"Ziyi." Just as she turned the corner, a male voice suddenly came from behind her, calling her name.
Qiao Yan turned around and saw no one behind her except the brick-red incinerator and two white figures, one tall and one short.
She shuddered suddenly, feeling the alley was a little cold, and quickly quickened her pace.
But when she turned the corner, she glanced at the alley again. As if it were some kind of illusion, in the flying paper ashes, she saw that the taller figure seemed to have turned his head.
"!" Qiao Yan's heart skipped a beat and she immediately took a big step forward, hiding herself against the wall.
About a minute passed like this before she tentatively stuck her head out to look into the alley again.
The person is gone.
Qiao Yan hugged herself with her arms. The two people disappeared, leaving only the unburned paper money in the incinerator.
When the wind blew, one of the half-burned pieces of paper money with a few sparks floated in front of Qiao Yan as if it had life. She was so scared that she stomped on it several times and extinguished all the sparks.
-
Not long after Qiao Yan returned home, Master Yu came to her house. Although there was no peephole in the house, there was an old doorbell. The ding-dong sound brought Qiao Yan back to his senses while she was curled up on the sofa holding a cup of water.
Then came Master Yu's shout: "Girl, I, Old Yu, am here to change the locks."
Qiao Yan quickly put down the cup of water and opened the door with her hands that were now warm.
Old Yu was carrying a big black schoolbag. When he saw her open the door, he greeted her, put the bag on the ground and started to get tools.
His movements were quick and decisive, and Qiao Yan leaned against the wall to watch.
The noise of changing the lock was neither too loud nor too quiet. The noise was inevitable when the tools were used, which prompted Chen Meng from 404 to open the door and come out to take a look.
"Master Yu, are you here to change the locks?" Chen Meng also knew Old Yu, so she came over to say hello. Old Yu looked up and responded to her in his busy schedule.
After Chen Meng came out, she didn't rush back to the house, but stood with Qiao Yan and chatted.
Qiao Yan simply asked about the smell, and Chen Meng just nodded calmly: "You'll get used to it. There aren't many young people here, and most of the people living here are middle-aged and elderly. They're the only ones who still stick to some customs, like burning paper money on certain dates. I don't know how they remember so many dates."
"Someone has to remember." Lao Yu interrupted.
"Yes." Chen Meng had no intention of arguing with him. Qiao Yan thought it was a good thing for her to do so, because many times, the thoughts of older people are difficult to change.
Think about it, they have lived like this for most of their lives, how could they abandon the past just because of a few words from you?
So instead of advising them on what to do, it is better to let them go to avoid unnecessary arguments.
As the conversation went on, the topic turned to several nearby families.
"I really envy that family of three. They have a very good relationship. I hope that when I marry my boyfriend in the future, we can be as happy as this year after year." Chen Meng said, with obvious yearning in her eyes.
"I will." Qiao Yan replied indifferently.
The air no longer smelled of burning things, but it wasn't particularly fresh, and the wind had died down.
"Come to think of it, it seems like I haven't seen Grandpa Lu from Room 403 go out for a few days." Chen Meng looked at the door of Room 403 and suddenly asked, "Where did he go?"
Master Yu also looked up at 403 and said, "I remember he was alone. Where could he go?"
"Do you know him?" Qiao Yan asked.
"Not really an acquaintance. I fixed his plumbing a few times, went through the sewers, and we chatted." Master Yu shook his head. "I remember him saying he moved into 403 after separating from his wife years ago, and his only daughter also passed away."
"How miserable..." Chen Meng's eyes were red.
Following Master Yu's words, Qiao Yan glanced at the tightly closed door of Room 403. Just when a bad thought came to her mind, a burst of music came from inside.
It was the same thing she heard at noon.
"Ah, he's playing the erhu!" Chen Meng covered her mouth in surprise, then explained to Qiao Yan, "Grandpa Lu plays the erhu very well. Although he doesn't play it every day, you can hear his erhu music every now and then."
Qiao Yan nodded and said, "I heard it at noon."
"Ah?" Chen Meng was stunned when she heard her words: "Really? Why didn't I hear it?"
“…”
Qiao Yan felt like she couldn't breathe for a moment. Shouldn't Chen Meng, who lived in 404, hear the erhu sound coming from 403 more clearly than her?
"Did you really not hear it?" Qiao Yan asked with a somewhat forced smile.
Chen Meng glanced at her, then glanced to the upper right, as if reminiscing.
After a while, she shook her head: "Probably not? But I was taking a nap at the time, so I might not have heard it."
This explanation made Qiao Yan feel a little better. "Maybe he fell asleep and didn't hear it."
The matter passed so easily. Master Yu quickly replaced the lock. After trying it and finding that there was no problem, he collected the remaining price from Qiao Yan and left with his bag.
"Thank you. Be careful on the road." Qiao Yan said, and then Master Yu suddenly looked up and glanced at her quickly, then nodded.
"You too, little girl."
After Master Yu left, Chen Meng asked Qiao Yan what she wanted for dinner. The erhu music continued, and the tune was still very sad. Against this background, Qiao Yan shook her head and said that she couldn't cook and should go out to find food.
"Oh! Why don't you come to my house for dinner!" Hearing her say that, Chen Meng quickly arranged dinner for Qiao Yan tonight.
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