After Breaking the Ice-Beauty's Heart - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: And Photos are an Extension of Memory.

“Grandma!” Zhou Nianzhi said, tying her hair into a high ponytail. She ran over, skipping, with her backpack on. In Grandma’s words, Zhi Zhi was a rabbit who never got tired.

In her second year of high school, Zhou Nianzhi often went to Song Yuli’s house on weekends under the pretense of doing homework together. Zhou Chenggang was busy with work, and Sheng Ning would occasionally take on some extra jobs, so she couldn’t always be with her daughter. They agreed to let her go, after all, their daughter loved a crowd. It was good for her to get out and be happy, and besides, they heard Song Yuli’s grades were good, so maybe the two of them could improve together.

There was homework to be done, and there was also food to be had.

“Grandma, your cooking is so good! It’s as delicious as my mom’s. The best restaurants out there probably can’t make food that tastes like yours.” Zhou Nianzhi wolfed down her food, her table manners completely forgotten.

Grandma watched her with joy, constantly putting more food in Zhou Nianzhi’s bowl. “If it’s good, eat more.”

Zhou Nianzhi looked at her full bowl, looked up, and smiled. “I’ll finish it all!”

“Good,” Grandma said, also smiling. “Look how skinny you are, eat more.”

Zhou Nianzhi nodded emphatically and continued to eat the food in her bowl. She accidentally got some oil on the corner of her mouth, and Song Yuli passed her a tissue.

She took it and wiped the oil from the corner of her mouth.

Oops.

She accidentally bumped her chopsticks.

Zhou Nianzhi bent down to pick them up, and her entire body slid off the stool. In the blink of an eye, she was back in the present.

She came back to her senses and found that she had already walked for a bit. Grandma had turned around to look at her and called, “Zhi Zhi.”

Zhou Nianzhi responded.

Grandma smiled and said, “What are you thinking about? I was calling you just now, but you didn’t hear.”

Zhou Nianzhi lowered her head, looking at her shoes that were stained with mud and this street that she had almost forgotten. She said in a muffled voice, “I missed you, Grandma.”

“Huh?” Grandma didn’t hear clearly. She walked closer to Zhou Nianzhi and leaned her ear toward her. “Zhi Zhi, Grandma’s old, and her ears don’t work so well. Speak a little louder.”

What was with being strong? What was with holding back?

Zhou Nianzhi didn’t care about any of it anymore.

In front of Grandma, she was just a child.

She was the same Zhi Zhi who could eat two big bowls of rice.

Tears streamed down her face, her nose was red, and she shook her shoulders like someone who had been wronged outside and had come home to complain to their family. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand, her voice trembling uncontrollably. “Grandma… I missed you… I missed you so much…”

“Oh, oh, my precious Zhi Zhi,” Grandma said, quickly freeing a hand to wipe away the tears from Zhou Nianzhi’s eyes. “What’s wrong? Who’s been bullying our Zhi Zhi?”

With her aged hands, Grandma slowly wiped away Zhou Nianzhi’s sadness.

“Grandma…” Zhou Nianzhi felt she couldn’t cry anymore, lest she worried Grandma. Just as she managed to stop her tears, she saw the vegetables Grandma was holding and remembered that time. The tears started falling again.

Grandma kept asking her what was wrong, but Zhou Nianzhi didn’t want to tell her about all the hardships. She looked at the vegetables and said, “I’m just mad at myself… Why didn’t I help you with your things… I’m so thoughtless…”

Grandma chuckled lovingly. “You’re still a child.”

Zhou Nianzhi cried even louder, sobbing. “I’m twenty-four…”

“Twenty-four is still Grandma’s little Zhi Zhi.”

Grandma gently patted Zhou Nianzhi’s back, hoping to ease her sadness, to let the pain drift away with the wind. A girl’s back was meant to grow wings, and sooner or later, she would soar, flying higher, flying toward the clouds, flying to a place where she would no longer cry.

Zhou Nianzhi stopped crying again, still sniffling, and looked at Grandma. In that instant, her tears started flowing again, and her heart began to ache.

Oh my God.

Why was Grandma carrying such a large backpack on her back?

Grandma, who used to be as tall as her, was now so tiny.

Zhou Nianzhi’s heart ached even more for the passage of time.

But she couldn’t help but resent it.

Because no matter how hard she ran, how desperately she ran forward, she could never catch up with time.

She could only pray in her heart—

Please.

Go a little slower.

There aren’t many people left in this world who love me. Please let them all be okay.

“There, there, just cry if you need to.” Grandma just stood there quietly, keeping Zhou Nianzhi company as she cried. “I heard from Yuli that you went to the big city? Was it too hard there? Come home. At least Grandma can still cook for you.”

Zhou Nianzhi bit her lip, pinching the skin on her leg with her fingers. This finally made her stop crying completely. After all, she couldn’t let Grandma stand outside in this heat to comfort her.

“Ah, it’s good that you’ve stopped crying.” Grandma saw Zhou Nianzhi wasn’t crying, smiled, patted her on the shoulder, and turned to continue walking home.

Zhou Nianzhi hesitated, wondering whether to follow her, frozen in place and at a loss.

Grandma suddenly stopped. She said “Oh” and started walking back, her steps unsteady, until she was in front of Zhou Nianzhi again. “Look at my memory, I forgot again.”

As she spoke, Grandma took a bracelet off her wrist and placed it in Zhou Nianzhi’s hand.

Zhou Nianzhi looked down at the jade bracelet in her hand, remembering that Grandma had always worn it. It must have been incredibly precious. She quickly tried to refuse, wanting Grandma to take it back.

