Inferior star

Chapter 21. From Past to Present: The Return

As graduation approached, Wei Yu went back to his hometown.

The phone screen displayed the phone number at Grandpa’s house, and Grandpa would occasionally mistake Saturday for Sunday, wait and wait until Wei Yu’s call came, and would call on his own initiative.

He smiled and pressed answer.

"Grandpa, today is Saturday~"

It was the second uncle's voice that was heard.

It has been raining a lot recently.

Grandpa was discovered by the second uncle. The grocery store was closed early in the morning. He felt a little weird, so he went around to the back door, and through the window, he saw grandpa lying on his back at the bottom of the stairs with his head on the ground.

After the master unlocker opened the door, the second uncle went to check on the grandfather's breath, and there was no surprise that indicated a "false alarm".

Grandpa's legs and feet have always been bad.

After Wei Yu learned to walk, he often played at the back door of his house. There was a slope there, and the motorcycles in the town were always speeding by. Once, a young man who was riding a bike while talking on the phone was distracted, and was about to bump into him. Wei Yu’s crying frightened him. Arriving at the grandfather who was arranging cigarettes, he ran across most of the room from the front door to the back door to embrace Weiyu.In the end, the young man turned the corner in time, but his grandfather fell in a hurry and injured his right knee.

On rainy days, the stairs and walls were so wet that a layer of water droplets formed. Grandpa had watched TV downstairs and turned off all the lights. When he was groping upstairs to sleep in the dark, he slipped and fell.

It has been raining a lot recently.

Wei Yu struggled to get off the bus going home, held up his umbrella, and took a few deep breaths before breaking free from the sweltering heat and humidity in the carriage.

He stood and stared at the intersection where he went home. He hadn't come back for so many years, and the town hadn't changed except that it was more dilapidated.

The densely packed wires above the head were old, and countless raindrops fell in filaments, making tiny ripples in the small puddles.

Wei Yu didn't see his grandfather for the last time, and his second uncle helped to take care of everything.

He only took two days off and had to rush back to defend.

He didn't really want to go home, but he didn't know where to go either.He adjusted the shoulder straps of his backpack and wandered aimlessly through the streets with his umbrella in hand.

He has nothing left, the vast world, only useless freedom left.

At the crossroads in the town, there was a slogan with blue background and white letters "Prohibition of making big fuss about weddings, weddings and weddings". Wei Yu passed by there, and remembered that when he was a child, he accompanied his grandfather to buy things, ran back and forth on the road, and his grandfather looked at him kindly from behind. , ignoring the oncoming car.

The car saw that grandpa slowed down, but he didn't control the distance well. When grandpa raised his foot and took a step, the car moved forward, and the license plate stuck his foot into a sunken red line.There was a group of well-dressed young people in the car. Seeing this, they got out of the car and helped grandpa to sit on the flower bed by the roadside.

It's been a long time since this happened, but Wei Yu clearly remembered that his grandfather had his eyes closed and his face was bitter, he took off his shoes and rubbed his heels with his thumbs, and the edges of the blue socks were already ripping.Grandpa's hands are old and rough. Due to being too thin, the skin is thinly covered on the skeleton, and the blue veins on the hands are fragile.

Grandpa kept rubbing and rubbing, didn't ask for money, but was afraid that the group of young people would leave if nothing happened, so he could only raise the volume of painful sighs.

The young man driving the car was the first to speak, apologized frankly, and even asked in a low voice if he could pay for the loss. Grandpa didn't say anything, and took a hundred-yuan bill that the man took out from his wallet.

The group of young people bowed and turned to leave. One of the girls muttered: "I'm not hurt, what's the compensation?" The other girl tugged at her sleeve and said in a low voice: "We've been drinking. Let's keep a low profile .”

When they left, the grandfather slowly supported Wei Yu to stand up, with a joyful face, he shook the money in his hand to Wei Yu, and the grandpa and grandson went to eat a warm big fresh meat wonton.

I can't remember exactly if it was the age when I could fully remember this incident, but I still remembered it clearly.

Wei Yu walked a few steps forward, the wonton shop was not far away.

The dark red wooden plaque at the door of the store, signed with a brush and inscribed "Hundred Years Wonton" was removed, and the main product was changed to medicinal wine.

Wei Yu looked at it for a while, then continued walking, passing the vegetable market and fruit shop.

The cries from the vegetable market mixed with the long-outdated KTV hits played in the fruit shop, making it very lively.

Very lively.

He walked through the crowd, walked to the corner, and asked for a catty of chestnuts fried in sugar at a shop on the corner. The boss enthusiastically handed the chestnuts in a bag and said, "I specially packed more for you."

On the way home, he passed the activity center for the elderly, with transparent doors and glass exterior walls, allowing people to see a huge TV mounted on the wall at a glance. The seats are neatly arranged inside, and several elderly people are drinking tea and listening to operas.

