When Jiang Suichu returned home, grandma was sitting on a lounge chair by the fire, with a thick quilt spread on the chair. There was no flesh on the whole body, as if there was only a stretch of skin left.
Shaped like a withered body.
Jiang Suichu almost stopped when he saw his grandma's appearance. No wonder grandma never video chats with her, only calls her. She just didn't want her to see her look like that, and she didn't want her to worry.
The uncle pulled her aside and said, "Suisui, it's grandma's wish to go home. She doesn't like the smell of hospital disinfectant, and she doesn't want to...walk in the hospital."
Jiang Suchu shook his head, his eyes filled with tears, and he couldn't even see his uncle clearly.
She choked with sobs, "Uncle, didn't you say the doctor said you can be discharged from the hospital? How could grandma be like this?"
The uncle sighed, his eyes a little red, "Sui Sui, what the doctor means is... there is no point in staying in the hospital."
Jiang Suchu was a little anxious and raised his arms to wipe the tears off his face, "What do you mean it's meaningless? The doctor will definitely cure grandma, he will!"
"Uncle, can we take grandma back to the hospital?" She took her uncle's arm and begged him, "Uncle, okay? Okay?"
Tears kept flowing, and Jiang Suchu's face turned red.
Jiang Zhiguo understood Jiang Suichu's mood. He held her hand and said, "Suisui, it's grandma who doesn't want to go to the hospital."
Jiang Suchu was stunned, his chin trembled slightly, "Why?"
Shu Yuan paid a lot of fees and could let her grandma live forever. It was Grandma Jiang who didn't want to stay in the hospital. As she said, she knew her own body better than anyone else. Staying in the hospital is just a matter of relying on those instruments and tubes to survive for a few more days, so why bother.
Jiang Zhiguo patted Jiang Suichu's hand and said hoarsely: "Suisui, you know. Grandma has always been a strong person. She doesn't want to be filled with all kinds of cold tubes and instruments in the hospital. We...respect Is she okay?"
Grandma Jiang lost her husband in middle age and took care of her two sons alone. You can imagine how miserable her life was in that era. During this period, many people introduced her to partners and asked her to remarry, but she refused to do so. She just raised two children by herself. In that era when filling one's stomach was a luxury, Grandma Jiang gritted her teeth and wanted to send her two sons to study.
Jiang Zhiguo did not have the talent of his younger brother. Although he only graduated from junior high school, he was considered highly educated in the rural areas of that era. Jiang Zhiwei was admitted to the Police Academy in Yun City and settled in the city.
Grandma has never read a book, but she relies on the most primitive method to learn many words by rote. Jiang Suichu remembers that the most common thing her grandma said to her was, "Being a human being requires perseverance."
Persevere and never forget your original intention.
She knew that grandma had her persistence and wanted to finish the last part of her life with dignity.
Jiang Suchu looked back at her grandma who was stuck in the recliner, and tried to bite her lip to prevent herself from crying. Tears fell silently. She looked at her grandma for a long time before she tremblingly said, "Okay."
Jiang Zhiguo turned his head and wiped his tears, "Go and wash your face. Grandma doesn't want to see you cry the last thing."
"Yeah." Jiang Suichu nodded mechanically and walked heavily to the side room.
After washing his face, Jiang Suchu stood in front of the mirror, trying hard to pull up the corners of his mouth and practice smiling. But when she smiled, tears fell from the end of her eyes and she couldn't control it.
She poured out the hot water in the basin and filled it with cold water. She held her hands on the edge of the basin, took a deep breath and buried her face directly into the cold water.
She closed her eyes and felt the cold winter water pricking her face like needles, causing tiny pains.
Like a slideshow in my mind, every moment I had with my grandma over the years flashed through frame by frame. Grandma is a decent person. Even though she lives in a rural area and has to do a lot of farm work, her clothes are always clean and tidy. The house is always kept spotless, and the firewood stacks in the kitchen are neatly stacked.
When Jiang Suichu was a child, she would always pick up old clothes from her neighbor’s sister and wear them. Her grandmother would wash them cleanly for her and sew some new patterns and colors on the clothes. Grandma said that these are no longer old clothes, but new clothes.
Jiang Suchu knew that grandma was protecting her little self-esteem in her own way.
"What are you crazy about? If you want to commit suicide, just jump into the river. Don't act out any sad drama here." Jiang Mingzhu was holding an empty bowl in her hand. When she entered the room, she saw Jiang Suichu with his head buried in the basin.
Hearing Jiang Mingzhu's sarcastic voice, Jiang Suichu raised his head and took off the hanging towel to wipe the water from his face. He turned around and looked at her indifferently, "Do you care what I do?"
"Tch, I'm too lazy to care about you." Jiang Mingzhu rolled her eyes, and then gave her the empty bowl in her hand, "Grandma's medicine is simmering in the stove. You can bring her a bowl."
