TRMLCM Chapter 75

Chapter 75: Persuasion

Chapter 75: Persuasion

The flight took off on time. Shen Chang’an stood in front of the airport’s transparent glass window, his figure as straight as a pine tree, his eyes sparkling, quietly watching the white bird taxiing a distance before soaring into the sky.

The temperature in the corner was a bit cool. He shrank his neck, his smooth chin buried in the red-brown scarf.

This flamboyant, fiery color seemed a bit abrupt, not quite matching his outfit for the day.

His well-defined fingers smoothed the soft scarf, bringing it closer, his nose gently sniffing the clean scent on it. Only after the white figure flew out of sight and beyond his reach did he turn and leave the airport.

Due to prolonged inactivity, the light on his phone screen dimmed, the message displayed on it still from a few minutes ago.

[Cheng Yi: Be safe, come back early]

At that time, Shen Chang’an had just come out of the waiting room and hadn’t looked at his phone. Two minutes later, the person who hadn’t received a response seemed unwilling to give up.

[Cheng Yi: Remember to miss me (rose)]

Shen Chang’an picked up his phone, the corners of his lips slightly curving upward. His fingers were like green onions, gently tapping on the screen. Although the other party couldn’t see it now, he still sent it out.

[Waiting for you]

……

On the calendar, the old year was coming to an end, and the new year was slowly approaching.

Many residential areas, schools, and public places in the city were decorated with red lanterns and colorful lights, cheerfully welcoming the arrival of the New Year.

He took a taxi from the remote airport back to the bustling city, then from the city back to the county town with a decent amount of traffic, and then from the county town towards an unknown small town, and finally to that remote village.

The closer he got to home, the fainter the atmosphere of the New Year became.

In the eyes of rural people, the New Year and New Year’s Day seemed to be just ordinary days in their normal lives, nothing special to speak of.

For Shen Chang’an, who didn’t like celebrating holidays, there was nothing special either.

It was just that Shen Chang’an vaguely recalled that when he and Cheng Yi were rushing to the airport together this morning, he was in a low mood and didn’t pay much attention to the surrounding scenery. It seemed that in a blink of an eye, they had arrived at the airport.

Now he was slowly walking back alone, his eyes quietly observing the world. The scenery changed from prosperous to dilapidated, the atmosphere from lively to quiet, and the bustling crowd turned into a few scattered people.

This journey, which he had clearly walked countless times, didn’t feel like much before, but today, it felt too long and boring.

……

It was already evening when he got home.

It hadn’t snowed in City C, but in this small corner surrounded by mountains, the sky was gloomy, the temperature was very low, and small snowflakes were flying continuously, moistening the ground.

The door to his house was open, and Shen Chang’an could hear the sound of conversation from the courtyard.

“Is your Chang’an twenty-something? Almost thirty, right? He’s not young anymore. He’s handsome and successful now. Why hasn’t he brought back a partner yet?”

Shen Chang’an’s footsteps stopped. This seemed to be the voice of Grandma Liu, a relative in the village with whom they had a good relationship.

Grandma Liu spoke frankly, her aged voice full of emotion, slowly saying, “Sister Li, it’s not that I want to bring it up, I’m just worried about you.”

“Look, there are only you and Chang’an in this family. It’s so deserted. Chang’an is just a boy, he can’t take care of you well. It’s better to have a female head of the household.”

Grandma was looking at the burning red-hot charcoal in front of her without speaking, her quiet appearance as if she was seriously thinking.

The air was still for a moment. Grandma Liu looked at her and said earnestly, “I think Chang’an is a filial child, he will listen to your opinion.”

“You should help him find one in advance, get to know them more. When you meet a child who is upright, kind, and gets along well with you, you can comfortably enjoy your old age.”

This was Grandma Liu’s experience gained in her later years, she wouldn’t tell just anyone, but this range of dissemination… was limited to the people in the village.

Years ago, Grandma Liu was also the talk of the village.

Her husband passed away early, and she raised her son alone. At that time, her personality was inevitably a bit fierce, and only now has she slowly become kind.

Twenty-odd years ago, her son found a partner himself and brought her home. The girl looked beautiful and had a sweet tongue in front of people, but she didn’t expect that after the marriage, there would be a lot of trivial things, and all kinds of contradictions between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law broke out, and her son was in a dilemma.

Looking at her son’s uncomfortable appearance, Grandma Liu still chose to step back out of heartache. She moved back to Li Family Village alone, not even asking them to come back to see her on time, just letting her son send her some living expenses every month.

But unexpectedly, she had returned home to enjoy her happy life, and the couple started their own divorce.

Fortunately, there were no children at the time, and there was nothing to divide in terms of property, so the divorce procedures were handled quickly.

Her son seemed to have been heartbroken by that woman, and he didn’t want to find a partner himself, so he focused on his work.

But their family’s roots had to be passed down.

So Grandma Liu slowly watched on her own, and that was how she took a liking to her current daughter-in-law. Although she looked a bit delicate, she was sensible and filial, and didn’t mind that her son was divorced. Now the young couple were loving and had two children, and now even had great-grandchildren.

Perhaps stimulated by the first mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflict, although Grandma Liu was very satisfied with this daughter-in-law, she didn’t want to move back to the city again.

After rejecting her son and daughter-in-law’s repeated invitations, she wandered around the village every day, visiting and chatting with neighbors she got along with, and so on. She didn’t have to do any work, and no one in the family disliked her. This little life was going very smoothly.

……

While Grandma Liu was talking, she casually picked up a small tangerine from the plate, peeled it, and ate a segment.

