Chapter 278

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Protagonist:

Lin Xiyu

"Let Guben take you back."

Lin Xiyu put down the scissors and stood up to see them off.

"It's very close from here to the new home..."

Wu's mother smiled and declined: "Taking the bus is very convenient, it's only a few stops, no need to trouble you."

"Still let Guben take you..."

Lin Xiyu insisted on seeing them off: "Always making you bring the child back and forth, I feel quite embarrassed too."

"No need."

Wu's mother still wanted to decline, but she had already walked out of the room in two or three steps and went to the living room.

Guben came out very quickly, took the car key and waited in the yard.

Wu's mother couldn't decline anymore, so she accepted their kindness and let him drive the grandmother and grandchild home.

"It was so good when they, the old couple, lived on Xi Gengdao Street."

Gu's grandmother fanned herself with a big cattail fan, feeling quite emotional: "Just a few steps out and you're there, visiting neighbors is also close, not like now, it's so troublesome to make one trip, still have to take the bus."

"Their house is public housing, they're not allowed to buy it, they'll have to move sooner or later."

Lin Xiyu knew clearly in her heart: "I think Courtyard No. 1 seems to have been rented out, someone is renovating the house, heard they want to open a coffee shop."

"Drink what coffee."

Gu's grandmother didn't care for the foreign things that came from abroad: "Bitter and awful, how can it compare to sour plum soup."

"I also think it's not as good as sour plum soup."

Lin Xiyu smiled and echoed: "I drank it a few times when I was in university, that taste, I really couldn't enjoy it, if not for refreshing myself, I wouldn't want to drink it at all."

"We might as well drink tea."

Gu's grandmother laughed happily: "Things passed down from our ancestors, how can they compare to those foreign things?"

"I think so too..."

Lin Xiyu deeply agreed: "No matter what, tea brewed with Jinan's spring water, the taste is absolutely superb."

"That's right..."

Gu's grandmother wholeheartedly agreed: "I've also traveled all over the country, truly not me boasting, once you leave JN City, you won't see such good spring water."

"I believe it!"

Lin Xiyu very enthusiastically echoed her.

"Hearing you say that makes me want to brew tea with spring water."

Gu's grandmother suddenly became interested, fanning herself with the cattail fan as she entered the kitchen.

"Old lady, what are you going to do?"

Lin Xiyu saw her bring out an electric kettle for boiling water, and raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"I'm going to Courtyard No. 1 on Xi Gengdao Street to fetch a kettle of spring water."

Gu's grandmother said and was about to turn and go out.

"You don't go, let me go."

Lin Xiyu was afraid of tiring the old lady, hurried over, wanting to snatch the kettle from her.

"Tire what, it's just a few steps, I'm not old enough to not even be able to lift a kettle of water."

Gu's grandmother refused to admit she was old, brushed her hand away, and walked out on her own.

"Huang Jie..."

Lin Xiyu shouted toward the kitchen, calling the nanny Huang Jie out.

"Coming."

Huang Jie was washing rice and vegetables, preparing to cook dinner, heard the shout, and walked out from the kitchen.

"Don't busy yourself first, cooking isn't urgent..."

Lin Xiyu gave her a look, signaling her to follow: "Grandma is old, don't let her get tired."

"Alright."

Huang Jie quickly took off her apron and threw it into the kitchen, chasing after Gu's grandmother out of the yard.

—

Lin Xiyu was very fortunate that she had foresight, letting Huang Jie follow.

Gu's grandmother refused to admit she was old, insisted on fetching water herself, and sure enough, not paying attention, she sprained her foot, and her foot swelled up.

Huang Jie carried her old lady back on her back, and when entering the house, it truly scared people.

"Grandma, what happened to you?"

Guben drove Wu's mother and Nuan Nuan back, saw this scene, and his expression also changed greatly.

"I'm fine, just swayed a bit."

Gu's grandmother had a displeased face, tentatively trying to get down.

Guben hurried over, almost carrying her, helped her down from Huang Jie's back, and helped her sit on the sofa.

"Foot is swollen, rub it with medicinal liquor."

"No, can't use medicinal liquor, must use ice packs."

"No ice at home, what do we do? Let's just go to the hospital."

"If only we had a wheelchair, pushing her would be more convenient."

"Buying a wheelchair now would take too long; I'll just carry her on my back."

"You shouldn't have carried her back just now; going straight to the hospital would've been so much better, now we have to make another round trip."

The living room was in utter chaos, the whole family crowding around Grandma Gu, everyone talking over each other, making one's head ache.

"Just a sprained ankle, it's nothing serious, no need to go to the hospital!"

Grandma Gu listened with growing irritation, and with one shout she made everyone shut their mouths.

"If Grandma doesn't want to go, then she doesn't go."

Guben could only think of another way: "Wife, go get the ready-made frozen food from the fridge, wrap it in a towel, and apply it to Grandma's foot."