I don't know if grandpa often comes here.

He circled around and went to Fuci in the other direction.I used to hear my grandpa complaining that my grandma always bought joss sticks to worship Buddha before she was alive. It was all superstitious things.Wei Yu found out that his grandfather occasionally went to Fuci Temple to donate some sesame oil money.

There is no one in the Fuci Temple.Wei Yu put the chestnuts on an empty table and walked to the Buddha statue in the center. At that moment, he suddenly accepted the fact that his grandfather had left.

He no longer wants to make a wish to the gods to bless his family with good health.

He thought of Xu Mingzhao.

It has been almost two years since I last saw Xu Mingzhao.Wei Yu stood at the corner outside the auditorium, waiting for Xu Mingzhao's graduation ceremony to end.

After waiting for a long time, graduates in bachelor uniforms poured out from the exit of the auditorium.

Standing tall and straight in the crowd, Xu Mingzhao strode towards his family, took the bouquet from his mother, naturally took her arm, and smiled at his father.

Xu Mingzhao's mother is kind and gentle. His father is wearing a suit and constantly adjusting his tie. He looks a little serious, but his expression subconsciously reveals his pride in his son.

very nice.Wei Yu picked up his mobile phone and turned on the camera to take a picture that was too beautiful for him. The moment he pressed the camera button, a girl walked into the frame.

It takes a lot of courage to step up and invite a group photo when family members are present.

Wei Yu looked down at the photo he had just snapped. The girl was firmly watching Xu Mingzhao walking away. Xu Mingzhao's mother and father had welcoming smiles in their eyes.

very nice.

"I hope Xu Mingzhao and his family are safe and happy."

Wei Yu clasped his hands together and closed his eyes to pray.

The layout of the house hasn't changed much.The preserved egg tofu, scrambled beans, and seaweed soup that grandpa ate that night were still on the dining table, and the edges of the stainless steel tableware had some old grease stains that hadn't been washed off.Wei Yu threw away the leftovers, washed all the dirty bowls piled up in the sink, cleaned the pot, and wiped the stove, then sat at the table and slowly peeled chestnuts to eat.

There is a small mahogany low stool in the corner of the kitchen. When I was a child, I always had to stand on it to wash dishes before I could reach the faucet. I think it is cute.The phone was placed on the cabinet, and the yellowed handwritten address book was pasted on the wall. The first line was boldly written with a black hook pen, "Xiaoyu", followed by my mobile phone number.There are many boxes of popsicles in the freezer. I always ate them secretly when I was a child, but my favorite milk sticks have been discontinued.After chewing the chestnuts in his mouth, Wei Yu opened the door of the cupboard and took a pack, walked up a few steps, sat on the steps and quickly finished eating.

My head hurts from the cold.

He looked up at the automatic foot tub he bought for his grandfather on the landing. The packaging was brand new, and it looked like it hadn't been used yet.That time my grandfather called to say that the characters on the manual were too small and he couldn't use them. Wei Yu explained for half an hour before he said he would try again.

It seems that I still don't understand how to use it. I should have asked my second uncle to teach you, grandpa.

It turned out to be so sad, Wei Yu sniffed.

On that day, Xu Mingzhao should be hugged that day.

The shutter door of the grocery store was closed, and Wei Yu went to pull it up slightly to allow some light to come in.

He reached out and touched the two notches representing height on the long and flat cigarette cabinet by the door.With only two left, he jumped higher than the cabinet.

Cigarettes are neatly arranged in the cabinet.

When I was a child, my grandfather fell asleep lying on a bamboo and rattan chair, and he helped sell it a few times.

Obviously in the same town, some people smoke cigarettes worth ten yuan, while others smoke cigarettes worth fifty yuan. That was his initial concept of money.

There is a big cardboard box on the ground next to the cigarette cabinet, all the cartons of cigarettes are thrown in it, and the bright red color of Zhonghua is very conspicuous.

The only entertainment in the past was to play with scissors and cut paper boxes.

He cut the long strips of cardboard boxes into small squares, arranged them in random places and childishly said to his grandpa, "Look, grandpa, this is a high-rise building. When I grow up, I will build a big house for grandpa to live in."

Grandpa smiled kindly and said, "Okay, Grandpa is waiting for Xiaoyu."

"Grandpa, I'm graduating soon."

Wei Yu closed his eyes while lying on the rattan chair where his grandfather usually rested. The chair was not stable and shook continuously.

He was a little tired and wanted to have a good sleep.

There is a pen knife in his bag, which is quite sharp.

"You too."

Xu Mingzhao moved towards him, and said softly with tiredness.

The author has something to say

If I hadn’t written a certain HE in the introduction, this story could have ended (wrong, wrong. Although it deviates from the original intention, I still want to add a relatively satisfactory ending to this story. The next chapter, reunion.