The tangerine juice exploded in her mouth, with a cool sweetness that was a bit surprising.

“Hiss”

When people get old, their organs fail, and their teeth slowly fall out, so they need to pay attention to a lot in terms of food. The cool taste stimulated the features on her plump face for a moment.

Grandma looked at her uncomfortable expression, her eyes gently smiling. She pointed to the candy in the fruit plate, “If you can’t eat it, put it down. Take the candy, this candy is very sweet, and the sugar content is not high, it is said that eating more will not get that high blood sugar.”

Grandma Liu sounded a little surprised when she heard that. She picked up a piece, tore open the packaging bag, tasted it, and couldn’t help but look at the label on the packaging bag, carefully checking it, trying to remember that string of English letters.

She smacked that candy and nodded. It was indeed very sweet. She couldn’t help but exclaimed, “Oh, did Chang’an buy this? It’s really good, how come I haven’t seen this kind in town.”

Grandma Liu often went to town to wander around. She had money in her pocket and went to town several times a month. She didn’t know how many times she had been to the two supermarkets in town, but she had never seen this kind of candy packaging there.

Grandma quietly looked at the very delicate candy, not saying yes or no.

Her cloudy eyes were deep and distant, her voice slow and calm as she answered Grandma Liu’s topic just now.

“It doesn’t matter whether I get along with him or not, half of my body is buried in the ground, and Chang’an has a long life ahead of him.”

“…It doesn’t matter who Chang’an is with in the future, I only hope that he can be happy and healthy.”

She seemed to be stating her own thoughts, and also seemed to be reminding herself.

The meaning hidden in the words was a profound meaning that only Grandma herself understood.

Grandma Liu sucked on the slowly melting candy, and hearing this, she curled her lips, not getting angry at her unheeded words.

After all, she used to think that way, so she could understand.

A steady footstep came from outside the door, from far to near.

A tall and upright man walked in, his exquisite face shining brightly in the light, making people drunk for him at a glance.

The temperament around him was cold and indifferent, but when he saw the short figure sitting on the bench, it immediately softened.

His brows and eyes relaxed, his voice indifferent, “Grandma, I’m back.”

After Shen Chang’an finished speaking, he glanced to the side, looking at the person with a slightly stiff smile, “Grandma Liu, you’re here too.”

The person who was just talking about him was standing in front of her in a blink of an eye. Grandma Liu felt a little embarrassed, and the muscles on her face were almost stiff with a smile. She stood up, her eyes flickering.

“Chang’an, you’re back. Oh, it’s not early, I didn’t expect to chat with Sister-in-law for so long, I’m so hungry, I’ll go back to cook dinner first.”

She walked outside, the cold air swept over, not waiting for Grandma to persuade her to stay, muttering in her mouth, “This weather is really cold, it’s warmer to lie in bed early.”

She walked decisively, and Grandma also guessed what the other party was avoiding, just verbally persuading her to stay, doing the superficial work.

Seeing the person walking away, Grandma looked at Shen Chang’an and couldn’t help but ask, “Did Little Cheng go back?”

Shen Chang’an nodded, took out his phone and glanced at the time, “Yeah, his plane should be landing soon.”

Grandma responded softly, not saying anything more. She bent down and was about to pack up the fruits and candies in the plate that were used to entertain guests, but Shen Chang’an grabbed them first and started packing them up first.

……

The sky slowly darkened. Grandma had eaten something in the afternoon and didn’t have an appetite in the evening, so she went back to her room early.

Shen Chang’an was too lazy to cook, so he took out a few small candies from the big bag, tore open the exquisite packaging, and slowly ate them.

He lowered his eyes, his gaze quietly looking at that string of English from an unknown brand, his slender eyelashes not moving for a long time, as if he was lost in thought.

Shen Chang’an didn’t actually like to eat candy, how could someone who didn’t like to eat candy buy such candy?

This candy was bought by Cheng Yi when Grandpa was still alive. Judging from the brand, it should be imported from abroad and was expensive, but for Cheng Yi, it was very cheap.

Shen Chang’an lowered his head, his back slightly bent, the emotion on his face extremely calm, but his well-defined fingers were playing with that delicate packaging paper. The white light hung above his head, and thick, curled eyelashes cast a layer of gray shadow under his eyes.

With every move, his deeply hidden emotions didn’t seem as calm as they appeared on the surface.

“Ding-dong.”

The message notification pulled his thoughts back.

A message from the green software popped up, and Shen Chang’an unlocked his phone and opened it.

……

[Cheng Yi: An’an, I got off the plane~]

[Cheng Yi: I can finally contact you. I missed you so much on the plane, I missed you so much that I couldn’t sleep]

[Cheng Yi: I’m taking my friend’s car home now]

[Cheng Yi: Calling, calling, are you home yet, please answer when received]

[Cheng Yi: Why are you ignoring me]

[Cheng Yi: What are you doing (cat peeking).jpg]

……

Without paying attention to the reply, the other party sent more than a dozen messages in a row. Shen Chang’an originally looked at them slowly one by one, but seeing this, he didn’t look anymore, and quickly typed a video call.

Cheng Yi’s smiling handsome face immediately appeared in the video window.

He leaned lazily on the back of the chair, his dark eyes full of smiles as he looked at the camera. Seeing the person, his thin lips unconsciously outlined a bright smile.

In the camera, he half-closed his eyes and waved his arm gently, his movements very casual. He did it lazily as he pleased, but the light in his eyes was very serious.

“Good evening.”

“An’an.”