616: Chapter 29: Gazing at Each Other from Afar 616: Chapter 29: Gazing at Each Other from Afar Due to work, Luo Qiu’s father had settled early in the city where they lived.
However, owing to some remnants of township policies and unclear countryside reasons, their old house in their hometown still remained.
It’s a rather old two-story brick house, with cement plastered simply on the left and back sides, and the front façade was covered with small square tile mosaics.
Next to it were those mud houses called old lodgings, and the newly built houses in the village were on the other side of the village road facing these old houses.
The new and the old, separated by a road of time, not far, yet watching each other.
The elderly insisted on moving back to their old house.
Deep autumn had passed early, and the weather was getting cold.
The adults had no choice but to buy some small heating appliances, not expecting to pletely dispel the chill, but thinking it would be good to at least drive away the dampness in the old house.
When Luo Qiu saw this grandma, she was in a half-dreaming state, sipping rice porridge fed by a family member, which was all she could eat at the moment.
It was presumably Luo Qiu’s uncle’s wife feeding the old lady.
This aunt mentioned in front of the old lady that Luo Qiu had e back.
The old lady had no reaction, babbling something unclear, seemingly wanting a little more to eat.
Luo Qiu’s uncle was outside the room, smoking, looking very tired, “Luo Qiu, you can see, she doesn’t recognize anyone anymore.
The doctor said there’s actually only a few days left, maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after, or suddenly…”
He didn’t finish the sentence and took a strong drag on the cigarette, now burned to the filter, tossed it, and lit a new one, looking at Luo Qiu, “If you want to go in and see, just go in.
If you’re tired, you can rest first.”
Luo Qiu nodded and walked into the room.
He called this grandma “Grandma Xiao Chun”…
The aunt stepped aside, and he took a look at Grandma Xiao Chun.
The aunt was wiping the corner of Grandma Xiao Chun’s mouth with a handkerchief; she wanted to eat but seemed to have difficulty swallowing, “Sigh, a few years ago she had a gastrectomy, hoping the stomach cancer would be cured, right?
But it recurred in just a few years, and now whatever she eats, she ends up vomiting it out…”
Luo Qiu reached out, holding Grandma Xiao Chun’s hand, cold as ice and slightly stiff, “Grandma Xiao Chun, I’m Luo Qiu, do you remember me?”
The body organs had weakened to the extreme, and life was genuinely at its end… burnt out, the natural cycle was unfolding on Grandma Xiao Chun.
“She can’t hear anything anymore,” the uncle’s wife shook her head beside him.
“Let me do it,” Luo Qiu said softly, taking the bowl of rice porridge from her hand.
“Don’t stain yourself, she might vomit,” the aunt suddenly whispered.
But this time, Grandma Xiao Chun managed to swallow.
With each mouthful, she gradually looked satisfied.
The aunt watched this scene in surprise, not quite remembering how long it had been since she had seen this son of her husband’s cousin.
Luo Zheng was also a very filial child, but this was something he couldn’t do.
The aunt subconsciously pared the two kids of the same generation.
The room seemed to unknowingly bee less dreary…
though no one spoke, it felt different.
A magical feeling this child has… the aunt thought subconsciously.
…
“It’s too late, why not rest at my house tonight?”
After a temporary visit, the aunt pointed to the new house across the village road and said to Luo Qiu, “Your house hasn’t been lived in for a long time, and it’s hard to tidy up at night.
It’s just a few days, why not stay with your aunt, we can talk, how nice.”
Luo Qiu glanced at the new house across, the lights had been on for a while, with silhouettes moving inside.
No one came over, though.
In this village, at night every household closes their doors, the lights from the houses glow brightly, lighting the village road, yet it’s also very quiet.
Even those with guard dogs, the dogs were just wandering with heads lowered or sitting on the ground, staring at something unknown.
Elders or villagers say, dogs can see more than people.
He said, “No problem, I’ll just handle it casually.”
“Alright then, if there’s any inconvenience, just e over and knock,” the uncle nodded, handing Luo Qiu a flashlight, “But the circuit breaker is broken, hasn’t been fixed, might not work.
The water should still be fine…
better stay at your uncle’s.”
“I’m not afraid of the dark,” Luo Qiu chuckled.
“It’s not about the dark, it’s…” the aunt hesitated, but was glared at by the uncle.
However, since the aunt had brought it up, the uncle reluctantly said, “Your house, there’s said to be something unclean.”
“It hasn’t been lived in for so long, naturally, it’s unclean, that’s quite normal,” Luo Qiu smiled.
“Not that!” The uncle lowered his voice, “They say it’s haunted!”
“Where was the circuit breaker again?
I kind of forgot,” Luo Qiu suddenly asked.
The uncle froze, the flashlight pointing under the eaves of the house.
Luo Qiu walked over, opened the cover, and flipped the switch, and the small bulb at the front door immediately lit up.
“Strange, it was clearly broken?” The uncle looked in surprise at his wife, frowning, “I tried, couldn’t get it on?”
Luo Qiu then said, “With light, it should be clean.”
“Okay…” The uncle and aunt didn’t insist further.
In their views, for a child like Luo Qiu growing up in a big city, naturally, he wouldn’t believe such things…of course, they didn’t actually believe them either.
It’s just that fear is innate, and over time, some things bee taboo…
besides, the village is really quiet.
They quickly returned to Grandma Xiao Chun’s house, pushing the door and stepping in with a bit of haste, closing the door swiftly.
Luo Qiu shook his head, opened the door, and called Ren Ziling.
Ren Ziling asked with concern, “How are things?
None of those relatives bullied you, right?
I remember there was some uncle or something, very rude, speaking in a particularly unpleasant manner!”
Luo Qiu replied, “What weird things have you imagined again?”
“Jeez, heartfelt kindness taken for dog lungs,” Ren Ziling muttered, then continued, “By the way, how is the old Grandma Xiao Chun back home?”
Luo Qiu turned on the light as he spoke, “Almost there, heard it’s just a matter of these days.”
“Life’s uncertain,” Ren Ziling sighed.
Luo Qiu queried, “How e the power hasn’t been cut off in this house after so many years?”
Ren Ziling casually said, “Oh, your dad kept paying the electricity bill while he was around.
Anyway, no one’s been living there, and it doesn’t consume much, so I didn’t stop it.
By the way, have you eaten?”
“I have, let me tidy up the room first,” he said, looking at the ceiling.
Some very subtle sounds drifted from upstairs…
something ordinary people probably wouldn’t hear.
“Okay, do as you see fit, I’m working overtime a bit more here before leaving.”
“Hmm…
don’t eat instant noodles,” Luo Qiu said lastly, before hanging up.
Luo Qiu closed the door behind him, his gaze still fixed on the ceiling…
though the light was on, the long-uninhabited house had gathered quite a few cobwebs.
Upon entering was the living room, with a staircase leading to the second floor beside it.
When Luo Qiu climbed up the stairs and reached the upper floor, he similarly turned on the hallway light.
The rooms upstairs were just three, one was his grandparents’ room who passed away early, one was his father’s childhood room, and another was a storage room.
The end was the storage room, judging from the sounds heard from downstairs, it came from this room at the end.
Luo Qiu walked to the storage room’s door, hand resting on the door lock, not intending to turn it, just stopping there.
This hallway light perhaps not used for too long, possibly due to poor contact, flickered intermittently, not going out suddenly but brightening and dimming, emitting a sizzling electric sound.
After a while, Luo Qiu withdrew his hand, not opening the door directly, just lightly knocking on it—thump, thump.
Thump, thump.
The door lock suddenly turned, followed by a creaking sound, as the door opened a small crack…
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