614. Unexpected
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When Lin Nan returned from her great-grandmother’s house to her grandfather’s, she noticed another car parked outside the little villa.
It was a very familiar pickup truck.
Without wasting a second, she pushed the door open and, sure enough, saw her mother chatting with her grandmother while teasing a cat, and the class teacher trying to charm a parrot with “Wishing you prosperity!”
The class teacher seemed totally pleased with himself, blissfully unaware that Lemon was giving him the kind of look you’d give a lunatic.
Looks like her mother and the class teacher were getting along quite well; he even drove all the way out here to pick her up!
“Mom, I just got back from great-grandma’s,” Lin Nan chimed in cheerfully, “She’s doing well, chatted with grandpa for half an hour, but she doesn’t remember who I am.”
“She’s always had a terrible memory,” her mother nodded with a smile, “Of your generation, she only remembers Jiaming.”
After all, cousin Jiaming had spent most of his life living with Lin Nan’s grandfather, dropping by to check up on great-grandma for that precious dose of attention.
“I’ve made the beds for you two on the third floor, you can take a nap soon,” her grandmother said, still playing with the cat.
Grandpa and Chen Yao sauntered in at a leisurely pace. It seemed like they’d had quite the chat, judging by the rare big smile on Grandpa’s face.
Lin Nan turned to look at the two of them, scratching her head in confusion. Since when did Grandpa get so chummy with Chen Yao, throwing an arm around him like that?
Even her favorite cousin Wu Jiaming didn’t get that sort of treatment!
But Lin Nan was feeling a bit drowsy.
Letting out a yawn, she nodded at her grandmother, then shot a teasing look at the class teacher.
He didn’t seem the least bit embarrassed about cozying up to a student’s mother; he even flashed a grin back at Lin Nan. Suddenly, Lemon took off from his hand and landed on Lin Nan’s shoulder, getting close enough to whisper in her ear, “Shh, he’s an idiot! Let’s scram!”
“Hey, this parrot talks?” The class teacher was genuinely intrigued. “And it’s pretty good at it.”
Lin Nan felt a bit awkward and offered the class teacher a sheepish smile.
This parrot could indeed talk, but usually, it preferred whistling and pretending to be just another clueless bird.
“I’m going to take a nap upstairs too,” Grandpa yawned, glancing at the class teacher, then headed straight for the second floor.
Just as he reached the stairs, he remembered Lin Nan’s mother and turned around to say, “Check on her later; she’s gone to sleep now.”
“No need to bring anything; she can’t eat anything right now.”
Chen Yao scampered over to the TV cabinet, facing away from everyone. While they were distracted by Grandpa, he snatched something up and then turned to Lin Nan, saying, “Let’s go, I’m dying here.”
Dying? Since when did you need a nap?
I’ve never seen you take a midday snooze at your place.
Lin Nan followed Chen Yao bewilderedly.
Once upstairs, she peeked into Chen Yao’s arms and realized he had brought up some Maotai liquor from lunch.
Really? Is this guy that desperate to win over Grandpa?
“Hey, my grandpa has gout!” Lin Nan pointed out with a frown.
“It’s fine, I’ll make sure he doesn’t drink too much,” Chen Yao replied confidently.
Let’s not forget who got sloshed at the engagement party last time! He couldn’t even walk straight after that.
But Grandpa had been strictly monitored by Grandma to avoid alcohol for a while now, so maybe letting him indulge a bit today wasn’t such a bad idea.
Watching as Chen Yao entered Grandpa’s bedroom, Lin Nan made her way to the third floor.
The two bedrooms up there were made up with blankets, but she had no idea if Grandma intended for Lin Nan and Chen Yao to share a room, or if it was meant for her and her mom to sleep together.
Jiaming must have already paid a visit to great-grandma, so he was likely out of the picture.
It was already afternoon nap time, and as soon as Lin Nan flopped onto the bed, she felt her eyes aching and drifted into a haze.
Her nap wasn’t comfortable; she felt unusually exhausted, half-aware of the noisiness around her. She tried to listen closely but couldn’t make out anything, and when she wanted to get up to see what was happening, her body wouldn’t cooperate.
She realized she was probably experiencing that phenomenon known as sleep paralysis.
Eventually, she stirred awake in the evening.
Drifting in and out of shallow sleep made her nap pretty restless, and after several hours, she felt no more revived than before.
The noises she heard could have been from a dream or real, but at least it was quiet enough now to hear the AC humming in the background.
Rubbing her eyes, she turned her head and noticed Lemon had somehow snuck onto her pillow and was just waking up, stretching lazily. In his enthusiasm, he stretched his legs and accidentally kicked Cola off the end of the bed.
“Why’d you put them both on my bed?” Lin Nan mumbled groggily as she dragged herself out of bed and slowly made her way downstairs.
It should have been dinnertime, but only her grandfather sat at the dining table, openly enjoying his drink and watching TV.
“Grandpa, isn’t Grandma going to stop you from drinking?” Lin Nan asked as she ruffled her messy hair.
Grandpa glanced up at her, gave her a flat look, and went right back to his drink.
Just that quick glance, and Lin Nan could sense something was off.
Frowning, she sat down at the table, curious about the bottle of liquor and leaned in for a sniff, almost choking on the strong odor.
She recoiled, looking up at the digital clock hanging on the wall.
It was six-thirty in the evening.
By now, they should’ve already eaten.
Putting two and two together with Grandpa’s unusual demeanor and expression, Lin Nan boldly speculated.
“Um… is it about great-grandma…?”
“Yeah.” Grandpa kept his head down, “Tonight, you should come with me to watch over her, okay?”
This was the first time Lin Nan felt the weight of loss so profoundly.
Just this afternoon, her great-grandma had been in bed, talking to grandpa for half an hour; although she seemed a bit weak, she was still eating and drinking.
Her grandparents had passed away when she was young, and back then, she didn’t have to do anything; just eat her fill at the funeral and follow the crowd up the mountains to send them off.
At that time, she didn’t even grasp the concept of life and d*ath, completely oblivious as to why people around her cried.
Apart from her grandparents, her relatives were still alive, and the other funerals she attended were for neighbors from the village or distant relatives she couldn’t even name, so there was no real connection there. She even found attending funerals amusing because there would always be some money handed out, and she could take home a fancy black umbrella.
“Where’s Mom?”
“She’s gone to watch over her already.” Grandpa took another sip of his liquor, “Soon, you’ll come with me, okay?”
“Sure.”
There was no hint of grief in Grandpa’s eyes; his calm demeanor allowed Lin Nan to feel the sadness pervading the room.
Her mood, like the atmosphere, slowly began to darken.
