"Yes, they met today and reconnected." Zhou Yan nodded with a smile. "However, Old Mrs. Qiu's love for Mr. Duan remains unwavering, and her feelings for Wang Yu have lost much of their romantic affection. Wang Yu, on the other hand, has no intention of possessing her."
"They should be good friends now. Old Mrs. Qiu is preparing to go to Hong Kong to reunite with her children. She left Wang Yu a mailing address so they can contact each other anytime."
"Wang Yu is very happy. He told me that he has found a connection in this world again, and has no regrets."
The old lady smiled with relief, a touch of emotion in her voice. "It's wonderful. They are both decent people with deep feelings and loyalty. It's so rare to reunite after nearly fifty years."
"Yes, if they had missed each other, they would have regretted it for the rest of their lives." Zhou Yan nodded in agreement.
"Could it be that you were the one who made the connection?" The old lady's gaze fell on Zhou Yan. "You asked me about this just the day before yesterday, and they met today. You even know so much inside information."
The old lady was indeed very wise; nothing could be hidden from her.
Zhou Yan smiled and nodded: "Actually, it's all thanks to you. If it weren't for you, they might never have met in their lives."
"Me?" The old lady frowned.
Zhou Yan, without batting an eye, said, "You said Wang Yu often brings braised beef to his fiancee, and Qiu Qi happens to love braised beef. Grandpa Wang from the library has asked about your braised beef several times.
I just tried it out randomly, and lo and behold, I actually succeeded! This Wang Yu changed his name to Wang Ran, and after a serving of braised beef and two drinks, he told me everything.
I went to Jiazhou yesterday afternoon to arrange a time for them, and we ran into each other in Suji this morning.
Tell me, if it weren't for your crucial clue, this whole thing definitely wouldn't have worked out, right?
Wang Yu will be coming to thank you in a couple of days. If you don't understand, just nod. Yesterday, in order to get him to talk, I told him that you were the one who told me. So please don't let it slip."
"You little rascal, you're as clever as the King of Hell with pockmarks—you've got a lot of tricks up your sleeve!" The old lady nodded thoughtfully. "Alright, don't worry, I definitely won't let him know anything."
"I'm just doing a good deed." Zhou Yan grinned, talking to the clever old lady was so easy.
"But you're busy with business all day, how do you still have the time to run around connecting them?" The old lady looked at him. "You must have gotten some benefits out of it, right?"
"Grandma Qiu's granddaughter said that once Grandma Qiu's knot in her heart is untied, she will persuade Grandma Qiu to sell the Qiu family's old house to me." Zhou Yan said with a smile, "You know that house, right? It faces Jiazhou Port, and there's a lot of foot traffic. I want to buy it, save up money to demolish it and rebuild it, and then move to Jiazhou. We can use the first floor to open a restaurant and the second floor to live in. It'll be very comfortable."
"You're got a plan, kid. From the village to the town, and now you're going to the city." The old lady laughed when she heard this, then thought for a moment and added, "The Qiu family's mansion is quite big, isn't it? How much would it cost to buy?"
"Ten thousand yuan."
"How much?!"
"Ten thousand." Zhou Yan smiled and said, "The location is good, the land is spacious, and most importantly, the view is excellent. From the second floor, you can directly see the Minjiang River and the edge of the Giant Buddha. It's incredibly peaceful."
"It's good, but where are you going to find ten thousand yuan?" The old lady frowned slightly, a hint of worry on her face.
"Grandma, don't worry about the money. I only have this idea because I'm confident I can earn it myself." Zhou Yan said quickly, feeling a warmth in his heart.
The old lady looked at Zhou Yan sitting on the small stool, reached out and patted his head, saying softly, "Little Yan, take it slow. Life is long. Don't be anxious, don't be impatient. Set small goals, earn money one yuan at a time, and live each day one by one. That's how you'll live a fulfilling life."
"Yes, I know." Zhou Yan said, feeling the thin but warm hand gently stroking his head. Suddenly, his nose felt a little stuffy.
The old lady always had a compassionate and caring heart towards her younger generation.
Zhou Yan sniffed and changed the subject with a smile: "Grandma, is there anywhere you'd like to go? When I make some money, I'll take you on a trip."
"Where should we go?" the old lady thought seriously for a moment and asked, "Is Korea far? How much will it cost?"
"Korea?" Zhou Yan was taken aback. The old lady nodded: "Your grandfather died fighting there. He was a sniper who killed dozens of foreign devils, including a high-ranking official. He was awarded a first-class merit. If I ever have the chance in this life, I would like to go and see the place where he fought."
Zhou Yan looked at her. The old woman's expression was calm, but her eyes rippled with emotion.
Zhou Yan recalled the night before her grandfather returned to his unit, when Zhang Shufen stuffed cloth shoes into his bag and told him to come back alive.
But on that rainy day, what she awaited was a plaque.
The plaque recognizing him as a first-class meritorious official was hung in the main room, but she could never see her husband again, and the child in her womb would never see him in the lifetime.
