Chapter 17: Dried Sweet Potatoes

After washing the dishes, grandma led Niuniu back to grandpa's room.
The satiated grandfather half closed his eyes, lying on the bed, the warm sun in the afternoon made people sleepy.
Grandma wiped his mouth with the wet handkerchief.
"Listen to the story." Grandpa mumbled in a daze.
Grandma looked at him and his little granddaughter amusedly.
The grandfather and grandson are just like story fans.
Niuniu consciously went to her room, took her quilt and pillow, and spread it on the bed.
Grandpa sleeps on one side, Niuniu sleeps on one side, and grandma lies in the middle.
"Grandma, when I wake up in the afternoon, I also want to buy dried sweet potatoes with you."
"Okay," Grandma gently shook the pu fan and helped the little granddaughter fan the wind: "I think, where is our story?"
"Speaking of Jiang Mingzhen being six years old, He Yu is going back to the country. Before he went back, Jiang Mingzhen was hated by him and was smashed by bird droppings. She said to He Yu,'Live taro, you will definitely regret it.'" Niuniu remembered it clearly and found the last breakpoint all at once.
"Well, then Jiang Mingzhen started to figure out how to make him regret it."
"What way?" Niuniu opened her eyes and listened attentively.
"Isn’t he saying that I’m ugly and bad-tempered, and will never marry me? I plan to fascinate He Yu with beauty. When he is crazy about me and I don’t want to marry, I will marry someone else. He Yu cried bitterly and fell into love. Crazy, so far I missed my life."
When grandma said this, her expression was twitchy.
If the grandfather who closed her eyes didn't curl her mouth, she would always maintain this sullen state.
"Grandma, grandpa is laughing at you." Niuniu who observed this scene immediately complained.
"Laugh what you laugh," the old face was reddening, and grandma coughed lightly: "I'm very serious, okay."
"Grandpa told me just now that He Yu has no regrets." Niuniu continued to make up the knife.
Grandma squeezed grandpa's face with her hands, and grandpa squeezed with pain...
After venting her anger, she returned to tell the story.
"The plan to make He Yu regret it is quite feasible in my opinion. There are only two points."
Grandma broke her fingers, her voice was loud.
"One, in the arena of life, He Yu's cards are getting better and better."
"Two, the longer I get, the more ugly."
"Puff." Niuniu laughed first.
"Puff." Grandpa laughed the second time.
"Ah..." Grandpa's face was pinched again.
"What is He Yu's card, the better?" Niuniu raised her hand and asked if she didn't understand the analogy of gambling ghost grandma.
"Well, what should I say about this."
Grandma thought about words that she could understand.
"For example, a princess was born with good health, beauty, and family harmony. We can say that she has a good hand. At the beginning of her life, she has quite good conditions. These conditions can help her compare in the future. Realize your ideals easily and live a happy life."
"As for He Yu, when he was a child, the cards in his hand were not good, which means he had bad conditions. His father died because of an accident on the construction site, and his mother was a nanny. They came from the country and their family was poor. He and his mother returned to the countryside because they wanted to recover the compensation for work-related injuries. This time it was several years, and the babysitter job was gone."
Niuniu felt that she understood this explanation.
But she was shocked: "He Yu has been back for several years? Didn't he say that he will go back in a month or two at most?"
"This is not something he and his mother can control. What they think is, go back to get the compensation, and then continue to work at Jiang's house. But actually asking for that money is not that simple. The construction site where He Yu's father works is not the first In an accident, the workers who were in arrears of wages and the workers who needed compensation were not the only family. In order to get the money, He Yu's mother and the workers and relatives went to the boss’s house, went to the construction site and made trouble. Months, I didn’t get a penny. One year later, the construction site was unfinished, and the boss ran away. They started to go through judicial procedures, looking for a lawyer, going to court, showing a certificate, sue the boss... Rights protection is very long It takes a lot of mental and financial resources."
Grandma touched Niuniu's head: "Aren't you stunned?"
Indeed, these words made Niuniu sleepy.