“Take it,” Grandma said, placing the bracelet firmly on her hand and stepping back. “Grandma doesn’t have much to give you, so this is just a little token of my affection.”

Zhou Nianzhi still felt she shouldn’t accept it and tried to give it back.

“You’re not turning your nose up at my old things, are you? It is a bit old, but I’ve been wanting to give this to you for years,” Grandma sighed. “Zhi Zhi went to the big city and hasn’t come back to see Grandma in a long time.”

That sentence went straight to Zhou Nianzhi’s heart.

How could she not accept the kindness of such a wonderful grandma?

Zhou Nianzhi pursed her lips and smiled. “Thank you, Grandma. I’ll take it.”

“Good, that’s more like it,” Grandma said, her wrinkled face beaming with a happy smile. “You don’t need to thank me. Just be good to Yuli in the future.”

Zhou Nianzhi was stunned. She had seen the signs from the beginning—

Song Yuli hadn’t told Grandma that they had broken up.

She didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

At this moment, she was thankful that Song Yuli hadn’t told her the truth.

If Grandma hadn’t appeared today, she would have been screaming silently in agony.

“What are you thinking about now?” Grandma smiled. “Are you coming to our house for dinner tonight?”

“No, Grandma,” Zhou Nianzhi said. She carefully put the bracelet away. After thinking for a moment, she still refused. If she suddenly decided to go for dinner, Grandma would have to cook for an extra person and make a few more dishes. It was better not to be a hassle. She could only pull out a small, kind lie like an adult. “I have plans with some friends to eat at their place today.”

Grandma said, “Oh,” a little regretfully. “But Yuli… Okay, since you’ve already made plans with other friends, you should go find them.”

Zhou Nianzhi nodded obediently and waved. “Bye, Grandma!”

Grandma stood against the light, her wrinkles covered by shadows. The sun stretched her shadow long, as if she had returned to her youth. She waved to Zhou Nianzhi from a distance. “Be careful—”

Zhou Nianzhi answered softly, “Okay.”

She wondered if Grandma had heard her.

Just like the last time Grandma had said to her, “Come a little earlier next time, and I’ll make you steamed buns,” and she had also answered, “Okay.”

And then she hadn’t seen Grandma for several years.

She hadn’t tasted the steamed buns Grandma made herself, and she didn’t dare go back to taste them. She was afraid that if the buns were too delicious, she wouldn’t be able to eat the shriveled, days-old steamed buns she ate.

Zhou Nianzhi turned and walked in another direction.

She was going to see another person who loved her.

As she walked down the road, the shadow behind her seemed to have grown its own legs.

Zhou Nianzhi heard a sound and stopped, turning around.

There was nothing there.

Why was she so jumpy today…

Zhou Nianzhi raised her hand and rubbed her temple. It was probably because of all the shocks she had received today.

She walked toward the sunset.

She walked through bustling streets, through remote corners, toward the desolate, cold cemetery.

The emotions that had not yet completely dissipated rushed over her again. Her steps slowed down. She thought that if she walked slowly enough, the sunset would wait for her.

But time was so merciless.

It had so cruelly taken her loving father away.

It wasn’t until the three characters “Zhou Chenggang” in front of her began to blur that she realized her tears had been falling non-stop.

I’m sorry, Dad.

She really couldn’t hold it in anymore.

I’m sorry, Dad.

She knew that tears couldn’t solve anything.

I’m sorry, Dad.

She was truly in so much pain.

She just wondered if, by crying non-stop, her dad would come to her, give her a two-yuan ice pop, and comfort her. “Don’t cry.”

If crying couldn’t solve anything, then how could her longing be resolved?

Dad, you were the smartest person in Zhi Zhi’s heart.

When will you come back and answer Zhi Zhi’s questions?

Zhi Zhi has listened to you and grown up obediently.

She can cook by herself and take care of Mom.

But Dad,

Zhi Zhi really, really misses you.

The moment Zhou Nianzhi saw the wedding photo, she suddenly understood all of her mother’s longing for her father.

In the photo, they were in an old-fashioned filter, wearing cheap old clothes, smiling brightly, using the camera to freeze that moment of happiness.

Her mom’s smile was a little shy, but her joy was visible. Her hair was braided, and every strand seemed to lean toward her dad.

She looked so beautiful. Before she became Zhou Nianzhi’s mom, she was also a young, pretty girl.

Her dad’s smile showed off his perfectly straight teeth. His back was straight, and his face was not only filled with happiness but also the pride and swagger of a man who had married the person he loved.

So Zhou Nianzhi’s love for showing off was inherited from her dad.

Zhou Nianzhi tilted her head, lost in thought as she looked at the setting sun.

In truth, a person’s life, living in this world, is nothing more than busily and tirelessly experiencing happiness and feeling pain, and then slowly reminiscing about it all when they’re old.

And photos are an extension of memory.

They prevent the passing years, the cruelty of time, and illness from washing away those important moments.

If human memory is limited, then let photos record love and happiness.

Zhou Nianzhi lowered her head, her fingertips trembling as she gently brushed the dust off the picture frame. She remembered her mom once saying that this small wedding photo was her favorite and that she should frame it properly and look at it whenever she felt sad.

Suddenly, something fell from behind the frame.

Zhou Nianzhi’s heart skipped a beat. She hoped she hadn’t broken the frame.

She bent down and, before the wind could blow them away, grabbed the two pieces of paper that had fallen to the ground.

They were two letters.