Chapter 3 Going Home

People are about to die, and money is no longer a thing for Zhou Shen, but he still has to think about his grandma's future life.

Only when you have money can others take care of you.

If you don’t have money, you won’t have a filial son in front of your bed for a hundred days.

Because Zhou Shen didn't answer the phone yesterday, the project manager was originally going to scold him bloody.

But when Zhou Shen took out the inspection report, the project manager immediately swallowed the words in his throat, comforted him with a gentle voice that he had never heard before, and helped him go through the resignation procedures at an unprecedented speed.

And this month, he was paid according to the entire month's salary, including performance bonuses, overtime pay, previous project bonuses in arrears, etc., and not a single penny was lost to him.

Before leaving, she personally walked him to the elevator and watched him leave.

Zhou Shen's hometown is in Huaijiang City, Dongjiang Province, next door to the Magic City, more than 400 kilometers away from the Magic City.

At 3:30 in the afternoon, Zhou Shen carried his suitcase and left Huaijiang South High-speed Railway Station.

Then I got on the online car-hailing service I booked in advance and went straight to Xiaozhou Village, Linhuai Town, Xinyang County, below Huaijiang City.

Zhou Shen sat in the back seat, looking at the silhouettes of street trees that were rapidly retreating on both sides of the road, becoming increasingly nervous and apprehensive.

He didn't know how to face his grandma when he returned.

How sad would grandma be if she knew that her only eldest grandson would pass away in a few months?

"Why……"

Thinking of such a scene, Zhou Shen couldn't help but feel sad and sighed deeply.

Half an hour later, the car entered the Linhuai Town area. On both sides of the road were small new rural villas, with an elegant environment and shady trees.

The small villas here are rural retirement homes, which are very cheap. A two-story 120-square-meter house with a small yard costs about 150,000 to 60,000 yuan, and a three-story 180-square-meter house only costs 200,000 yuan.

However, there are very few people buying. Young people have all gone to big cities. Even if they want to buy a house for marriage, they still go to Xinyang County and Huaijiang City.

After driving along the spacious cement road for less than two kilometers, the online car-hailing car turned left into Xiaozhou Village and stopped in front of a two-story villa.

His family's old house a few years ago was also demolished, and the square meter was equal to the square meter. An additional compensation of more than 40,000 yuan was given to the village, and he got a small house of 120 square meters.

After paying the fare on his mobile phone, Zhou Shen got out of the car and opened the backup area to take out the box.

As a result, he exerted too much force, and the liver area on his right abdomen suddenly twitched. The pain caused his eyes to go black for a while, and he almost fainted to the ground.

The driver in the driver's seat looked in the rearview mirror and saw Zhou Shen holding the trunk of the car but not responding. Curious, he opened the door and got out.

When he saw Zhou Shen clutching his chest with a look of pain on his face, he couldn't help but ask: "What's wrong, are you okay?"

Zhou Shen covered his chest and shook his head.

The driver helped him take out the suitcase and put it on the ground, then drove away quickly.

Zhou Shen held the suitcase and took a breath. After the severe sting gradually disappeared, he then slowly walked towards the courtyard entrance with the suitcase.

In the flowerbed under the wall at the door, where green plants or flowers are supposed to be planted, many vegetables are planted, including green onions, cabbage, lettuce, leeks. There are also shelves set up on the side of the wall, where green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. are planted.

Not only his family, but basically every household around him is like this.

Rural people's vegetable-growing skills are deeply rooted in their bones. If they don't focus on vegetables in front of and behind the house, they are too embarrassed to go out and meet people.

Hearing the sound of the suitcase pulley outside the door, Zhou Shen's grandmother Zhang Xiu'e, who was folding clothes inside, stood up and looked at the door. When she saw that her eldest grandson had returned, she was overjoyed.

"Da Shen, you are back!"

The little old lady shouted and hurriedly welcomed her out.

Da Shen is a bit awkward to pronounce in Mandarin, but when spoken in their local dialect, it is pronounced the same as "Da Sun", which is very close.

Zhou Shen happily put his arms around the little old lady who was less than 1.6 meters tall and a little hunchback, and shouted happily: "Grandma! I miss you so much."

As he spoke, he lowered his head and kissed the top of grandma's gray head several times.

The little old lady stretched out her hand to grab the trolley case from Zhou Shen's hand, and said with a smile on her face: "I didn't even tell grandma in advance when I came back, and she even said I missed her."

"I want to give you a surprise..."

Zhou Shen had a bright smile on his face, but a trace of pain flashed between his brows.

…

The eldest grandson came back. The little old lady cooked a lot of dishes at night, including fish, meat, fruits and vegetables, and she also killed an old hen that laid eggs.

The small villas in the new rural areas are not allowed to build sheds to raise chickens, so the little old lady transformed the side of the small yard where the debris is stored into a chicken coop. There are seven or eight old hens in it, and they can usually eat some fresh eggs, and the extra ones can be used

Take it out and sell it to get some money to buy oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar.

In addition to eggs, the little old lady would also fold uneaten vegetables and put them in a small tricycle, and then ride them to the town's vegetable market to set up a stall and sell them.

