She arrived at the foot of the village after feeling like her brain got displaced. She was dropped at the entrance of the village. She didn’t want to cause too much noise; the house was only a few hundred meters away anyway.

The provincial air was clean and the atmosphere was peaceful. She took in a deep breath of the fresh air, immediately feeling better.

In the little village, she could hear the clucking of chickens, the barking of the dogs, and the chattering of the aunties. Mixed with these were the sounds made by televisions turned at high volume by old men with hearing problems, as well as the laughter of children not yet old enough to go to school.

She walked forward and gathered many stares. They did not recognize her at all. After all, Nadia left when she was a child. Even if Nadia did visit at some point, the image and atmosphere were definitely very different from Naia’s.

She took her time to walk along the village. The houses here were quite far apart, each household with a lot of open space in between.

The houses were mostly made of bricks and tile roofs (after the citizens renovated them), though rudimentarily finished, while the auxillary buildings such as livestock houses still used the older styles using wood posts and straw roofs.

Her grandmother’s house was at the edge of the village, but it was one of the more well-off ones.

Although Melinda, Nadia’s mother, had neglected her, it was wholly rooted out of love. On one side, it was to provide Nadia a good life in the future while making sure she was emotionally raised well during her foundational years.

On the other side, it was because Melinda truly loved her Houser.

She didn’t know what kind of sweet words the sperm donor spouted but while he was out there socializing and womanising, Melinda willingly took over all the backbreaking work, all the way until she died.

Thinking about this, Naia really wanted to fleece that damned sperm donor. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the time yet.

She took a deep breath of fresh air again, feeling herself a bit calmer.

Her green eyes landed on the nice property at the edge of the village. The stone and tile bungalow was protected by a concrete fence that supported vines.

There were also clucking chickens at the front yard, protected by a very arrogant rooster. At this time, the fat chickens were surrounding an old woman, who was gently throwing some plant scraps near them to feed.

For a while, Naia stood there without making any more sounds. The old woman appeared much older than she remembered, which was natural as it had been ten years already, except it felt like the old woman had aged more than 20 years instead.

Because of the agreement with her father, Nadia had not been able to send many messages and calls to this grandmother. Except for a few letters sporadically exchanged between them, there was no other contact.

Those few letters she received were always full of love, care, and a genuine wish for happiness. Seeing the old woman’s hunched back, tears welled in her eyes.

The emotions she felt were like a wave, making her unable to stop her tears. Was this body’s memories or was she so empathic?

The old woman eventually felt an intense stare on her and turned, immediately shooting up. Her knees were quite strong, showing that she at least had decent exercise.

"Nadia?" the old woman called out, her feet already bringing her over. Naia was a bit surprised that she got recognized so quickly. A lot has changed in 10 years, and even more when Naia arrived and took over.

Grandma quickly washed her hands and ran to her, while Naia shortened the distance significantly by appearing right next to the door.

"Oh, my child..." the old woman said, gently stretching her arms to take Naia into her embrace.

"I missed you grandma, too..." she whispered, embracing her back, and she really meant it.

...

While she embraced her grandmother, she could feel curious gazes at the side. She blinked when she saw it was three little dumplings around four or five years old.

There was even a friendly mutt right next to them. The canine seemed to have a smiley face and a tail that could serve as a fan.

At this time, they were staring at Naia and her grandmother while holding vegetables in their chubby arms. Very cute.

Grandma blinked and chuckled, forgetting that they were there. "Ah, this is Little Yaya, Little Mimi, and Little Riri," she said. "They’re my brother’s grandchildren."

Naia nodded. She vaguely remembered that her granduncle lived right next door.

Grandma took the baskets from the children and thanked them for their help, handing them another basket with vegetables, as well as a kilogram of rice from inside the house.

Their milky voices said their thanks and then their goodbyes before toddling away.

"They help me out on the farms. In exchange, during the off times of the day, I will teach them to read and write. If the job feels particularly laborious, I also add a few things."

Naia smiled, relieved. It was good that even without her or her mother, Grandma was doing well.

The two of them headed into the living room, which was really quaint, with simple wooden furniture with cushions grandma probably made herself. The rug, the furniture, and the curtains looked aged but were clean and neat, indicative of the care the house’s homemaker put into her home.

Naia found herself sitting comfortably on the sofa, with tea in front of her. Grandma sat beside her, holding her hand, staring at her face as if memorizing it.

There were so many things to talk about, and yet neither of them knew where to start.

Grandma wanted to know the life events she had missed, while Naia...wanted to figure out how to break the news of the apocalypse to her.

There was definitely a dissonance here, but did it matter? What mattered was that they were together again.