"You think I don't want to see my darling grandson? Not hearing him call me makes my pipe smoking feel off."
"With my darling grandson here, I can even stop smoking this pipe."
Shen Futang stopped smoking, tapped his pipe bowl a few times, and set it aside. He was also bothered.
These past few days, not seeing his two darling grandchildren made him restless, and nothing felt right.
He kept thinking about the two little ones calling him Grandpa in their milky voices. His beard had grown quite long, and not having the little ones to pull it made him feel unaccustomed.
But from Anhui Province to Jiangsu Province was a long way. They had never left Liúhé County in their lives and couldn't imagine how far it was. He had no way to bridge the distance.
So, every day, by the courtyard gate, at the village entrance, he waited and waited, but he never saw his eldest daughter and son-in-law bring back the two darling grandchildren.
"Grandpa, Grandma."
Just as Shen Futang was feeling bothered, the milky voices of the little ones and Chen Hao suddenly came from outside the courtyard.
Shen Futang and Liu Chunmei exchanged a glance, both thinking they were hallucinating.
These past few days, they often felt like they heard the children calling them, but when they ran out, no one was there, leading to false hopes.
Over time, the two of them weren't as excited anymore, thinking they had misheard.
"Grandpa, you're not talking to me."
"Grandpa doesn't like Yanyan anymore."
Just then, a little toddler, with her short legs flailing, rushed to Shen Futang, who was squatting by the courtyard wall tapping his pipe bowl.
Shen Futang rubbed his eyes hard, thinking he was seeing things.
"Grandpa."
The toddler, seeing her Grandpa staring at her with a blank expression, forgot to act wronged and called out again in a clear voice.
"Yes."
"It really is my darling granddaughter, I thought I was dreaming."
The toddler threw herself into his arms, and only then did Shen Futang realize he wasn't dreaming; his darling granddaughter had truly returned.
"Grandma."
Chen Hao also hopped into Liu Chunmei's embrace. The two elders held the little ones like this, almost shedding tears.
After holding them for a long while, Chen Yang and Shen Xue couldn't bear to watch any longer. They finally put the two little ones down, looking around.
Seeing that the two little ones hadn't lost weight but had actually gotten plumper, they finally felt at ease.
"I missed you all so much. Darling, quickly bring out the cured meat we dried at home and start cooking. My darling grandchildren must be hungry."
Immediately, Shen Futang smacked his head and quickly urged Liu Chunmei to start cooking. It was almost dark when Chen Yang and the others returned, so they must be having dinner.
Liu Chunmei also hurried to the kitchen, showing no trace of her earlier unhappiness.
Shen Futang, holding the two little ones, was so happy his mouth couldn't close. After a while, he noticed Chen Yang and Shen Xue had brought another person back.
"Dad, this is Lei Baoguo. He'll be doing business with Chen Yang from now on. Today, Yanyan and Haohao were in a hurry to see you and Mom, so Chen Yang and he didn't stay in Qinghe City and came back with us."
Shen Xue saw Shen Futang's gaze and quickly explained before he could ask.
"Did you get a letter of introduction? Although the old village chief has a good relationship with us, we still have to follow the rules."
Shen Futang glanced at Lei Baoguo. The man looked honest and didn't seem like a bad person. However, as a senior, he couldn't help but ask.
"Dad, we did. Without a letter of introduction, we wouldn't even be able to get on the train."
Chen Yang put the luggage in the main hall. His father-in-law and mother-in-law had insisted on sleeping in their own courtyard, but Chen Yang persuaded them to move in and look after the new house since they wouldn't be there.
"Then that's fine."
"Since you're back, we'll move back today. The old courtyard is more comfortable to live in. Your windows are too big, and the glass is so bright; I can't sleep peacefully."
Shen Futang complained about the glass windows Chen Yang had gone to great lengths to get. Glass was rare in those days, and most families only had a small window.
They wouldn't even bother with glass, just paste it with paper, letting in a little light.
Chen Yang's large windows let in so much light that the room was visible from the outside during the day, making Shen Futang naturally feel uneasy.
"Dad, aren't there curtains? You can pull them up when you want to sleep."
There were no curtains back then. People barely had enough cloth coupons to buy clothes, so they couldn't afford the luxury of curtains.
Chen Yang had to make do. He hung a straw mat above the window. It wasn't expensive, and when lowered, it could serve as a curtain, albeit a rather ugly one.
"You can pull them if you want. I'm not used to it anyway. I'm more comfortable in my own courtyard."
"It's just for sleeping. It's not a big deal. I'll be here during the day, and you can't kick me out. I've missed my two darling grandchildren so much after not seeing them for so long."
Shen Futang held the hands of the two little ones, unwilling to let go.
Chen Yang was speechless, not expecting his father-in-law and mother-in-law to miss the children so much. He then thought that his own parents would likely be missing the little ones too.
He had to work harder to earn money. Once he had enough, he would buy a bigger house and have them all live together, so neither side would miss the children.
"Come, come, come, my darling grandchildren, look at the chicks your Grandma fed. These are almost half a pound now. If we raise them until the New Year, maybe they'll lay a couple of eggs for my grandchildren to eat."
In a moment of distraction, Shen Futang led the two little ones to the chicken coop to see the chicks.
Unlike their fluffy and cute appearance when they were first bought, the chicks had grown. The once-cute yellow yarn ball-like chicks had started to grow feathers of various colors.
Their frames had also grown, but their feathers weren't as glossy as those of adult chickens; they looked like a mess of mixed feathers. At this stage, the chickens were almost the ugliest.
The toddlers stared with wide eyes at their once-cute chicks now looking so ugly. They immediately bit their lower lips, their faces filled with a wronged expression.
"Boo hoo hoo."
"Grandpa, the chicks have become ugly."
"I don't want ugly chicks."
The toddler, seeing the ugly chicks crowding around her, burst into tears.
Her chicks were so cute before, but now they were so scary.
Seeing the golden tears streaming down the toddler's face, Shen Futang was instantly heartbroken and didn't know what to do.
He remembered that his darling granddaughter loved this brood of chicks the most! When she left, she had even told him and his wife to take good care of them.
These past few days, he had been cutting wild vegetables and digging for earthworms, all to raise these chicks well and report back to his darling granddaughter. What if he made his darling granddaughter cry?
"Yanyan, don't cry, don't cry."
"Chicks change when they grow up. When their feathers grow in, they'll become beautiful again."
Shen Xue, hearing the crying, hurried over and took the toddler from Shen Futang's arms.
"Mama, will Yanyan become ugly when she grows up too?"
The toddler pouted, her pitiful look melting Chen Yang's heart. His precious daughter would never become ugly; she would always be the cutest little treasure.
"Yanyan is the cutest, she won't become ugly. Look at Mama, Mama didn't become ugly when she grew up, did she? Yanyan will definitely be a beautiful little girl when she grows up."
Shen Xue pinched the toddler's little nose. Teased like this, the little one let out a giggle.