Scum Male's Whitewashing Manual

7.18

The old man was still stiffly wiping the corners of the room. He was a bit surprised at how stiff his movements were today, as if he couldn’t lift his hands. He wondered if it was arthritis, but he didn’t feel any pain.

If he wipes it like this, wiping the tables would take a while, along with the chairs and benches in this house. Xi Liu loves cleanliness so much that when she was at home, the little child takes a rag and wipes the table every day.

Thinking about his little granddaughter, the old man was a little happy. Xi Liu could come back to see him because she missed him, something he couldn’t even dream of. The more he thought about it, the happier he was, and the stiffness under his hand eased a few points.

He didn’t know why, but his thinking seemed to be getting slow. Now, he had to think about everything for quite a long while.

The old man sighed. He was so old, but he couldn’t accept his old age.

He wiped the table, slowly held the table, and slowly walked to the front of the big cabinet in the room. His blue hands opened the cabinet, and his hands trembled slightly, pulling out what was wrapped in a piece of cloth, from the bottom.

Opening it slowly, there were all kinds of beautiful ribbons that little girls liked. The old man touched these lovely ribbons, and a smile appeared on his face.

In previous years, when he went to the market, he would always buy a ribbon for Xi Liu. At that time, he was poor and didn’t have much money to buy good-looking clothes. Later, when Xi Liu left, he slowly saved some money. Every time he went to the market, he knew his little granddaughter was not at home, but he couldn’t help but buy it back and kept them, thinking about how happy Xi Liu would be if she saw them.

Thinking about it, he himself became happy.

Unexpectedly, these ribbons could be handed over to Xi Liu one day. The old man stood in front of the cabinet, holding the cloth and looking at the ribbons inside. His face that was covered with dark scars slowly showed a smile.

This smile was stiff, but full of expectation. For several years now, there are times when the old man would lay in bed, unable to sleep, looking at the pictures drawn by his little granddaughter on the wall, and regretting it.

He regretted sending his sweet Xi Liu away. He missed her, he couldn’t sleep at night, thinking about how well Xi Liu ate, how well she slept, whether the people who adopted her treated her well, whether she cried, whether she missed her grandpa …

But when he got up the next day, all these regrets should be hidden.

He told himself again and again that Xi Liu was still young, and she was smart and clever. Such a good child shouldn’t suffer hardships with this cranky old man. He couldn’t even buy better clothes for the child, so it was better to let her go, to enjoy the happiness.

Once or twice, the old man saw other spoiled little girls, wearing beautiful clothes, beautiful shoes and various ribbons tied on their heads, which were beautiful in the sun.

They didn’t have to wash clothes, do housework, and stay in a shabby house every day where they couldn’t even watch TV. The old man wanted his granddaughter to live like this. Even if he missed this little Xi Liu who he brought up from infancy, he had to endure.

But now, his Xi Liu came back to see her grandpa.

The old man looked at the ribbons in a daze and smiled for a long time. He hugged the cloth carefully, and walked out of the house slowly, sitting in a chair outside, with a pair of turbid and white eyes, full of hope, looking at the farthest distance of the trail.