cloud and sun

Looking at the back of the girl leaving, Joan was deeply relieved.He didn't leave immediately, but picked up the fork on the table, struggling to find the cold leftovers on the table, trying to fill his empty stomach.

The girl who left today was already the fifth blind date he had met this summer.In the engineering school known as the Monk Temple, Qiao An chose to major in computer science where there were only single-digit girls in the class.So Joan, like most of his classmates, graduated perfectly in four years as a single.

Joann's parents made many rounds of insinuation, trying to understand the reason for being single for four years in college, and repeatedly tried to tell Joann that at his age, the two of them were married.

So just after graduating from university, Qiao An was arranged by her family to go on a blind date within a few months of entering the legal marriage age for men.Like him, the blind dates are basically young girls who have just graduated from college.

So there was basically nothing left in the blind date scene except embarrassment.Everyone has no intention of falling in love and getting married, and they all speak in the same way. First try to be friends, and then turn around and delete the contact information.

As expected, Qiao An was still not full, so he paid and left.Fortunately, there was no urban management today, and Joan bought a pancake on the way.

Joan is one of the few graduates of their class who directly signs a job.He didn't want to go to graduate school anymore, and the endless study gave him a headache.In fact, when he submitted his resume, he also submitted many other jobs.

Joan feels that the most different thing about himself from his classmates is that he has no fighting spirit, in any way.After so many years, he seems to have not found what he likes. The only thing that is certain is that he doesn't like his major.And all his paths are the cheapest ones he can choose.

Just like the last job he signed, it was also the most stable job he could sign with his degree.

He will go to the company for an internship next month, and he can officially join the job after the internship period, so it is actually the best choice to go early at this time, but Qiao An has been avoiding this matter.

"Mom, I'm back!"

There was no one in the empty house.Joan's parents run restaurants, and they own two restaurants, so they are often too busy to go home at this time.

Joan sighed and turned on the TV.When Joan was about to fall asleep in a daze, the phone rang.

"Hey, Dad, what's wrong?"

"Are you at home?"

"Yes. Are you and Mom coming back for dinner tonight?"

"I won't come back. I have a courier, and you will sign for it for me later. It is said that it will be signed in person."

"okay."

Not long after, the doorbell rang, and Joan got up to open the door. It was indeed a courier.

"Mr. Qiao Xuanzhi, right?"

"Uh-huh."

The courier brother took out a list and handed it to Joan.

"This is your courier, please sign for it."

After Joan signed for the courier, he carried the box on the ground into the house. Only then did Joan notice that the courier was sent by grandma.

Grandma passed away more than a year ago. At that time, Qiao An had a final exam, so he just hurried back to his hometown and didn't stay long.

Joan sent a message to his dad.

"Dad, it's a courier from grandma, I opened it?"

"Your grandma?"

"Uh-huh."

The courier box was not very big. After Qiao An opened the outermost layer of boxes, he found that the inside was a very old mahogany box.The side of the box is also engraved with carved patterns that were very popular in the last century.

Joan took out the mahogany box, which was unlocked.Joan vaguely remembered that he had seen this box in grandma's room.However, he doesn't have a deep memory of his hometown, nor does he have many memories of his grandparents.

The box was not locked, and Joan opened the box. Probably because of its age, the box made a creaking sound.Joan tried to make his movements as gentle as possible.

There are many letters in the box.Judging from the color of the envelope, we can tell that the age of this letter may be comparable to this mahogany box.The paper was yellow and brittle, so Joan didn't dare to open the envelope rashly.

There are also some jewelry and many sachets scattered in the corner.

Joan carefully looked through the contents of the box, which looked like some of grandma's collections.But the things inside are a bit old, and Qiao An didn't dare to move for fear of breaking them.

In the end, Joan had to close the box carefully.

Until at night, when Joan finished eating the takeaway and was about to throw out the trash, he thought about throwing away the courier box by the way.As a result, he found a note under the express box.

Joan took out the note and lay down on the sofa to study it.Grandma's handwriting is beautiful.

"Son, I asked someone to send you the contents of this box after I left. Inside the box are some memories of my father and I over the years. Your father often told me not to be nostalgic when I died, but I still want to You need to keep the contents of the box. You will keep this box for me in the future. But I am afraid that you will be sad, so I will send it to you after a year. Son, your dad and I will be very happy in heaven, miss us Time to look at the sky. Love you forever."

