Mike Qian's Grieve

Edith Qian spent a long time updating her mother about her life in the city. She stared at the faded photograph, trying her best to imprint her mother's face in her mind. Her head tilted down for a few seconds as the memories of her and her mother appeared in her mind.

She never knew her father. It was her mother who had raised her. Before she died, Edith's world revolved around her mother. They do a lot of things together and her mother would love and pamper her.

That was why she was at a loss when her mother suddenly passed away. She was angry that her mother had left without taking her along. Not knowing what to do with her grief, she can only channel her anger and cause trouble for her grandfather and the adults around her.

It seemed that as she grew older, her mother's face in her memory has gone blurry. If she did not look at her picture every day, Edith was afraid that sooner or later, she might forget how her mother looked like.

Suddenly, Edith felt a warm and soft pat on her shoulder. She turned around and saw that her grandfather was looking at her with a helpless look on his face.

Mike Qian pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at his granddaughter's cheek. "Don't cry."

Edith blinked and felt something wet streamed down her cheek. She rubbed at her eyes with her sleeve furiously and said, "I'm not crying."

"Alright. You're not. It's just that some dust got into your eyes, right?"

Edith shot her grandfather an angry look, causing the man to chuckle.

The two of them stayed around for a while longer before Edith stood up and headed towards their car, leaving her grandfather behind. After a few steps, Edith turned her head in time to see her grandfather crouching beside her mother's tomb. His head tilted down and his hand was touching the tomb.

She did not know what her grandfather would tell her mother. But every time they visited the cemetery, her grandfather would always stay behind for at least ten minutes and he would never allow her to stay around.

There was that one time when she had sneaked around to listen to his conversation, but once Edith saw her grandfather's crying face, she found herself unable to step forward.

His face was full of sorrow. It was an expression that she had never seen before. Tears streamed down his eyes and he let out a heart-wrenching cry. In the end, Edith chose not to go over and turn around to wait for her grandfather in the car.

When he came back to her, his expression had turned normal and Edith was unable to detect the sadness from her grandfather. Later, he had taken her to grab some ice cream and she had forgotten about what she had seen at the cemetery.

Edith was reminiscing her past when she noticed that her grandfather was walking over to her. She stood up straight and smiled. As she was expecting, although there were some traces of tears on his face, he had hidden it well with the smile on his face.

"Let's go." Mike Qian said.

Edith nodded and shifted her gaze away as she went into the driver's seat. "Aaron invited us to come over to their B&B for breakfast. They have some guests over and Mrs. Li will be cooking extra food."

Mike Qian nodded. "Then, let's go.

Edith drove over to the B&B and once they arrived, Auntie Li greeted them at the door and ushered them in.

"Edith," Auntie Li's eyes sparkled with joy as she saw her walking in. "I haven't seen you for a long time." She turned to Mike Qian and nodded. "Come in. Just make yourself at home. It's not like this is your first time here."

"Auntie Li," Edith looked around and could not find her friend around. "Where's Aaron?"

"He got a call from his teammate this morning and they went away somewhere for work," Auntie Li said with a soft sigh. "How long will you be staying this time?"

"Auntie Li, I'm taking the bus to the City in the afternoon."

"Why are you going back so soon?" Auntie Li looked at her with a surprised expression.

"I still have to work tomorrow," Edith smiled. "Next time, I will definitely come back again during my next vacation."

Auntie Li let out another sigh. "Alright. Aaron's father had just come back from the jetty and brought along some seafood. Sit down and I'll make some seafood fried noodles for you, alright?"

"Auntie Li, I'll help you," Edith offered.

The old lady waved her hand. "You must be tired after waking up early in the morning. Just sit there for a while. I'll be back in a few minutes."

At this time, Aaron's father, James Li walked out of a room. He froze upon seeing Mike Qian at the waiting area but seconds later, he quickly walked over to the elderly man.

"Old Qian," James Li called. "We finally received new information. Someone from the city contacted me last night. That person was ready to—"

Mike Qian let out a loud, dry cough to stop his friend from talking.

James Li stared at his old friend and finally noticed that there was something wrong with his expression. "What's wrong with you? Why are you making that face?"

Mike Qian cleared his throat before he glanced towards where his granddaughter was sitting.

Soon, James followed his gaze and her body froze momentarily. A sharp gasp escaped him before he calmed down again. James Li forced a smile as he met Edith's gaze.

"Edith. Haha. I didn't see you here."

"Uncle Li," Edith greeted. She looked at the two old men alternately and asked, "What were you going to discuss with my grandfather? What are you two up to?"

"Nothing. Nothing." James waved his hand. A frown appeared on his face when he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his waist. Turning around, Mike Qian was sending him a warning gaze.

"What else can we discuss?" Mike Qian flashed an anxious smile as his granddaughter was giving him a suspicious gaze. "Of course, we are going to discuss our next fishing trip."

Hearing the word fishing was making the corner of Edith's lips twitched. "Grandpa!"

"Alright, alright. Don't be angry. Your Uncle Li was probably going to tell me about the fishing equipment in the city," Mike Qian said. He shifted his gaze away and pulled at James' hand. "Edith you stay here. I'm going to discuss it with your Uncle Li for a while. You won't be interested to listen. Just call us when the noodles are ready."

Before she was able to say a word, the two old men had walked out through the side door and headed towards the beach. Edith narrowed her eyes as she sensed that her grandfather was anxious about something. She had a feeling that her grandfather was hiding something from her and it was not something related to fishing.