umbrella gifted by her bank. It was at that moment that she saw her then-29-year-old grandson, sitting against the outside of the metal door like a discarded garbage bag. He sat unmoving with his head lowered, completely drenched. It was like he couldn’t be bothered, or couldn’t feel, the cascade of raindrops pouring down.

Xiaoying often blamed herself after that day. She had been late in getting her umbrella. When she finally was able to hold the umbrella over his head, her grandson had already been drained of all vitality by the hurt of the outside world. He had lifted his head and said to her, “Grandma. I can’t do it anymore.”

Two years had passed since that event. In those two years, Zhou Cunqu lived with Liu Xiaoying. Aside from nighttime when he might emerge to walk around the condo, he spent all of his time in his bedroom. He didn’t speak to a single person other than Xiaoying.

The first year, Xiaoying had tried to communicate with him. She tried firm and soft tactics; Nothing worked. Cunqu wasn’t willing to say what happened. And he also wasn’t willing to face the world anymore.

Zhou Cunqu’s parents, Zhou Ming and Qi Lanxiang, of course showed up and caused a fuss. Cunqu’s friends had also tried to visit him. Yet no matter what, Cunqu remained asleep in the depths of his bedroom. Before Zhou Ming left, he had pointed at Cunqu and said: “You’re acting like this because of such a little thing? You’re useless.”

Xiaoying had walked up and smacked Zhou Ming, saying: “Just try to curse at my grandson one more time. And you two, just try and step foot into my house again, I dare you!”

--

She let out a heavy sigh at the dining table. Zhong Qiuyan’s mouth was stuffed full of food; he gave her a thumbs-up, saying: “Liu Xiaoying. Your cooking is so good.”

Xiaoying couldn’t help but laugh.

The ceiling light in the dining room was old, and the light it emitted was a dim yellow. Qiuyan finished washing the dishes and helped Xiaoying switch out the lightbulb in passing. He went to take out goods from the red little cart and help Xiaoying sort through them. A bunch of Chocomonts fell out of the cart. Qiuyan exclaimed, “Hold up. This elderly lady right here, what are you doing eating this many chocolate biscuits when you have high blood sugar??”

Xiaoying placed her one good arm on her hip and rebuked, “So what if I want to eat chocolate biscuits.”

As he put on his shoes at the entrance hall, Qiuyan said: “Don’t eat Chocomonts anymore, Liu Xiaoying. What are you going to do the next time you fall on the sidewalk?”

Xiaoying leaned against the side of the door and lowered her gaze to look at her cast. Quietly, she said: “Yeah. What am I going to do?”

Qiuyan was taken aback by her reply. He lifted his head and said, “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Xiaoying smiled with wrinkles around her eyes, saying: “I bought them for my grandson.”

Qiuyan was still putting on his shoes and didn’t hear clearly. He lifted his head again to ask her to repeat herself. Xiaoying’s eyes watered despite herself, and she said: “The Chocomonts are for my grandson. He likes them.”

--

Early the next morning, before even 6 AM, Zhong Qiuyan stood in front of the door on the fifth floor of Building No.3 of the residential community named Qin Qin Homeland[2]. He yelled as he knocked on the door: “Lady Liu Xiaoying, I have procured today’s groceries for you.”

Qiuyan knocked twice but no one answered. He was worried that Liu Xiaoying had some mishap inside, so he started to knock harder and harder. After who knows how long, the door finally opened. The door was open, but no one said anything from inside. Qiuyan pushed open the door and walked inside. A slim figure stood at the entryway wearing a set of grey pajamas with hair draped to his shoulders. It was as if he was his own shadow, projected onto the carpet of the entryway.

Qiuyan, carrying a large basket of vegetables, stood still and stared. The two of them just stood like that. After some time, Xiaoying came back from her early morning exercises. Qiuyan said his first sentence to the figure in the entryway: “Are you a man or a woman?”

Xiaoying hopped up and smacked his head, scolding: “Are you an idiot or an idiot?[3] This is my grandson.”

Qiuyan yelped in pain and explained to Xiaoying: “No, look. Ge (older brother)[4] has such long hair, and he’s so pale so pretty.”

Xiaoying replied: “Where is he ‘pretty’? This is called handsome! My baby grandson is so handsome.”

When Qiuyan turned around, Cunqu had already returned to his room.

At lunchtime, Qiuyan helped Xiaoying set the dining table. Then he very naturally opened Cunqu’s bedroom door, calling out: “Ge! Wash your hands and come have lunch.”

Later when Qiuyan would reminisce about this moment, he recalled that this was the first time he realized a person’s room could have the scent of rocks and aquatic plants. Inside the room were piles upon piles of books; there was almost no space to walk. The light wasn’t on, the window wasn’t open. Cunqu sat against the backboard of the bed next to his night lamp, holding a book and staring at him.

Qiuyan let out a “Woah,” and couldn’t help but squat down to touch the books. “This is nice.” He asked Cunqu: “Ge, can I take a look around? I promise I won’t mess up the books.”

Cunqu still didn’t say anything.

And just like that, for the first time in two years, another person walked into Zhou Cunqu’s bedroom. This person had a hard time finding empty floor space for his steps to land. As if he was playing hopscotch, he weaved his way around the piles of books. He walked up to the side of the bed and leaned against it as he sat on the floor. Qiuyan introduced himself: “I’m Zhong Qiuyan, a bus driver. I’m currently driving the 188 line. Have you taken it before? It’s the bus that passes the city’s art museum.”

Cunqu still didn’t react. Qiuyan suddenly had a moment of realization, and he started wildly waving around his hands in a poor attempt at sign language. “Are you perhaps deaf? Or, uh, mute?” He saw that Cunqu still had no reaction, and performed his exaggerated “sign language” once again.

Xiaoying was yelling for Qiuyan from outside. He hopped up and lightly flicked the book Cunqu was holding with his fingers. “I’m heading out, don’t know what Liu Xiaoying’s all worked up about.”

Silence fell over the bedroom once again. After an unknown length of time passed by, Zhou Cunqu replied to the empty room: “I haven’t. I haven’t taken it before.”

Footnotes

[1]This refers to a specific type of scam where a “victim” would pretend to be hurt/injured by someone, and then publicly accuse them in the hopes of getting money as compensation. This often happens with old people pretending to be knocked down by passersby. Zhong Qiuyan’s mind probably jumped to that first due to Liu Xiaoying’s age, and he was probably flabbergasted she just fell down like that without anyone, or the bus, being near her lol. 

[2]It’s called 亲亲 (Qin Qin) 家园. The ‘Qin Qin’ part can mean “dear,” or like “kiss kiss” lol. I think no matter what it translates a bit weird into English so I’m just going to leave it in pinyin. 

[3] Xiaoying actually uses 2 different words here, both synonyms for “idiot.” So I technically could have translated it to something like “a fool or an idiot”, but I think “an idiot or an idiot” is more hliariously fitting haha. 

[4] Those familiar with Chinese (and also Korean) culture should know that  ‘older brother’ is a term that’s frequently used not just for literal blood-related brothers, but also just for older males of still similar-ish age. 

T/N:

Hey guys, this is a new short story I've picked up (26 chapters total). It's really heartwarming and moving and I love our main characters and our grandma Liu Xiaoying. Please read my thoughts & content warning on the about page. I've already translated all of it actually so I'll just be posting it frequently (daily?) whenever I edit a chapter. I have also created a Novelupdates entry for this.