"The story of grandpa and grandma?" Joan realized that he seemed to never really know his grandparents.

He lived with his grandparents for several years when he was young, but he was taken back to Shanghai before he was in elementary school, and he rarely went back after that.Even during Chinese New Year, grandparents come to Shanghai.

In his impression, grandparents like to travel to many places, and every time they go to a place, they will make a video call to his dad.He once talked about his grandparents with his classmates, and the classmates commented that they lived a very chic life.

Every Spring Festival, grandparents will bring a lot of delicacies from their hometown and drive all the way from Chongqing to Shanghai, and then drive back along the northern cities after the Chinese New Year.

Joan's parents didn't come home until around ten o'clock in the evening, and Joan was lying on the sofa playing with her mobile phone.

"Dad, Mom, is the restaurant busy recently? Do you want me to help?"

Qiao An's mother is from Shanghai, and at this time she spoke Shanghai dialect to scold Qiao An.

"It's more important for you to find a girlfriend first. It's not up to you to run a restaurant."

Joan was very helpless: "It's really difficult..."

"By the way, Dad, there's the box that grandma sent over." Joan pointed to the mahogany box on the coffee table.

"Your grandma? She's not..." Qiao An's mother also knew that she had spoken too quickly just now, so she quickly shut up.

"There are a lot of letters in it, and there are some trinkets and jewelry."

"That should be what my parents wrote to each other before. Their relationship has always been very good."

"Dad, can I open those letters and have a look?"

"Look. Learn how to chase people from your grandpa so as not to be nagged by your mother every day." After speaking, he took a look at the mahogany box on the table. It was about his age, and it was not easy to express any emotions. "Be careful when you look at it." , don't break it."

"Dad, is there any story between grandparents?"

"Well... Anyway, the story of your grandparents seems quite touching. You can read it if you want, and put away your things after finishing. I'm going to bed and I have to get up early tomorrow."

Joan was alone in the living room again.Joan turned off the TV and carefully opened the mahogany box again.He knew that at his father's age, he had already prepared for the departure of his relatives, but the fact was that he was good at hiding his emotions when he was older.

He used to play games with his college roommate at this time, and sure enough, he received a WeChat message from his roommate Fatty Zhang on his mobile phone.

"An'an, get on the number quickly, I'm missing you."

Joan replied: "You guys play first! I still have something to do."

Joan carefully took out all the letters from the box, and brought them into the bedroom together.

After studying engineering for four years, Qiao An found that he liked literature more and more, so he was very interested in the contents of the letters from his grandparents.

Joan looked at the time of the letter and found that the time of the letter was mainly between 1963 and 1967.

Joan calculated, grandma should be 20 years old at that time.So these letters should be the letters that my grandfather exchanged when he was in college.

Joan put the letter back in the box in the living room after taking photos.The room next door was very quiet, probably already asleep.

In the middle of the night, Joan was lying on the bed, four years, nearly a hundred letters, in that era when there were no other means of communication, it was somewhat romantic.

The content of the letter is mostly firewood, rice, oil and salt, and there will be one or two words of greeting at the beginning and end of the letter.In the letter, grandpa and grandma were not as Joan remembered.

In Joan's memory, grandparents lived a romantic life and rarely discussed life problems.Joan had fantasized about that kind of life when she was younger, but later found out that the plainness of her parents is the norm.

The sky was already light, and Qiao An still had the love story of his grandparents more than fifty years ago in his mind.There was a soft noise in the living room. Joan looked at the time and found that it was only 05:30.

Joan sighed, threw the phone aside, and fell asleep.

The next day, Joan was still at home alone.But Qiao An found that her parents came back very early today.

Joan's mother also specially bought beef to make Joan's favorite braised beef.

During the meal, Qiao An's father accidentally mentioned something.

"Cheng Xu called today and said that the hailstorm in his hometown smashed a hole in the shed in the yard."

"Who is Cheng Xu?"

"Cheng Xu, you don't know each other anymore. When you were young, you ran behind people all day long."

"Mom, how could I remember so much when I was four or five years old?"

Joan was reminded by her mother, and she remembered that there was such a person.

Qiao An's mother said: "Then you can spend some money and ask him to help repair it. Let's keep the house, maybe we will go back to take care of us when we are old."

"That wife, let's say she doesn't want to run a homestay like my parents, it's too tiring."