"Okay."

Lin Xiyu didn't say another word, turned around, and went to the kitchen.

The fridge had ready-made frozen fish and frozen meat; she picked out a few pieces of cutlass fish cut into sections, wrapped them in a towel, and brought them back.

Guben squatted down and personally applied the compress to Grandma's foot.

"Learn from this."

Chen Xiaoyi nudged Ruirui with his elbow: "When you grow up, you'll have to be this filial to Great-Grandmother too."

"Uncle, let me do it."

Ruirui proved with actual action that he had already grown up.

"Not bad, little fairy, you've become sensible."

Guben's legs had gone a bit numb from squatting just then, so he conveniently handed the towel over.

"Great-Grandma, if you feel cold, just say so, I'll move further away....."

Ruirui took over from Uncle applying the compress to Great-Grandma, mimicking his manner like a little adult, even his tone of voice was remarkably similar.

"Not cold, Grandma can take it."

Grandma Gu, the eldest daughter, looked comforted, her gaze toward him very kindly.

"It's still good to have grandchildren."

Sixth Grandpa was full of emotion: "You didn't raise this great-grandson in vain; see, he's come in handy now."

"You don't have to envy me......"

Grandma Gu said with a smile: "Aren't there still four little ones? When they grow up, let them be filial to you."

"Hahaha."

Sixth Grandpa listened happily, the wrinkles on his face laughing into a chrysanthemum.

——

As the saying goes, a tendon and bone injury takes a hundred days; for the elderly it's even more so.

Grandma Gu sprained her foot, couldn't dance, and staying cooped up at home made her feel stifled; after a long time she got a bit annoyed, so she agreed to her grandson's proposal and bought a wheelchair for the old lady.

The four little babies saw the wheelchair and finally took an interest, treating this big chair with wheels as a fun toy, scrambling to have Great-Grandma hold them, wanting to sit in the wheelchair and ride around to play.

Grandma Gu doted on the children and couldn't bear to refuse; one moment holding this one, the next holding that one, even more hardworking than usual.

Even so, with grandchildren keeping her company, the old lady was still beaming, her mood couldn't be better.

As the eldest brother of the four younger siblings, Ruirui was responsible for pushing the wheelchair, doing physical labor; in the dog days of summer he sweated profusely.

After a few days, Lin Xiyu couldn't bear to watch anymore, and by the authority of the mother, she suspended this entertainment activity.

Not allowed to sit in the wheelchair, the babies all wilted, sitting on the bamboo mat under the pomegranate tree, heads drooping, listless and spiritless.

Grandma Gu couldn't bear to see it, thought of that spring eye in the west corridor yard, had a flash of inspiration, and came up with another good idea.

"Grandma, you're not serious, are you?"

When Guben heard the old lady say she wanted to dig a well in their own yard, he was genuinely quite startled.

He was a lawyer by background, well aware that residents privately digging wells in the city is illegal; moreover, what era is this, finding a master who knows how to dig wells isn't easy either.

"If not a well, then dig a water pool."

Seeing he was resistant, Grandma Gu changed her tune: "Doesn't need to be big, plant some lotus inside, raise some fish, when it's hot in summer, the babies can have a cool place to play too."

"Building a fish pond is doable....."

Guben wiped the cold sweat the dog-day heat scared out of him, and quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Just dig it under that persimmon tree."

Grandma Gu was happy he agreed, looked around the yard, and finally settled on the newly planted persimmon tree.

The persimmon sapling transplanted from the nursery in spring had already survived; fresh tender branches sporadically hung a few small fruits, not large in size, but yellow-orange and very pleasing to the eye.

"Done."

The old lady using the pretext of giving the babies a place to play, what could the father say.

Guben naturally didn't say another word, his execution was top-notch; that very afternoon he invited an experienced old master back to dig the pit and build the fish pond.

This maternal uncle Chen Xiaoyi was also pressed into service, becoming free labor, helping swing the hoe and dig soil.

He was young and strong; in no time he dug out a fairly large deep pit.

"Brother-in-law, come quick and look, what is this?"

Digging to a depth of about half a meter, he brought the hoe down again and hit water.

"Is this a spring eye?"

Ruirui ran faster than Guben, came to the pit edge, peered in, and with sharp eyes discovered a string of bubbles surging upward in the muddy water.

"The old house neighbors Wangfu Pool; having tiny spring eyes is perfectly normal."

Guben was very calm, using facts to prove the possibility of digging out a spring eye.

"Hey......"

Chen Xiaoyi raised the hoe in his hand, showing off with delight: "Brother's luck is just this good, one swing of the hoe and a spring eye can be dug out."

"Can go buy a lottery ticket."

Ruirui rarely made a joke, making a certain Uncle very happy listening.

"Buy, must buy."

Chen Xiaoyi was blooming with joy inside.

