Chapter 215: Second Scene (Inverted V) This time, I will definitely make you...
"grandmother……"
"What's wrong, Xiaobao?"
"I'm so tired."
"Oh, you've been busy in the garden all day. Who wouldn't be tired? Okay, get up first. Hey, drink this bowl of soup."
"Hmm." The girl rubbed her eyes, yawned, got out of bed, and sat at the dining table. "But Grandma, you work in the vegetable garden every day, and you never seem tired."
She then placed He Yuezhe on the bedside cabinet and looked at the two of them quietly.
"Have you ever heard of reporting good news but not bad news, Xiaobao?" The old woman glanced at He Yuezhe, took a palm-leaf fan, and fanned the girl leisurely.
"Hey, grandma, where did you get so many weird sentences?" The girl sighed, picked up the bowl of soup and blew on it.
"Read!" the old woman said proudly. "Xiaobao, you've never heard of how beautiful and free our homeland was before cities appeared!"
"Beauty and freedom, what does that have to do with reading?" The girl tilted her head in confusion.
"Of course it does!" the old woman said. "Xiaobao, think about it. Once this home becomes beautiful, free, and peaceful, won't we no longer have to worry about how to survive every day? We can just lie back and relax, fan ourselves, and read a book."
"Yeah, that seems to make sense." The girl nodded and agreed. "But if this place was so good before, why did it become like this now?"
"This is the secret." The old woman covered her mouth with a palm-leaf fan and laughed.
"Grandma," the girl put down the soup bowl, hugged the old woman's arm, and said coquettishly, "Just tell me, I won't tell anyone else, really!"
"Hehe." The old woman still covered her mouth and smiled.
"grandmother!"
"Well, if you go to the vegetable garden with me every day and work there obediently instead of running around, I'll tell you."
"Grandma, I, I..."
"Why? Can't you do it?" The old woman raised her eyebrows and sighed helplessly, "Oh, I knew that our little treasure is a lively and active person. She will definitely not listen to her grandmother obediently. Maybe in the future, if something happens to her grandmother, she will also..."
"Grandma! How can you play such a joke?!" The girl quickly covered the old woman's mouth.
"Hmm?!" The old woman pulled the girl's hand away from her mouth. "What kind of joke is this?"
"That's right, I just said some bad things, grandma, I, I..."
"Xiaobao, grandma is telling you this seriously, this is not a joke."
"grandmother……"
"Xiaobao, you have to know that grandma is old and no one else wants her. She can only survive until now because there is a grandma named Sun who is her friend and she can do some odd jobs for her."
“…”
"But Xiaobao, grandma doesn't have any tokens. I can't exchange them for immortality. Maybe one day, grandma will fall asleep and you won't be able to wake her up."
"That's not the case..."
"Xiaobao, I know you're a good kid, but if you can't concentrate on your work, let alone simple, non-dangerous work like the vegetable garden, you're young. If the manager of those high-risk jobs takes a fancy to you, you could be in danger if you're not careful in those places."
"I'm sorry, grandma..."
"Don't feel sorry for me," the old woman gently took the girl's hand and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Xiaobao, you never need to feel sorry for grandma."
"But, grandma, if I were more capable, if I could become the manager of those high-risk jobs, then we wouldn't have to think about these bad things."
The girl's eyes sparkled and her tone was firm, as if the fantastic things she was talking about were within her reach.
“…” The old woman was surprised and stunned for a moment, unable to speak.
"Grandma, do you believe me?" the girl held the other girl's hand and asked in a childish voice.
"I……"
"I know that no matter what decision I make, grandma will support me and believe in me!" The girl smiled cheerfully.
"Yes, yes, Xiaobao is right," the old woman finally came to her senses. "No matter what decision Xiaobao makes, grandma will always support her and believe in her..."
“…regardless of life or death.”
He Yuezhe saw tears glistening in the old woman's eyes.
"Hmm? Grandma, did you say something just now?"
"Oh, no, no, nothing. Xiaobao, drink this bowl of soup and take a rest."
"Grandma exchanged this bowl of soup for tokens, so you should drink it yourself. When I can earn tokens myself, I will buy it myself."
“…”
"Grandma, I love you."
“…”
"Goodnight, Grandma!"
"...Good night, Xiaobao."
“…”
“…”
"Xiaobao, this time, I will definitely let you grow up well."
"grandmother……?"
"Believe me."
“…”
“…”
"Good morning, Xiaobao."
"Grandma, why did you get up so early today?"
"Someone said they didn't have fried pork noodles last night and were in a bad mood."
“I don’t have any!”
"Oh, no, no, then I'll eat this bowl by myself..."
"Thank you grandma, I love you!"
"snort."
"hey-hey."
"Okay, have you decided on names for your puppets? Now that we have two, we can't just keep calling them both puppets like before, right?"
"Well, I was so busy before that I forgot about it!"
"Hey, I thought you didn't want to take it."
"Why don't you want to take it?"
