Prologue, looking back, it has been a hundred years.

Next to her, her great-grandson Du Minghan and his girlfriend are playing around. The girl is lively, and the old lady sometimes smiles at her, and she responds with a friendly smile. On the other hand, Du Minghan feels that his great-grandmother is confused and cannot understand anything, so he becomes more and more unrestrained in playing and joking with his girlfriend.

An elderly person walked unsteadily to the bedside, fumbled under the bed for a long time before pulling out a dusty wooden box. She carefully blew off the dust on it, then opened it with great care. Inside the wooden box was an ancient black and white photo album. She caressed the album with a proud smile, lowered her head, and began to flip through it page by page.

In the kitchen, Du Zhigang, the grandson of the elderly man, and his daughter-in-law Chen Jiuwen, were busy. Du Zhigang uncovered the pot, deeply sniffed, and sighed with satisfaction: "They say nothing is better than dumplings. But I feel that it must be specified that it is dumplings with sour cabbage filling. The more you drink, the better it tastes." Chen Jiuwen quickly picked up the dumplings and put them on a plate, then turned around and glared at him: "You're about to become a father-in-law, why don't you pay attention to your image?" Du Zhigang grinned. Having worked as a furnace worker at Angang for many years, he had a strong and sturdy physique. The stubble on his face was more noticeable when he smiled.

This house is an extremely dilapidated factory worker's building. The walls around are painted with gray-white paint, and the cement floor is covered with cold and hard floor leather, which has cracked seams around. The room is furnished with old-fashioned furniture from the 1980s and 1990s. Except for this European-style leather sofa, everything in the room shows that the owner of the house is not wealthy. The TV facing the sofa is even a 21-inch Hitachi color TV purchased with a ticket in 1983. The whole family queued up all night to get the TV ticket from a friend. Except for this European-style leather sofa, everything in the room shows that the owner of the house is not wealthy. The TV facing the sofa is even a 21-inch Hitachi color TV purchased with a ticket in 1983. The family queued up all night to get the TV ticket from a friend. The twenty-odd stacks of ten-yuan bills exchanged for more than a decade of good memories, which was worth it.

Du Zhigang set up a table in a corner of the living room, placed several plates of dumplings and dishes, and arranged soy sauce and garlic paste. He turned around and called everyone to eat: "Come and have some dumplings, tonight's dumpling filling has three catties of meat!"

The tense crowd suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, and Du Zhigang casually pushed the dining table forward. He grinned and appeased the old lady, "Grandma, it's okay. You've been nagging about this little thing for a lifetime. Let's not investigate whether it's true or false." Chen Jiuwen also smiled and went to the kitchen to be busy, not forgetting to tease Du Zhigang, "I thought your old Du family was hiding some treasures from me."

In the kitchen with the door open, Du Zhigang said to his wife, "I think Grandma's senile dementia has worsened. Why haven't I heard our father mention it?" Chen Jiuwen impatiently tidied up the dishes and utensils, swiftly and without looking back, said, "She always says that your family comes from a wealthy household. Honestly, if your Du family were really wealthy, would we have been living in this rundown house for over twenty years?"

The old man slowly lifted his head and looked at his great-grandson with a bitter smile on his rough eyebrows and eyes, "Yes, I forgot, we are surnamed Du..."

Du Zhigang nodded: "Shh, let's not talk about it. Grandma doesn't have many days left. Let's treat her well and let her live out her life without regrets." Chen Jiuwen nodded and let out a long sigh: "If you ask me, it would be better to just die suddenly in your seventies. It's better than living in confusion and suffering."

In the winter of 2000, Anshan, Liaoning Province, was covered in heavy snow.

Du Minghan immediately stood up from the bed, snapped to attention and saluted: "Reporting to the superior, without any accidents, our family has been poor farmers for eight generations. My great-grandfather worked in a coal mine at the steel plant, my grandfather operated a lathe at the steel plant, my father melted steel in front of the furnace at the steel plant, and I operate an overhead crane at the steel plant. Our family has always been upright and honest!"

Du Minghan hugged his girlfriend and returned to his room, lying on the bed. He patiently explained to her, "Did I scare you just now? That's just how my grandma is. She has some mental problems, but it's nothing serious." The person in his arms still seemed to be frightened and asked, "When we get married, will your grandma live with us?"

He is content with such a life. He has a grandmother who is over a hundred years old, a son who is about to get married, and a daughter-in-law who is a good person with a sharp tongue but a tender heart. It seems that if life continues to be so peaceful, he can close his eyes with satisfaction even after another twenty years.

She finally felt a little tired, turned around and glanced at the European leather sofa with cracked skin. It was the gift she gave when her grandson got married, and it has been used for almost twenty years.