All she heard was: He Yu, it is difficult for them to get money, and the site boss is a bad guy.
"Anyway, because of family affairs, He Yu didn't go to school in the first few years of elementary school and stayed in the country. Then why do I say that his cards are getting better..."
"Later, He Yu taught himself for a period of time, relying on his own ingenuity to jump directly to the fourth grade. Soon after, their lawsuit won, and the compensation for his father's work injury death was successfully returned. At that time, He Yu's relatives were doing it. In the clothing business, He Yu’s family became a shareholder. They put the money in and made a small profit. Then, his mother rented a store in the country and opened a clothing store..."
Niuniu is more comfortable with her grandma, as she did before, slowly telling the plot of the story.
The rhythm at this moment is too fast, her little head can't keep up, it's a mess. Grandma's voice was like that spoon stirring the paste. Sometimes she heard a little bit and became more conscious, but soon the paste came over and her consciousness sank again.
She yawned, and there was the wind brought by a cool fan beside her, her side sank, and grandma lay down.
There was a breeze, and my grandma's voice was low and she accompanies Niuniu to sleep.
"He Yu went to junior high school, and the teacher discovered his ability to paint and recommended his paintings to participate in the competition. This kid won the award in one fell swoop and was interviewed by the TV station at the awards ceremony. By the time he was in high school, he was both excellent in character and learning. There is no shortage of money at home, and some people even want to sponsor him to organize an exhibition."
"He was smart and clever when he was a child, and the older he grows, the better his luck. He is that kind. If I go to buy drinks with him, I will get'Thank you for your patronage' and he will definitely get'One more bottle. ', the kind of lucky person."
Niuniu fell asleep.
Grandma looked behind her quietly, and the old man fell asleep.
"It's really exaggerated. He walks on the road, and he can easily find money. He..."
Closing her eyes, grandma was speaking vaguely, not knowing which sentence she said, and there was no voice.
Sleepy and sleepy afternoon.
The trees outside the window shielded enough sunlight, even the wind did not disturb.
It crosses the treetops, does not disturb the leaves, does not disturb the dreams, and quickly goes to other places.
...
There was a slight snoring sound beside her, and Niuniu opened her eyes in a daze, feeling a cool breeze on her face.
Grandma was still asleep, with her hands on her belly, protecting her.
The fan of the wind is grandpa. He moved his body up a bit, leaned against the bed, and fanned her and grandma in a posture that seemed unstable.
Niuniu opened her mouth, trying to call her grandma.
Grandpa pursed his lips and shook his head at her.
The only movable hand held the fan, and he received it to his mouth and made a silent gesture.
Grandma slept soundly, probably because she didn't want to wake her up.
He waved Niuniu to lie down.
Niuniu fell back honestly, nestled next to her grandma, enjoying her fan.
Everyone in their family seems to snore. Niuniu inherited her mother, and her mother said she inherited her grandma.
Grandma's snoring voice is different from her usual voice. Grandma's Mandarin standard is a patient and kind elder. And the snoring grandmother is like a dumb pig.
The wind of the fan brought a few strands of hair, scattered on the side of grandma's cheeks.
Grandpa put down the fan and naturally stretched out his hand to pin the broken hair behind her ears. Then, he touched her head with many white hairs.
Niuniu knows a little bit, but not completely.
She has watched TV, where the heroes and heroines pledged each other, vigorously, and the scenes that her mother covered her eyes and prevented her from watching. She knew that people called them "love". She sees grandma feeding grandpa every day, and grandma helps grandpa pour the urinals and take a bath. She never thinks that those things are usually "love".
Until the moment Niuniu saw it, grandpa looked at her grandma's gaze.
The love in his eyes was full, and he saw a shining starlight, with a smile on his face. When he touched her head, he moved so lightly and lightly, like touching his treasure, a feather on the tip of his heart.
Niuniu hurriedly closed her eyes, as if she had seen a love scene on TV, she didn't dare to watch more.
