Chapter 27

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Lin Xiyu

Grandmother's ancestral home was in Shanxi. Not long after she married Grandfather, Great-Grandfather brought him from their hometown to Jinan to work as an apprentice for someone.

Transportation was inconvenient back then, and going home was not easy. After Grandfather left, for the sake of making a living, he returned home only a handful of times in ten years.

Grandmother lived alone at her in-laws' home, like a widow guarding an empty house, suffering bitterly for ten years. Her mother-in-law complained that her daughter-in-law had not borne children and often mistreated her.

Grandmother felt wronged in her heart, with no one to confide in. Overwork made her ill, and she fell sick and could not get up.

Her in-laws disliked her, did not want to treat her illness, and wanted to divorce her. Fortunately, Grandfather still had some affection for Grandmother and did not agree.

Grandmother's biological father heard about this, disregarded the obstruction, and brought his daughter back to her maiden home, selling off family property to pay for Grandmother's medical treatment.

After drinking traditional Chinese medicine for two years, Grandmother's illness was finally cured.

During that time, it happened to be the period of the War of Resistance Against Japan, when devils entered the village to loot. Great-Grandfather hid Grandmother in the cellar, and she narrowly escaped disaster.

——

"How thrilling!"

The interview began. Grandmother spoke of events before the liberation, and Li Yan listened with rapt attention, holding the microphone and exclaiming in surprise: "Old lady, your own experiences are even more exciting than what's performed on TV."

"There's even more exciting stuff..."

Lin Xiyu had heard Grandmother tell this many times. Although the content was the same, every time she listened, she was still very interested, and no matter how many times she heard it, she never got tired.

"Grandmother's most thrilling experience was actually during the liberation of Jinan."

The female cousin got excited at the exciting part and also became spirited, gesturing the scene at the time and stealing the spotlight: "A shell fell into the kitchen and smashed the pot. Grandmother was right in front of the stove at the time. Fortunately, it was a dud and did not explode; otherwise, we wouldn't have had the chance to be born."

"Hahaha."

Director Du and the others were amused by her witty remark.

"We really have to thank that it was a dud."

Grandmother looked at her maternal grandchild with indulgence and sincerely sighed: "Otherwise, where would there be such good days now, with children and grandchildren filling the hall, bringing joy at her knees..."

"Old lady, you are a person with later blessings, enjoying the blessings of old age."

Li Yan had a glib tongue and deliberately tried to make Grandmother happy.

"Yes, it's the blessings of old age."

Grandmother, upon hearing this, was indeed very happy; the wrinkles on her face bloomed like chrysanthemums.

"When Grandmother was young, she also suffered quite a bit of hardship."

Lin Xiyu sat obediently by Grandmother's side, looking at her head full of silver hair. She couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache, reached out her hand, and tucked a stray strand of silver hair behind her ear.

Grandmother smiled with relief and lovingly patted the back of her hand.

"Old lady."

Li Yan, watching the intimate interaction between the grandmother and grandchild, asked at the right moment: "Could you tell us some things after the liberation?"

"Sure."

Grandmother was in a good mood and was especially talkative.

From Great-Grandfather exhausting the family fortune to support the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, to Grandfather having a stroke and falling ill during the Cultural Revolution, when she had no choice but to shoulder the heavy burden, working at the plastic factory and doing hard labor.

A woman, a pair of small feet, using her slender shoulders, propped up a family and raised three children.

Decades of wind and rain, several changes of the times.

Grandmother spoke very calmly, as if the hardships she had endured were nothing at all.

Li Yan and the others, however, listened with obsession, unconsciously placing themselves in the scene and imagining the heart-stopping events of that time.

"Mom really suffered."

Aunt Da listened with heartache and couldn't help but redden her eye rims: "Before Dad passed away, after his stroke he was muddle-headed and always quarreled with Mom, complaining that Mom was always out and not coming home. Actually, at that time Mom was already working at Plastic Factory No. 14, pulling a cart all day and coming back with both legs swollen. Once her toes were even worn raw, bleeding a lot."