Chapter 25 Section 24

That dog is very well-behaved and follows him every day, and does not bark when it sees strangers. Aunt Wei ran to my house and told my mother that Jiutuo's dog was too similar to the one her mother had raised before her death.When she passed by Jiutuo's house a few times, the dog still stared at her for a long time, as if he had known him before. Mom disagrees. Half a year later, Jiutuo suddenly agreed to a matchmaker from a distant place. On the day of Jiutuo's wedding, everyone in the side room went to congratulate him, beaming with joy.Only Papa Ai glanced at the bride, and immediately passed out.

At that time, I had already returned to Beijing to work.My mother called and told me that Dad Ai had been looking for her secretly, saying that he had seen Jiutuo's bride before...under a street lamp one night... I suddenly felt a chill down my spine. Mom also said, don't worry about grandpa's health, and work in Beijing with peace of mind.After listening to Aunt Wei's story about the history of the jujube tree, my mother went to ask Grandpa in person, and Grandpa told us not to worry.In Grandpa's words: "Even if your aunt Wei is right, I am not the life of a dead tree, and I don't need a jujube tree to protect me. In this case, the prosperity and decline of a jujube tree has nothing to do with me directly."

My mother's words did not reassure me much.Grandpa has always been like this, he doesn't let the younger generation worry about anything, and he will say it's okay if there is something to do. Time is to him like the cattle he feeds.When young and strong, the buffalo was submissive in front of him.Now that he is old, he has to change his strategy and can only give up the buffalo he has known all his life.In front of the younger generation, he was smiling as usual while leading the scalper, but the parting in his heart is beyond our comprehension. In other words, time is like his old house to him.In the past, no matter what was missing, he could quickly repair it and do it himself.Now the walls are toppled, and although he still lives in it, it can no longer be repaired.

My mother asked me if I noticed that my grandfather's eyesight and hearing were failing during the Chinese New Year at home.After his grandma passed away, his clothes needed to be mended by himself.He couldn't thread a needle by himself, and sometimes he couldn't hear people's words clearly. I didn't pay attention to Grandpa's eyesight. Sometimes I call back, and if grandpa is next to my mother, I will pick it up and say a few words, but every time I pick it up, I feel embarrassed.I talked a lot here, but I heard my grandpa asking my mother over there: "Did I press the wrong key? There is no sound inside..."

I couldn't help but think of the scene when I just climbed over the mountain and was still a mile away from my grandpa's house, my grandpa waved and called my name; I couldn't help but think of my grandpa once said that he was slapped by his great-grandfather when he wanted to grab the book in the fire. The old story of being almost deaf from a beating in one ear... I don't know if grandpa will think of those past events like me when he faces the dilapidated old house alone... The slightest change at home is basically told to me by my mother's phone call.My mother seems to be my other pair of eyes, allowing me to look at the people and things in my hometown from far away in Beijing, as if I have never left Changshan Village.

But my mother's eyes missed Jiutuo's daughter-in-law. It was not until a year and a half later that Jiutuo's daughter-in-law reappeared in my mother's eyes and brought me an even bigger surprise.