The 99th Divorce

Ye Youyou walked in and looked around. She realized that the décor was actually very elegant and refined. In a small town such as this, the place looked extraordinarily stylish.

When Ye Youyou didn’t see any trace of her grandfather after looking around, an ominous sense of foreboding came over her. She looked toward Ye Zhenhua and asked, “Where is Grandfather?”

Ye Zhenhua looked at the expression on Ye Youyou’s face. With a hint of rebuke, he spoke to her in the same manner he did when she had done something wrong as a child. “Grandfather is inside, but he doesn’t speak Mandarin. Can you still speak in our local dialect?”

Ye Youyou tried to recall the term and ventured, “Gramps?”

Ye Zhenhua couldn’t resist smiling as he replied, “Gramps is inside. Hurry on in.”

Ye Youyou’s heart warmed up. She walked into the main hall, but Gramps was nowhere to be seen.

In her memories, her grandfather was an old man who was always protective of her with a smile on his face. He’d always bend his back to pull her up and hold her hand everywhere they went.

When she walked into the old man’s room, Ye Youyou’s eyes began to ache. She couldn’t hold back the tears that began pooling in them.

The elderly man in the room had a head full of white hair. His face was dry and papery, and he was wearing a grey Chinese tunic suit. He looked a lot older and frailer than when she last saw him many years back.

When he saw Ye Youyou, he called out, “Qianqian, you’re back?”

Ye Youyou’s eyes began to sting as she walked over to the elderly man and said, “Gramps...”

Other than that word, Ye Youyou couldn’t utter anything else. It had been away for too long, to the point that she could no longer remember how to speak the dialect.

She suddenly came to the realization that all those years in the Capital had never really made her feel happy. What she had once mistaken as happiness had slowly eroded away bit by bit, until it couldn’t even be compared to the warmth she felt from the old man at home.

The elderly man reached his parched hand out and held Ye Youyou’s hand and said, “Qianqian is getting prettier and prettier. Did you bring a boyfriend back?”

Ye Youyou shook her head and replied, “I didn’t...”

The two simple words were articulated in the dialect with much effort.

Other than simple vocabulary, Ye Youyou couldn’t think of anything else. She called out, “Pa!”

Ye Zhenhua heard her and walked in, asking, “What is it?”

“Can you please help me tell Gramps that I’m not Qianqian?” she asked. “I can’t remember how to speak in dialect.”

Ye Zhenhua didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. He quickly translated the message.

The old man was suffering from cataracts, and he had started showing symptoms of a slight dementia. When he heard Ye Zhenhua’s words, he just gave a subtle response followed by the words, “Let’s eat.”

There was nothing Ye Zhenhua could do. He said, “In recent years, his mental state has been deteriorating. The doctor said it is a case of senile dementia, so he needs someone to keep an eye on him. That’s why I haven’t been working recently. I’ve been staying at home to take care of him. Fortunately, I have some savings from my younger days. Life is comfortable without having to work. I even had enough to get the place renovated. It’s nice, isn’t it?”

Ye Youyou looked around the place. The renovation had been done very tastefully. The place was elegant and stylish in all respects.

It was also exactly to Ye Tian’s tastes. It was a little retro with a pinch of nostalgia. Her shadow was evident in every corner of the place. Her tastes permeated every nook and cranny of this foreign yet familiar home.

She had abandoned a man who loved her so much in favor of a tycoon who was busy all the time and to live a life of empty luxury. It was actually quite sorrowful.

Ye Youyou rearranged her features into a smile and replied, “It’s beautiful.”

A grin appeared on Ye Zhenhua’s face again, as he said, “I’m going to prepare food for your Gramps.”