Chapter 64: She Will Come

Returning to the housing block, it was already dark.

Li Fenlan and Xie Mingcheng stood outside, looking toward the alley across the way. When they saw Xie Yunshu riding her bike over, they quickly walked a few steps to greet her. “Yunshu, how did it go? Did they give you any trouble? Did they bully you?”

Xie Mingcheng’s gaze was heavy. “Sister, is Lu Zhichen still unwilling to divorce?”

Xie Yunshu smiled cheerfully, holding up the divorce certificate. “I’m divorced! Let’s have an extra meal tonight to celebrate, okay?”

Li Fenlan was stunned, then happily asked, “Lu Zhichen agreed to sign?”

“He agreed. I’ll find a truck on Sunday to move the stuff over. There’s no way we’ll give the Lu family an easy time!” Xie Yunshu let Xie Mingcheng push her bike while she strolled back slowly, already planning for the future.

“Mom, I’ve been thinking—renting that courtyard is a must. If we keep cooking here long-term, people in the housing block will definitely gossip and be unhappy. Also, all the stuff in the house—let’s throw out all that junk!”

Li Fenlan nodded repeatedly. “Sure, whatever you say, we’ll do.”

Xie Mingcheng had no objections either. “I checked out the courtyard this afternoon that Aunt Zhao mentioned. It’s spacious, with three rooms inside, and very clean. We can put up a shed for cooking, and there’s plenty of room for firewood, which saves a lot compared to those small stoves. The rent is a bit expensive, though. The landlord won’t lower the price by even 15 yuan a month.”

Li Fenlan sighed. “Yeah, the place is great, but too expensive. If I don’t find anything else tomorrow, I’ll try again…”

“No more looking. Fifteen it is.” Xie Yunshu decided. Since her mom and brother agreed, that courtyard must be pretty good. Even if they found somewhere cheaper, it wouldn’t be as spacious.

Before opening the door, Xie Yunshu heard a low cough from next door. She paused and asked, “Mom, haven’t we seen Grandma Zhang these past couple of days?”

She’d been busy cooking and selling meals lately, often coming back from the market around five. A few days had passed without greeting Grandma Zhang, and the last time Zhou Xinyue brought the child to bow, Grandma Zhang didn’t come out either.

Li Fenlan frowned. “Yeah, it’s been a few days. She hasn’t come over to watch TV, either.”

Xie Yunshu grew worried. Grandma Zhang was elderly and lived alone…

Thinking of this, she hurriedly knocked on the neighboring door. “Grandma Zhang, it’s me, Yunshu…”

But there was no reply—only intermittent coughing, no one opening the door. Growing anxious, Xie Yunshu raised her voice. “Grandma?”

After a while, just as she was about to knock down the door, she heard movement inside and the door opened. Grandma Zhang looked haggard, her lips cracked and weak. “Yunshu…”

“Grandma Zhang!” Xie Yunshu exclaimed and quickly stepped inside. Li Fenlan and Xie Mingcheng followed, worried. The room was dark and the lights were off, with a pungent smell filling the air.

Xie Yunshu frowned and turned on the light, seeing cold leftover food on the table and a messy bed. Grandma Zhang was a very tidy old lady, so clearly, the room hadn’t been cleaned for several days.

Grandma Zhang seemed too weak, leaning on the bed and taking a slow breath before speaking. “Yunshu, what’s going on?”

Xie Yunshu put her hand on Grandma Zhang’s forehead, then without hesitation hoisted her onto her shoulders. “Grandma, why didn’t you say you were sick? Let’s go to the hospital! Mom, stay here, Mingcheng and I will go.”

Li Fenlan nervously grabbed a coat for Grandma Zhang, and Xie Mingcheng took her from Xie Yunshu’s shoulders, noticing she was burning up with fever. No one knew how long she had been sick!

The hospital in Haicheng wasn’t too close to the housing block. They loaded Grandma Zhang onto a tricycle with blankets and rushed to Haicheng Hospital.

After busy work past 10 pm, Grandma Zhang’s fever finally went down with IV fluids.

Xie Yunshu exhaled, recalling the doctor’s words: “Although she’s usually in good health, she’s old and living alone isn’t safe. Luckily, we found the fever early—if it had lasted a few more days, she might not have made it.”

But after living in the housing block so long, Xie Yunshu had never seen Grandma Zhang’s children…

Xie Mingcheng patted his sister’s shoulder. “You go home first. I don’t have school tomorrow, I’ll stay at the hospital. Don’t forget we have to prepare meal boxes tomorrow.”

They got home after 11 pm. Li Fenlan heard the noise and immediately got out of bed. “Is Grandma Zhang alright?”

“She’s fine, just a cold. A few days of IV fluids and she’ll recover.” Xie Yunshu also lay down, breathing deeply. She turned and asked, “Mom, does Grandma Zhang have children? She seems to live alone every holiday.”

Li Fenlan sighed. “She has three sons! I heard they’re all pretty capable, one even makes good money abroad. But what good did it do? When your grandpa died, only one son came back briefly, burned paper offerings, left 50 yuan, and left in a hurry…”

Xie Yunshu was silent. What would happen to Grandma Zhang now?

That night, she barely slept, worried about Grandma Zhang and thinking about cooking early the next day. She ended up oversleeping for the first time.

When the sound of heavy rain began outside, she opened her eyes and suddenly sat up. “Mom, is it raining?”

Li Fenlan was in the front room rendering lard. She glanced at her and smiled. “Why don’t you sleep a little more? The rain’s heavy. I think we shouldn’t go today. If we don’t finish making money, taking a day off is fine.”

Xie Yunshu sat up and got dressed. “Mom, I promised, so I have to go. Even if they stabbed me, I’d still go.”

How would she feed over thirty people otherwise? If she wasn’t reliable, others would have reasons not to trust her. No going on rainy days, no going on snowy days, no going on windy days—then they’d have excuses not to work with her.

She treasured this job delivering meals to the project department.

Li Fenlan looked at the gloomy sky and the wind wildly shaking the tree branches, worry in her voice. “Mingcheng is still at the hospital. I don’t trust you going alone.”

“I told Mingcheng yesterday to buy some ready food at the hospital canteen for Grandma Zhang since the weather’s bad. I’ll pick them up after the rain stops.” Xie Yunshu, already dressed in a thick orchid-patterned padded jacket, tied her hair up. “Captain Shen helped me yesterday, so today I’ll add extra food for them!”

Adding extra food actually meant adding some more lard, more sliced pickles, and an extra pound of pork…

Xie Yunshu thought she was being very generous. As the saying goes, ‘no merchant without guile,’ but she was a very conscientious businesswoman. A pound of pork with lard and pickles cost over a yuan!

But the rain kept pouring, showing no sign of stopping by 11 o’clock. Li Fenlan couldn’t persuade her otherwise. She just gave her a raincoat and a pair of rubber boots and warned, “Ride carefully, watch the road, don’t rush!”

Xie Yunshu nodded, pulled the hood over her head, covered the lunch box, gritted her teeth, and dashed into the heavy rain.

The only good thing was she wasn’t selling food outside today—just riding straight to the construction site.

In the project office, Tian Hao paced anxiously. “What if Xie Yunshu doesn’t come? It’s raining so hard, and the leaders are all here. Maybe I should drive out to Haicheng Hotel to buy something?”

Shen Subai tapped his fingers on the table. “Wait a little longer. She will come.”