The engine sputtered and died, and the air inside the car turned stifling hot within seconds.
An Jing pushed open the car door, stretched her arms high above her head, and stood on this land that was both familiar and strange, feeling an inexplicable surge of emotion—
But when she actually tried to put those feelings into words, she couldn’t manage a single sentence.
This was the end of the neighborhood road, and beyond this point, even the road gave out, leaving only a dirt patch covered in gravel.
Weeds sprouted vigorously from the crushed stones, and a few plastic paint buckets of unknown purpose lay scattered in the corner of the open area, unclaimed—so moss and vines had climbed all over them instead, turning them into their new home.
A few feral kittens crouched in the overgrown bushes nearby, mewing softly, but when An Jing looked their way, they stopped and retreated deeper into the shrubbery, hiding themselves away.
Grandfather’s house was the last one on this little alley, a two-story brick-and-tile structure that looked square and orderly, perfectly neat.
Both floors of the old, low house belonged to Grandfather, but the stairs to the second floor were built on the outside.
It was a concrete staircase that looked old and worn, yet the wooden handrail had little dust on it and showed no signs of rot.
The front of each floor had three pale green windows, and there was even a small window above the door frame, making the place look bright and airy.
This reminded An Jing of the days she’d spent here during summer vacation. Back then, she woke up every morning to the morning sunlight.
The light streamed in through the wide windows, filtered by the green glass, and became incredibly soft—like a gentle young girl’s hand softly caressing her.
Of course, that only applied to the early morning, because once nine o’clock rolled around, the summer maiden would turn暴躁.
The sunlight was so fierce that even pulling the curtains shut didn’t stop the heat.
Grandfather’s house had air conditioning, but it was one of those old window units, and its cooling effect under the blazing sun wasn’t all that great.
“Which one is it?” Ye Ronghua lifted the fruit from the car and turned to ask An Jing, who was lost in thought.
“It’s this one.”
“Alright, I’ll grab your suitcase for you. There’s a bit more stuff, so I’ll make a few trips. It’s not far anyway.”
“Okay~” An Jing dragged her suitcase along, the plastic wheels scraping against the ground with a rattling sound like rain, until she stopped at Grandfather’s front door and the noisy racket finally came to a halt. “Grandfather, Grandfather!”
An Jing pounded on the door, “Bang bang,” since there was no doorbell at the entrance—knocking was the only option.
But she figured Grandfather should be home, and Father would have notified him before they set off.
He was probably busy preparing dinner to welcome her back right now.
“Grandfather, Grandfather, Grandfather! Open the door!”
Instead of Grandfather’s voice, a raspy sound like two stones grinding together came from the gray parrot inside: “Guests are here, guests are here, guests are here—!”
“Whoa, what’s that sound?” Ye Ronghua leaned in curiously. “Sounds like a parrot?”
“It is a parrot. A really big one.”
“It can serve as a doorbell too?”
“It reacts when someone knocks, but sometimes it can’t be bothered—depends on its mood, I guess.”
“Coming, coming!” Grandfather’s voice finally rang out from inside, and after a flurry of hurried footsteps, the door was gently pushed open.
There wasn’t much hair on Grandfather’s head, and the few silver-white strands he had stood straight up like a hedgehog’s quills.
He looked lean but spirited, with solid muscles in his arms, and his voice boomed with the vigor of a young man—if you didn’t look at his face, you’d think he was only in his thirties or forties.
“Ah, hello, Grandfather.” Ye Ronghua quickly gave a half bow and handed over the fruit he was carrying.
“Hello, hello… You must be An Jing’s cousin, right?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“Driving all this long way to bring her here—that was a lot of trouble. Thank you.”
“It’s no trouble, I was passing through anyway.”
“And you brought fruit too, you’re too kind. Come in for some tea?”
“Sure, alright. I’ll sit for a bit, it’s a good chance to rest.”
“How about staying for dinner? I bought a lot of groceries today.”
“No, no, I need to head over to someone’s place later.”
“Alright, that works too.”
Grandfather stepped back a few paces and placed two pairs of slippers in front of them—the ones for An Jing looked newly bought, not only small but even pink.
She eyed Grandfather with some suspicion, wondering if Father had already told him everything about her.
Unlike Grandfather on the other side, this Grandfather was highly educated, had held government office, and had seen a lot in his life, so his ability to accept new things was stronger than most.
“Come on in, I’ll pour you some tea—or if you young people don’t like tea, I’ve got drinks too.”
“Grandfather, I want cola!” An Jing didn’t stand on ceremony at all.
“Then I’ll have a Sprite, if you’ve got it…”
“Sure, I’ll get them for you!” Grandfather headed to the kitchen and pulled out two chairs from the dining area on his way, gesturing for them to sit.
The big parrot perched by the entrance at the entryway bobbed its head up and down and squawked in its distinctive way: “Welcome, welcome, may you get rich!”
“That’s a huge parrot.” Ye Ronghua was startled by it. “This is the first time I’ve seen a parrot this big.”
