"Hey, Xiaofan is back!"
Early in the morning, as soon as Lin Fan opened the door, he saw Aunt Mao coming down the stairs. She looked at Lin Fan with a look of surprise.
"Good morning, Auntie." Lin Fan greeted politely.
"I just said that I heard the sound of guitar playing downstairs last night and wondered if you were back." Aunt Mao said as she walked down the stairs.
After packing her luggage last night, Li Chunhua discovered that there was a guitar in Lin Fan's house. She bought it specifically for learning music when she first came back.
It wasn't cheap at the time, nearly 10,000 yuan. I just kept it in my bag, unused.
Li Chunhua knew that Lin Fan had learned guitar, so she immediately insisted that she play a tune for her. Gao Fei and Ji Yu also clapped and cheered.
Lin Fan was already familiar with them, so he didn't refuse. He tuned his instrument seriously, and to everyone's anticipation, he played "The Romance of Love" with a staccato rhythm.
Seeing the audience's expressions stiffen from anticipation, Lin Fan laughed first: "You asked me to play it. I told you I haven't played in ages, so my hands are really rusty!"
"That being said, I didn't expect you to be so stupid. After all, seeing how expensive this piano is, I thought you must be a great player." Li Chunhua complained with a constipated look on his face, "You're not even as good as our boss."
When Lin Fan heard that Song Ren also knew how to play, he quickly handed the guitar over.
Song Ren didn't refuse. He tested his hand and played a random song. Smooth notes flowed from his fingertips. He was clearly an expert.
When the song ended, everyone applauded. Fanboy Li Chunhua clapped until his hands were red and asked for another song.
However, Lin's father happened to call and confirmed with Lin Fan the time of arrival in Gaocheng tomorrow, so the matter was left unresolved.
But Song Ren suggested that Lin Fan bring his guitar as well.
As we all know, musical instruments will eventually become useless if they are not played or maintained for a long time.
All right! Lin Fan nodded. He already had so many things, so he wasn't afraid of adding just one more.
I didn't expect that last night's performance was heard upstairs.
"Did I disturb you?" Lin Fan asked hurriedly.
The biggest fear among neighbors is causing unnecessary disturbance to others.
"No, no," Aunt Mao walked to the bottom step. "The music at the back was actually quite nice. Your uncle insisted it wasn't you who played it. He said you couldn't play guitar this well."
"Puchi!" Someone in the room couldn't help laughing.
"Hey, who's home?" Aunt Mao poked her head out. "Oh, so many young and old guys here."
Several people were about to go out for exercise and were standing by the door, waiting when Lin Fan blocked their way. It was a dark mass, and at first glance it was a bit intimidating.
"My colleague." Lin Fan introduced briefly.
"Oh, oh, colleague, I thought you had a boyfriend." Aunt Mao looked around and thought all the guys were good.
Seeing the conversation was about to veer off topic, Lin Fan quickly asked the people inside to come out and locked the door. He said hello to Aunt Mao, who was clearly still unsatisfied, and went downstairs for a run.
On the morning of New Year's Eve, there were not many pedestrians in the community.
Everyone stayed within the complex, running laps along the central green belt. After more than a dozen laps, a thin layer of sweat covering everyone's body, Lin Fan was stopped again.
"Xiao Lin, is that Xiao Lin?" The white-haired Grandma Pei looked at Lin Fan uncertainly while holding the vegetables.
"It's me, Grandma Pei." Lin Fan ran over.
As soon as she stopped, the others naturally stopped as well and followed her.
"Xiao Lin, I haven't seen you for a long time. I thought something happened to you." Grandma Pei was still very energetic, with her silver hair combed meticulously.
"I'm sorry for worrying you." Lin Fan apologized with a smile. "I left in a hurry and didn't have a chance to say hello. I'm so sorry."
"No, no," Grandma Pei waved her hand and smiled, "You look much better than before. This is good, this is good. This is how young people should look."
Grandma Pei hadn't asked about Lin Fan's illness. But with so many rumors circulating in the neighborhood, and seeing Lin Fan's condition, she knew something was wrong. She had worried for a while.