During the 1980s, when domestic supplies were still very scarce, she couldn't even buy a decent wedding gift for her grandson without a furniture coupon. So she secretly pawned her last two gold earrings to an old carpenter in the countryside. The carpenter had heard of such things but had never seen one before, so he asked her to draw a picture of it. A week later, she brought a sketch drawn from memory, and it took the carpenter two full months to figure out how to make it. He made a sofa that looked similar to the sketch. When it was delivered to the granddaughter-in-law's house, it added a lot of face to the groom's family. Seeing the shy smile on the granddaughter-in-law's face, she finally smiled with relief.

So everyone shook their heads and dispersed, each busy with their own affairs. Only the lonely old man bypassed the steaming hot sour cabbage dumplings and walked back to his room alone.

The elderly person seemed not to have heard his grandson's boasting. He hobbled towards the television, and his legs seemed to give way as he knelt in front of it with a thud. He carefully touched the image of the Tong family's old mansion on the TV screen, inch by inch. He listened closely to the reporter's voice, which had been altered by the crowd, as he leaned his ear against the TV speaker.

Du Minghan chuckled foolishly: "There are plenty of people surnamed Tong, but that doesn't prove she is the young miss of the Tong family." Mu Tingting, seemingly reminded of something, asked again: "What if something unexpected happens?"

The old man suddenly turned his head and said to everyone, "Here, right here! This is my home, the old house I told you about is right here."

The elderly person continued to stare at the Tong family's old house on the TV screen, completely oblivious to his grandson's teasing. His great-grandson Minghan walked over and helped his great-grandmother up, saying, "Great-grandmother, that definitely isn't our house. Our family name is Du. Stop searching around and let's quickly eat the dumplings before they get cold."

Page 1: A girl dressed in a flag costume with a small braid stands in front of her parents, who are dressed in Qing Dynasty noble attire, smiling. Behind them is the old Tong family mansion that once appeared on TV, covered by peach blossoms.

Du Minghan nodded and said, "This is necessary. As long as Grandma Tai is in good health, we should live together. When my grandfather passed away, he told my father to take good care of Grandma Tai, saying that her life has not been easy. Not only my father takes care of her, but I also have to take care of her." In response to this, Mu Tingting, who was obviously dissatisfied, asked again, "So is your grandmother really surnamed Tong? She always mentions the Tong family. Is it her maiden family?"

The elderly person exhaled a warm glow onto the window covered in ice, and silently laughed while looking at the city where she had lived for decades. She had grown accustomed to these snowy days, as if all of her past memories had been buried under the ground by the snow, leaving no trace to be found.

All of a sudden, the door of the old man's room slammed shut. The people inside the house abruptly stopped talking and looked up in confusion at the tightly closed door, stunned.

This is an unprecedented heavy snowfall in 50 years, causing traffic to come to a standstill and cities to be paralyzed. Pedestrians hurriedly walked home. Fortunately, everyone is accustomed to blizzards and even joked with familiar friends whether they have turned into ice popsicles.

The elderly person, who appeared to be very old, had seen enough of the scenery outside and slowly shuffled back to the sofa. Soon, she was drawn to the news on the television and struggled to watch the screen, as if she had discovered some kind of treasure.

At this moment, the not-so-large TV screen in the living room is broadcasting a news report. The scene of the auction is crowded and noisy, and the journalist's voice is drowned out by the commotion. The old man leans forward, straining to hear, and finally manages to make out the reporter's coverage amidst the crowd: "Our station reports that the largest auction of Shanghai's old houses is about to begin in Shanghai. It is understood that the most eye-catching among all the auctioned old houses is the former residence of Tong Hongshi, a cabinet scholar during the Xuantong period. This old house, which has a history of a hundred years and combines Chinese and Western styles, is a product of the strong feudal consciousness of the Chinese extended family that has been alienated after being impacted by Western culture. It has significant research and preservation value. Once the auction officially begins, the bidding process will prioritize protection as the premise."

Du Zhigang and Chen Jiuwen, who was wiping his hands with an apron, looked at each other. Du Minghan, their great-grandson, also approached his great-grandmother with his girlfriend. He curiously observed her abnormal behavior. The room immediately fell silent, with only the sound from the television continuing.

Du Zhigang grinned and said, "She's always confused. She hasn't been clear-headed for many years." Chen Jiuwen put soy sauce and vinegar in Du Zhigang's arms and gestured with his hand, "We're getting old. When we got married, she was such an energetic old lady. How did she become so confused now?"

A withered hand gently caressed the smile at the corner of the girl's mouth, and a drop of turbid tear fell onto the photographic paper.

A heavy snowfall has covered this heavy industry city in Northeast China with a beautiful silver coat. Pedestrians wrapped themselves tightly in down jackets, military coats, and scarves, exhaling white mist from their mouths. The mist spread on their faces and froze into ice beads hanging on their eyebrows and eyelashes, sparkling and crystal clear.