“Right? Sometimes we even let it fly outside on its own, but most of the time it stays in the cage so it doesn’t drop feathers and bird droppings everywhere.” An Jing boasted proudly, as if the parrot were hers. “Cai Qi, still remember me?”
The big parrot tilted its head, fixed its beady black eyes on her for a moment, then flapped its wings twice inside the spacious cage: “An Jing, you are my bird! An Jing!”
“Shut up…” An Jing rolled her eyes dramatically.
Ye Ronghua beside her was laughing uncontrollably: “How did this bird learn to say that? What does it mean?”
“Well, Grandfather used to get annoyed when I was too noisy, so he’d tell me to be quiet. He’d say something like, ‘An Jing, you’re scaring my bird,’ to tease me, and then the parrot picked it up.”
“But that doesn’t match what it’s saying.”
“Yeah, I don’t know how it ended up like that either.” An Jing shrugged helplessly.
“May you get rich!”
“I’ve got no money to give you.” An Jing pursed her lips.
“Cai Qi.” Grandfather chuckled happily, pulling cans of cola and Sprite from the fridge and setting them on the table. “Recite a poem for everyone.”
“At noon I hoe the crops, sweat drips into the earth. Who knows that on the plate, each grain—is my little parrot!”
“Whoa, that’s so smart. It even rewrites the lyrics…”
“It’s just mixing things up, really.” An Jing popped the tab on her cola, took a big gulp, then walked toward the door. “Cousin, you sit tight. I’ll bring the rest of the stuff in.”
“Need a hand?”
“No, just sit there.”
“Actually, I don’t really need to sit… after driving that long, I’m sick of sitting…”
“Hungry? Have some snacks first.” Grandfather enthusiastically pulled a red plastic tray from the cupboard. When he opened the lid, each compartment held a different type of pastry, and it could even spin like a restaurant’s lazy Susan—fancy indeed.
“Grandfather, are you making dinner?”
“Heh, yes, it’ll take another hour. Don’t rush, just wait a bit.”
“I’m not in a hurry…”
“I won’t eat any, really. I need to head out after resting a bit.”
“You came all this way—are you sure you won’t stay for a meal?”
“Really, I’m fine. I’ll just have some snacks…” Ye Ronghua said, picking up an old-fashioned little cake and popping it into his mouth, then had to wash it down with several gulps of Sprite because it was so dry.
An Jing, who had come back from the car with her things, called out from inside: “Grandfather—should I take my stuff up to the second floor, or what?”
“Just leave them in the living room for now! We’ll sort it out later!”
“Okay!”
So An Jing set all her bags by the entrance and eagerly plopped down next to her cousin: “So, good or not?”
“Dry.” The cousin, nearly choking, could only describe it with one word.
“Let me try this Jie Jie Gao… Mmm, it’s only at Grandfather’s house that these come in mint flavor!”
“You like them? Want me to buy you some more tomorrow?”
“No need… They get too greasy if you eat too many.”
“Heh, then just switch it up. Don’t eat too much—save room for dinner!” Grandfather laughed merrily, his voice drifting out of the kitchen along with the sizzle of a wok.
An Jing swung her legs back and forth, feeling her mood—which had dipped after being apart from Zhu Ying—lift again in an instant: “Grandfather, when was the last time I came here?”
“Right around when you started junior high school?”
“Oh—so it’s been almost three years!”
“That’s about right, heh. Stay a while this time. Even when you go to your dad’s place, you can come over and play every day.”
“Great! Oh, is my room still the one on the second floor?”
“Yep! I’ve got it all cleaned up for you.” Grandfather held the wok with one hand and tipped the cooked dish into a plate.
An Jing loved Grandfather’s cooking, because he mostly made local home-style dishes—nothing spicy, and he never tossed little red chili peppers into every single dish like some people did. Most of his food leaned toward savory-sweet flavors. Especially his Tang Cu Li Ji—every summer vacation, An Jing would eat it multiple times, and she felt even restaurant versions couldn’t compare to his.
“Grandfather, what’s on the menu today?” An Jing propped her bare feet on the chair next to her, sitting as sloppily as possible—what Mother would call having no proper posture.
But Grandfather never minded. In fact, he often said, ‘Modern young people need to have their own personality.’
“Cong You Yu Nai, Tang Cu Li Ji, Yu Xiang Rou Si, Qing Jiao Sai Rou, Cong You Pao Dan, and Tie Ban Lu Yu. The soup is tomato tofu soup.”
“Wow—so much food! Are we really going to finish all that?”
“Haha, of course you little one will eat the most. Whatever’s left, we’ll have it tomorrow.”
“Then I’m eating all the Tie Ban Lu Yu first!!”
“That one has to be eaten tonight—it won’t taste good tomorrow. Hey, young man, are you sure you don’t want a little something first? A few dishes are already done.”
“Ah, really, no thank you. I’m about to head out…” Ye Ronghua quickly waved his hands.
The parrot at the entryway echoed his words: “Heading out now! Heading out now!”