Upon hearing Grandma Li’s words, a smile curled up on An Ran’s lips, and she couldn’t suppress it. She picked up a mountain peach from the table beside her and took a bite. The sweet peach was delightful, spreading sweetness from her mouth to her heart.
"You remind of my younger days," Grandma Li suddenly said. "Over twenty years ago, a group of city kids ca to our village, about your age. They ca here for rural construction support."
An Ran bit into the peach and looked at Grandma Li, as if she had already imrsed herself in a mory.
"At that ti, I was just in my forties, my husband had died young, and I had no children. The villagers avoided , and I understood the rules.
When the city folks arrived, everyone in the village went to see them. The larger households applied to the village chief, asking the young city people to stay with them, while I hid at ho, not daring to go out.
The village chief arranged for those people to stay with various families based on their conditions. But as there were many people coming, the village chief eventually found and arranged for three girls to stay at my house.
I thought they would look down on even more, but unexpectedly, the city girls were more willing to help after knowing my situation. They even encouraged to find a new family and start over."
At this point, Grandma Li smiled at An Ran, "I’m digressing. Old people say things without much coherence."
"Not at all, Grandma Li, I love hearing it." An Ran said, chewing the peach, her cheeks puffing up cheerfully.
Watching her, Grandma Li’s smile grew even broader. After smiling for a while, her gaze shifted to the dicine drip, drop by drop. Her expression turned heavy, with a faint sadness.
"Among the three girls at that ti, one had the surna Shen. Like you, she was very beautiful and had her own mind. She was the one who kept encouraging . But people’s thinking was conservative back then; restarting life wasn’t easy. Nevertheless, her words broadened my life significantly, and I no longer lived as timidly as before.
The people stayed here for three years. After three years, policy changes began, and rumors of returning to the city reached this small village. After enduring three years, those city folks couldn’t handle the hardship here anymore and sought connections to return to the city.
It was said that Shen had a good family background. Those without family ties clustered around her. We all know what their purpose was, hoping to return to the city through Shen’s family connections. But Shen wasn’t swayed by those n, perhaps because she never intended to use her family connections to return.
Later, while collecting firewood in the mountains, Shen fell into a hunter’s trap and was stuck for two days and nights before being rescued by a man from the neighboring village who had co to the countryside. He carried her down the mountain overnight, and when he brought her ho, his bare upper body was scratched by branches, and his only piece of clothing was wrapped tightly around Shen.
Since then, Shen seed like a changed person, her smiles more radiant. She often returned very late. As an old woman who’s been through it all, I knew what she was up to. Despite not being moved by the many young n in the village pursuing her, she fell in love with the man who rescued her."
With these words, Grandma Li slowly closed her eyes and fell silent.
An Ran had already put down the peach and was focused on listening to Grandma Li’s story. Seeing Grandma Li fall silent, she couldn’t help but ask, "And then?"
Grandma Li kept her eyes closed, sighed deeply, and her voice lingered softly, "Then, they got married."
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