After saying that, Jiang Mingzhu shook her chin and turned around to go upstairs.
Jiang Suichu glanced at the bowl in his hand. There was a dark circle of medicine stains on the edge of the bowl. She walked into the kitchen with the bowl in hand, washed the bowl inside and out with hot water, and then poured another bowl of Chinese medicine for her grandma.
Grandma was a little depressed, and she just opened her eyes when she heard the sound. Seeing that it was Jiang Suichu, grandma smiled weakly at her and said, "....Sui Sui is back."
Jiang Suichu tried hard to stabilize his emotions, stirred some hot Chinese medicine with a spoon and lowered his eyes, and said in a low voice: "...Well, I'm back."
Grandma no longer had the strength to raise her hands. She just leaned back on the chair, tilted her head and looked at her granddaughter, and asked feebly: "How did you go in the exam...?"
"It's pretty good." The heat from the traditional Chinese medicine made Jiang Suichu's eyes feel hot.
She took a deep breath, scooped up a spoonful of Chinese medicine, blew it to cool it down and brought it to her grandma's mouth, "Grandma, drink the medicine first."
Grandma slowly touched the corners of her lips and kept looking at her, "...Okay."
Jiang Suichu fed grandma the medicine one mouthful at a time. The smell of traditional Chinese medicine was very strong, and the whole room was filled with a bitter taste.
Grandma couldn't open her mouth, and even though she was very careful, she still spilled some. Jiang Suchu took out a few pieces of paper and gently wiped away the dark brown medicine stains that spilled on grandma's chin.
"Grandma, is it bitter?"
Grandma blinked slowly, "It's not bitter."
Jiang Suichu lowered her eyelashes and the ends of her eyes were crimson. She looked at her face reflected in the black concoction and choked, "Grandma is lying!"
It was obviously very bitter, and she knew just how bitter the medicine was just by smelling it.
Grandma smiled weakly and reassured her, "It's really... not bitter."
Grandma didn't say it, but she actually has no sense of taste now.
Jiang Suchu bit his lip and tried hard not to cry. She raised her head and smiled at her grandma, "It doesn't matter, I have candies in my schoolbag. After you drink the medicine, I will pick the sweetest one for you."
Grandma looked at her with affection in her eyes, "....Okay."
Jiang Suichu fed her a bowl of medicine for almost half an hour before she could barely finish it. After grandma finished drinking the medicine, Jiang Suichu took out an orange-flavored hard candy from his schoolbag, peeled it open, and carefully fed it into grandma's mouth.
Jiang Suichu sat in front of her grandma and tucked the blanket around her legs for her.
"Is it sweet?" She tilted her head and looked at grandma.
Grandma nodded slowly, "Sweet."
Jiang Suichu peeled one off for himself and put it in his mouth, "This is bought for me every year."
Grandma looked at her and said in a weak voice: "Niannian... is a good child."
"Yeah." Jiang Suichu leaned his head gently on grandma's leg, "Nian Nian said that after eating candy, he won't feel bitter anymore."
During this period, Jiang Suchu also fell ill several times because he was worried about his grandma. She had been taking medicine for a long time in school, and these candies were bought by Lu Zhinian to suppress the taste of medicine in her mouth when she took medicine.
At night, Jiang Suichu realized that grandma could no longer sleep. When I lie down, I feel short of breath, my whole body feels hot, and my heart feels hot.
During this time, the uncle stayed by the stove all night long to watch over grandma.
In the evening, Jiang Suichu saw the red bloodshot eyes in his uncle's eyes and felt a little distressed. "Uncle, I will guard grandma tonight. You can go and rest first."
Jiang Zhiguo took a sip of strong tea and looked at her tiredly, "You can't do it alone. If grandma goes to the toilet at night, you can't carry her."
Although grandma is very thin now, she has no strength at all. Someone has to hold her when going to the toilet. Jiang Suichu is so thin that he can't hold her at all.
Qu Ping glanced at her husband and said, "Let Mingjie and Suisui stay together tonight. You have been staying up for more than ten days in a row. If you don't rest, your body will collapse sooner or later."
Jiang Mingjie and Jiang Mingzhu also just came back from school today. No one had changed classes with Jiang Zhiguo before. He stayed up alone for more than ten days, almost all night every day. With Qu Ping taking care of him during the day, he went to sleep for a while, but he couldn't bear it for a long time.
Jiang Zhiguo couldn't stop yawning several times and tears came out. He rubbed his face with rough hands and looked at Jiang Mingjie, "Mingjie, you and Sui Sui will guard grandma tonight."
Jiang Mingjie and Jiang Mingzhu were sitting on the other side of the stove. He glanced at Jiang Suchu opposite him and said, "Okay, I understand, Dad."
