The Old Age Love Chapter 1

In Yangcheng in midsummer, it is humid, hot and stuffy. Walking outdoors for a while without air conditioning will produce a layer of oily sweat.

Emily closed the door of the taxi, and the cool air that came towards her made her sigh comfortably.

The driver was a middle-aged man. He turned down the volume of the radio station he was listening to and asked, "Girl, where are you going?"

"Jinxiu Road, thank you." The soft voice seemed to melt the most beautiful water of spring. The sound quality was very recognizable, and the pronunciation was very clear and standard.

The driver quickly glanced at the back seat through the rearview mirror. The dazzling sunlight shone through the slightly scratched and dusty glass of the taxi, reflecting on the beautiful face of the young girl. Her round almond-shaped eyes were as clear as two pools of still water under her long, distinct eyelashes, her nose was upturned, and her red lips were curved.

She is fair, sweet, well-behaved and likable.

"You have a nice voice, without any accent. Where are you from?"

"local."

Most taxi drivers have the skills to perform stand-up comedy. Seeing that the girl is much more obedient than their own daughters of similar age who like to wear waist-revealing clothes and put on purple lipstick, they can't help but talk a lot.

Unlike most people who would ignore him or just respond with perfunctory "um", "eh" or "yeah", the young girl politely chatted with him about all sorts of things.

The morning rush hour had passed, and the taxi had been driving for an hour in the not-so-crowded traffic. Emily's phone suddenly rang, and she looked down and saw the words "Director Ouyang" flashing on the screen. She pretended not to hear it and turned it to silent mode, letting the phone ring like crazy for more than a dozen times.

Jinxiu Road is a one-way street. Emily told the driver that there was no need to turn around and she could get off at the nearest place. The driver happily agreed, turned off the meter, drove around and made a U-turn, and then dropped her off safely at the door of her destination.

When Emily got out of the car, what she saw was the large-flowered crape myrtle that looked like brilliant brocade. The branches were bent with clusters of pink and purple pagoda-shaped flowers. The surrounding trees were lush and flourishing, and the green branches and leaves almost completely covered the outermost clear water wall of the Cheng family's old house.

Emily walked up the five bluestone steps in front of the door, which were carved into the shape of five blessings holding longevity flowers, and pressed the doorbell.

This is already the third year.

Every year when Emily goes back to Yangcheng on vacation, there are two things she must do. One is to visit her mother and grandparents at the cemetery, and the other is to go to the old house of Jinxiu Lucheng to ask whether the owner has returned home.

Before her death, her mother took out the jade token and asked her to return it to the Cheng family.

Emily kept it in mind.

Holding the warm and delicate Hetian jade pendant in her hand, the endless pattern of the Chinese character "wan" and the word "marriage" in the middle of the jade pendant left a little mark in her soft palm.

She lived in Country G with her mother until she was six years old. Her mother was a translator. At that time, she often went to Cheng's house to play. Aunt Jane liked her very much and joked that she would become her daughter-in-law when she grew up.

Later, Emily and her mother returned to China. When she was 18, her mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness. A year later, before she died, her mother told her: After so many years, Aunt Jane's son is three or four years older than her, and he is probably married. Even if he is not married, he must have a girlfriend.

The jade pendant is a token of engagement given by the Cheng family. It is carved from a whole piece of Hetian jade and is very valuable. There is no reason for my family to keep the jade pendant, so I must return it.

If there is still no one in the Cheng family this year, Emily plans to try to find a platform like Tianyancha. The Cheng family's businesses are spread all over the world, so they must have a lot of domestic business.

Just as she was thinking, the black lacquered door opened, and the security guard obviously remembered her, "Oh, it's you. I was thinking yesterday that you would come over one of these days. You are lucky this year. Mr. and Mrs. just got home last night."

Emily was delighted and quickly handed over the jade token, "Uncle Wang, please give this to Aunt Jane."

Uncle Wang took it, opened the door, and asked Emily to come in and sit at the door and wait.

The old house of the Cheng family, shaded by green bamboos, faces north and south. Its elegant and simple white walls and gray tiles look like an ancient painting.

Leonard Cheng, wearing loose Chinese-style home clothes and holding a long sword in his hand, walked around the rocky rockery and saw his wife standing under the corridor feeding the parrot from afar.

"Who made you unhappy?" he walked up and asked.

Olivia Jian glared at him: "I just received two more calls. My third aunt's son is only 24, and her granddaughter will be a year old the day after tomorrow. And Afang's son is the same age as Yilin and Akan, and they both have their second child. Look at these two troublesome ones in our family, one is busier than the other, and their health has also been ruined at such a young age."

Leonard comforted him: "Akan's surgery was very successful. As long as he recovers well, he will have no problem living a normal life after retirement."

At this point, Olivia was both angry and distressed. "I think he just can't let go of his little group. His hand is injured like this, and have you heard the word "retirement" from him yet?"

there has never been.