"Because many people think that dolls are just made by people, they don't need names."
"Why? As long as something exists, it should have a name. Just like humans are our names, dolls are also their names."
"Then how do you tell the two of them apart?" the old woman laughed when she heard this.
"How about one named Xiaoliu and the other Xiaosu?" said the girl.
"Xiao Liu, Xiao Su?"
"Yes, Grandma, this doll is made of tassel tree, so it's a perfect name for it!"
"...You're just clever. So be it."
"It hurts! Grandma, you hit my forehead again!"
"What do you mean by knock? I just want to see if this clever little head can dodge!"
"snort!"
"Okay, it's getting late. Go to the vegetable garden and ask Grandma Sun if there are any strange people here today."
"Oh, I see."
“…”
“…”
"Hey, you really don't say anything?"
“…”
"I talked about that yesterday and she almost found out, and you just didn't respond at all?"
He Yuezhe was held in the old woman's hand, staring at her intently without blinking.
"Don't try to scare me by pretending to be dead. You know me, her grandmother, am an expert at making puppets. I can tell whether a puppet has heard something or is awake just by looking at it."
"you……"
"Ouch!"
"grandmother?!"
"Ouch."
"Grandma, what's wrong with you?"
"Nothing, just a headache. Go ahead and don't worry about me. I'll come find you in a bit."
"That won't do!"
"Go ahead, it's really okay with me."
"Oh well……"
“…”
"Phew, I almost got caught! You have to remember, I stole you. We're short on time. If you have anything to say, hurry up!"
“…”
"Hey, don't be silent!"
"What exactly do you want to do?" He Yuezhe asked the old woman in front of him who was smiling awkwardly.
"It's not a big deal, I just want to ask you for a favor."
"What's the matter?"
"Can you...take care of my granddaughter in my place?"
"...Why?" He Yuezhe frowned.
"Well, that's hard to explain. Anyway, just tell me whether you agree or not. If you don't, I'll have to rebuild you. I can't let someone who doesn't know where they came from stay with my granddaughter."
The old woman in front of him, his grandmother, didn't seem to know who she was, but she knew that she didn't belong to this doll's body.
"Are you going to die?" He Yuezhe couldn't think of any other answer, so he just asked.
"You!?" the old woman asked in horror, "How did you know?!"
"..." He Yuezhe put his finger against her mouth and asked, "Why do you want to die?"
"...You'd better not ask. These are secrets. I can't tell you." The old woman said, "Answer me. Do you agree or not?"
“…”
"Not talking again?"
"I promise."
"Is it a deal?"
"It's a deal."
“…”
"How did you know you were going to die?"
“…I’ve already said these are secrets.”
"What would happen if you didn't die?"
“…There will be terrible consequences.”
"But you should know that if you die you will come back to life."
"How do you know this?!"
"Why don't you stay by her side and take care of her yourself?"
“…” The old woman looked at He Yuezhe, who had an innocent face, with complicated eyes.
"You obviously love her very much." He Yuezhe continued.
“…”
"Think about it seriously."
“…”
The old woman quietly put He Yuezhe back into the girl's backpack.
The old woman's face was deeply imprinted in her mind, and in the darkness, she couldn't help but think of her grandmother again.
The relative who was willing to die for her.
The scene of large patches of blood dyeing the vegetable fields red, pieces of meat and internal organs being cut open, put into a blender one by one, minced into meat paste, then stuffed into intestines and buried in the soil is still vivid in my mind.
Although I don’t know what this “grandmother”’s plan is, pain and loneliness have never been nutrients for growth. They are just a dose of deadly poison that helps one to survive among the densely packed corpses.
"Xiao Su, what are you thinking about?" The girl, with mud on her face, suddenly came over with a smile.
He Yuezhe looked at the girl's bright smile, a smile she rarely had since her grandmother died.
She said sincerely, "You look very beautiful when you smile."
"Really? My grandma said so too." The girl smiled even more happily.
"Yes."
“Ding-ling-ling——”
"Well, speaking of grandma," the bell rang, signaling break time. The girl immediately picked up He Yuezhe and sat on a rock, musing, "Grandma has been saying some very strange things to me these past few days."
"Xiao Su, what do you think is the reason why one person always talks to another about topics like 'growth' and 'life and death'?"
"I have no idea."
“…”
He Yuezhe thought that the girl already knew the answer to her question.
"I don't know, that's good too, isn't it?" He Yuezhe heard the girl say, "Well, it would be good if I didn't know either..."
"Hello! You're late! Now I'll give you the quest you need to complete in this world, which is the wish of the quest recipient in this world!"
“…”
"Xiao Su, am I going to be alone again?"
"Growing up with the girl."
“…”
"No. It won't."
"Really?"
"Really, because you still have me."
“…”
“…”
"Is that so? That's good, that's good..."
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The author has something to say: It would be great if there really was a magic spell that could bring immortality in this world.
He Yuezhe sometimes thinks this way.
That way...
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