Romantic elderly love story
This is a poor mining area, where the mining enterprise had gone bankrupt years ago. Those with better conditions had already moved to the nearby town, and the younger ones had gone elsewhere to make a living. The only residents left were some retired elderly and the children left behind. All around were the remnants of the mining enterprise’s buildings, and low houses built along the mountains stood in rows, telling the story of bygone days.
On a cold winter day in the 20xx year, at noon, an elderly couple, both over sixty, stood out in the cold wind with their just-turned-eight-year-old grandson. They had just returned from the town, bringing back some daily necessities and snacks their grandson loved.
Creak! Pushing open the paint-stripped wooden door, a wave of warmth came from inside.
“Old man, quickly take off the grandson’s coat and let him warm up by the stove. This damned weather is freezing,” the old lady said.
“Yes, I’ll take care of the grandson. You start cooking. The boy is hungry,” the old man replied with a smile. It seemed like this had become their routine.
Smoke began to rise from the kitchen as the old lady busied herself. “Old man, we’re out of water. Go fetch some.”
After calling for a while without any response, the old lady, holding a spatula, came out to find the old man leisurely drinking and smoking a cigarette. She got a bit angry and snatched the cigarette, throwing it on the ground. “Didn’t you hear me? Smoking and drinking! I told you to fetch water!”
“Why can’t I? I’m using my pension. It’s none of your business. I drink because I like it, so what?” The old man retorted.
“Who are you yelling at? If you’re so capable, go buy us a house in town.”
This remark triggered the old man’s long-held grievance. Their son had learned to take drugs, enabled by the old man, squandering all their savings and stealing the money they had saved to buy a house, never to return. The daughter-in-law had also left, leaving the poor grandson to live with the grandparents.
Smash! The old man shattered the glass. “I’m leaving. Do whatever you want.”
Ignoring his trembling grandson, he slammed the door and left!
The old lady was left alone to comfort the grandson and feed him.
By 2 PM, the old man still hadn’t returned. The old lady was getting restless. She turned on the grandson’s favorite cartoon, put on a scarf, and followed the old man’s footprints outside.
The cold wind made her shiver as she thought of all the quarrels over the years. She always conceded. She thought, wasn’t the accumulation of those moments the reason they still relied on each other today? The old man loved to drink and had a bad temper, but he was otherwise good. He would buy her clothes, proudly show her off in front of others, loved her braised pork, and would help her with knitting sweaters for their grandson. He welcomed her family with a smile. When he pursued her, she was a beauty among hundreds, and when he married her, he promised to be good to her for life… Thinking of this, she blushed.
As she walked, she wondered where the old man might be. Maybe he went to his friend Old Li’s house, his chess and drinking buddy. Most likely, he’d be found there after a quarrel.
“Ah!” Suddenly, she slipped and fell, her knee bleeding. She had tripped over a stone.
“Sigh, never mind. I’ll go home. He’s always fine after a fight,” she muttered to herself, limping back home.
Time passed, and Old Li’s old man grew restless. How come the old lady hadn’t come to fetch him? She always came when they quarreled, fearing she wouldn’t find him and get too worried.
The old man thought, it was his fault too. In such cold weather, he shouldn’t have lost his temper and “left home.” The old lady had no income, relying solely on him. She had borne him children, and her severe rheumatism was a result of living in this old house. It was his spoiling of their son that caused her to suffer all these years.
Was she okay this late? He got up, bid farewell to Old Li, and headed home.
“Why is there blood?” he wondered, seeing the bloodstain on a stone, quickening his pace.
Creak. Pushing the door open again, he saw the house neatly tidied, with a pot of hot tea still steaming on the table.
“Grandpa, Grandma fell and is bleeding,” the grandson shouted to his grandpa who just entered.
“Old lady, is it serious? It’s my fault for being stubborn. I’m sorry,” the old man said, feeling both sad and guilty, seeing her still bleeding wound. “Let’s go to the hospital.”
“It’s nothing. I’m old and useless now, making you worry. I’ve applied some Yunnan Baiyao, and it doesn’t hurt at all,” she smiled. “There’s hot tea on the table. Drink some to warm up.”
Looking at the tea, the old man felt his eyes well up with tears.
“I won’t leave again after a quarrel,” he said, finding some gauze to bandage her wound. “Tonight, I’ll cook and make some chicken soup for you. I haven’t cooked in a long time.”
“Yay, Grandpa is cooking!” The grandson cheered, bouncing around.
In the kitchen, the smoke rose again…
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