——

The four babies woke from their nap, saw Dad building the fish pond, and all perked up, crawling on hands and feet to the dirt pile to play with water and mud.

Dabao and Pingping were the naughtiest, the mud wasn't wet enough, so he peed a stream on top of it himself.

"Aiyo, Guben, look at what your son is doing?"

Lin Xiyu was paper-cutting in the room, saw this scene through the window, both annoyed and amused.

"This little brat......"

Guben turned back for a look, Pingping was right there grabbing the mud he had peed on with his little hands, anger surged up in his heart with a hiss.

He strode over, picked Pingping up from the mud pile, and tossed him to the Nanny.

"Wah."

Pingpip was unhappy, in Liu Jie's arms he strained his little body and wailed loudly.

Guben laughed from anger, a slap landed on his little bottom.

Pingping, beaten for the first time since birth, hearing the sound first froze for a moment, then belatedly realized it was his own little bottom that was hit, pouted his mouth in grievance, "Wah" a sound, cried out.

This time he truly cried, straining his little throat howling for a while then started pattering down tears.

"Why did you hit the child?"

Grandma Gu was displeased, wheeled her wheelchair forward, took Pingping from Liu Jie's hands, gathered him into her own arms.

"This child, too naughty."

Guben knew in his heart, his hit wasn't heavy, hand touched and released, didn't bear to use force.

Even so, Grandma Gu was still very dissatisfied, face dark as she scolded him.

The protective-calf posture gave the baby in her arms an extreme sense of security.

Pingping sobbed as he glanced at Dad, then glanced at Great-Grandmother, after the first beating of his life, unlocked a new cub survival skill----reading expressions.

In this family, Great-Grandmother's status is higher than Dad's, with Great-Grandmother backing him, Dad can't do anything to him either.

Thus, the little cub's tsundere tail perked up, learned to borrow Great-Grandmother's awe to challenge Father's authority.

——

The fish pond was built, the old master was very experienced, deliberately left several holes at the bottom where the spring eye was.

Clean clear water filled the fish pond, could clearly see, from time to time a string of bubbles, like tiny pearls, would gurgle up from the bottom.

"Jinan is a bit interesting......"

Grandpa Liu saw the spring water, also clicked his tongue in wonder: "Dig one hoe down and a spring eye bursts out, truly a name-worthy Spring City ah."

"When I was young there were only so many spring eyes, when rain was abundant, under the bluestone slabs, one foot stepped down and a stream of spring water would burst out."

Guben bought water lily seeds and a few red koi from the cultural market, put them all into the fish pond together.

"We are now also a name-worthy Spring Water Family."

Grandma Gu was very proud, if not for her old self's flash of inspiration, thinking of the good idea to dig a fish pond, the spring eye wouldn't have appeared out of nowhere.

"This is a happy event, worth celebrating."

Grandpa Liu stroked the coarse beard stubble on his chin laughing heartily.

"Does the spring eye need to be reported?"

Chen Xiaoyi's brain turned fast, quickly picked up the conversation: "Maybe experts come, could also get it rated as one of the Seventy-Two Famous Springs or something, Brother could also have a moment of glory, accept an interview, get on TV......"

"Thinking quite beautifully."

Guben splashed a basin of cold water on him: "Just such a tiny spring eye, in the Old City District too common, if you could dig out a Baotu Spring with one hoe, fame would be possible....."

Chen Xiaoyi deliberately acted the fool: "Why don't we dig another fish pond to try?"

Guben waved his hand to shoo him away: "Go stay wherever it's cool."

"Hahaha."

Ruirui listened and was amused, laughing very comfortably.

"Ruirui, you've been back for several days now."

Chen Xiaoyi couldn't stand his little nephew laughing so uninhibitedly, deliberately picked at him: "How come I don't see you go find Niuniu to play ah? Did you upset her, she doesn't want to pay attention to you?"

"Her grandma passed away."

Ruirui indeed stopped smiling, showed a few points of regret: "Her dad and mom took her to Guangzhou, will go to school there from now on."

"Ai, this matter stirred up....."

Chen Xiaoyi didn't expect this result, smacked his lips a few times, had no follow-up.

"Niuniu's grandma passed away?"

Grandma Gu heard this, again surged a few points of sorrow: "Truly shows old age, many recognized old neighbors are gone."

"Second Sister-in-law, think open a bit."

Grandpa Liu turned around to comfort her: "People get old, sooner or later this day will come."

"No, we must live well."

Grandma Gu looked at the babies playing in the water by the fish pond, instantly perked up again: "Especially you, babies are still small, still need to rely on Great-Grandpa to shelter them, you absolutely cannot fall down easily."

"I'll do my best."

Grandpa Liu followed her train of thought, nodding along with a beaming smile.

"Those four little brats are so blessed, it makes me envious just watching them."

Chen Xiaoyi deliberately started acting the clown again, pinching her voice to speak in a sour, affected tone.