Zhao Ru Jin’s grandmother, upon seeing Zhao Dezhu appear, felt both surprised and angry, her expression extremely complex.
"What are you here for?" The grandmother asked irritably.
"I’ve come to see how Cong Fang is doing," Zhao Dezhu said.
"You still remember to come? Cong Fang doesn’t need you to look after her," the grandmother said irritably, then she tried to close the door. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵⚑𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮⚑𝓷𝓮𝓽
"Mom, please wait, just listen to me..." Zhao Dezhu became somewhat anxious.
Hearing him address her as "Mom," and remembering he used to do so as well, her expression slightly cleared.
She stopped moving her hand, and her tone softened a lot.
"What do you want to say?"
"Mom, I only recently found out about Cong Fang’s condition. Here in Ruijin, I don’t have any friends, and nobody told me. Honestly, I have been harboring some resentment towards Zhou Zhou, but hearing about her current situation, I..."
Zhao Dezhu knew his mother-in-law was easily persuaded, a few kind words would definitely get him inside.
Indeed, before he even finished speaking, the iron door was opened from inside.
Of course, it wasn’t that Zhao Dezhu was trying to deceive her, his emotions were genuine.
Walking inside, he saw his grandmother, who seemed to have aged a bit more than before.
"Mom, sorry for the trouble."
The grandma looked at the slightly portly Zhao Dezhu and sighed, "Why did it get to this point? You loved each other so deeply back then, and you repeatedly assured her father you would take good care of her..."
As she spoke, her voice choked up, and she began to wipe away tears.
At her words, Zhao Dezhu recalled the past; his parents-in-law had only one daughter, Cong Fang, and naturally didn’t want her to move too far away. That’s why they strongly opposed Cong Fang quitting her good job to follow Zhao Dezhu away from Ruijin.
Yet their daughter insisted repeatedly, and with Zhao Dezhu’s continued assurances, the elderly couple finally couldn’t oppose anymore and agreed.
But where were those assurances now? His wife’s partner had passed away early, everything changes.
For the grandmother, it was all too cruel: losing her partner, her daughter ruined, and her beloved grandson gone.
"Mom~, I came back this time to take you with us back to Bin Hai, let’s go back together," Zhao Dezhu said.
The grandma glanced at him, sighed deeply, but said nothing, instead turning and walking towards the room on the right.
"You should see Cong Fang first."
Grandma gently pushed open the door, and Zhao Dezhu peeked inside.
It was already early morning, but the room was dark with the curtains tightly closed.
"Cong Fang often suffers from insomnia all night, only falling asleep as dawn approaches. I didn’t wake her, it’s better for her to sleep a bit more, to be more spirited..."
Grandma turned and muttered to herself as she walked to the balcony to finish hanging some laundry.
Zhao Dezhu glanced at her back, softly called out "Zhou Zhou," but received no response.
He hesitated slightly, then pushed the door open and went in.
Zhou Cong Fang was sleeping deeply, so much so that when Zhao Dezhu approached her bedside, there wasn’t the slightest sign of her waking.
It might also have been because Zhao Dezhu was very quiet.
Looking at the woman before him, her face gaunt and her hair thin, Zhao Dezhu found it hard to connect her with the wife he had in his mind; she seemed like a completely changed person.
Aged, emaciated, and haggard, even in her deep sleep, her brows were furrowed.
Her eyes occasionally rapidly moved beneath her eyelids, perhaps trapped in some nightmare.
Seeing her , Zhao Dezhu could hardly contain his heartache.
He sat down by the bed and couldn’t help but gently stroke her messy hair on the forehead.
"How did it come to this..."
His hatred was real, wishing she could just die; his love was also real, wishing he would die for her.
But seeing her haggard appearance, everything seemed to dissipate like smoke, and all he wished was for her to be alright...
Zhou Congfang was actually a light sleeper; she woke up as soon as Zhao Dezhu touched her.
Zhou Congfang opened her eyes, looked at Zhao Dezhu, and revealed a happy smile.
Zhao Dezhu was slightly startled; it had been a long time since he heard this title after their divorce.
However, he didn’t say much and smiled, "You’re awake."
"You’re back from work, I’ve been so confused, I forgot to cook dinner."
Zhou Congfang stretched her hand out from under the blanket, wanting a hug.
Zhao Dezhu finally realized that Zhou Congfang’s mental state was off, she seemed to have forgotten that they were already divorced.
But when he saw the shocking scars on Zhou Congfang’s wrist, his heart ached.
He reached out, pulled her into his arms, patted her back, and whispered in her ear, "If you’re tired, sleep a bit more."
"I’m not tired, I want to get up and cook for my husband."
She said, letting go of Zhao Dezhu and was about to get out of bed.
Then she froze, seemingly surprised as she glanced around.
"Eh, are we back at our old home? I don’t remember at all." She patted her head.
Her action was very intense, as if she was not patting her own head, giving off a very frantic impression.
Zhao Dezhu quickly grabbed her arm, comforting, "If you can’t remember, let’s not think about it."
Zhou Congfang, hearing this, looked at him and chuckled, "Right, with my husband here, it’s the same wherever we are."
Saying so, she started to put on some clothes lying nearby.
Zhao Dezhu quickly got up to help her dress neatly.
"Has dad gone fishing recently? I want to eat the fish he cooks with rice wine. Oh, husband, aren’t you the one who likes braised duck the most? I don’t know if the market is open yet; let mom go buy one..."
Zhou Congfang was speaking while walking towards the door; Zhao Dezhu hurried to get up and block the standing mirror near her path.
Zhou Congfang walked out of the room and saw her mother hanging clothes, seemingly oblivious to any oddities, and straightforwardly asked, "Mom, where’s dad?"
Grandma looked surprised at Zhao Dezhu.
Zhao Dezhu slightly shook his head at her.
Only then did Grandma look back at Zhou Congfang and said, "Your dad went to your aunt’s house."
"I and Zhao Dezhu rarely come back, why would he go out?" Zhou Congfang muttered discontentedly.
"Ah? Oh." Grandma didn’t know how to respond.
"Mom, let me help you hang the clothes."
Saying this, she directly took over the clothes from Grandma’s hands, seemingly completely unaware of any anomaly.
"Alright, I’ll leave it to you."
"Mom, I’m hungry, please start cooking dinner. By the way, is the place that sells braised duck at the market still there? I want to eat their braised duck."
"It’s only noon now, what dinner to cook?" Grandma let slip without thinking.
Zhou Congfang, holding the clothes, seemed to be under an immobilization spell, standing still, staring blankly at the warm sunlight outside the window.
Grandma grabbed Zhao Dezhu’s arm, nervous, "Did... did I say something wrong?"
Zhao Dezhu shook his head, signaling her not to worry.
Right then, Zhou Congfang seemed to snap back to her senses, shook the clothes in her hands, and continued hanging them.
Grandma breathed a sigh of relief; but Zhao Dezhu, who knew Zhou Congfang the best, sensed that something was still not quite right.