Chapter 621

“Yeah, you surely wouldn’t know . You weren’t even born at that time . ” The old man took a look at Yuan Zhou and continued saying, not being affected at all .

“Um . Please continue . ” Yuan Zhou nodded his head and didn’t contradict him .

“This tailor shop was the best store that made clothes at that time around here . People were hurrying to and fro every day and none of them were poor people . ” The old man revealed a manner of reminiscence .

“I’m waiting for someone over here . We haven’t met for many years and I’m not sure if she still recognizes me . ” The old man was a little perturbed when he said that .

Yuan Zhou just stayed silent and waited quietly for the old man to continue .

“At that time, she and I both worked as apprentices . We were very little then . ” The old man sighed with emotion .

“Childhood sweethearts . ” Yuan Zhou summarized concisely and comprehensively .

“Yeah, that’s the word . At that time, she was very afraid of worms and thus hid in a pigsty once . I was the first that found her . ” The old man appeared quite proud when he spoke of this matter .

“As time went by, Tong Tong and I understood each other better and finally got together . At that time, we were only 15 years old . However, that wasn’t a young age in my time . ” The expression on the old man’s face revealed sweetness and warmth .

“Now, it’s called puppy love . ” Yuan Zhou said that in an unromantic way .

“Later on, I promised to give her the best wedding dress . Just in front of the tailor shop, I made that promise . ” The old man raised his head and looked at Yuan Zhou’s restaurant .

His gaze was meaningful as if he could see the bustling tailor shop that people hurried to and fro formerly through Yuan Zhou’s restaurant .

“Then you went away and never returned . And now, you have come back to look for her . ” Yuan Zhou got straight to the point .

“No, it’s not like that . I just don’t know if she can come back again . ” The old man gave a contemptuous look at Yuan Zhou .

“Is the person you are waiting for called Tong Lan?” As far as Yuan Zhou knew, there was nobody surnamed Tong except for Boss Tong from the dry cleaning shop .

Judging from the age of this old man, he was almost the same age as Boss Tong . Therefore, Yuan Zhou made that guess .

“You know Tong Lan? Do you know Tong Lan? Are you her son?” The old man got dumbfounded first, then he looked at Yuan Zhou in disbelief and asked a series of questions .

“No . Boss Tong is the boss of the dry cleaning shop over there . ” Yuan Zhou revealed a look of seriousness, however, no one could see the helplessness contained in his heart .

“The neighboring store?” The old man looked toward the neighboring store directly .

“Ta Ta Ta” . The old man walked to the neighboring store with big strides and started to walk up and down in front of the closed door .

“Boss Tong is gone . ” Yuan Zhou didn’t turn his head, but just said lightly .

“She’s gone?” The old man stayed put in a daze . There was only a blank look on his face rather than a specific expression .

“She went travelling . ” Yuan Zhou turned his head and added quickly when he found the old man didn’t appear normal .

“You nasty guy, you almost scared me to death . Tell me, where is Tong Lan now?” The old man let out a sigh of relief and then said to Yuan Zhou bitterly .

“Touring . ” Yuan Zhou said straightforwardly .

“There’s always a place to go as a tourist . Tell me, do you know where she is now?” The old man walked to Yuan Zhou with big strides, stared at him, and asked loudly .

“Aunt Tong told me that she wanted to go around the world, so I’m not sure about her exact location . ” Yuan Zhou didn’t retreat and then, he said lightly .

“Since you know so much, you are still in contact with her, aren’t you?” The old man looked at Yuan Zhou and said affirmatively .

This time, Yuan Zhou didn’t contradict him, but just looked at the old man in silence .

“Tell me about her contact info . Well… forget it . When Tong Tong contacts you next time, please tell me . ” While he was saying that, he lowered his head and said with a sorrowful voice .

“You don’t want it?” Yuan Zhou became a little puzzled .

“No, I don’t . But if Tong Tong contacts you next time, please do tell me . ” The old man turned around and walked back to the original place .

It was still the same place . The old man just stood there as if he had prepared to stand forever until Boss Tong came back .

“Um . ” Yuan Zhou nodded his head and then went back to his restaurant .

When it went to the fixed time, the old man left straightforwardly .

After a sound of “Hua La”, Yuan Zhou closed the door and walked back into the kitchen .

“I should make a phone call . ” Yuan Zhou muttered while stroking his forehead with his hand . After that, he turned around and went upstairs .