Caleb, Ken God, 26 years old, owner and captain of NSD club.

If he retires, the team's performance will inevitably decline, and it will be a question whether they can get a ticket to the World Championship next season.

Will sponsors continue to support a team whose fate is uncertain?

The endorsement company will be interested in NSD without Ken God?

At this time, Uncle Wang came in and reported: "Sir, Madam, a Miss Fang is here to visit."

As he spoke, he handed over the jade token.

Olivia was stunned for a few seconds, and then she said excitedly: "Where are you, please come in, please come in."

Olivia was an impatient person. She could not sit still after hearing the news and came out excitedly. She gave birth to a son and a daughter. Needless to say, the son was a monkey with fur. The daughter was steady since she was a child, but too steady. When she was a child, she was as soft as a dough ball, and Emily, who had a sweet voice, loved her very much.

They haven't seen each other since the mother and daughter returned to China.

Emily followed Uncle Wang and marveled at the size of the Cheng family. There were pavilions, towers, bridges, waterfalls, and buildings that were either delicate and exquisite or tall and grand. Every three steps brought a new scene, as if one was walking in a painting.

From afar, she saw Olivia, wearing a moon-white cheongsam with silver edges, standing on the stone steps, with extraordinary grace and noble air.

She has a slender figure, fair skin, deep eyes and delicate features. She looks like she is in her early forties despite being fifty years old.

Emily was hugged warmly.

"I heard the magpies chirping early in the morning. I didn't expect there would be a happy event. In the blink of an eye, you have grown into a big girl. Oh, let me take a good look."

Olivia's powerful voice and sincerity brought back fragmented memories of her childhood, and Emily relaxed and was no longer nervous.

Olivia held Emily's hand tightly, and before entering the house, she raised her voice ungracefully: "Old Cheng, come and see, Ajun's daughter has grown so big."

Already accustomed to his wife's loud voice, Leonard smiled and nodded at Emily.

When Olivia met the daughter of an old friend, she had countless questions to ask.

"I have lost contact with your mother for six years. Have you been in Yangcheng? You have graduated from university, right? What major did you study and where do you work? Your mother is weak and has a bad cervical spine. How can she still work as a translator?"

Emily lowered her eyelashes, "My mother died of illness three years ago."

*

In the Haicheng NSD base, the team manager Zach sat alone in the conference room, with cigarette butts all over the floor. Coach Paul Ji pushed the door open and was so choked by the second-hand smoke that he almost thought someone was practicing Taoism.

Paul turned on the lights and the fresh air system, "Loss of sponsorship again?"

Zach raised his eyes, and his squinted eyes were a little red, perhaps because of the smoke or something else.

"Well, two more failed this morning," he said.

The room was quiet for a long time.

Paul cleaned his head, picked up the cigarette box and lighter from the table, and took a deep puff.

The pungent smell of tobacco filled the air. Zach bit a small piece of the cigarette but.t and asked, "Didn't you quit smoking?"

Paul's emotions suddenly exploded, and he cursed loudly, "fcuk!"

Zach was also holding back his anger.
 
Ever since Caleb withdrew from the World Championship semi-finals due to a serious hand injury, his sponsors have been cautiously watching the situation. Now Caleb has disappeared from the public eye for nearly a month, and rumors are spreading that God Ken is retiring.

Zach Qin's heart exploded a hundred and eighty times, "You are all dog-eyed and look down on us. The new season hasn't even started yet, and you think we are no good? fcuk them, they are rushing to flatter UN. What record do they have? They were fourth in the division two years ago and didn't even qualify for the world championship. Last year, they were eliminated in the first round of the world championship, while we were still able to reach the semifinals even though our main players were seriously injured. No matter the results or the willpower, how can they compare with my team?"

Paul smoked quietly and whispered, "They are not optimistic about NSD without A-Kan."

Zach sneered: "Akan is the only Ken God in the entire league. He is a ceiling existence, a rare genius, not a cabbage in the vegetable market."

Paul lit another cigarette, "If the sponsorship is lost, it's lost. Don't bother A Kan with these things. Let him rest and recover."

"I know. You don't need to tell me. But you have to tell me the truth. Do we have a chance to win the regular season next season?"

Although Caleb's hand injury surgery was successful, he basically couldn't stand on the court again. Zach felt panicked after seeing his cold face for so many days.

Paul is a down-to-earth person. He shook his head uncertainly, "Star is a newcomer with no competition experience. His skills and abilities cannot be compared to A-Kan, and he needs to practice his coordination as well."

*

After crying for a long time, Olivia's eyes were swollen like peaches. She finally stopped crying and invited Emily to have lunch with her.

After the meal, Emily left. She applied a cold eye patch to her eyes and sighed: "Thinking back to the time when I first saw Emily, I thought she was a rare treasure. Now she has grown up in the blink of an eye. She has also become a voice actor. The leading female role in the drama "Peach Blossoms" that I am following is voiced by Emily. How can it be such a coincidence?"

