After having dinner, Katherine went back to her room and lied down on her old bed.
The light was dim in the house.
Although her life had improved a lot, she still felt regretful every time she thought what happened in the
past.
Her tears ran down again when glancing through the empty room.
When her grandfather passed away, the old generation suggested that she should burn everything her
grandfather had used.
Now the house was really empty without all of her grandfather’s belongings.
She stood up, opened the door and looked outside.
Every family had shut the door since it was so late at night.
There wasn’t any entertaining activity in the village and every one would go back to sleep in an early
time.
She could only hear the dog barking sound and wind blowing sound.
She stood outside for a long time, tightened her clothes and went back to sleep.
Maybe it was because it was her first day to change a place to sleep. She didn’t sleep well and had lots
of dreams.
She couldn’t even tell the differences between her dreams and reality.
She had dreamt about her grandfather, Marshall’s grandfather, marriage and divorcing scene.
In the end, she dreamed of a child, who was standing in front of her and asked why she was crying.
Katherine didn’t know whether she cried or not, but her heart hurt so much when hearing the child’s
voice.
She couldn’t see the child clearly but could already know he/she must be beautiful.
Katherine woke out from dreams and looked outside, finding it just turned dawn.
However, in the village, every household slept early and also woke up early. Smokes already rolled up
from some houses’ chimney.
Katherine didn’t have any material to cook at home. She tidied herself up and went to the shop in the
village.
The owner of the shop was an old man. He started feeding chicken and ducks in the early morning. He
was startled when seeing Katherine, asking, “Well, Kathy, when did you come back?”
Katherine greeted him with a smile and said, “I went back yesterday afternoon and kept cleaning the
house.”
The owner knew Katherine was all by herself now and sighed, “Are you here to visit your grandfather?
How pathetic!”
Katherine didn’t know who he was referring to.
She bought some food and paper money. When she left, she heard the owner murmured, “Where is
her husband? Does he look down upon our village?”
Katherine compressed her lips and pretended that she didn’t hear anything.
Her phone rang when she got home with bags. It was from Margaret.
She hurriedly picked it up. Margaret’s voice was full of concern, asking, “Kathy, have you arrived?”
Katherine replied, “Yes, I arrived yesterday and had a rest last night. I am going to visit my grandfather
today.”
Margaret sighed, “It must be a tiring journey.”
It didn’t make any difference about whether it was tiring or not.
Katherine asked about the store. Margaret smiled, “Don’t worry. I am here to take care of the store. I
can handle everything. Just stay in your house and have a rest. Don’t worry about me.”
Katherine licked her lips and replied, “Thank you.”
Margaret smiled, “Never mind. I am really delighted to run the store with you. I am just a normal person
and can’t find any suitable job outside. Besides, I really like the feeling to run a store with someone
else. I am really happy here.”
Katherine took a deep breath and heard Margaret said, “Well, my family has arranged someone for me
to meet. I will see him today and take a picture. Help me with our date.”
Katherine was surprised, “Date? There is no need for your family to arrange it for you. You are still very
young and have many opportunities.”
Margaret replied, “Well, that’s the only way. I can’t find a boyfriend on my own.”
Katherine could judge from Margaret’s past behaviours that she had a crush on someone. Why did she
suddenly decide to go on a date with somebody else?
Katherine waited for a long time and said, “I really don’t suggest you to follow your family’s will. At first,
you may find yourself not bound to that man and have to cultivate your relation in the future. You
should prepare for that.”
Margaret directly answered, “Yes, I have. I really want someone to accompany me. Anyway, I don’t
care about who he is. I have always been good. If that man treats me well, I believe I will fall in love
with him.”
Katherine didn’t have any other way and nodded, “Just be careful and be true to yourself.”
Margaret promised her and talked with her about the store. Then she said she had to set off for the
store and hanged up the phone.
Katherine cooked herself some noodles and cleaned the yard. She packed things up and went out.
There were lots of mountains surrounding the village and residences would normally bury past people’s
body among the mountains.
It was really a long journey. Katherine started to feel nausea in the half way and kept dry retching,
making herself dazzling.
She was really not in her element now. She covered her face and swept her tears.
She rested for a while and went towards the mountains.
Because her pace was slow, it took her a long time on the road. When she arrived at the bottom of the
mountain, it was already lunch time.
Her phone suddenly rang. She leaned against a tree, picked the phone up when breathing quickly. It
was from Marshall, asking, “Have you woke up?”
Katherine replied, “Yes, I have already finished breakfast.”
She couldn’t hear Marshall’s voice clearly because he seemed to be in a crowed place.
Marshall said, “It’s time for me to set off.”
Katherine was surprised and didn’t know what he meant. However, Marshall then reminded her to take
good care of herself and hanged up the phone.
Katherine took the phone and kept climbing the mountain.
Her grandfather’s grave with simple, different from the city’s. It was a simple dirt mound with even no
tombstone.
There was a wood plank stuck on the mound, carving her grandfather’s name with no information of his
birth date.
It was hard to find the mound because of the past rainy days. Katherine found it through the simple
wood plank.
She burst out crying when seeing the mound and her heart ached so much.
She gradually came forward and put things down, saying, “Grandpa, I’m here to visit you.”
She almost couldn’t help her feelings and cried out, “I got divorced with Marshall, but he had offered
me with a great deal of money for compensation. I really have a good life.”
Then she sobbed, “I…I also have a child.”
The wind was blowing heavily up the mountain, making the leaves rustle.
Katherine found herself couldn’t say a word after sobbing and kept crying when kneeling in front of the
grave.
A long time had passed when she swept her tears and said, “If you are still alive, you must be so happy
to see my child. You love young children so much.”
Then she took out the yellow paper money and burned them piece by piece, saying, “My mother came
to find me some time age. She had my phone number and told me she missed me a lot. I don’t miss
them and also don’t need them. I don’t need anyone after you’re gone. I am live on my own.”
Katherine then said, “I will guard you with my child and won’t go anywhere.”
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