gentle fall

Ji's house is in the suburb of a neighboring city. There is a small three-story bungalow. The outside looks like a building in the 90s. When I woke up at [-]:[-], the carved screen was used as a hanger, and the plain porcelain vase with azure glaze was placed on the table, with a few blooming red plums inserted in it, and the fragrance was overwhelming.

Wen Huaiyu came here once before marriage, but that time he was in a hurry and didn't stay long, and his mentality was different, not as relaxed and calm as he is now.

Apart from Ji Yue and Ye Shuhua, there is only a housekeeper, a cook, and a servant doing chores in this house. It looks large and empty, very quiet, not like a powerful family.

The butler greeted him outside: "Mister is fishing in the backyard. Madam is out to meet friends from the publishing house."

Ji Yirou hummed, then turned her head and said to Wen Huaiyu: "They are just like this, don't feel left out."

Wen Huaiyu shook his head: "It's okay. Go in."

Different from the warm reception imagined, the hosts were busy with their own affairs, which made her feel at ease. She touched the pendulum of the clock and said with a smile, "Your grandfather is a big antique."

Ji Yirou smiled good-naturedly: "Do you want to go back and see Grandpa fishing?"

"Are you going too?"

"Go alone. I'll put your luggage away."

Wen Huaiyu hummed, followed the butler, and walked on the cobblestone path. Seeing that the yard was full of plum blossoms, he stretched out his hand to smell the branches, and smiled even more.

When she arrived at the backyard, the housekeeper pointed her finger, and she looked along the direction he pointed, and saw a back with silver hair and snow-white, but sitting like a green pine, the old man was holding a fishing rod in his hand, motionless, like an old monk in meditation, It seems that everything is still, only the occasional small ripples on the water surface break the tranquility.

The housekeeper had already left, and Wen Huaiyu stood aside and watched for a long time, until the fishing rod sank quickly, she smiled and said, "There is a fish hooked!"

Ji Yue was not attracted by her voice at all, and sat upright as before, waiting for the fish to bite the bait more tightly, then quickly lifted the fishing rod, and with a sound of lying down, a carp that was two chopsticks long was thrown to the ground.

Wen Huaiyu greeted with a smile: "Grandpa."

Ji Yue didn't really look forward to seeing him: "Here we come."

After being married for so long, he only knew that when they came back together, his granddaughter was good at everything, but she liked the little girl of the Wen family very much, and she didn't know if she was bullied.

Wen Huaiyu didn't care much about his indifference. He went over to look at the big carp and poked it with his finger: "Can I use it to make soup tonight?"

Ji Yue snorted faintly: "Then you hug me."

He put away his fishing rod and walked ahead. He was nearly eighty years old, and his steps were still vigorous and vigorous. He spoke in a calm voice: "How long are you going to stay, tonight or tomorrow morning?"

Holding the fish basket in his hands, Wen Huaiyu walked slowly, and asked him, "Grandpa doesn't want me to stay here longer?"

Ji Yue looked back at her angrily: "It's good to know that I don't want to be seen by others."

Wen Huaiyu was not angry at all when he said that, but smiled slightly.

When eating dinner, Ye Shuhua just came back from outside, and he was very happy to see them: "Rou Rou, Huai Yu, you're home."

When Wen Huaiyu saw her, remembering what she said in the hospital last time, her first reaction was to tug on her collar with a guilty conscience. Fortunately, there was no berry mark left this morning.

Ji Yirou stepped forward, gave her a big hug, and acted like a child: "Mom, you are disobedient. Grandpa said that you only know how to be busy and sleep for a few hours every night. If this continues, it will be bad for your health. .”

Ye Shuhua patted her cheek: "It's not that exaggerated. Let's eat quickly."

She turned to Wen Huaiyu, and asked a few questions with concern, whether she is used to the food at home, whether she is busy in the company recently, and so on.After dinner, Ji Yue went out for a walk, Ye Shuhua went upstairs and shut himself in the study to work.

"I found out," Wen Huaiyu laughed, "no one pays attention to us."

"Yeah. Are you going to be mad?"

"No. I feel comfortable."

There was no pretense of warm hospitality, nor was there any detailed inquiry. The plainness, coupled with the faint dislike of the old man, made her feel real.