Sleep for a while, she thought with peace of mind: Grandma's story is still very long to be told. When grandma wakes up, they can go out and buy dried sweet potatoes.
As a result, Niuniu slept until five o'clock in the afternoon.
When she got up, Father Sun was almost off work.
Hearing the sound of the pressure cooker cooking, Niu Niu ran to the living room with her slippers.
The grandmother who had a full nap was full of energy.
Using a small fork to pick up the peeled apple, she chased her grandfather and let him eat it.
The grandfather's face was swaying there, saying: "Don't eat, I don't like it!"
"How can you not like eating apples? Haven't heard of it. I have an apple a day and the doctor won't find me." Grandma took advantage of his words and stuffed the apple directly.
Grandpa pouted, chewing and chewing unhappily.
They all changed into clothes for going out, and grandpa's wheelchair was pushed out. Niuniu rushed over and asked anxiously: "Did you buy sweet potatoes?"
"Oh, Niuniu is awake," Grandma smiled: "I didn't go, we are waiting for you. Do you want to eat an apple?"
Niuniu grew her mouth wide, and grandma immediately fed an apple in.
"Look, Niuniu loves apples more than you."
Grandpa used a small fork to fork the remaining apple cubes in the bowl and ate it all at once.
Grandma stood up with satisfaction, and took Niuniu up.
"Come on, let's go out."
It's a cool thing to walk down the street with grandma and grandpa.
Because there are many people watching Grandpa, Niuniu feels that the three of them are like the protagonists of this street.
Passing under the big tree at the entrance of the alley, the mahjong player greeted her grandma.
"Take your wife and granddaughter out for shopping?"
"Yes," Grandma answered them, "My old man wants to invite us to eat dried sweet potatoes."
"That's great."
"Yes," Grandma repeated: "It's so good!"
Niuniu thought, grandma must also think that it's cool to come out with grandpa and her.
Grandma's waist was so straight, she pushed her grandfather, she walked around here and there, as if to show off them to play with all the passersby on the street.
In the same way, grandpa laughed more than at home.
The two old and one small happily walked to the vegetable market to sell dried sweet potatoes.
"Boss, you want all the dried sweet potatoes." Grandpa took out the prepared money and asked the boss to come and get it.
Grandma covered his hand and stopped the money first.
"No, no, all you need? That's too much."
"You love to eat, eat slowly." He told the boss to continue pretending.
Grandma shook her head: "I can't eat so much, it's spoiled."
"Grandma, dried sweet potatoes are not easy to spoil," the hawker filled a plastic bag in the blink of an eye and weighed on the scale: "My dried sweet potatoes are tough on the outside and soft on the inside. They are delicious. You'll know when you eat them."
"Hey, don't buy so many, next time you can buy it for me again..." Grandma ran into grandpa.
"Boss, let's just buy that bag." Grandpa finally let go.
A bag is still much better.
After buying too much, grandma is not happy.
Pushing grandpa home, grandpa put the big bag of dried sweet potatoes on his lap.
Grandma took a lot of eyes at the dried sweet potatoes. Grandpa asked her if she could eat them, but she said she would not.
"Can you eat Niuniu? This dried sweet potato must be delicious, with icing sugar on it."
Grandpa shifted the target and asked their little greedy ghost.
Niuniu must eat it.
Grandma didn't say a word, but focused on pushing the wheelchair.
Watching the little granddaughter eat happily, she is still not interested.
Grandpa lowered his head, suddenly found something strange in the bag, "Huh".
"This dried sweet potato..."
Grandma followed his words and looked at the bag.
"The icing is the most, it's beautiful. You can't give it to Niuniu, you have to leave it to Mingzhen."
Unable to stretch, grandma was amused by him.
"Get it." She reached out to him.
It’s been a long time since I eat dried sweet potatoes.
Smelling the pleasant and familiar faint fragrance, grandma took a big bite.
"This one!"
Her eyes widened and she was bluffing, just like the five-year-old girl back then.
"It's so sweet and fragrant!"
He laughed.
The evening breeze coming home is the most gentle.