Shen Duan was dressed in a dark blue short sleeve and black trousers, but as he was tall, the trousers seemed too short for him. It was obvious the clothes weren’t his own, and his look at Tang Xi seemed equally surprised to encounter her here.
However, he did not respond immediately to her, merely nodding faintly, his gaze signaling her to remain calm for the time being.
Then, he turned and walked ahead.
Tang Xi was excited to meet a relatively familiar person here, but Shen Duan’s indifferent expression cooled her ardor as though doused with cold water. She took a couple of steps in the direction Shen Duan went, and followed him, not walking out of an alley when she saw a young woman approaching, whom Shen Duan held onto.
The young woman seemed very young, dressed in plain and simple clothes, slender in build, with her hair casually tied at the back of her head. Her skin was pale, the sickly pallor of someone perpetually kept away from light. Shen Duan held her by the arm, walking forward. The woman’s voice was very faint, speaking continuously to him, with Shen Duan replying in a subdued tone.
Tang Xi followed the two through two more alleys before they finally stopped.
It was then that Tang Xi realized that the woman was blind.
Perhaps familiar with the village, she didn’t need any tools to walk normally. Nevertheless, Tang Xi had noticed.
Shen Duan seemed to be aware that Tang Xi was following them. He turned his head to look at Tang Xi and mouthed a word, "Tonight."
She took the medicine and returned to Feng Jiamei’s house.
She had been out for a while and had just returned to hear Feng Jiamei nagging about her not getting any work done, but then Feng Jiamei was just fond of fussing. Tang Xi ignored her and went to the kitchen, found Liang Zheng, and began to disinfect the wound on his hand with sterilized cotton.
Liang Zheng was obedient.
"Xixi, you’re so capable."
Tang Xi, "Be more careful when you carve wood in the future, don’t hurt your hand again."
He looked quite proud as he replied, "I won’t, little Zheng is quite skilled."
Outside, a sudden ’bang’ was heard.
Initially, Tang Xi and Liang Zheng didn’t pay it much attention. It wasn’t until Liang Zheng went out to the toilet that they found out Feng Jiamei had suddenly fainted.
It all happened within five minutes.
Tang Xi hurried over to check and administer aid.
Thankfully, it wasn’t a heart attack, and Tang Xi breathed a sigh of relief.
Feng Jiamei slowly opened her eyes, while Liang Zheng on the side was terrified, rushing to call out, "Grandma, are you okay?"
"Little Zheng, grandma is fine," Feng Jiamei said, holding onto Liang Zheng’s hand and patting it. Tang Xi saw a kind and gentle smile on her face, meant for Liang Zheng. Tang Xi felt complicated emotions; Feng Jiamei truly was a good grandmother, treating Liang Zheng well, almost single-handedly raising him due to his intellectual challenges.
She had never seen her own grandmother.
Since she was little, as soon as she became self-aware, she was in an orphanage, with only Tang Jingyun by her side.
Latterly, due to a matching blood type, she became the adopted daughter of the Su Family, forced every month or two to undergo blood extraction to sustain Su Mengshu. She could seldom feel the warmth of familial affection around her.
Feng Jiamei stood up, still fussing that there was fish boiling in the pot and that water needed to be added so it wouldn’t dry out.
Seeing that Feng Jiamei was alright, Liang Zheng went back to playing in the courtyard.
However, Tang Xi noticed that Feng Jiamei’s complexion wasn’t very good. As a doctor, she wanted to caution her, but she opened her mouth and seeing Feng Jiamei busy, didn’t say a word.
When evening came, Tang Xi made an excuse to go out for a stroll and get some air.
Anyway, Feng Jiamei knew she couldn’t leave the village and did not restrict her freedom.
Liang Zheng wanted to follow her, but Tang Xi promised to bring him candy when she returned, coaxing him to stay good. Liang Zheng wouldn’t listen at first, so Tang Xi had no choice but to say she wanted a wooden carved kitten, which made Liang Zheng happy and he then headed to the roof.
Tang Xi met Shen Duan.
Shen Duan had changed his clothes, not the dark blue short sleeve he wore in the morning, but a pure black one.
He had just washed his hair; he hadn’t had a haircut for a while, and his hair had grown quite long, giving him a rather carefree yet artistic air without grooming.
He glanced at Tang Xi, "Follow me."
Tang Xi followed Shen Duan almost around half the village and then arrived at a family’s doorway, where Shen Duan took out a key, opened the door, and led Tang Xi inside.
Tang Xi keenly noticed this was not the house to which Shen Duan and the blind woman returned in the morning.