"Anyway, I was ten years old when my mother died. Sangsang's family and my family were neighbors, and I often went over to help Grandpa look after Sangsang while he went out to sell vegetables. My tenth birthday was celebrated together with Sangsang's sixth birthday. Grandpa cooked two bird eggs for each of us. Later... my mother died, and Grandpa's health deteriorated, so we stopped celebrating birthdays..."
Lin Yi's voice was unusually low, but Ningxia could tell it was not because of his mother, but because of Sangsang's grandfather.
"How did grandpa die?"
"Every winter, Grandpa would go hunting with the city guards and have meat soup to drink. Last winter, Grandpa was injured while hunting, and his health deteriorated after he came back, which is when he died."
Ningxia Liaoran: In winter, when food is scarce, those living in the outermost areas would join the hunting teams. They'd help carry the game and retrieve it from the filthy traps. She'd gone a few times at first, each time exhausting her for a tiny scrap of meat. But then... after discovering Moguan Mountain, she stopped going. Grandpa Sangsang was injured, and with no medicine or doctors, a minor infection could easily kill him.
Ningxia couldn't imagine how the two children had managed to survive from the winter after Sangsang's grandfather passed away until she met them the following spring. "Sangsang is nine years old now, so he should be able to remember things. How could he have forgotten his grandfather?"
Lin Yi caressed Sangsang's sleeping face. "Sister Xia Xia, you should be able to tell that Sangsang's brain isn't working very well... Grandpa said that after the flood receded, an epidemic broke out. Sangsang had a high fever, and after being rescued, she became like this. We asked a doctor to see her at the time, and he said that Sangsang's intelligence might be affected. After Grandpa passed away, Sangsang fell ill again, and when she woke up, she forgot a lot of things..."
Ningxia pinched Sangsang's little arm. "It's not a bad thing. I don't think she's that stupid. She even knows how to act cute and ask me for jam."
Hearing Ningxia say this, Lin Yi did not respond, but just smiled quietly. Listening to Sangsang's shallow breathing, he felt soft in his heart.
"Go to sleep."
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