Chen Jinzhao, sitting in the passenger seat, felt increasingly strange.
Li Qiutao seemed very familiar with the way home, especially when he chose a winding path that even Chen Jinzhao didn't know, a path that bypassed the traffic jams in the county town and was shorter.
Strange.
How did Li Qiutao know this path when even he didn't?
No matter how he looked at it, Li Qiutao didn't seem like someone who had only returned a few times, but rather like someone who had lived here for years.
Chen Jinzhao hesitated several times, wanting to speak but ultimately holding back.
His intuition told him that his uncle seemed to be hiding something, and since he chose to conceal it intentionally, his questions would likely go unanswered.
He decided to find an opportunity to investigate later.
After two hours of travel, the off-road vehicle finally stopped in front of their old house.
Chen Jinzhao hadn't been back to his village old house in many years. Since elementary school, he had moved to the county town with his mother. Looking at the crumbling brick and earth house before him, Chen Jinzhao couldn't help but sigh.
Time was the most ruthless force in the world, capable of decaying everything.
Li Qiutao stood beside Chen Jinzhao, a look of reminiscence on his face, but he quickly composed himself and asked Chen Jinzhao with a smile, "Did you live here with your mother when you were little?"
"Yes," Chen Jinzhao nodded.
Wu Lingyun got out of the car. The pungent smell in the air made her almost gag. Her face pale, she asked, "Dad, why is the ground in the village covered in chicken droppings? It's so unhygienic."
Li Qiutao chuckled; there was nothing much to explain.
The villagers had always raised their chickens and ducks freely. Everyone did it this way.
It was understandable that Wu Lingyun, a city dweller, found it uncomfortable.
"Dad, why don't you and him just go up to the mountain? I'll wait for you down here," Wu Lingyun said.
Li Qiutao's face darkened. "How can that be? You've never even met your grandfather. Let's go up and see him now."
Wu Lingyun shook her head. "No, that's Grandpa."
Li Qiutao was speechless, unable to retort.
In the end, he was merely a son-in-law of the Wu family, and even his own daughter subconsciously reminded him of this.
Chen Jinzhao frowned. Although Li Qiutao was a son-in-law, it wasn't Wu Lingyun's place to remind him of it. He was about to say something when Li Qiutao stopped him, shook his head, and then smiled at Wu Lingyun, saying, "Then let's go see Grandpa. He's never seen you before, and you won't have a chance to come back here in the future."
After speaking, Wu Lingyun realized she had said the wrong thing and, out of pride, did not apologize.
Hearing that Li Qiutao was not holding it against her, she could only nod and agree to his request, gritting her teeth, "Alright, I'll come this once. From now on, I won't come even if you ask me to."
She felt no sense of belonging here anyway.
Li Qiutao finally let out a sigh of relief. "Then let's go, before the sun gets too strong."
Chen Jinzhao nodded.
The three of them set off on foot, hiking up the mountain.
As the outside world had changed dramatically in recent years, many of the young and strong men in the village had gone out to work. This left only the elderly, weak, women, and children behind. These people were unable to clear the paths on the mountain, causing them to become overgrown and desolate. Li Qiutao stood on the path and sighed, saying with a wry smile to Chen Jinzhao and the other, "The path is difficult to walk. We'll have to clear the weeds as we go."
Wu Lingyun complained incessantly.
How could a delicate young lady like her do such farm work?
Chen Jinzhao proactively said, "Uncle, let me and him do the weeding. You can let cousin sit aside."
"You truly spoil her," Li Qiutao said.
"But it is indeed difficult for her to weed, so let's the two of us work harder."
Wu Lingyun walked to the side and found a rock to sit on. Li Qiutao and Chen Jinzhao began to clear the weeds. As they worked, they chatted, mostly about Chen Jinzhao's childhood.
This made Wu Lingyun feel a pang of jealousy. "If one didn't know better, they'd think these were a father and son."
After more than an hour, the mountain path was mostly cleared. Wu Lingyun had almost fallen asleep while sitting there. She only woke up when Li Qiutao nudged her.
"Lingyun, it's time to go."
Wu Lingyun quickly got up and looked at the newly cleared mountain path, exclaiming, "Dad, you guys are amazing! You cleared this place so quickly."
There was no sign that Li Qiutao was someone who lived a life of ease.
Li Qiutao responded with a faint smile and pulled Wu Lingyun along. After a few steps, Wu Lingyun started panting again. "Oh, I can't do it anymore. This mountain path is too difficult to walk."
"Lingyun, how about your brother carries you?" Li Qiutao suggested.
Wu Lingyun's scalp tingled at the thought. She and Chen Jinzhao didn't get along well, so how could she accept a favor from him? She quickly shook her head and refused, stating that she could still persevere.
And so.
The three of them walked, stopping and resting along the way. By the time they reached the mountaintop, it was already two o'clock in the afternoon.
It was fortunate that the temperature in the mountains was lower, otherwise Wu Lingyun would have collapsed on the path. Li Qiutao was also somewhat fatigued, his back clothes soaked with sweat, and he panted intermittently.
Li Qiutao stood at the summit and sighed, "I haven't exercised in a long time. I'm done for."
"Lingyun, are you alright?"
Wu Lingyun, out of breath, said, "Dad, I'm fine, *huff*..."
The path became much easier to walk once they reached the mountaintop. Not long after, the three of them arrived at two graves. One was for Chen Jinzhao's grandparents, and the other was for his maternal grandparents.
Since their mother was the only one who cared for her parents, Li Qiurong had buried them next to Chen Jinzhao's grandparents after their passing, to avoid the inconvenience of visiting two separate graves later.
Due to the many significant events that had occurred this year, no one had visited the graves of the elders.
The two graves were covered in weeds. If it weren't for the tombstones, they would have been unrecognizable.
So.
The three of them began clearing the weeds from the graves again. It took another half an hour before the two graves were tidied up.
Li Qiutao could barely straighten his back from exhaustion, but he always did things himself, wishing he could pull out every single weed growing on the graves by the root. Chen Jinzhao watched all of this silently, not disturbing his uncle.
Next was burning joss paper and pouring a few cups of wine as offerings before the graves.
After completing these rituals, Li Qiutao asked Wu Lingyun to kneel before the elders as he did. Although Wu Lingyun was a thousand times unwilling, she knelt to avoid upsetting her father.
Li Qiutao's eyes were red. He respectfully kowtowed three times and said with a choked voice, "Mom and Dad, your son is late, too late. I was not by your side when you were on your deathbeds. It is my sin."
"I know you won't forgive your son, but I will visit you often in the future."
Wu Lingyun's nose twitched, and she felt a pang of sadness in her heart.
In her memory, her father had always been a kind-tempered and strong-willed person, and he had never shown such a sorrowful demeanor in front of her. But why was he crying like a child now?