Leonard took a sip of tea slowly, "Since she likes you, how about letting her stay in our house?"

Olivia was startled and took off her eye patch, "You mean..."

"Akan has been in the competition circle and is either competing or training every day. His hand is injured again. I don't think he has the heart to fall in love or get married. Emily is compatible with you. She has a stable job and a gentle personality. Akan is soft-hearted and does not take hardship. Maybe the two of them will fall in love after a long time and live together."

Olivia thought it was a good idea, but she was also afraid that Caleb would bully Emily. "Emily is such a good child. If I want her to marry that ba5tard from our family, I'm afraid it will ruin the child and I will be sorry to Jun."

Leonard smiled slightly, "Now that we have contact, you can give it a try, maybe she is not opposed to it? She is a girl with no one to rely on, and she has come to me for three consecutive years. Maybe she is willing, but she is just shy. Although Akan is not a good person, he is talented and good-looking. He has saved some money over the years. He is of the same age and has no bad habits. She is not at a disadvantage. If you really feel bad about it, you can give her more houses and jewelry. A life of worry-free food and clothing for the rest of her life and a mother-in-law who loves her, such a marriage is already envied by many girls."

Wan'an Road is located in the old city of Yangcheng. The bus stop has not been maintained for several years. The curbstones are dilapidated and uneven. In addition to small advertisements, there are all kinds of chaotic graffiti on the bus stop sign. Few seats under the awning are good. The only one that can be sat on is obviously stained, and a few barbecue skewers are sticking out from the rusty metal chassis on the side.

A black Maybach that didn't fit in with the surroundings drove quietly over. The Maybach was long and fat, and could only move at a snail's pace on the narrow Qingyang Road, which was an insult to the car's performance and brand.

A skinny calico wild cat was lying and dozing in the bushes. When it heard the sound, it opened its eyes lazily and licked its paws.

The driver's door opened, and the driver in formal attire got out and respectfully opened the back door.

The Cheng family took back the jade token, and Emily felt relieved after three years of worrying about it. The old things should be forgotten. She just had to treat it as if there was no child marriage and interact with the Cheng family naturally.

It was obvious that Aunt Jane really liked her, and Emily was also happy to learn more about her mother's youth from her.

Emily slept very soundly that night. In the morning, she woke up to the chirping of insects and birds outside the window. She opened her eyes and saw the scorching sun casting shadows across the curtains. It was almost eleven o'clock.

Emily stretched comfortably, got out of bed, washed up and ordered takeout.

Not long after, there was a knock on the door.

Emily saw the delivery guy through the peephole and opened the door, but she didn't expect that Olivia was standing next to the guy.

Olivia looked at the takeaway boxes from the breakfast shop and noticed that Emily was a little embarrassed. She smiled and said, "You young people work hard every day, so you should sleep a little longer when you have a break. I also loved sleeping in when I was young. My kid plays e-sports, and everyone on his team is a night owl. They only get up at lunch time, and they train while others sleep, reversing their days and nights."

"I remember you love dumplings, so I made some for you. Try them and see if they still taste the same as when you were a kid."

Olivia grew up abroad, but she is good at making delicious Chinese food, especially dumplings, which have thin skin, large fillings, and rich juices.

Emily felt warm in her heart. Since her mother passed away, she had never felt the care from her elders.

She took a bite of the dumpling and said, "It's better than those sold outside. I haven't eaten such delicious dumplings in many years. Thank you."

Olivia smiled and said: "I like it. From now on, mom..."

"I will cook for you every day from now on."

Emily ate her dumplings and nodded, not paying much attention to her slip of the tongue.

"Emily, do you still remember that brat from my family? He formed a team to play games. He had already received an offer from the University of Munich, but he returned to China to play games. I was almost mad at him."

Olivia paused.

"......Ahem, but he didn't waste his time, he won several world championships, and he looks decent. I didn't know playing games was so hard before, training fourteen or fifteen hours a day, suffering from all kinds of occupational diseases at a young age, and yet so many people try their best to get in every year."
 
Perhaps it's a common problem for mothers. When talking about her own child, Olivia couldn't help complaining, "Most of his friends are boys. He's 26 or 27 years old, but he still doesn't have a girlfriend. Your uncle Cheng and I had children late, and his friends show off their grandchildren every day, which makes him jealous and keeps talking to me every day."

"Emily, do you have a boyfriend now?"

Emily's heart skipped a beat and she had a vague premonition.

Olivia is a very nice person and treats her even better, so she can't lie to him.

"not yet."

Olivia was overjoyed. Although her husband repeatedly told her to take it slow, Emily was her favorite child since she was young.

The more I watch it, the more I like it.

I can't help it.

"Do you want to be my daughter-in-law?"