"I love your house," she declared.

Ji Yirou burst out laughing: "Ai Wu Ji Wu?"

"On the contrary. I like your family, and I will like you even more in the future."

Ji Yirou raised her eyebrows slightly, and threw her down in dissatisfaction: "Say it again!"

Wen Huaiyu blushed, her heart was pounding, and when she heard the sound of the iron door opening outside, she pushed her away: "Grandpa is back, I'll go and have a few words with him."

Ji Yirou originally didn't intend to bully her now, it's kind of funny to see her running so fast.

Ji Yue just came back from a walk, his silver hair was combed neatly and meticulously, his temples were slightly wet by the evening dew, and his deeply wrinkled eyes showed the clarity of insight into the world.

"Grandpa, are you back?"

"Hmm. Where's Xiao Rou?"

"She's in there. I'll chat with you, and you seem to have a problem with me."

"I do have an opinion. We came to your house, and seeing you... what a disgrace!"

Wen Huaiyu laughed, it turned out that the old man was still concerned about the embarrassing misunderstanding that was not big or small at that time, Wen Huaiyu was a little bit dumbfounded, but did not refute.

The two were talking, and the butler stepped forward and asked, "Sir, are you still drawing tonight?"

Ji Yue hummed lightly: "Lay paper."

He has been fond of painting Chinese paintings for many years, and he has to paint for a while every night without hesitation. In the early years, he was impetuous and aggressive, but now he has gradually worn down a lot.

Wen Huaiyu was very obedient, standing aside and handing him a pen.

When Ji Yirou came down from upstairs, this was the scene she saw.The light is like a waterfall, falling from the top of the head, the silver-haired old man is writing and splashing ink, solemn and focused, and the girl she likes is also standing aside, smiling slightly, with a different kind of gentleness.

She stood still, not wanting to disturb the tranquility, she went back to get a pencil and a sketchbook, and then quietly sat down on the stairs, with the tip of the pen walking quietly on the paper, tracing the picture.

It was Wen Huaiyu who taught her to draw for the first time.

She was pushed into the swimming pool that day, and after catching it, Wen Huaiyu took her to change clothes, but there was no child as old as her at home, the girl searched for a long time, only to find one or two clothes she wore when she was a child, and her voice froze: "You put it on."

The little girl timidly took it over, very embarrassed: "I'll just wear my own."

"Stupid! If you don't change your clothes, you'll get sick."

Does this idiot know how ugly her face is now?

"give me!"

She snatched her clothes, feeling that she had caused a lot of trouble, pushed her into the bathroom, took off her wet clothes three times, and ordered her: "Hurry up, take a shower."

The little girl's cheeks were flushed, her eyelashes were covered with drops of water, she didn't dare to look at her, she blinked her big eyes, and said thank you softly.

The girl nodded on the little boy's head, walked out, rang the bell to call the servant, and brought a brown sugar ginger tea, and then asked whose child it was, and why the adults hadn't found him until now.

The servant quickly brought up ginger tea and brought news that he didn't know whose child it was, and the dancers in the front yard had all dispersed. If any child was lost, why didn't they come to look for it? Woolen cloth.

The girl pouted, very dissatisfied: "Which parent is this, so irresponsible."

She was angry, and looked up at the time, only to realize that the little girl had been in the shower for too long, she felt something was wrong, hurriedly went to knock on the door, but there was no sound after knocking for a long time, kicked the door open, only to realize The little girl soaked in the bath for so long that she became dizzy.

She scolded, useless little thing, she went into the bathroom after scolding, and carried him out.

When Ji Yirou woke up, it was already the next day.

She didn't expect that she would just stay at Wen's house for one night, sleeping on a big, big bed. When she moved lightly, someone next to her held her down and ordered dissatisfiedly: "Don't move around! It made me fall asleep!"

She was stunned, blinked her eyes, and even breathed a little lighter, but the person was still woken up, rubbed her hair and sat up, looking at this little girl, who was still angry to get up, but couldn't help it. Immediately rubbed her cheeks: "It's white and soft, like a little bun."

The little girl blushed.

"It was too late yesterday. Have breakfast, and we'll go find your lord after we finish eating."

