The top shelf is filled with old books, their pages curled at the edges, worn and some even yellowed.
The second floor also displays some old photos, in black and white, with lace trim.
Xi Jia took out a piece of paper and looked at it. There was a date in the lower right corner. It turned out that more than half a century had passed.
"This is your grandfather when he was young." The old woman pointed to the man on the right. He looked a lot like Uncle Liang in terms of his eyebrows, and he had a gentle smile and an air of being well-read.
"Grandpa was very handsome when he was young."
Xi Jia also followed suit and didn't change it to "Grandpa".
The old woman just kept smiling, unsure how to respond to the young man's compliments, but the wrinkles around her eyes smoothed out.
Xi Jia looked at the person on her left, her brows furrowing slightly. The person looked very familiar.
"Grandma, who is this?"
The old woman gave a name, saying, "My hometown is just across the lake."
It really was Mr. Yue.
This mountain range covers an area of 100 kilometers, and she never expected that Mr. Yue lived nearby.
Xi Jia carefully put the photo back in its place. "Grandma, the book I read every day was written by Mr. Yue. I didn't expect you all to know him."
"What a coincidence," the old woman said. "Mr. Yue is currently in his hometown; he's been back for a while now."
"Grandma, may I read Grandpa's books?" Xi Jia asked for his opinion.
Grandma: "Take whatever you want to see. They don't care about it, but I treasure it."
Xi Jia took two books according to the order they were placed.
Each story is short, yet captivating, making it impossible to put down.
She finished reading all of her grandfather's novels in four days.
The old lady said that Mr. Yue's family had many books. If she wanted to read them, she could just go there and take some back, and then return them to him after she finished reading them.
Xi Jia was very excited, but still felt it was not quite right. "Wouldn't it be a disturbance for Mr. Yue if I went there so abruptly?"
A few days ago, Ye Qiu said that Mr. Yue was not feeling well.
Grandma: "There's no such thing as disturbing him. He just stays home, grows flowers, walks his birds, and wanders around in the mountains."
The weather was nice the following morning.
Xi Jia put the book in her bag, said goodbye to the old woman, and went out.
Grandma called Mr. Yue last night, and she will visit him directly today.
Grandma's house looked to be not far from Mr. Yue's house, one on the east side of the lake and the other on the west side.
However, there is no bridge over this lake. It is surrounded by mountains with steep peaks, and there is no road to get across. You have to go dozens of miles around and can only take the scenic area bus.
Mid-October, with its mild temperatures, is the perfect time for hiking and mountain climbing.
The scenic area was packed with people; long queues could be seen from afar at the bus stop.
Xi Jia, holding an umbrella, walked slowly in that direction.
At the entrance to the scenic area, there are shops on both sides of the road.
She glanced over there casually, then stopped in her tracks.
A tall, well-built man walked out of the store carrying a bottle of water. Tourists were constantly coming and going in the store, and the man stood out from the crowd in both height and demeanor.
He was wearing black trousers and a white shirt, with the top button of the shirt undone.
He exudes hormones.
Xi Jia closed her umbrella, but her gaze remained fixed on the umbrella.
The man walked up to a car, but didn't rush to get in. He unscrewed the water bottle, tilted his head back slightly, and began to drink.
A defined jawline and a sexy, perfectly shaped Adam's apple perfectly match every woman's aesthetic ideal of a man.
Xi Jia glanced at the license plate; it was a local private car. She walked over.
The man screwed on the bottle cap, and suddenly, as if sensing something, he turned his head and saw the person who had come. He was clearly startled, and his hand, which had been on the car door, was withdrawn.
Approaching, Xi Jia gave a faint smile, "I am truly flattered that Mr. Mo has come all this way."
After a two-second pause, Mo Yushen said, "I didn't know you were in the mountains here."
The implication was that he hadn't come to see her, and she had been deluding herself.
"Come over here to talk business." Mo Yushen always spoke concisely.
Xi Jia nodded, and took the opportunity to salvage her own reputation, "I knew it, President Mo is so busy, how could he have time for romance?"
Then, she changed the subject, "Can this car move freely within the scenic area?"
Mo Yu nodded. The car owner lived in the scenic area, and it was his senior who arranged for him to be picked up.