The second floor of the pub was very boisterous . While Chen Wei and some others were drinking the Bamboo Liquor seriously, Yuan Zhou that had returned upstairs sat at the desk and picked up the phone .

“It’s just 21:30 now . It should be a good time . ” Yuan Zhou muttered that before he started to dial the number .

The three characters of “Aunt Tong” were clearly marked beside the number .

Yuan Zhou dialed the number directly and then, there passed the sound of “Du Du Du” from the phone .

“What’s the matter, Little Yuan?” There came Boss Tong’s voice filled with drowsiness from the other end of the phone .

“Are you having a good time recently?” Yuan Zhou took the phone and asked earnestly .

“Quite good . It’s just a little cold here . ” This time, Boss Tong’s voice contained some delight .

“Aunt Tong, someone is looking for you . ” Yuan Zhou said tentatively .

“A regular customer? Please introduce him to other stores . ” This time, Boss Tong’s voice contained some arrogance .

“No, it’s a very old man, a grandpa . ” Yuan Zhou said straightforwardly .

Boss Tong didn’t answer him as quickly as before this time, but just stayed silent for quite a while .

When Boss Tong became silent, Yuan Zhou didn’t say anything, either . He just waited in silence for Boss Tong to speak again .

“Has he been here for a long time?” When Boss Tong said that, she sounded down .

“Quite a few days . ” Yuan Zhou answered whenever asked .

“Little Yuan, you know about it already, right?” Judging from Boss Tong’s tone, she was quite sure about that .

“Um . ” Yuan Zhou nodded his head .

“Do you want to know?” Boss Tong’s meaning was quite explicit . She was asking if Yuan Zhou would like to know the more specific happenings about them .

However, Yuan Zhou didn’t anything .

“Actually, we grew up together . He was a few years older than me . We learned from a chef to make tofu together at that time . I was only 13 or 14 years old . ” Speaking of the past, Boss Tong’s tone was almost the same with that old man’s .

They all carried a sigh of emotional along with the reminiscence .

Boss Tong talked about the matters of the past seriously . She also talked about the matters about that old man and her . She spoke in more detail than the old man did .

As Boss Tong spoke, Yuan Zhou didn’t interrupt . He just listened to her carefully .

“At that time, his skill was better than mine . We all thought that he would have his own shop in the future . ” There was slight regret in Boss Tong’s tone .

“You opened the dry cleaning shop . ” Yuan Zhou said bluntly .

“Using the words of young people, we were in puppy love . Though neither of us confirmed the relationship, we both had some vague feelings . “

“I still remember the place where we held hands for the first time . It was a very strange place . A pigsty . ” Boss Tong was lost in the sweet memory .

Yuan Zhou answered with a simple “huh”, indicating that he was still listening .

“When I was 16, he had to leave Chengdu due to some family circumstances one day . Also on that day, he told me that he would let me wear the most beautiful wedding dress and then propose me . He told me not ever to wear anybody’s wedding dress . ” Boss Tong’s voice was low and deep .

Yuan Zhou asked, “So that’s the reason why you stayed unmarried all these years?”

“Since he promised so, I agreed . ” Boss Tong said .

“You answered impulsively and waited until now,” said Yuan Zhou .

“Day after day and year after year . Sometimes, I don’t even know what I was waiting for . Is it for the promise made that year or did I just get used to waiting? Thirty years passed like that . He went away and never came back . ” Boss Tong said with an indifferent tone .

“But you are still waiting . ” Yuan Zhou said directly .

Boss Tong didn’t say anything as if she had given tacit consent to what Yuan Zhou said but also as if she hadn’t heard Yuan Zhou’s words .

“When are you prepared to come back?” Yuan Zhou asked at once .

The next moment, however, he found his question was way too blunt . Thus, he added immediately, “I have found a very good rest home for you . You can come back for a look . “

“No, not now . ” Boss Tong refused him directly .

“Why?” Yuan Zhou asked subconsciously .

“Nothing special . I’m just tired of waiting . ” When Boss Tong said that, she sounded a little depressed but meanwhile, it had a sense of relief .

Yuan Zhou found he had nothing to say even when he wanted to persuade her again . Boss Tong had waited for so many years from the age of 16 to 50 . She was so patient just in order to let the man find her . Moreover, she even opened the dry cleaning shop in the neighboring room .

No one could understand the joys and sorrows of life contained therein .

…