1990s: Spring Water Family

Chapter 202 The pomegranate tree has truly become a love tree.

"it's me."

Lin Xiyu laughed awkwardly: "Grandma, you're still awake?"

"Why are you back so late? Have you eaten?"

Grandma propped herself up on the bed with her elbows, trying to sit up.

"I've already eaten, please don't get up."

Lin Xiyu hurriedly went over and sat down next to the bed.

"Wasn't the flight supposed to be in the morning?"

Grandma couldn't fall asleep easily without seeing anyone.

"Something delayed me."

Lin Xiyu didn't want her grandmother to worry so late at night, so she just gave a perfunctory answer.

"You look thinner this time you came back."

Grandma, though old, still had sharp eyes and immediately noticed something was wrong: "You don't look well, are you sick?"

"No."

Lin Xiyu glanced away guiltily.

“You kids, when you’re out in the world, you only report the good news and never the bad.”

Grandma knew perfectly well: "She just toughed it out when she was sick and didn't tell the family."

"Grandma, I'm really okay."

Lin Xiyu made up her mind not to tell her family about the miscarriage, so as not to let them know the truth and resent Gu Bin.

"You're not telling Grandma the truth?"

Grandma smiled and scolded, "You were raised by Grandma since you were a baby. How could Grandma not know you? I can see through your little schemes at a glance."

"Grandma, it's too late today, you should go to sleep."

Lin Xiyu yawned, feigning sleepiness: "Let's talk about it tomorrow."

"Grandma won't sleep soundly if you don't tell her."

Grandma wouldn't be easily fooled by her.

"Then I'll lie down and tell you."

Lin Xiyu acted cute and charming, lying down next to her grandmother and pulling over a cup to cover herself.

Grandma found it amusing and was about to ask her a few more questions when she saw her quickly close her eyes.

She had taken a plane early in the morning and spent most of the day at the hospital, so she was really exhausted. Her head hit the pillow and she fell asleep in no time.

Grandma smiled helplessly, tucked the blanket around her again, then turned off the light and lay down to rest.

-

As people get older, they wake up early. My grandmother goes to bed at 11 p.m. and wakes up at 5 a.m. the next morning.

Hearing the noise, Lin Xiyu opened her eyes and got out of bed.

"Why are you up? Why don't you sleep a little longer?"

Grandma paused in her dressing and looked at her with some surprise.

"I'll make you breakfast."

Lin Xiyu was preoccupied with something on her mind, and her eyes were somewhat unfocused.

"Xi Yu"

Grandma asked again, still worried, "You didn't seem to be in good spirits when you came back this time. Did something happen?"

"without"

Lin Xiyu instinctively wanted to deny it, but her grandmother shut her down with a single sentence.

"No? You can wear your clothes inside out?"

"what?!"

Lin Xiyu looked down and, sure enough, found that she had put her sweater on backwards.

"Uh."

This is a bit embarrassing.

Her ears turned red, and she quickly took it off, changed the side, and put it back on.

"Don't rush to cook, Grandma isn't hungry."

The more Grandma looked at her, the more she felt that she was hiding something: "The air is nice in the morning, why don't you come with Grandma for a walk around the moat?"

"okay."

Lin Xiyu also wanted to find a suitable time to talk to her grandmother about Gu Bin, and her grandmother's words were exactly what she wanted to hear.

"Let's go."

Grandma smiled knowingly when she saw that she agreed so readily, and put on her coat.

-

In Jinan, the early mornings are especially cold in winter.

Lin Xiyu was bundled up tightly, wearing a hat and scarf, and accompanied her grandmother out the door.

"Aunt Jing, you're out early today?"

"Is this your granddaughter?"

"You're back from Shanghai?"

"This girl is so pretty, she's getting more and more beautiful."

"Shanghai is just different; people from big cities are fashionable too."

There were quite a few people doing morning exercises along the moat. Along the way, familiar neighbors would greet Grandma from time to time, and Grandma would respond warmly. With a thoughtful and filial younger generation accompanying her, she looked much more energetic.

"Has your granddaughter found a boyfriend yet?"

"Are you still alone?"

"You're not getting any younger, it's time to find someone."

There are all kinds of birds in a big forest, and some people are blind and deliberately try to be disliked.

Grandma stopped laughing, glanced away with disdain, and didn't want to pay any attention to them.

"I have a boyfriend."

Lin Xiyu didn't want to put her grandmother in a difficult position, so she spoke up herself.

"What did you say? You have a boyfriend?"

This surprised not only the gossipy old women, but even Grandma herself.

"It's been around for a while now."