Xi Jia really didn't want to queue for the scenic area bus, so she didn't stand on ceremony with Mo Yushen and asked, "I need to go to the other side of the lake. Is it on my way?"
Mo Yushen didn't answer, but simply opened the car door and gestured for her to get in.
Both of them sat in the back row, and Xi Jia did not deliberately keep her distance from Mo Yushen.
As the car started moving and drove up a winding road, which was also uphill, the speed increased.
There were frequent turns, and Xi Jia held on tightly to her hand.
"Do you have business partners here?" she asked, turning her head to the side.
Mo Yushen: "No."
And then that was it.
Xi Jia stared at him, and Mo Yushen added, "I was asked to visit Mr. Yue."
I see.
What a coincidence, you can sit all the way to the end.
The phone rang in her bag. The previous stretch of road was all uphill and relatively smooth, so Xi Jia became careless, let go of the handle, and opened the bag to take out her phone.
The next second, however, there was a sharp turn, and due to inertia, Xi Jia was thrown directly into Mo Yushen's arms. Mo Yushen held the handrail tightly with one hand and put his other arm around Xi Jia's shoulder.
Xi Jia subconsciously placed her hands on Mo Yushen's abs, trying to use the leverage to sit up.
Unexpectedly, the momentum was too great, and her hand slipped down, landing in an awkward position.
She quickly removed it and put it back on his lap.
Xi Jia looked up and saw Mo Yushen staring at her meaningfully.
The sharp turn passed quickly, followed by another bend in the opposite direction, the force tilting in her direction. She moved her hand up and gripped Mo Yushen's belt tighter.
Then, as if nothing had happened, he looked out the window at the scenery.
Chapter Two
The driver was focused on driving and didn't notice what was happening in the back seat.
Perhaps because she was too idle, Xi Jia asked, "Didn't you buy a diamond ring back then?" Her own ring finger was bare, as was Mo Yushen's.
Mo Yushen glanced at her, too lazy to even say a word.
He assumed she was deliberately picking a fight and didn't think anything of it.
Xi Jia just said it casually, but she regretted it for a fraction of a second as soon as she blurted it out. That sentence sounded like she was asking him for a ring.
She lacks nothing, especially diamonds; the box of rare diamonds in her house is dazzling.
Mo Yushen was unaware that Xi Jia's memory was fading, and many details of their time together were completely blank in her memory.
Of course, Xi Jia herself was even less aware of it.
The car sped along and stopped by the roadside in the mountains half an hour later.
The driver pointed up and said, "That's my cousin's house. The car can't go there; you'll have to walk."
Xi Jia looked in the direction the driver pointed and saw several low houses sitting on the mountainside. The houses had white walls and blue tiles, and the tiles were old and looked dark green from a distance.
The walls looked freshly painted, their fluorescent white color giving them a new appearance.
There is no courtyard wall, but there is a stone platform in the courtyard, and quite a few flowers and plants.
The driver got out of the car and took Mo Yushen's suitcase off the bus. He wasn't good with words and said dryly, "My cousin is at home."
He then drove away.
Soon, the car disappeared on the winding mountain road.
The path leading to Mr. Yue's house is a stone slab, but the slabs are not tightly joined together and are overgrown with weeds.
It wasn't until this moment that Mo Yushen belatedly realized that Xi Jia had the same destination as him.
"You have a connection with Mr. Yue?" Xi Jia asked, bored, as she struck up a conversation with Mo Yushen.
"Grandpa and Mr. Yue are friends."
Xi Jia said "Oh," and then there was silence between them again.
She originally thought Mo Yushen would ask her why she had come to see Mr. Yue, but when she arrived at Mr. Yue's door, Mo Yushen didn't ask a single question.
Xi Jia stood in the courtyard and looked down, taking in the entire view of the lake. The view of the mountain from here was more geographically advantageous than that from Grandma's house.
Growing flowers and tending to plants is like living in a paradise.
No wonder Mr. Yue didn't want to stay in Beijing and came back here.
As she got closer, she could see that the dark green on the roof tiles was actually moss.
Over there, Mo Yushen put his suitcase down on the stone platform and went to knock on the door.
Mr. Yue's door was not closed, but there was no one in the main room, so Mo Yushen did not rush into the room.
"Grandpa Yue?"
"Yu Shen, come in, come in."