Hongjun was a good friend of mine when I was in middle school. When we gathered together last month, we learned that her grandfather had passed away not long ago. All her friends expressed their condolences to Hongjun. Hongjun said that she had various dreams before and after the death of her grandfather. Life really allowed her to experience the magical feelings and omens between her closest relatives.
Hongjun spent her entire childhood at her grandparents' house. The small Jiangxi village with its beautiful scenery and simple folk customs housed all her dreams and happiness. Grandparents doted on Hongjun very much, without any feudal thoughts that favored boys over girls. The two old people would try their best to satisfy all her reasonable and unreasonable requests. They truly held Hongjun in their hands and loved and cared for her.
When he was a child, Hongjun was a little weak, his spleen and stomach were not suitable, he was picky and anorexic, and he was as thin and small as a kitten. Her grandparents saw it in their eyes and were anxious in their hearts. They carefully prepared all kinds of fresh food for her every day, hoping that little Hongjun would eat more.
Later, when Hongjun went to elementary school, her parents who worked in Beijing took her to school. From then on, she could only see her grandparents who loved and missed her during the winter and summer vacations. Every time Hongjun went back for vacation, her grandma would prepare a large table of dishes for her, and then watch Hongjun eat with anticipation. Hongjun, who is used to living in a big city, has long disdained those simple and monotonous local side dishes, and often picks and chooses, not eating this one and not wanting that one.
After Hongjun graduated from university and started working, there were fewer opportunities to return to Jiangxi to visit his grandparents. The two elderly people were old and knew nothing about video calls and other technological means, so they could only suppress their thoughts about their granddaughter. Deep down in his heart, whenever there are relatives and friends returning to Jiangxi from Beijing, the old man always asks them endless questions. The one he misses the most is his granddaughter Hongjun.
During the Spring Festival last year, Hongjun went back to his hometown to visit his grandparents. He found that his grandfather had lost a lot of weight, his bones were trembling when he stood up and moved, and his mental reaction was obviously not as good as before. Hongjun felt a little sad in his heart, and had no appetite for the New Year's Eve dinner at night.
Grandpa looked at Hongjun with a smile and kept adding vegetables to her bowl. He refused to take his eyes away from her for a moment, his eyes were full of love and reluctance. Hongjun was embarrassed by her grandfather, so she coquettishly said to him: "Grandpa, do you think I am getting more and more beautiful?" Grandpa responded with a smile: "Yes, Junjun has become a girl in her eighteenth year. If grandpa doesn’t take a good look at it, he won’t be able to see it anymore.”
Hongjun's heart trembled when he heard this, and he felt vaguely ominous. At the beginning of spring, I received a call from my hometown. Grandpa Hongjun was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. The doctor clearly told his family that the old man’s time was running out. Hongjun couldn't accept it at all. He cried and called his grandfather to say that he would go back to Jiangxi to be with him. Grandpa's voice on the phone sounded as loving as ever. He calmly told Hongjun: "Junjun, don't cry. Don't cry. Grandpa is fine at home." Very, don’t come back, wait until you are on vacation, grandpa is waiting for you. Junjun, eat well! You have to eat well, Junjun! "
Not a month later, one night when Hongjun came home from get off work, the chandelier that had just been installed suddenly stopped working. In the darkness, Hongjun was flustered and irritable. She couldn't explain why, so she had to go to bed early.
That night Hongjun dreamed of her grandfather, who was standing in front of her bed, looking at her kindly. Hongjun seemed to have something in her dream. She cried and asked her grandfather over and over again: "Grandpa, what else do you wish for? Tell me and I will help you realize it!" Grandpa smiled and said to her: "Junjun, grandpa is I want to see you eat more!"
Shortly after waking up from the dream, Hongjun received a call that his grandfather passed away late that night.
Hongjun said that since her grandfather left, she has made every meal three times a day without any ambiguity. She dreamed that her grandfather was dead and alive again . She eats well and eats conscientiously to gain energy and strength. Because this is her grandfather's last wish, and it is also her commitment to her family love. Hongjun said that she could feel that her grandfather had been looking at her from the distant sky, and his eyes were exactly the same as when she was a child.
In fact, our loved ones’ expectations for us are very simple. They only hope that we will have clothes when it’s cold, an umbrella when it rains, food when we’re hungry, a lamp when it’s dark, and a loved one when it rains. It is we who have complicated the original simple and pure family relationship. After being mixed with many impurities such as vanity, comparison, and competition for profit, can we still find the most familiar admonishment in our memory at the original moment?
You have to eat well…