Now she has a rosy complexion, a slim figure, and is talking and laughing with people. As an elder who cares about her, I am very happy.
"Who are these?" No one could ignore the four handsome guys with different appearances behind Lin Fan.
"My colleague." Lin Fan specially introduced Grandma Pei to the people behind him, and everyone greeted her.
Older people like energetic young men, and Grandma Pei was in a better mood.
Knowing she was going to Gaocheng to reunite with her parents soon, he didn't bother her any further. He just wanted to say something before saying goodbye.
Finally, Lin Fan couldn't help but ask, "Meow meow..."
This is what Grandma Pei wanted to say. She sighed and said, "You saw it... In the fall, someone reported them. The big ones are all gone. I rescued two kittens and raised them at home."
"How could I be reported?" Lin Fan frowned.
Unlike stray dogs, stray cats mostly avoid people and are unlikely to hurt people.
These cats have been in the community for several years. Although they meowed a lot for a while, it was just the natural behavior of the animals. Apart from that, there was no special disturbance.
"Who knows?" Grandma Pei sighed again. "I don't know who was offended and was reported. No one cares about those who abandon cats and dogs, but no one has room for these poor abandoned ones."
The stray animals in the community are not brought down from the mountains. Most of them are abandoned by the residents and are simply left in the community.
"Don't be sad, old lady." Lin Fan knew how much Grandma Pei loved these little animals.
"It's over. It was Miaomiao's own choice. She asked them to come home with me, but I refused..." Grandma Pei complained bitterly, then laughed, "Not long after they took the cat away, the neighborhood was plagued by rats. Hahaha, it really made me laugh to death."
Cats are the natural enemies of mice. In such a large community with so many people living there, it's normal for mice to be present.
Normally, there are stray cats roaming around the neighborhood, so rats are rare. But once the cats are gone, rats start to become rampant.
"They've got a lot more rat poison." Grandma Pei gestured for them to look in the corner, where a small black box had indeed appeared. "They're worried the kids might accidentally ingest it, and they're also worried the dog might accidentally ingest it. Haha..."
Grandma Pei didn't say anything else. Her face showed a complex mixture of sadness and joy, and it was hard to tell.
"Grandma, don't be sad." Lin Fan knew that Grandma Pei was still sad. But it was too difficult for an old lady to rescue animals.
"I'm not sad, I'm not sad." Grandma Pei swept away her sadness and invited with a smile: "Do you want to come to my house to see the kitten?"
Lin Fan hesitated for a moment and refused, "No, it would make me worried. You know me."
"Yes, yes, yes. How could I have forgotten? You are the softest-hearted person. It's hard to let go after seeing something. That little Teddy..." Grandma Pei slapped her thigh and said in frustration, "It's my fault. You said these nonsense again."
"It's okay, grandma." Lin Fan thought about going over to take a look, but ultimately gave up. "By the way, I still have some cat food at home. Can I send it to your house later? I'm not home right now and I won't need it, so please don't mind."
Grandma Pei quickly said no. She said a few more words and said goodbye.
Lin Fan lost the desire to train, and the others turned back.
Li Chunhua asked what happened to little Teddy.
Lin Fan didn't hide it. She told me that last spring, she and Grandma Pei rescued an injured stray puppy, but it unfortunately passed away. She was depressed for a long time because of this.
Lin Fan's depression is not depression in the ordinary sense.
Everyone was shocked. At the same time, they also understood why she was afraid to go out. It was probably because she was afraid of encountering similar things and couldn't let go.
"Alright, don't worry about it. I'm much better now." Lin Fan turned around to comfort them. "Hurry up, we still have to go to Grandma Pei's house later."
After packing up the clean clothes washed and dried yesterday, Lin Fan and the others quickly packed and vacuumed the quilts. They packed the used bedding in bags and took them to Gaocheng for washing. They could then have Lin's father bring them back when he returned.
They quickly packed their belongings and loaded them into the car. Li Chunhua delivered the items to Grandma Pei's house on behalf of Lin Fan, and the car quickly drove towards Gaocheng.
Grandma Pei appeared at the beginning. Does anyone remember her? Vote for the kind-hearted Grandma Pei.