"um. Thank you……"

The servant brought the breakfast and put the eggs and porridge on the bay window. Wen Huaiyu climbed up and stretched out his hand to her: "Come on, come on."

They sat cross-legged and had breakfast together.The little girl was very quiet, she lowered her head, biting a custard bun, taking every bite.

Wen Huaiyu likes quiet people, and seems to be more patient with her. After eating, he volunteered to be her master and teach her how to draw, and told her domineeringly: "In the future, when you draw, you have to write NAN on the signature. I am you." Master, you have to write my name."

The little girl obediently wrote "NAN" without asking her why.

……

Ji Yue finished the painting first, and when he looked up, he saw his little granddaughter, wearing a pair of thin-rimmed glasses, holding a sketchbook, sitting on the stairs, looking focused and cute, she was really a distressed little guy.

He paused, and Wen Huaiyu followed his gaze and ran over with a smile: "What are you drawing, show me!"

Ji Yirou hid the sketchbook behind her back in embarrassment, but she snatched it away and admired it carefully: "Oh. So it was us who drew it!"

She lowered her head, looked carefully, and paused with a smile: "Ji Yirou, when did you secretly imitate me?"

The strokes and brushwork of this painting are exactly the same as hers. She learned sketch and gouache for several years when she was a child. At that time, the sketch teacher hired an elegant and gentle French teacher. The style of painting is very recognizable. She studied it for a long time.

"Hey! No matter how you signed it, it is also NAN!"

"I didn't learn from you secretly."

Ji Yirou snatched the sketchbook from her hand, and for a moment, she didn't know where the grievance came from. She didn't learn it secretly, it was... She taught it herself before.

Wen Huaiyu found that she was a little angry, no matter how curious he was, he didn't ask: "Okay, don't be angry. I'm just joking, I was wrong, okay."

Ji Yirou hummed lightly, her eyelashes fluttered, as if something was on her mind.

Looking at them downstairs, Ji Yue couldn't help but smiled: "Go and rest. We don't allow getting up too late at home. Get up early tomorrow and go for a run with me."

Ji Yirou quickly sorted out her emotions, dragged Wen Huaiyu upstairs, and went to her room: "My room. It's just... I lived in it when I was a child, and I didn't live in it much later. It's the same now, don't you think it's too small? "

Wen Huaiyu jumped onto the bed and rolled over. The quilt was very fragrant and soft: "It's not too small. I like small rooms since I was a child. I like your bed. I'm going to take a shower!"

She was always in a high mood, a little excited, Ji Yirou could tell that she was really happy and liked this atmosphere, not as tense as usual, and her smile was pure.

Ji Yirou stood in front of the window and looked into the distance, when the phone rang, it was Wen Yan calling.

She answered: "Grandpa, are you looking for Nan Nan, she is taking a bath."

"No, grandpa is looking for you."

"Huh? Is there something wrong at home?"

"It's fine at home. I have something to tell you. You celebrate the new year well. When you are free in the second and third grades of junior high school, tell Nan Nan that you go to pay homage to her adoptive parents."

"Haven't you been there before?"

"No. At first we didn't let her go. At that time, her adoptive mother died, she had a nervous breakdown, ran out of the hospital, and had a small car accident. We didn't dare to let her run around. Later, she didn't want to go. .But she was thinking about it, and I knew it all along."

"Car accident? When?"

"Let's think about it...it was the summer of [-]. Not long before that, I held a grand banquet for her. She was like a proud little princess, and she was all my pride."

Ji Yirou was startled: "The car accident... Did she forget anything, or can't remember...?"

"We guessed so, but she didn't say it herself, and the doctor couldn't find out. But after the car accident, she didn't make trouble again. She seemed to be a different person. She was depressed and unwilling to speak. After a long time ...Later, when she became an adult, she went abroad to study and saw a psychiatrist by herself, and after returning to China, she was able to laugh and make trouble as before."

"She never told me."

"This one……"

Ji Yirou hangs up the phone in a daze, and leans against the window in a daze, her eyes are a little out of focus.

After Wen Huaiyu took a shower, he came out and called her a few times, but she didn't respond, so he walked over and patted her on the shoulder: "What's wrong?"

Ji Yirou hummed, turned around, and at some point, tears were streaming down her face.