Lin Xiyu pretended to joke and said something that was quite shocking: "Gu Bin just went abroad, we didn't break up, we've been talking all along."

"Xiao Bin?!"

Grandma stumbled and almost fell.

"Grandma, be careful."

Lin Xiyu reacted quickly and caught her.

"Xi Yu"

Grandma looked at her with a rather complicated expression.

"Gu Bin is back from the United States."

Lin Xiyu stopped hiding things and told her everything that had happened before the New Year.

"Ugh."

Grandma's eyes were complicated: "Grandma knew it. All these years you've been dragging your feet and refusing to get married, it's all for him. That pomegranate tree in our yard has really become a tree of longing."

Lin Xiyu's ears turned red.

Since Gu Bin left, she often stared blankly at the pomegranate tree, unaware that her grandmother had been watching. "Grandma is old and can't worry about so many things anymore."

Grandma saw through her thoughts and sighed sadly, "It's no use talking to Grandma about this; you have to ask your mother if she agrees."

-

"I disagree!"

That morning, upon hearing the news, Chen Xiulan rushed back from school in a panic, and immediately launched into a tirade of scolding.

"It's no use if you disagree, we've already registered our marriage."

Lin Xiyu felt increasingly distressed as she listened, and a sense of resentment grew within her.

"You unfilial daughter, are you trying to drive me to my death?"

The mother and daughter argued more and more, and Chen Xiulan trembled with anger, raising her arm to hit her.

"Why are you hitting the child? Let's talk this out."

Grandma panicked and waved her hand to push the person away, almost falling down herself in the process.

How am I not filial?

Lin Xiyu felt wronged and argued with red eyes: "Just because I didn't do what you wanted and went on blind dates with those people you found, I've become an unfilial daughter? Do you know how those people see me? Do you know how awful their words were? If Wang Fan hadn't shielded me, I would have been drowned in their spittle long ago."

"It's been widely known in the old town that Gu Bin's mother is a corrupt official."

Chen Xiulan persisted: "Go out and ask around, which of your neighbors doesn't know about this? Even if the person I found for you isn't the best, his family background is respectable. The fact that he's willing to go on a blind date with you is already a blessing. Why are you being so picky?"

"What's wrong with letting people say a few words? Just bear with it and it will pass, right? That Wang Fan, he's a womanizer, his reputation is already bad. What good will you get from getting involved with him?"

-

"I can't bear it!"

Lin Xiyu felt a pang of sadness in her heart and said defiantly, "If you don't agree, fine. I didn't expect you to agree anyway. Marriage is my own business. I can marry whoever I want. If you feel embarrassed, I'll just not come back in the future, so as not to embarrass you."

Chen Xiulan blurted out without thinking, "It's better that you don't come back, so I won't get angry."

Okay, I'll leave now.

Lin Xiyu flung her hand and ran out of the house.

"Hey, Xiyu, it's cold outside, put on another layer."

Grandma was frantic and chased after her to the outside, but her granddaughter was already gone.

-

No. 1 Xigengdao Street.

"I was already mentally prepared; getting past my mom won't be easy."

Lin Xiyu choked back tears as she complained, "I never expected her to be so unreasonable. She objected right away and didn't even give me a chance to explain."

"You're only just finding out your mom is like this?"

Wu Meng handed her a cup of hot water to warm her hands: "I guessed it a long time ago. Just from how she's been arranging blind dates for you all these years, you can tell that she doesn't want you to have any further involvement with Gu Bin."

"His mother accepted bribes, but he did nothing wrong."

Lin Xiyu spoke up for her beloved: "He has already suffered so much because of this, why do those people still insist on bringing it up?"

"Ugh."

Wu Meng sighed helplessly: "Try to think positively. Reality is just that cruel. Otherwise, many people would not want to come back after going abroad. To be honest, it's really hard to make a living in China. If you can make a living, who would want to leave their homeland and become a second-class citizen in the United States?"

"If she doesn't accept Gu Bin, I won't go back."

Lin Xiyu said defiantly, "That's perfect, I don't want Gu Bin to see her cold face either. His grandfather passed away, and he's already in a bad mood."

"Oh, his grandfather passed away, so soon?"
Wu Meng was shocked: "When did this happen? He was fine when he came back yesterday. How could he just suddenly pass away?"

"It was yesterday afternoon."

Lin Xiyu's eyes dimmed: "Gu Bin and I went to the hospital to see him. He was still conscious when we left the ward, but he passed away in less than an hour."

"It really does prove Grandma Fu right."

Wu Meng sighed softly, "The old man was just waiting for Gu Bin. Once he saw him, all his hopes were gone, and he passed away in an instant."

