Chapter 057: An Elderly Man

When Lin Yu and Qi Yue came downstairs, Wang Yan was still not sober, lying in a drunken stupor on the hotel bed. The two of them didn’t have the heart to wake him, so they simply went downstairs and paid another hundred yuan. This way, the staff wouldn’t disturb him to renew the room, and he could sleep straight through to the next day.

“We’re going to the nursing home,” Qi Yue announced once they stepped out of the hotel.

“To visit someone?” Lin Yu asked gently, noticing the hint of sadness in her expression.

“Yes. My grandfather, and some of the other elderly folks there. They’re very lonely in the nursing home. I go see them every few days, chat with them, play chess together.” After saying this, Qi Yue fell silent.

Seeing her like this, Lin Yu didn’t press further. He realized he’d never known about her habit of visiting the nursing home.

He had always thought of Qi Yue as a headstrong, naive girl who never took anything too seriously, but seeing her sadness now, he finally understood what it meant for the years to turn and for them to grow up.

Senior year was nearly over; life’s crossroads were about to open up, and soon, each would hurry off down their own path, growing more distant with every step. The uncertainty of the future made Lin Yu feel a pang of sorrow, as if he’d only just reunited with his friends and with Qi Yue. What would the future hold? Would they stay together, or drift apart? He couldn’t control it yet.

He wanted to say: If only we could stay in our school days forever, wouldn’t that be nice? If only we could remain in high school, where youth and passion run strongest, wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Noticing the growing somberness on Lin Yu’s face, Qi Yue, sensing his sadness, suddenly grinned mischievously. “Lin Yu, I’ve decided I’m going to be a girl of the Three Obediences and Four Virtues. What do you think?”

“The Three Obediences and Four Virtues? You…?” Lin Yu’s thoughts were interrupted, and he replied with a wry smile. You, of all people—don’t even know the name of ordinary rice!

“Honestly, I think even if cows learn to milk themselves, you’ll never learn how to cook!” Lin Yu teased, laughing.

“That’s not the Three Obediences and Four Virtues you’re thinking of! My Three Obediences are: never gentle, never considerate, never reasonable. My Four Virtues are: can’t be told what to do, can’t be hit, can’t be scolded, can’t be provoked. Funny, right? Zhiling and I came up with it last night,” Qi Yue said, flashing her signature triumphant smile.

“Looks like two girls really shouldn’t share a room!” Lin Yu concluded, speechless. Just one night and you come up with this—if you spent more time together, society would revert to matriarchy!

Joking and chatting, their little sorrows faded. Together, they stopped by a shop to buy mooncakes, fruit, and some fancy pastries, then hailed a red taxi straight to the Baishan Cadre Sanatorium by the seaside in Bincheng.

Though it bore the name of a cadre sanatorium, in reality, it was just an old folks’ home. Young people rarely came here for convalescence.

With the association to old age, there was inevitably a hint of desolation. Yet, the Baishan Sanatorium sat at the foot of scenic Binshan, and a few steps from the entrance, one could see the surging sea—a view both broad and lovely, facing the ocean. But whether spring ever truly came depended on one’s state of mind.

After paying the driver, the two got out in turn. Lin Yu, feeling the ten thousand yuan in his bag was a little conspicuous, slipped the cream-colored plastic bag containing the money into Qi Yue’s shoulder bag. Qi Yue had no idea there was a small fortune inside; she only noticed it became heavier. Curious, but she didn’t ask.

What struck Lin Yu most was that the two guards at the gate were actually holding submachine guns. Mischievous as always, Qi Yue greeted one of the guards, Zhang Qiang, whom she knew, before leading Lin Yu into the sanatorium.

“The sunset glow is the fairest, gentle and calm. Sunset is the last blossom, sunset is the aged wine, sunset is love that comes late, sunset is longing that never ends. So many affections, all turn to sunset’s glow.”

This was the theme song of “Sunset Glow,” a program aired by CCTV since October 11, 1993—its lyrics beautiful and moving.

But on National Day in 2002, three years after China had entered an aging society, as Lin Yu walked through the Baishan Sanatorium by the seashore in Bincheng, he looked at the torn maple leaves, half yellow and half red, hanging on the trees, and the withered leaves scattered on the ground, bleak and forlorn. A chill, a sense of desolation and loneliness welled up in his heart.

Some people, whose youth was crowned with glory, enjoy none of it in old age, casting a lifetime’s honor, shame, laughter, and tears all to the blazing stars above.

He thought this sentiment fit these retired cadres best—so old they could barely walk.

In the broad courtyard, elderly figures appeared now and then, most walking alone, their silhouettes unspeakably lonely.

Because Lin Yu was with her, when Qi Yue greeted these elders, she just smiled faintly, then, ignoring the longing in their eyes, brushed past them, a little heartlessly.

Now, Lin Yu finally understood why just the mention of this place could bring a faint sadness to Qi Yue’s face.

Side by side, they walked to a row of single-story houses topped with red glazed tiles, where Lin Yu was startled to find a large crowd gathered in front of the fourth door.

There were five or six doctors and nurses in white coats, and twenty or so elderly men and women watching the commotion.

Seeing this scene, Qi Yue’s face darkened instantly, and she rushed forward, leaving Lin Yu behind.

“What’s happened?” Qi Yue squeezed her way inside and called out loudly.

“Qi Yue, you’re finally here! Your grandfather hasn’t eaten or drunk anything in three days. No matter how we try to persuade him, nothing works!” a young nurse, barely in her twenties, said anxiously.

“Not again?” Qi Yue sighed, brushed past the nurses, and went straight to the bedside.

She saw her grandfather, skin wrinkled and hair white, stubbornly lying on the bed, eyes shut tight, ignoring everyone. Qi Yue’s eyes reddened instantly.

Taking a moment to steady herself, she spoke in a sweet voice, “Grandpa, Xiao Yue’s come to see you.”

For the first time, Lin Yu saw such a gentle side of Qi Yue, and a strange feeling stirred in his heart.

“Xiao Yue? You’re here, haha!” At the sound of her voice, her grandfather, Sun Jin, perked up like a child hearing his mother’s call, opened his eyes, and smiled.

“Why are you refusing to eat again?” After sending everyone else out, Qi Yue brought over a bowl of steaming rice porridge and stirred it gently.

“It’s all because your father upset me! Oh, that rascal!” Sun Jin grumbled, cursing for several sentences.

Lin Yu, invisible in the room, sat quietly on an old wooden chair, watching the exchange.

Qi Yue’s parents had divorced years ago, and her half-sister was nearly ten. So Lin Yu knew there was no real kinship left between Sun Jin and Qi Dazhu.

Worried her grandfather might choke if he spoke while eating, Qi Yue waited until he’d finished before softly asking, “Grandpa, you haven’t seen Qi Dazhu in years—how could he make you so angry?”

“He wouldn’t give me money, that’s why!” Sun Jin replied, disgruntled, a few grains of rice escaping his lips, which Qi Yue wiped away with a napkin.

“Grandpa, you never need money here. What do you need so much for? How much do you want? Let me see if I have enough.” Qi Yue’s grandfather had only a son and a daughter, both in Australia now, leaving no one to care for him. That’s why she doted on him and never refused any request.

“It’s not much, just a hundred and fifty thousand! And he won’t give it to me! How can I not be angry?” Sun Jin said offhandedly, but when he mentioned Qi Dazhu, he was furious.

“A hundred and fifty thousand! Grandpa…what do you need so much money for?” Qi Yue, who had thought her father stingy, suddenly realized what was going on.