Reborn in the 60s, I hunt to support my family and even seduce the village beauty.

He was holding onto the door frame with his left hand, his left foot dragging slightly, and he was not quite steady on his feet.

He squinted at Chang Kun for a couple of seconds, not recognizing him. His gaze moved from Chang Kun's face to the sack on his shoulder, then from the sack to Xiao Shui beside him, lingering on Xiao Shui's face for a moment.

His lips moved, but he didn't say anything. He looked up at Chang Kun, his eyes filled with hesitation.

"You must be Grandpa Fan?" Chang Kun asked with a smile. "I'm Chang Kun, Fan Erxiao's nephew. This is Xiao Shui."

He called him "Grandpa" just like Xiaoshui did.

Fan Degui was stunned for a moment, his eyes widened instantly, and his gaze fell on Xiao Shui's face, looking at her carefully.

I looked from the eyebrows to the nose, from the nose to the mouth, and after a while, my lips began to tremble.

"Xiao Shui? You're Xiao Shui?"

Xiao Shui leaned closer to Chang Kun's legs, clutching the hem of his clothes with her little hands, and looked up at her grandfather.

A little shy, but still obediently called out, "Grandpa."

Fan Degui let out a soft "Ai," but his voice suddenly choked up.

He bent down, stretched out his hand that wasn't using a cane, and tried to touch Xiaoshui's face, but stopped halfway through.

Looking at his calloused and cracked fingers, he hesitated for a moment, but finally gently placed them on Xiaoshui's head and ruffled her hair.

"Come in, come in quickly."

Fan Degui straightened up, turned around and walked into the courtyard, his steps much faster than when he opened the door.

Chang Kun carried the sack across the threshold, with Xiao Shui following behind him, her little hand always clutching the hem of his clothes.

The courtyard was small, paved with blue bricks, and moss grew in the cracks between the bricks.

Several bundles of firewood were piled in the corner, and a broken spinning wheel leaned against the wall, covered in dust.

There were several large and small jars placed under the window, I don't know what they were pickling.

Several patched clothes hung on the clothesline, their sleeves and trouser legs swaying in the wind.

The door to the main room was open, and light shone in through the doorway, allowing a clear view of the furnishings inside.

An eight-immortal table was placed in the center, its surface pitted and uneven, with one leg missing and propped up with bricks.

A half-length blue cloth curtain hung on the door frame of the inner room, faded from washing, with frayed edges at the bottom.

Fan Degui had already stopped by the octagonal table, patted the bench next to him, and gestured for Chang Kun to sit down.

"Xiao Shui, what brings you here? Where are your parents?"

Xiao Shui didn't say anything, standing beside Chang Kun's legs, clutching the hem of his clothes with both hands, staring blankly at Fan Degui.

Her maternal grandfather held her once when she was just over one year old, so she doesn't remember it at all.

She felt unfamiliar with the thin, old man in front of her, with his gray hair and wrinkled face.

Fan Degui smiled at her timid appearance, didn't ask any further questions, straightened up, and turned his gaze to Chang Kun.

Chang Kun chimed in, "My uncle and aunt are busy with work and can't get away. I work for the railway now and I happen to be going to Tangshan on a business trip, so I brought Xiao Shui to visit them."

Fan Degui was taken aback: "Going to work? Erxiao is going to work too?"

"Yes, my aunt works at a state-run restaurant, and my uncle works at a grain station."

Fan Degui's eyes lit up immediately.

"Grain depot? My son-in-law works at a grain depot? That's a great place!" The wrinkles on his face smoothed out considerably, as if he had heard some incredibly good news.

Chang Kun smiled and said, "Yes, my uncle is capable, and the leaders of the grain station value him highly."

Fan Degui nodded repeatedly, muttering, "Good, good, good."

After a long while, he sighed and lowered his voice.

"Before, their whole family lived in the countryside, and I was worried they wouldn't be doing well. I didn't have any special skills and couldn't help them. Now it's all good; they've all got jobs. It's wonderful, truly wonderful!"

He looked up and his gaze fell on Chang Kun's face: "Xiao Kun, thank you for coming to see us."

"Grandpa, you're too kind. We're all family." Chang Kun leaned the sack and bundle against the wall.

Fan Degui untied the bag and glanced at it. He almost dropped his cane. He reached into the sack and squeezed a handful of flour, which fell through his fingers.

Then another burlap sack was untied, revealing finely ground golden cornmeal, the aroma of the grain filling the room instantly.

Fan Degui looked up at Chang Kun, his lips trembling slightly, and after a long while, he finally managed to utter a complete sentence: "So much grain... this is..."

"My aunt asked me to bring it."

Fan Degui's eyes reddened as he tied the burlap sack shut.

Inside the bundle were several pieces of cloth, blue and gray, all durable, and a pair of new cotton shoes with finely stitched soles.

Several packets of pastries were wrapped in oil paper. One packet contained peach shortbread, baked to a golden brown with sesame seeds embedded on the surface, and its aroma was irresistible.

Fan Degui wrapped up the pastries and placed them on the corner of the table, muttering to himself, "That little girl Erxiao, she's finally made it!"

She paused, then added, "It must have been tough for her to carry so many nice things."

Xiao Shui relaxed a little at this point, no longer clutching Chang Kun's clothes, but she refused to sit down, instead standing beside him and occasionally stealing a glance at Fan Degui.

Fan Degui noticed, smiled at her, stopped teasing her, and turned to talk to Chang Kun.

Ask about things in the capital, ask about the young couple's jobs, and ask who takes care of Xiao Shuiping every day.

Chang Kun answered them one by one.

After all, they are just kids; they can't sit still while listening to adults chat.

After listening to Chang Kun and his grandfather chat for a few minutes, Xiao Shui slid off the stool, ran to the door, and peered out while clinging to the doorframe.

She noticed the pomegranate tree by the door when she came in.

The tree wasn't tall, its branches were crooked, and its grayish-brown bark was cracked in many places, making it look quite old.

The leaves are starting to turn yellow and are sparse, but the pomegranates have formed quite a few and are hanging on the branches.

Some of them had already cracked open, revealing the bright red seeds inside, which shimmered in the sunlight.

Xiao Shui stood under the tree, craning her neck to look up, completely absorbed, her chin held high.

She pointed to the largest pomegranate on the tree and silently counted, one, two, three... She got stuck on the seventh one and started counting again from the beginning.

Fan Degui followed her out, slowly walked behind Xiao Shui, looked up following her finger, and smiled.

That smile was different from when he was entertaining guests earlier; his eyes were all wrinkled up, his mouth was turned up, and his whole face was lively.

"Want to eat pomegranate?" He bent down, his voice soft and slow, as if afraid of scaring his little granddaughter.

Xiao Shui turned around, glanced at her grandfather, and this time didn't look away. She blinked, nodded vigorously, and said, "I want to eat!"

These two words made the old man so happy that the wrinkles on his face smoothed out.

Looking around, I found an old wooden stool at the base of the wall, moved it over and placed it under the tree.

"Look carefully, which one do you want? Grandpa will pick it for you."

It's rare for Xiaoshui to have anything at home that she likes. Even if the little girl wanted to cut down the pomegranate tree, her grandfather would pick up the axe without saying a word.