Chapter 21: Blatant Secret Crush part 2

As she listened, Lin Yuran felt a burning gaze on her. She looked up and met Chi Ye’s deep, unreadable eyes.

“Lin Yuran, do you still remember your promise?” Chi Ye’s voice was a little hoarse.

Promise?

Before she could recall what he meant, her phone rang abruptly. Lin Yuran fished her phone from her backpack. The caller ID showed it was her grandma’s caretaker. She answered and listened for two seconds, then her expression changed.

She hung up and turned to Chi Ye anxiously. “Chi Ye, can you drive me to the nursing home? The caretaker just called, Grandma’s gone missing.”

Chi Ye didn’t waste a second. He grabbed Lin Yuran’s hand and led her out. Just then, a taxi happened by, and they hopped in, heading straight for Chi Ye’s parking spot.

They drove to the nursing home, where the caretaker was waiting at the gate. Seeing Lin Yuran arrive, she hurried forward and explained everything in detail.

“Your grandma was perfectly fine all day. She seemed clearer than usual. I took her to the little park in the courtyard to get some sun, and she was chatting with the other ladies. I stepped away for a moment to use the restroom, and when I came back, she was gone.”

Everything she said was about Grandma, but every word subtly shifted the responsibility away from herself.

Lin Yuran couldn’t argue. This caretaker was already the most conscientious one here. At least since she’d started, Grandma was always clean and smelled fresh, unlike before when the old caregivers had left Grandma smelling of urine every time Lin Yuran visited.

“Did the staff look for her? Where have you searched?” Lin Yuran cut straight to the point.

The caretaker hesitated. “I reported it to the home, but they haven’t sent anyone to search. I just asked a few of the other ladies to help me look.”

Chi Ye jumped in, his tone sharp. “Someone’s missing and there’s no one in charge? What kind of pathetic nursing home is this?”

The caretaker flinched and lowered her head, not daring to speak.

Lin Yuran knew this home was lax, but it was affordable, and the facilities were passable. It was the best she could manage for Grandma given her circumstances.  

Now wasn’t the time to assign blame. They needed to find Grandma. “Did you check the security cameras?” Lin Yuran asked.

“Yes,” the caretaker whispered. “We saw her leaving through the main gate, heading toward North Street. That’s all we could see.”

Without another word, Lin Yuran grabbed Chi Ye’s hand and started running toward North Street.

Chi Ye pulled her back. “Lin Yuran, don’t run around blindly.”

“Then what should we do? If we call the police, they won’t open a case until she’s been missing for 48 hours,” Lin Yuran said anxiously. “Grandma’s not quick on her feet, and she can’t take a bus. She can’t have gone far.”

“She hasn’t gone far, but the caretaker’s been looking all afternoon without finding her,” Chi Ye said. “Send me a picture of Grandma. I’ll call in some help.”

Lin Yuran didn’t ask any questions. She opened her phone and scrolled through her photos.

Chi Ye took out his own phone and dialed a number. “Hello, Chief Li? I need a favor. Can you use the police system to help me find someone? I’ll send you a photo. She’s an elderly woman who left With Love Nursing Home this afternoon and was last seen heading north on Shengwang Road.”

The voice on the other end replied, “No problem, Mr. Chi.”

Chi Ye hung up. Lin Yuran had already sent him Grandma’s picture on WeChat, and he forwarded it to Chief Li. But Lin Yuran couldn’t just sit and wait. She grabbed Chi Ye and began searching every alley nearby.

Half an hour later.

Chief Li called back. “Mr. Chi, come to Gongsuo Alley on Tianheng Street. I think we’ve found the person you’re looking for.”

Chi Ye started the car and drove Lin Yuran to Gongsuo Alley.

By the time they reached Gongsuo Alley, they could already see from a distance that Grandma was curled up in the shadows, mumbling, “I don’t know you people, I’m not going with you. My Little Nuotao will be here soon to find me.”

Lin Yuran ran over and gave the police officers a quick bow. “She’s my grandma. Thank you all so much.”