"I should have been with him at the funeral hall too."

Lin Xiyu felt a surge of anger again when she recalled her mother's attitude: "It was Gu Bin who told me to come home first to meet my relatives so that my grandmother wouldn't worry."

"So that's why you were able to leave him behind at this time and come back alone. It turns out he was the one who asked you to come back."

Wu Meng suddenly realized: "Gu Bin was right to think things through. It was right for you to tell your family in advance. If you had gone without telling them, your mother would have kicked you out right then and there, given her attitude."

"What makes her so special?"

Lin Xiyu was indignant: "That house was bought with the dowry money given by Gu Bin. Since she won't let me marry him, the dowry should be returned."

"You've hit the nail on the head."

Wu Meng snapped her fingers, her spirits lifting: "The house was bought with the bride price money. Your mother doesn't agree, so make her return the money. How can someone live in the house and then disown their son-in-law?"

"Mengmeng, what are you saying?"

She was too emotional and her voice was a bit loud. When Wu's mother heard her, she put down what she was doing, lifted the curtain, and came in from the outer room.

"Uh."

Wu Meng was embarrassed and shut her mouth awkwardly.

"We were talking about your house."

Lin Xiyu didn't want to air her dirty laundry in public, so she forced herself to calm down and changed the subject: "I was asking Mengmeng how you managed to get those people to change their minds and stop renting your house, turning it into a restaurant instead."

"We don't have that kind of ability."

Wu's mother gave her daughter a half-smile: "The neighborhood committee consulted with the higher-ups and decided that restaurants are not allowed to open in order to protect Guanquan from pollution."

"I knew it!"

Lin Xiyu laughed and chimed in, "To protect the spring, they've even banned swimming, so why should they allow restaurants to open?"

"This is my idea."

Wu Meng boasted, "Do you remember five years ago when we went to the Hui Muslim neighborhood to eat lamb skewers? It was then, as I was chewing on a lamb skewer, that a brilliant idea suddenly flashed into my mind, like a divine revelation."

Is there any direct connection between eating lamb skewers and Baoquan?

Wu's mother chuckled and teased her with a smile, "If you're going to make something up, at least make it believable. You could at least say you were drinking mineral water!"

"hey-hey."

Wu Meng chuckled and touched his nose, grinning foolishly.

"This is actually quite a risky situation."

Seeing that the two had started, Wu's mother followed their lead and said, "In the beginning, many people couldn't resist the temptation and rented out their houses. There was a courtyard on Wangfu Pond West Street that was converted into a restaurant."

"To attract customers, they set up tables outside the yard, right next to the fence. At dinner time, leftover beer bottles were scattered everywhere, and the ground was covered in grease and soup. The environment was so dirty and messy, it was unbelievable."

“The neighborhood office received many complaints from residents, which is why they stepped in and banned restaurants from opening in that area. Our courtyard also benefited from this; by using Baoquan's name, they managed to drive those people away.”

"That's really fortunate."

Lin Xiyu smiled and chimed in, "You've made the right move this time, preserving this old house that's been around for so many years."

"It's about to be lost."

Wu Meng's face fell, and she continued, "Before you came, my mom was telling me that after the housing reform, many people went to the housing management bureau to ask if those of us living in public housing could buy the houses ourselves. The housing management bureau said no, they couldn't buy the old courtyard houses in the tourist area unless they were originally privately owned and had property certificates."

"If they won't let you buy it, then go buy it somewhere else."

Lin Xiyu had an idea and tentatively advised, "It hasn't been long since the housing reform, and Shanghai's housing prices have already started to rise. They're changing almost every day, and there are even speculators. Maybe this trend will continue to Jinan. Take advantage of the low prices now and buy now. It will be too late if you wait until the prices rise."

"That's what I told my mom too."

Wu Meng nodded repeatedly: "I've seen the real estate speculation groups in person. They're like robbing people. They raise the price by thousands or tens of thousands of yuan. If you hesitate even slightly, the house will fall into someone else's hands."

"Isn't that just robbery?"

Lin Xiyu understood immediately: "Once they buy a house, they can make money immediately. In their eyes, houses are commodities, meant to be resold for profit, just like buying and selling vegetables."

Wu's mother sighed upon hearing this: "A house worth tens of thousands of yuan is like cabbage in their eyes?"

"In Shanghai, an apartment costs far more than just tens of thousands of yuan."

Wu Meng explained to her mother: "They have hundreds of thousands, even millions of yuan, and they still grab them without hesitation. They are all from the same village, and they team up to speculate on houses. Wherever they go, they drive up the prices of houses. Wherever the real estate speculation group goes, the house prices will definitely rise."