Chapter 390 – Visiting Zhou Qingling’s Grave III
Jiang Ruolan sighed and lowered her head. Just as she was about to squat again, she suddenly stopped and stared at the wheelchair traces she had just noticed.
Although the cemetery was neat, it was not luxurious. So, the soil in front of this tombstone was easily muddy even though the rain was not too heavy. As long as someone walks past this place, they will leave behind some traces.
Perhaps Senior Zhou didn't notice these marks, but Jiang Ruolan suddenly squinted her eyes and stared at the marks left by the wheelchair. This wheelchair seemed to have stayed here for a long time, and the marks were even deeper than the ones beside it.
Jiang Ruolan suddenly raised her head and saw a black figure in front of the tombstone with her back facing her (Jiang Ruolan). Her heart trembled for no reason.
She held the piece of paper in her hand tightly and walked towards that person step by step while holding the umbrella in her hand. With every step she took, she felt as if something was about to break free from the cocoon and come towards her.
The figure on the wheelchair seemed to have not heard her footsteps. Jiang Ruolan slowly stopped behind her. That person still sat there motionlessly without turning her head.
Jiang Ruolan stared at the figure covered by the umbrella, and she could easily recognize the skinny figure. The arm that was exposed under the black clothes was much whiter than that of an average man or woman. It was an unhealthy whiteness, but it was very familiar to her.
Jiang Ruolan took a deep breath and walked step by step in front of that person. Only when she saw that person's face did she feel as if something had just struck her heart.
"Auntie Jia." Jiang Ruolan looked at the woman in the wheelchair in disbelief.
Jia Zhenzhen slowly raised her head. Her eyes were no longer as dull as before. Instead, they stared at her for a long while before she sighed and said, "In the end, you did discover it."
Jiang Ruolan was a little confused. She turned her head to look at the abandoned Zhou Qingling's tombstone, then looked at the tombstone in front of Jia Zhenzhen. She had never heard a name engraved on a tombstone before, but it was clear that Jia Zhenzhen may have been sitting here for a long time.
Jia Zhenzhen looked at her. "Are you surprised?"
"Nope." Jiang Ruolan shook her head. "Back in the United States, I vaguely guessed that you were pretending to be crazy, but I couldn't find any evidence. You didn't hurt me, so I believed that you must have remembered something, which was why I insisted on bringing you back. Auntie Jia, you're actually here?"
"Today is her anniversary. Since I was taken back to the country by you, how could I not want to leave the nursing home and accompany her?"
Jia Zhenzhen didn't mention Zhou Qingling's name. She only said "she", but Jiang Ruolan understood what she meant.
"I just didn't expect that twenty-one years after her death, I finally have a chance to return and take a look at her. I wrote an offering for her, and burned it. At the same time I was talking to her, I suddenly saw someone that shouldn't have appeared here."
Speaking about the person who should not have appeared, Jia Zhenzhen's gaze was a little cold, and the corner of her mouth curled into a cold smile.
With regard to Jia Zhenzhen's sudden change, even though Jiang Ruolan had vaguely guessed it, she was still a bit shocked by the reality of the situation, especially when she saw the cold smile and the mockery in Jia Zhenzhen's eyes.
Jiang Ruolan looked at Jia Zhenzhen with disbelief.
"You're talking about Senior Zhou?" Jiang Ruolan asked softly.
Jia Zhenzhen paused for a moment and looked deeply into her eyes. "You, child, are even calmer than I thought."
Jiang Ruolan was silent. She raised her head and looked outside the cemetery, but there were no signs of Xian Zihao and Senior Zhou.
"Auntie Jia, you shouldn't go out, do you? After we all return to H City, Zihao and I want qualified people to take care of you. We don't want you to run away, but we also don't let anyone watch you all the time. We want to give you a little bit of freedom." Jiang Ruolan said softly.
Jia Zhenzhen smiled. She quietly sat on the wheelchair and tilted her head to look at Jiang Ruolan. She then looked deeply at her for a long time before asking, "Lan, are you not going to recognize your grandfather?"
Jiang Ruolan was secretly surprised as she did not expect Jia Zhenzhen to know about her and Senior Zhou's relationship so well. Jia Zhenzhen was really good at pretending to be crazy, but now when everything was out of the bag, she looked so calm and astute, as if everything was under her control.
Jiang Ruolan slightly narrowed her eyes but didn't say anything. She pursed her lips and then changed the subject, "Auntie Jia, are you here waiting for me, or is it just to be with my mother?"
For some reason, when she uttered the word "mother," Jia Zhenzhen's eyes seemed to move a little. When Jiang Ruolan looked at her again, Jia Zhenzhen was already smiling.
"I came to see her. If I had been waiting for you to find out about this from the beginning, I would not have rushed to this dirty city." Jia Zhenzhen's voice was light as she replied, "Child, you always find time to visit me. If I want to tell you, why wait until now?"
"Auntie Jia, now that I know about it, aren't you afraid that I'll tell others?"
"Tell others?" Jia Zhenzhen sneered, "Who can you tell? Your husband, Xian Zihao? Or to someone else? Are you going to tell them that I'm not crazy? Do you want them to lock me up again?"
"Them?" Jiang Ruolan, with the sharpness of a media employee's instincts and habit of understanding important things, immediately narrowed her eyes and watched Jia Zhenzhen's expression carefully.
Jia Zhenzhen looked at her and laughed. "Lan, are you trying to observe me? What do you want to see in me?"
Jiang Ruolan pondered for a moment before replying honestly, "I think I know what you are thinking right now or what you want to do now."
"Child, although you look simple, you have already made up your mind. If you weren't completely prepared, you wouldn't be able to say such words." Jia Zhenzhen raised her umbrella and looked at Jiang Ruolan's calm face with a serious expression, "You want to know from me what exactly happened twenty years ago? You want to know the reason behind her suicide that year, you want to know why Jiang Guanyu betrayed your mother, and you want to know if I came back to take revenge!"
Jiang Ruolan remained calm, and then she smiled. "Auntie Jia, the feeling of being seen through with a single glance is not good."
"If I can't see through you, who else can? You are the same as me." Jia Zhenzhen said with a smile. However, she immediately stopped when she saw Jiang Ruolan frowning in confusion.
Jia Zhenzhen looking hesitantly at Jiang Ruolan's face.
Jiang Ruolan didn't understand what Jia Zhenzhen meant by that. She observed her face for a while before saying, "Auntie Jia, they said that you and my mother have been together for a long time and are good sisters. You both look like each other in many ways. So, it's no wonder if I was similar to you in a way."