Chi Ye followed and thanked Chief Li and the others, telling them they could go back and rest, that he’d handle the rest.

At the entrance of the alley, Lin Yuran called out, “Grandma.”

Hearing the voice, Grandma poked her head out from the shadows. When she saw Lin Yuran, her face lit up, and she hurriedly tried to get up.

Lin Yuran rushed over, helped her up, brushed the dust from her pants, and half-scolded, “You little old lady, your legs aren’t what they used to be, and yet you can really run. You’ve practically run ten miles this afternoon! Weren’t you afraid I wouldn’t be able to find you? And what did you run out for?”

Grandma held Lin Yuran’s hand and pursed her lips. “Last night I dreamed that our Little Nuotao was about to go to her dream university, so I wanted to see if you’d paid the tuition. If you haven’t, Grandma will chip in a little.”

As she spoke, Grandma fumbled around in her clothes, and after quite a while, she pulled out 500 yuan and shoved it into Lin Yuran’s hand. “Here, it’s the money Grandma saved for you to pay your tuition.”

Lin Yuran’s nose suddenly tingled. That 500 yuan was money she’d left with Grandma for her favorite sticky rice cakes.

There was a bakery right outside the nursing home that sold them, but they couldn’t be bought in bulk or they’d spoil easily. Grandma loved them, so Lin Yuran had been leaving money with her every month so she could buy some whenever she wanted. She hadn’t expected Grandma to save it all up instead.

“Grandma’s useless. It took me so long to save this. Back in the day, this much money could buy dozens of cows! But they say things are expensive now. I don’t know if it’s enough for your tuition.”

Lin Yuran couldn’t hold back and gave a small sniff, her voice choked. “It’s enough. More than enough.”

Grandma nodded, beaming. “That’s good. Then Grandma can rest easy.”

Lin Yuran sniffed again. Chi Ye walked over, reached out and ruffled her hair, and handed her a tissue. Lin Yuran took it, stepped aside, and quietly blew her nose.

Chi Ye, meanwhile, gently supported Grandma and called out, “Grandma.”

Grandma finally noticed him. Squinting under the streetlight, she looked Chi Ye up and down, her face breaking into a delighted smile. “Hey, is this young man our Little Nuotao’s boyfriend?”

“Uh…”

Chi Ye scratched his head, not sure how to answer.

Then Grandma said, “Our Little Nuotao’s had it hard these past years. Her dad’s gone, her mom’s sick, and this useless old lady still needs her to look after me. There’s no one to look after her. It’d be so nice if Little Nuotao had a boyfriend, someone to take care of her so I could feel at ease. Well, are you or aren’t you?” Grandma pressed.

Chi Ye pursed his lips, glanced at Lin Yuran still blowing her nose nearby, and nodded to Grandma. “I am. Grandma, don’t worry. I’ll take good care of her.”

Grandma laughed happily, squeezed his arm, then patted his chest, satisfied. “Good. You’re strong and sturdy, tall too. You’ll be able to protect our Little Nuotao just fine.”

Chi Ye chuckled quietly and tried to make conversation. “Grandma, why do you call her Little Nuotao?”

Grandma chuckled too. “My granddaughter was so fair and soft when she was little, like a sticky rice dumpling. She was a girl, but more mischievous than the boys. So we gave her the nickname Nuotao. Later we felt the ‘tao’ for mischief didn’t sound nice, but she loved peaches, so we changed it to ‘tao’ like peach instead.”

(T/N: The first Nuotao is written as 糯淘 lit. ‘mischievous glutinous rice’, nuo from 糯米 (nuòmǐ) and tao from 淘气 (táoqì) lit. mischievous. The tao in the second Nuotao was changed to 桃 from 桃子 (táozi, peaches), so Yuran’s pet name became ‘glutinous peach’.)

Chi Ye smiled. “That’s a lovely name, Grandma. You’re great at naming things.”

Grandma patted his arm, beaming. “Our Little Nuotao’s got good taste, picking a handsome boyfriend like this.”