Chapter 119: Walk a While
Tu Hengsha laughed, "Grandma, then I’ll often accompany you to the movies! I often go with my mom! Grandma, next time I’ll introduce my mom to you, okay? Then the three of us can hang out together! When I’m not busy, I even go hiking and foraging for wild vegetables with my mom!"
"Oh, that sounds great!" Grandma was overjoyed. "I used to love foraging for wild vegetables too! I make delicious wild vegetable rice! I’m from the south, and when I was young, every spring around Qingming, the wild mugwort by the little rivers would be so lush. We’d pick it, wash it, press out the juice, mix it with glutinous rice, and then add cured meat, dried tofu, peanuts. It must be steamed. Oh my, when I steam that rice, the whole alley smells fragrant. Your grandpa loved it! Next spring, I’ll find some wild mugwort and make it for you! It has to be wild to taste good!"
"Sure, Grandma, when the time comes, I’ll go with you..."
Ronggui stayed silent but listened carefully to every word. At first, feeling a bit sour when she chatted happily with Grandma, he felt he hadn’t done enough for his lonely grandma after grandpa passed. But when he heard her wanting to introduce her mom to Grandma, he chuckled at first, but then frowned, as if struck by some thought.
Tu Hengsha didn’t expect Gugu to be so inept! He didn’t know how to buy movie tickets, nor how to collect online tickets! She ran all the errands to watch a movie! When she returned with two tubs of popcorn to Grandma, Grandma lovingly touched her face, "My Gugu is so clumsy, poor girl has worked hard all day; in the future, teach him a bit."
"No worries, Grandma!" Embarrassed by Grandma’s comment, she couldn’t bring herself to make fun of Mr. Su anymore.
In the cinema, Grandma Xu sat in the middle, flanked by Tu Hengsha on one side and Su Ronggui on the other, watching a comedy. Grandma Xu laughed nonstop throughout, and even the usually reserved Su Ronggui cracked a few smiles. However, recalling Grandma’s words earlier, a thought nagged at him: Grandma hadn’t laughed like this in years...
Tu Hengsha was the silliest of them all, collapsing onto Grandma’s shoulder several times with laughter, and each time, Grandma would fondly pat her face, clearly doting on her.
When they left the cinema, Tu Hengsha and Grandma’s faces were both flushed red.
Grandma checked the time, "Oh dear, we must hurry home to cook. You all eat quickly and head back early because you work tomorrow!"
"No need to cook; let’s eat out," Su Ronggui suggested. "There’s a nice restaurant not far from here."