"She just brought the child inside, not sure if she’s fallen asleep. Why don’t you co in and sit down first, I’ll go and check," said Mr. He as he stepped aside to let Mrs. Lan into the house, then headed towards He Zhilan’s room. At the door, he softly called out, "Zhilan, are you asleep? Lan Li’s mother is here to see you, she wants to et you."
Inside, He Zhilan was taken aback for a mont. She responded, then went to open the door. When she walked into the living room, she saw Lan Li’s mother sitting on a chair.
"Did I disturb your rest? Can I have a mont of your ti so we can talk alone?" Mrs. Lan asked.
He Zhilan wasn’t particularly willing, but seeing that she remained silent, Mr. He urged her, "Go on, I’ll watch the child. It’s just that the weather is hot outside, if you want to talk, find a cooler spot to chat slowly."
Only then did He Zhilan nod in agreent, and she followed Mrs. Lan out of the house and down the stairs.
In the sweltering midday heat of the capital, stepping out of the stairwell, the overwhelming hot air nearly knocked He Zhilan out. Seeing this, Mrs. Lan quickly found a shaded spot and stopped, picking up a discarded newspaper to spread on a tree stump, gesturing for He Zhilan to sit, "I heard from Bian Muhe that you’re not in the best of health right now."
"And what do you want to say to ?" He Zhilan didn’t stand on ceremony and sat down on the newspaper Mrs. Lan had laid out.
Mrs. Lan shook her head and smiled, "To be honest, I’m still your aunt, you know. When I first saw you, I felt a peculiar sense of familiarity. Now that I think about it, you do resemble Lan Li’s grandmother. I’ve never t her, only seen so yellowed photos of her in a military uniform from when she was young. You look remarkably like her, no wonder the old man mistook you for her. This morning at the hospital, he must have frightened you, right?"
He Zhilan nodded, "It was alright." Perhaps due to becoming a mother, He Zhilan now faced the Lan Family with less sharpness than before. She had beco too indifferent to resort to verbal sarcasm when eting people from the Lan Family and the Gu Family, treating them as unseen strangers, simply passing by.
"Since Old Master Gu passed away, the old man has been without a companion, spending his days alone in the countryside, often talking to himself as if Old Master Gu was still there with him. He talks to the air repeatedly, sotis speaking to the belongings of Old Master Gu about their shared past—childhood pranks, battles fought as young n, and places they visited in their old age. He would recount these mories over and over. Later, when Grandma Gu also moved to the countryside to retire, the old man’s conversational subject changed to her. During that period, his condition was erratic. Sotis he recognized people, sotis no one at all, only rembering to look for Lan Li’s grandmother."
He Zhilan didn’t interrupt Mrs. Lan, quietly listening as she spoke about Old Master Lan.
To be honest, Old Master Lan was sowhat unfamiliar to He Zhilan. Her impression of him was mostly stuck on the cheerful, carefree elder at her remarriage banquet with He Teng.
But even with that unfamiliarity, the identity of an additional grandfather always drew He Zhilan’s attention to him.
Seeing Old Master Lan that morning, aside from fear, He Zhilan mostly felt an inexplicable sense of desolation, as if witnessing withered grass in winter.
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