Zhou Yan took the old woman's hand and said with a smile, "Grandma, as soon as China and Korea establish diplomatic relations, I'll take you to North Korea. I read in the newspaper that the international situation is getting better and better, and it won't be long before it's done. Then we'll go by plane."
The old woman smiled and nodded, "Okay."
Because he was worried about his uncle riding a bicycle with his grandmother on one hand, Zhou Yan specially rode his bicycle to take his grandmother home.
...
"Dad, I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?" Duan Yuyan asked, gripping the phone inside the Jiazhou Post Office.
"Good girl, you convinced Grandma? She's willing to come to Hong Kong?" a Sichuan-accented voice came from the other end of the line.
Duan Yuyan said with some pride, "That's right. The good news is that after my unremitting efforts and careful analysis, I finally resolved Grandma's inner conflict. She has just agreed to come back to Hong Kong with me for a while at the end of next month."
"That's wonderful! Good girl, you're really something! Your uncle and aunt came to our house yesterday to discuss it with me. If Grandma doesn't want to come, they'll bring the kids back to Jiazhou to visit her next month." The voice on the other end of the line became excited.
Duan Yuyan held the microphone a little further away from her ear, and waited for the sound on the other end to stop before saying, "Tell aunt and uncle not to come. It's inconvenient for the whole family to travel back and forth. I'll bring Grandma back next month."
"Okay! Okay!"
"By the way, what's the bad news you mentioned?"
"If I tell you something, please don't swear." Duan Yuyan said.
"Tell me, I'm a civilized person, I don't swear."
Duan Yuyan glanced around, carefully considered her words, and whispered into the microphone, "Grandma's unresolved issue is Wang Yu, the young master of the Suji Wang family, with whom she was once engaged. I have already found him. Today, I even took Grandma to meet him. She was so happy. She wore a new cheongsam and was all smiles on the way back."
"Holy crap!"
A clattering sound came from the other end of the phone, like something falling to the ground.
After a while, the voice came through again: "You mean Wang Yu? Wang Yu from the Suji Wang family? Where did you find him? Wasn't there no record of him?"
"Eh? Dad, you know him?"
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone before he said, "Your grandfather mentioned in a letter to me a few years ago that his biggest regret was not finding Wang Yu. If he could let him meet your grandmother, she would be very happy."
"Your grandfather also said that Wang Yu was a hero who protected the country. He didn't have such great abilities; he could only protect your grandmother."
"It's a pity that your grandmother doesn't even know whether Wang Yu is alive or dead. She must be worried about him. He always feels that he owes your grandmother something if he can't find him."
"My dear, you did so well. Your grandfather would be so happy if he knew."
The voice on the other end of the phone was choked with emotion.
Duan Yuyan gripped the microphone tightly, her mouth slightly open, tears welling in her eyes, filled with shock and guilt.
Grandpa…
He's so good to Grandma!
No wonder Grandma's eyes always sparkle when she talks about him, as if they're shining with light.
Only those who love deeply feel indebted.
"Sweetie, when you come back, I'll transfer that apartment in Central to your name. And that branch you mentioned before, you can go straight to be the general manager, no problem, do whatever you want. That president's been with me for decades, he can handle it..."
She didn't hear the rest of what was said clearly, but she felt her heart filled with love, like drinking a bowl of hot soup on a cold winter day, warming her heart.
"Dad, I think this world is beautiful."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then a man's laughter: "Sweetie, your mom and I are waiting for you to come back so we can have dinner together."
"Okay."
…
Suji.
The kitchen of the state-owned restaurant.
Director Yan Wenhe, along with head chef Fan Qingfeng and supervisor Wu Danzhen, huddled together, looking at the remaining dishes on the shelf with slightly somber expressions.
Yan Wenhe said, "Where did we go wrong? We usually have forty or fifty tables of guests a day on weekends, but today we only have thirty. This is the first time we've had so much food left over!"
"There's meat, vegetables, and some fish." Wu Danzhen said after a moment's thought. "Director, how should we divide this? My child said yesterday they wanted some fish. If you don't want it, I'll take it home."
"These ribs are alright today. They'll turn sour tomorrow. I'll take them home to make rib soup." Fan Qingfeng suggested.
Upon hearing this, Yan Wenhe stared at the piece of pork belly, which weighed about one and a half jin, and nodded. "Okay, I'll take this piece of pork belly."
The three of them divided the meat.
Yan Wenhe, carrying the pork belly, thought for a moment and then said, "I still feel something's not right. There are more than a dozen tables of customers gone all of a sudden. Where did they go? Did some new restaurant open in town and steal our business?"
"Aiya, Director Yan! A couple fewer tables is fine, look how relaxed we are today, the guests aren't rushing us." Wu Danzhen said with a smile. "Anyway, we only get paid this much, who can handle being too busy? Our hands will be aching from carrying so many dishes."
"Little Wu is right." Fan Qingfeng nodded in agreement.
Yan Wenhe waved his hand impatiently upon hearing this: "Sure, I'm off work, I'm off work."
As he left carrying the pork belly, he also grabbed a cabbage from the shelf.
...