Joan felt more and more that he seemed to be unable to integrate into family topics. This was discovered when he began to stay with his parents for a long time.He was at school most of the time before, and wouldn't stay at home for too long.

"What homestay? Grandparents even opened a homestay?"

Joan's parents didn't expect that Joan didn't even know about it.

"Hey, why don't you know anything about this child?"

"How long has it been since we went back? You didn't tell me about it..."

Qiao An's mother could only tell Qiao An: "You remember that there are many mountains in your hometown. It was developed a few years ago, and it became a tourist attraction in your hometown. Your grandparents opened a homestay. I don’t know why to open a B&B, and the locals go to stay in a B&B in summer for summer vacation. If you go to travel from the county, you can go back in the evening on the same day.”

Joan leaned on the chair and sighed: "Mum, you said you haven't been back several times, how do you know so well?"

"Baby, that's because you really don't know anything. Mom and your grandparents are still very familiar."

"When did grandpa and grandma start running a homestay?"

"Five or six years ago, after your grandparents couldn't travel by car, they renovated the house in their hometown and opened a homestay."

"When grandpa left two years ago, didn't we go back for several days? I didn't find out."

"What can you find at home all day?"

Joan felt that his mother could really see the essence of the matter.In his few memories of going back to his hometown, he was all isolated in his room.

"And after your grandfather left, your grandma refused to come here because she wanted to open a B&B. It's not easy for her to open a B&B by herself."

"Dad, why does grandma still open a homestay by herself?"

"Your grandma said it was because of your grandpa."

"My grandpa?"

"I don't know either. I asked, but she didn't tell me."

After the meal, when Joan and his father were washing the dishes, Joan remembered the hole in the shed in the yard.

"Dad, has the shed been repaired?"

"Cheng Xu helped us fix it, but he didn't ask me to give you money. He called because he recently sorted out his things and found that he had some photos of your grandparents over there, and asked me if I wanted them."

Joan immediately said, "Yes!"

"You child, why haven't I seen you so concerned about your grandparents before?"

"Dad, I want to write down the stories of my grandparents. I read the letter yesterday, and I realized that their stories are wonderful."

"You can write it if you want. But I won't tell you, you can find it yourself. It will make you live in a muddle all these years."

Joan felt that his father's description of him was not very accurate.He's just naturally emotionally dull.So the feelings for the uncommon people are very weak.

"I want to go back to my hometown."

Although Joan's father was a little surprised, he supported Joan's idea.

"You just have time, so it's good to go back. It's just time to tidy up the room."

Qiao An's mother was still helping: "I think you should go back. You don't know anything about your hometown, and you don't know anything about your grandparents. You go back during the summer vacation and get to know them well. Don't wait for me and When your father gets old and goes back to his hometown, you can't even find the way back."

"Then if you really want to go back, I'll give Cheng Xu a call, and I won't bother him to send a photo, you just bring it back."

Qiao An's father called Cheng Xu after washing the dishes, and the answer was answered quickly.

"Hello, Uncle Joe."

"I don't bother you to send me the photo you asked about today. Your brother An'an will come back in a few days, and he just needs to bring it back."

"An'an? Is he coming back? Uncle, give me his contact information. He probably doesn't know what car to come by. I'll pick him up when he comes."

"Don't bother you, how old he is."

"Uncle Joe, don't bother, you can send it to me later."

Joan's father hung up the phone and sent Joan's phone number.

Joan came out of the shower and saw a friend request on WeChat.A sentence was sent in the verification message: An'an?

The name An An is only used by Qiao An's family members.

Joan passed the application and sent a sentence: "Are you?"

"I'm Cheng Xu."

Qiao An now remembered who Cheng Xu was.

"Oh, Brother Xu."

"I heard from Uncle Joe that you will be back in a few days."

"Well, I bought the ticket for the morning of the 13th."

"Then I'll pick you up in the county in the afternoon."

Qiao An didn't want to bother Cheng Xu either, but the problem was that he really didn't know how to get to his hometown by car after arriving in the county.

"If you're too busy, you don't have to pick me up."

Although Qiao An didn't know how to take a car, he still knew that it would take more than two hours to get there from the county seat. He was actually very embarrassed to bother Cheng Xu.

"I just happened to stop by the county town to do some shopping."

"That's it, that's fine."

After a while, Cheng Xu sent a mobile phone number.

"This is our mobile phone number, call us when you arrive."