Valentina Petrovna was approaching her apartment building. Elderly ladies on a bench were discussing a car that had recently parked nearby.
“Who’s it for?” Valentina asked them. “We’re not informed!” one of the grandmothers replied. “Probably for Masha. Expensive cars like that don’t come to us old folks.” “Only ambulances come to us!” another elderly lady added.
The neighbors talked a bit more among themselves, discussing the authorities and all the gossip. Then Masha, for whom the expensive car had come, appeared. She went about her business, ignoring the neighbors and the car parked on the lawn. Valentina Petrovna hurried back home.
“Valentina Petrovna?” a man said, seeing her on the staircase. “Do you remember me? We talked a couple of days ago. I’m your relative.” “Ah, Alexey!” she recognized him. “Why didn’t you warn me that you were coming to visit? Is that your car on the lawn?” “Well, yes.” “Then go and move it before people start helping! Imagine, parking your car on the flowers!”
The relative quickly went outside, and Valentina Petrovna went to make some tea. She needed to sell her apartment and didn’t want to leave the neighbors with a damaged lawn.
Her uncle and his son had visited her a long time ago. Since then, relatives hadn’t shown interest in each other. And now, the younger one showed up! But something about him repelled Valentina Petrovna. He smoked a lot. Though still young, his teeth were already yellow. Good that he came, though. The woman decided not to hire a realtor to sell the apartment. It was better to pay her nephew, but he refused the money.
It turned out that Valentina was left alone in her old age, without a husband or children. She wanted to move closer to the countryside. The fresh air was much better than having to descend from the fourth floor every time. She had a garden in the village. While she still had the strength, she would plant vegetables for herself. By the end of autumn, a buyer for the apartment was found.
“Let’s start selling in the spring,” Valentina Petrovna decided, wanting to postpone the purchase of a house. “But houses will be more expensive in the spring!” the nephew objected. “When it’s cold, it’s easier to check the heating. Plus, there’s a buyer now. What if they back out later?” “But I haven’t found a house yet! Where will I live? Let’s find the house, then we’ll sell the apartment,” Valentina Petrovna sighed. Alexey agreed.
It didn’t take long to wait. A few days later, the relative found some suitable housing options. After viewing the liked houses, they headed to the village. Valentina Petrovna was slightly disappointed. All the houses needed repairs. But the money from the apartment sale would be enough for both the house and the renovations.
Alexey knew about construction and could tell his aunt how much the building materials and labor would cost. He promised to help.
The elderly woman lamented: “It’s winter. I don’t want to deal with these renovations. I want to enter a house and live like normal people.” “I will help you!” the young man replied.
Valentina Petrovna was wary that her nephew was trying to quickly sell the apartment and buy her any house. However, she decided that Alexey wouldn’t benefit from this, and it was inconvenient for him to handle her sales. Thankfully, he agreed to help. Having chosen a house, the old lady set a date for the transaction.
The buyer and the notary arrived on time. Alexey made tea for everyone. The grandmother felt sad to sell her home. After all, she had lived her whole life here. But there was no turning back. The belongings were packed, and the deal was going through.
“Well, now we can move into the new house!” the nephew declared when the papers were signed. “Wait, right now? I haven’t even unpacked the dishes from the sideboard,” the elderly woman objected, but Alexey insisted on taking her today, claiming, “The buyer has nowhere to sleep tonight!”
“Fine, today then. I’ll just pack the dishes quickly,” agreed Valentina Petrovna.
Soon, they were driving on the highway in a truck. The grandmother began to yawn and fell into a deep sleep. Occasionally, consciousness returned, and she saw the road through the truck window, hearing the men talking among themselves.
“Grandma, can you hear me?” Alexey’s voice seemed distant. She lacked the strength to respond. “Let’s leave her here,” she heard upon regaining consciousness another time. Everything was like in a fog. They dumped the old lady right into a snowdrift. “She’ll die on her own,” Alexey said.
It dawned on Valentina Petrovna that her nephew had deceived her. Apparently, he had drugged her tea to make her sign the deed. Closing her eyes, she prepared to face death.
Meanwhile, a young woman observed the scene. Passing by the parked truck on the roadside, she thought the driver might need help and decided to slow down her car. However, she later saw the men carrying something from the truck towards the woods. A heavy snow was falling. The young woman became curious about why people would unload something in such weather on the highway. Could they be criminals?
After moving her car a bit and turning off the headlights, the girl prepared to wait. Just in case, she wrote down the car’s license plate number. When the strangers got back in their car and drove away, she hurried to the place where they had carried the bag. Finding an elderly woman, she checked her pulse. Alive! Though unconscious, the young rescuer immediately called her husband and informed him about the grandmother.
When her husband arrived, they carried the old woman to their car. On the way, Valentina Petrovna regained consciousness.
“Where am I?” she asked. “We found you,” replied Irina. “Do you remember how you ended up in the snow?” “Yes. I remember. My nephew and I were selling the apartment. Then we had tea. Oh, that tea… Alexey must have put something in it! Then we were driving to the village, and those two threw me into a snowdrift. My relative got rid of his aunt!” “Let me rub you down,” the girl offered, pulling out some cream from the first aid kit. “It’s warmer with you,” the grandmother smiled. “I would have been gone otherwise.”
Later, Irina’s family and Valentina Petrovna themselves went to the police. An investigation into the old woman’s case began. The young woman offered Valentina to stay with her and her husband for the time being. Life is unpredictable, and she needed a roof over her head while getting her apartment back.
A few weeks later, the elderly woman got her apartment back. Alexey and his accomplice were jailed for fraud. In the spring, as Valentina had planned, she sold the apartment and bought a house in the village. No repairs were needed, and the grandmother happily engaged in gardening. In the summer, she invited Irina and her husband over. The old woman never forgot the kindness of this family.