The 99th Divorce

Only after Old Mrs. Shen had voiced her question aloud did she realize how pointless her question was. If he was now blind, of course it was serious.

“It will all pass. That boy has luck on his side, after all,” she said.

Yu Lili forced a smile but didn’t say anything.

The old lady had been out the whole day. In addition, she had traveled by plane in the morning. She was long exhausted. Without speaking to Yu Lili any further, she fell asleep without realizing it.

The old lady kept a regular routine. She awoke at precisely 6 a.m. When she woke up, Yu Lili was still in the midst of a deep sleep. Her head was buried under both arms, and her hair covered half her face.

The old lady turned to observe Yu Lili in her fetal sleeping position. Curled up in a corner of the bed, she looked like a child without any sense of security.

It was at this moment that Old Mrs. Shen remembered with a jolt that Yu Lili was an orphan. She had been abandoned at birth and had never met her family. Her sense of loneliness was strongly evident in her sleeping posture.

The old lady had never been an emotional person. Suddenly, the indescribably weird atmosphere caused her nose to ache with unshed tears. She continued watching Yu Lili for a while.

Yu Lili opened her eyes with a click. It was only when she saw Old Mrs. Shen looking at her that she remembered where she was. She smiled and said, “Good morning, Grandma.”

“Good morning. Did you have a nightmare?” Old Mrs. Shen looked at her kindly. Her heart ached for her, especially when she noticed her tear-stained face. She reached out gently and patted her on her arm with a smile on her face.

Yu Lili smiled back at her. She wiped the tear stains off her face and got up. “I guess so.”

Yu Lili’s eyes looked a lot more swollen than they did the previous day. Judging from that and the wet stains on her face, it was not hard to guess what her nightmare had been about.

“Tell Grandma what sad nightmare you had.” Old Mrs. Shen’s voice was gentle, warm, and filled with love. At the same time, her dry and papery hand was stroking Yu Lili’s hair.

This unrelated elderly was obviously very advanced in her years, with a slightly hunched back, and layers of wrinkles stacked on top of each other. Yet, she gave Yu Lili the love and warmth she had never experienced before from an older person.

With the exception of Ou Ming, this was the only person who had spoken to her in such a manner. The pressure in Yu Lili’s chest burst forth and couldn’t be controlled. She swallowed the lump in her throat a few times before her tears came cascading down.

“What’s wrong?” Old Mrs. Shen furrowed her brows as she saw the sadness Yu Lili was harboring.

Yu Lili couldn’t hold back her tears and sobs. She hugged on to the old lady. She could smell the unique scent that accompanied an elderly person’s low metabolism. The emptiness in her heart that she didn’t know existed was slowly filled up.

As Yu Lili was choking with sobs, Old Mrs. Shen didn’t probe any further. She gently returned the hug and provided silent consolation.

“Thank you, Grandma,” Yu Lili finally said.

“Did Ou Ming bully you?” Old Mrs. Shen asked softly as she patted her lightly on her back. “Coincidentally, it’s been a while since I’ve dropped by their place. Why don’t you take me there for a visit?”

“To the Ou residence?” Yu Lili asked.

“Yes. That rascal, Ou Ming, broke your heart so badly. I’m going to extract a proper payback from him. We cannot allow them to bully our family and get away with it, right?” Old Mrs. Shen was full of righteous indignation as she said, “Since you address me as ‘Grandma,’ you are my granddaughter. Come, let’s get our payback!”