Sweet Nostalgia of the 80s

Jiang Wanwan hadn’t been to the small store for several days. Ning Chenguang told her to stay away from that shopkeeper; he wasn’t a good person.

She also found him very frightening. The kind and amiable Grandpa Shi had disappeared. Now every time he saw her, he would hug her, using his coarse hands to grope her body, making her feel extremely, extremely uncomfortable.

So now, she deliberately avoided that small store.

Every time she needed to buy something, she would walk to Ning Chenguang’s doorstep, call his name, and have him buy it for her.

She hadn’t seen Grandpa Shi in a long time, and gradually, the suffocating, fearful atmosphere disappeared, and her mood became brighter day by day.

But she never expected that one day Grandpa Shi would come to their door carrying things.

His appearance was like a nightmare, once again entangling her tightly.

”Wanwan, why haven’t you come to my place for so long?” The shopkeeper’s voice echoed in the yard.

Wanwan looked up to see the shopkeeper at the door, her eyes filled with fear, her whole body trembling.

”Shi... Grandpa Shi.”

”Yes.” The shopkeeper looked at Jiang Wanwan squatting on the ground doing farm work and smiled, ”What’s the matter? Haven’t seen you lately? Are you avoiding me?”

”No... no...” Jiang Wanwan’s voice was trembling.

”That’s good.” The shopkeeper said to her in a low voice, ”If I find out you’re avoiding me, watch out, I’ll deal with you...”

”No, I wouldn’t dare.” Jiang Wanwan thought of that dark little room, and her heart felt stifled and oppressed.

”Wanwan, who are you talking to?” An elderly voice came from inside the house.

”Old sister-in-law, I came to see you all.”

The shopkeeper smiled at Jiang Wanwan, lifted the curtain, and walked inside.

Jiang Wanwan’s grandmother was in poor health, bedridden all day. Though she was over sixty, she looked more like she was over eighty.

Grandpa was also not young and was in poor health too, but he could barely handle the housework.

Winter was approaching soon, so he had to go up the mountain to collect some dry firewood to store for making fires and cooking on regular days.

”Old Shi! You see, we’ve eaten so much of your stuff these days, it’s really embarrassing!” The old lady said.

”Both you and the boss are in poor health. It’s not easy for the kids to earn money; all the money goes to buying medicine. We’ve known each other for so many years; I’ll help out where I can.” The shopkeeper casually put the things on the table and said.

”Thank you. But we can’t always eat your food and drink your drinks; it doesn’t feel right. How about this, you keep a tab, and when my son and daughter-in-law return, they’ll pay you back.” The old lady struggled to sit up and said.

”No need, no need. If you feel bad about it, why not let Wanwan help out at my store?” The shopkeeper said with a smile, ”Have her help sort out the goods, and if I’m too busy, let her help sell things. What do you think?”

The old lady was delighted to hear that: ”Sure, sure, sure, let’s do that. Let Wanwan help you with the work starting today.”

”Alright.” The shopkeeper was pleased. This was the purpose of his visit.

”Wanwan, stop working and come in quickly.” The old lady raised her voice, calling her granddaughter who was working in the yard, to come in.

Jiang Wanwan lifted the curtain and walked in, seeing her grandmother happily chatting with the shopkeeper, she stood aside with her head down.

”Your Grandpa Shi has helped us a lot. So from today on, you go to his store every day and help for a while.”