In the old house in Jiangcheng, Mrs. Liu stood at the door of her house, put a blindfold on her forehead, and looked far away towards the street.
It was a rare sunny day, and the old lady took out the plain jacket she hadn't worn for a long time from the cabinet, and wore an emerald green silk scarf around her neck. She is also very particular about the silk scarf, which is draped over the button of the jacket at one end and slightly tucked into the inner collar of the jacket at the other end.
Her black hair has long since turned gray, but she still follows the old custom of combing her hair back little by little after dipping the wooden comb in rice washing water, and then putting it out in a round bun. After the bun is done, cover it with a black net to fix it.
The white begonias in the yard were blooming just in time, and Mrs. Liu broke off half of them on a whim, and pinned them to her temples. In the gusts of cold wind, from time to time, the fragrance of crabapple slowly drifts out.
It is hard for outsiders to imagine how an old man in his 70s and 80s can maintain such a mental state. In addition to washing her face with rice washing water, the old lady has also kept the habit of applying pearl powder to her face for many years.
Thanks to decades of daily maintenance, her skin is rare and fair at this age. The wrinkles on the corners of the eyes are just adding a graceful trace of the years, and her face is written with enthusiasm and expectation for life.
Under the sun, Mrs. Liu just stood at the door and watched, feeling a little dazed for a while. Neighbor Xiao Wang brought out flower pots to dry in the sun, and when he looked up, he saw the old lady and greeted her from a distance: "Auntie, are you out to bask in the sun?"
The old lady Liu said with a smile: "I woke up early in the morning, and I seemed to hear magpies chirping. I just stood here and saw if there were people coming."
Seeing the seriousness of the old lady's words, Xiao Wang seemed to say to himself: "The city is closed, who else can come to the door?"
"Maybe there is no one, I'll just stand here and take a look." Mrs. Liu didn't blame Xiao Wang for being outspoken.
Usually during Chinese New Year, it should be the busiest time of the year in the old house. The children and relatives who came to pay New Year's greetings filled the room, making people feel happy when they saw it.
But it's all over now, and it's really impossible for relatives to move around. My daughter Xiaofang has no vacation abroad, so she really can't come back. The old lady sent out a few pairs of tiger cloth shoes made by herself to her grandson a few years ago, which is considered a wish.
At this time, his son Shihui took the initiative to take on the responsibility of delivering food in Jiangcheng. No matter how serious the epidemic was, he still rode his electric scooter around the streets and alleys.
Shihui was so busy every day that he got off work around ten o'clock at night, and he didn't dare to go home directly at this time, but he took the initiative to move to a remote rental house. One is to not disturb the mother's rest when commuting to and from get off work, and the other is to prevent the mother from facing the risk of infection just in case.
Mrs. Liu hadn't seen her child for quite a while, so she was naturally worried about her. From the moment she finished speaking with Xiao Wang, she felt a little restless in her heart.
Back in the house, I continued to embroider the insoles, but I was really distracted, and the insoles that were embroidered in the end were bumpy. The old lady Liu was annoyed for a while, so she simply threw the insoles in the bamboo basket, moved a small bench, and sat at the gate to watch the movement.
I looked at it for a long time without interest, but there were only a few sparrows chirping and passing by. At this age, sitting alone at the door of the house always feels empty in my heart. Even though she knew that she might not be able to wait for anyone to come, she still felt that she could calm down a lot just by standing at the door.
The sky was getting dark gradually, and it was evening in a blink of an eye. Seeing that the day was wasted and no one was waiting, the old lady had to get up and stomp her feet, as if she could shake off the bad luck.
At night, the old lady was about to go to bed when she heard a knock at the gate. The old lady thought that perhaps a stray cat passed by, scratching at the door randomly? But after thinking about it, she put on her coat and went out to have a look. (Remember the site URL: www.hlnovel.com