Chapter 33: Jade Bracelet 1

My great-grandmother lived in a village called Wufumiao Village, named after a small temple that used to be there, which was torn down during the movements of the 1970s.

The names of villages in northern rural areas are simple and straightforward. Those with “Bao” or “Ying” in their names were mostly former military fortresses. If there’s “Qiao” ( bridge), you can assume there used to be a river and a bridge. As for those with “Tun” ( village), “Gouzi” ( ditch), “Pu” ( station), or “Zhuang” (manor), you can roughly figure out the village’s history or basic situation just from the name.

Although I wasn’t from this village originally, most of the villagers recognized me. Firstly, the villagers all went to my great-grandmother to get medicine and see the doctor, and I often helped out at the shop during winter and summer vacations.

Secondly, I can’t sit still. When I was little, I liked to tease cats and dogs. During my first summer vacation here at my great-grandmother’s, I became close to the kids in the village who were my age. Sometimes when we played late, the adults would have me stay for dinner.

I really had no shame, growing up eating food from everyone’s homes.

This wasn’t really anything to be ashamed of, but the middle-aged woman had been talking about it all the way here, even bringing up various things I did when I was little.

Like fighting, climbing trees to steal bird nests, encouraging my friends to steal melons, getting the melon farmer to come to our door to demand compensation, and then somehow managing to get away with it. A whole bunch of stuff like that.

Wen Ye glanced at me sideways, a meaningful smile on his lips. I was so embarrassed I wanted to cover her big mouth with my hand.

So annoying!

“In the blink of an eye, Xiao Mai is so grown up. She’s getting more and more beautiful, and much more mature than before. Even her boyfriend is so handsome,” the middle-aged woman chattered on.

I awkwardly touched my nose and explained softly, “Auntie, he’s just a friend, not my boyfriend…”

The middle-aged woman chuckled insincerely, smoothing things over. “Seeing you two look so well-matched, I thought… hahaha, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

Wen Ye followed beside me, neither too close nor too far, without saying a word.

“Xiao Mai, I remember there were quite a few boys in the village who liked you, especially the old village chief’s son, Gong Fan. He even asked about you when you came back this time.”

My lips twitched. “Auntie, how do you know everything? Gong Fan and I haven’t been in contact for a long time. Why would he ask about me… When we were kids, we didn’t know anything about liking someone, we just grew up together. Now we’ve all gone our separate ways.”

I secretly glanced at Wen Ye. His face was expressionless.

“It’s precisely because you haven’t been in contact that he’s asking about you. There are no secrets in the village. His dad specifically asked your great-grandmother, inquiring if you had a boyfriend. Some villagers who were there to get medicine overheard it, and then it spread to my ears.”

The tongues of the busybody relatives are truly powerful.

“You’re both graduating from university this year. He also came home a while ago. I don’t know if he’s left yet.”

“My in-laws live right across from the old village chief’s house. Back when I first married into Wufumiao Village, I saw you going to the village chief’s house all the time. I even thought you were his daughter. Later I found out you were Cai Po’s great-granddaughter.”

“Gong Fan has looked at you differently since he was little. Anyone with eyes could see it. His dad also liked you a lot, and thought you two would end up together…”

“Auntie, is this your house?” I interrupted her, covering my throbbing temples.

The middle-aged woman finally stopped talking, and holding her sleeping child, led us into the yard.

Her house was a typical northern-style bungalow. Across from it, the original house had already been torn down and replaced with a luxurious little villa.

Speaking of Gong Fan, he was my first friend in this village. Because he was the village chief’s son, many kids rushed to play with him. I benefited from this and quickly integrated into the new village and new environment.

Back then, I was carefree. I could play with both boys and girls. It wasn’t until I got my period that I became aware of gender differences and started avoiding physical contact with boys.

Teenage boys and girls change a lot. Friends who used to get along well suddenly become strangers overnight.

After the age of sixteen, Gong Fan and I went to different high schools, and we completely lost contact.

There were no ripples or anything special.

As soon as we entered the yard, we heard a crash from inside the room, like a cup being broken.

“Oh no!” The middle-aged woman put down her sleeping child and led us into the old woman’s room.

The old woman lived alone in a small side room to the west, just two small rooms. The outer room was piled with bagged grain. Inside the inner room, beyond the curtain, it was dark and gloomy, with only a kang (a traditional Chinese brick bed-stove) and a table for storing miscellaneous items.

Because the old woman was paralyzed in bed and couldn’t take care of herself, she ate, drank, and relieved herself on the kang. And now, in early summer, all kinds of smells were mixed together.

As soon as you entered the room, you felt sticky all over, and couldn’t help but pinch your nose.

Half of the old woman’s body was outside of the kang, and there were broken pieces of a water glass on the floor.

“Oh, Mom, what’s wrong? Are you thirsty? Didn’t you have some water before we left?” The middle-aged woman helped the old woman sit up straight and lie back in the covers.

“I’m thirsty, I’m thirsty…” The old woman gasped for breath, her face pale, her eyebrows tinged with black.

Even someone like me who doesn’t understand medicine could see that this was a sign of impending death.

“I’ll pour you some. You wait.”

The middle-aged woman grabbed a random canned food jar, poured some water, and brought it to the old woman’s lips.

But the old woman had barely wet her lips, hadn’t even taken two sips, before she took the water away. The old woman wanted to drink more, but was scolded by the middle-aged woman, “Alright, alright, that’s enough. You can’t drink this much water.”

I frowned, puzzled. “She only drank a little bit. Why aren’t you letting her drink more? It’s summer now, and it’s so hot in her room. She’ll get dehydrated.”

As soon as I said that, the old woman started crying, saying that her life was miserable, that she couldn’t get enough to eat, couldn’t even get a drink of water, and might as well just die.

The middle-aged woman pulled me into the outer room where the grain was stored, lowered her voice, and complained, “See, Xiao Mai, if you don’t say anything, she won’t make a fuss. As soon as you say something, she gets all worked up…”

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “A patient should drink more water.”

“If she drinks more water, won’t she pee more? If she eats more, won’t she poop more? Who can help me? I’m the only one taking care of her!” The middle-aged woman glared at the inner room, and sneered, “When I first married into this family, she treated me in all manner of harsh ways. The fact that I’m taking care of her like this now is already pretty good!”

“…”

So, it’s an evil mother-in-law and daughter-in-law revenge battle.

Wen Ye’s features were twisted into a knot. He urged, “Let’s check on the old woman first. It smells awful.”

Ugh, brother, can you be a little more polite?

“Auntie, go ahead and take care of your business. I’ll take care of things here. I’ll ask about Grandma’s condition.”

The middle-aged woman couldn’t save face, yet also didn’t want to get angry: “Okay, okay, you ask. And if there are any dirty things in the house, see if you can take care of them.”

I nodded: “I’ll see what I can do.”

As soon as the middle-aged woman left, Wen Ye strode directly into the old woman’s room and yanked open the old woman’s covers.

“Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing? You can’t just yank open the covers like that…”

I ran in to stop him, but before I could finish, I frowned: “Hey, what’s going on here?”