Jiang Mingzhu was scrolling through her phone, secretly glad that she didn't have to keep vigil.
After they all went to bed, Jiang Suichu went outside to get a few pieces of coal from the eaves and added them to the stove. Then he closed the vent under the stove so that the coal would burn slower.
Jiang Mingjie was lying on the bamboo sofa next to the stove, playing with his mobile phone. There are two quilts spread on the sofa, which were laid by Jiang Zhiguo during this period, so that he can take a nap occasionally.
After adding charcoal fire, Jiang Suichu went to wash a cup again, poured a cup of boiled water and let it dry for a while for grandma to drink. Grandma now has some difficulty breathing. She keeps her mouth open, and the moisture is lost quickly. After a while, her mouth is covered with dry skin.
She moved a chair and sat next to her grandma, "Grandma, is it cold?"
"It's not cold. You go to bed...you don't have to stay here to watch over me." Grandma breathed slowly and it was particularly difficult to speak. It took a long time to finish each word of a short sentence.
Jiang Suichu pursed his lips, lifted the blanket covering her grandma, and covered her hands.
"I'm not sleepy." She picked up the schoolbag she put aside and took out the test paper. "I'll be with you, just in time to do your homework."
She didn't receive her winter vacation homework. Lu Zhinian bought these test papers specifically for her situation. Jiang Suchu tore off a few pieces of scratch paper and laid them on the stove to prevent the test papers from getting dirty.
Jiang Suchu: "Grandma, take a nap. If you want to go to the toilet, just call me."
Grandma curled her lips and slowly closed her eyes.
After his grandma fell asleep, Jiang Suichu began to write the test paper with peace of mind. Jiang Mingjie was lying on the sofa, glanced at Jiang Suichu who was writing the test paper seriously, twitched the corners of his mouth with a sneer, then turned over and continued to play the game.
During this period, grandma couldn't sleep well.
He always says that his body feels hot and he feels uncomfortable. He kept trying to tear off the quilt and clothes on his body. Jiang Suichu had no choice but to find a bottle of white wine to wipe grandma's calves and arms to cool her down. After struggling for almost an hour, grandma fell asleep.
His hands were a little sore. Jiang Suichu rubbed his wrists and took out his cell phone from his schoolbag to check what time it was. As soon as he turned on his phone, he saw dozens of missed calls, all from Lu Zhinian.
She didn't know when her cell phone was turned off. She stuffed it in her schoolbag and didn't even see Lu Zhinian call her.
Jiang Suichu looked back at her grandma, who was sleeping soundly now.
She picked up her phone and walked out of the room quietly. She didn't dare to go too far, so she replied to Lu Zhinian under the window outside the door.
Grandma can just be seen from the window.
A few seconds after the message was sent, Lu Zhinian's phone came in.
Jiang Suchu was stunned for a moment, then answered the phone, "Lu Zhinian, are you still awake?"
It's already past two o'clock in the morning.
She was just afraid that the phone call would wake him up, but she didn't want him to worry. So I thought of sending a message so that he could see it when he got up in the morning.
Unexpectedly, he was not asleep yet.
"Um."
He had been unable to get through his previous calls, and he was a little worried. I originally wanted to sleep, but I kept thinking about her and couldn't sleep, so I just got up and typed code.
Lu Zhinian sat at the desk and pinched his brows tiredly, "Why aren't you asleep yet?"
Jiang Suichu looked in from the window and said, "Grandma needs someone to guard her now. I'm staying with grandma."
Lu Zhinian paused. Shu Yuan told him about Grandma Jiang's situation.
Not very optimistic.
Lu Zhinian: "Are you alone?"
Taking care of patients is not an easy job. He had taken care of his grandma in the hospital before, and he couldn't do it alone.
It was very cold outside. Jiang Suichu shrank his neck and sniffed, "No. There is also Jiang Mingjie."
Although Jiang Mingjie has been sleeping on the sofa, he carried grandma on his back when she went to the toilet.
"Jiang Mingjie?" Lu Zhinian frowned and asked worriedly, "Did he bully you?"
Jiang Suchu was stunned for a moment, "No."
Jiang Mingjie would never bully her in front of grandma, let alone grandma like this.
Lu Zhinian breathed a sigh of relief when she said no.
The late nights in winter are darker than in summer, and there is mist everywhere. Jiang Suchu took a breath into his hands and looked at the Bodhisattva tree on the opposite hillside.
"Lu Zhinian." She called his name softly into the phone.
Lu Zhinian: "Yeah, I'm here."
The tears streaked down the cold cheeks, they were hot.
"The new year is over and spring is here. Grandma will get better."
"right?"
Her voice was shaking.
Lu Zhinian's throat was a little dry and he whispered back to her, "Yeah. It will get better."