In fact, Zhou Shen remits money to the little old lady every month. She is not short of money, it is just her habit of thrift.

Zhou Shen ate in small bites, chewing slowly.

The rice, vegetables, chicken, pig, and fish were all ground up with my teeth before being swallowed into my stomach.

When drinking soup with a spoon, blow off the oily flowers on it and make sure there are no broken bones in the soup before you dare to drink it.

Although the little old lady on the side was confused, why did her eldest grandson, who used to wolf down his food, now eat it slowly like a little girl?

But the joy of his eldest grandson's return overshadowed the doubts in his heart, and he didn't ask in detail.

Instead, he asked about Zhou Shen’s girlfriend Zhang Zihan.

"Da Shen, when do you and Xiao Han plan to get married?"

"Well……"

Zhou Shen wanted to find an excuse to deal with it as before, and wait a few days to talk about it.

But seeing his grandma's eager and expectant eyes, he really couldn't bear to lie, so he was silent for a moment and said, "Grandma, Zihan and I broke up."

To Zhou Shen's surprise, the little old lady didn't show any surprise when she heard this. She didn't even ask why they broke up. She just comforted: "It's okay, we'll break up. My Da Shen is so good, he will definitely be able to find her in the future."

Better girls."

Zhou Shen couldn't help but feel warm in his heart when he looked at his grandma's plain and kind face.

This uneducated little old lady is stronger, braver and more considerate than he imagined.

Next, Zhou Shen and his grandma chatted about the family's shortcomings.

After dinner, there was a shout at the door.

It was the old lady next door who asked Grandma Zhou Shen to go to town to dance in the square.

Seeing Zhou Shen coming back, the old lady next door came in to chat for a few words, and then urged his grandma to leave quickly.

Grandma Zhou Shen was reluctant to go at first and wanted to stay at home with her eldest grandson. However, under the persuasion of the old lady next door and Zhou Shen also said to go with her, she took off her apron and locked the door.

I went out and got on the old lady's car next door and drove towards the town center two kilometers away.

The old lady next door is in her sixties. The old man is happily sneaking around in the constant flow of traffic.

Linhuai Town is located at the intersection of three counties under the jurisdiction of Huaijiang City. There are many cars passing by every day, and people come and go.

Soon the old lady next door drove her car to the Yuan Town Central Primary School.

The town central primary school was relocated to the north of the town, and the remaining buildings serve as the town government offices and senior citizen activity center. The cement playground was covered with plastic surfaces funded by the town.

Half is used as a basketball court and half is used as a square dance venue for senior citizens.

At this time, the LED light poles above the venue were lit up and the lights were bright. There were many people playing basketball on the basketball court, and on the other side of the square dance venue, many middle-aged and elderly people also gathered.

Zhou Shen followed the old lady to the square dance venue.

He hadn't noticed it before, but he discovered today that the square dance venue was actually divided into several "factions".

There are slow-paced square dances for the elderly, moderately intense square dances and social dances for middle-aged people, and fast-paced square dances for young women.

A large speaker is placed in front of each square array.

Naturally, his grandma and the old lady next door belong to the elderly phalanx.

Seeing his grandma greeting a group of old ladies in a familiar manner, and then moving her hands and feet along with the dance, Zhou Shen also had a happy smile on his face.

But as he smiled, his eyes couldn't help but become moist.

Zhou Shen turned around and wiped the corners of his eyes, walking towards the fitness equipment area on the river bank to the north of the school.

Under the light of the shade of the trees, some people were playing chess, some were playing cards, and some were practicing the horizontal and parallel bars, slapping or hitting the trees, and they were all old people. Their hands were very strong, which made Zhou Shen, a young man, feel very ashamed.

Extremely envious.

Once upon a time, he was as agile as these old people, but now, in his thirties, he is already hobbled and seriously ill. It's ironic to think about it.

Zhou Shen walked up to the old man who was hitting the tree with his back and asked casually: "Dad, is there anything special about hitting the tree?"

The old man said with a smile: "Of course it's for fitness."

Zhou Shen asked doubtfully: "Can you still keep fit by hitting a tree? Who said that?"

The old man said: "Don't you understand this? From the perspective of traditional medicine, hitting the tree with your back can dredge the meridians, strengthen the body and expel evil spirits;

From a modern medical perspective, hitting the back can also relax the sacral spinal muscles on both sides of the spine, improve local blood circulation, and increase the body's immunity.

Long-term exercise of hitting your back against a tree can relieve neck, shoulder, waist and back pain, cough and phlegm, and indigestion."

"Oh oh oh!"

Zhou Shen nodded repeatedly.

He originally thought that these old men were feudal and superstitious and did not know how to practice blindly, but they explained all kinds of principles, leaving him speechless.

After chatting with the old man for a few more minutes, I found that he knew a lot. Not only did he know all kinds of meridian science, but he also had a deep understanding of scientific health-preserving knowledge. He knew what was too much and what was enough.

Zhou Shen was ashamed after hearing this, and realized that he was really ignorant.

I wish I could hit the tree twice with the old man.

Unfortunately, when he thought about his body, he could only sigh.
Chapter completed!