He recognized the old man at first glance, probably because they were really alike, and in comparison, Aunt Su in the middle seemed to be an outlier.

When the old man went out, he seemed to have forgotten to bring an umbrella, and his steps were a little hurried, and he slipped down in the rain, although he didn't slip, but the plastic bag she was carrying in her hand was broken, and the apples inside rolled to the ground.

One of them rolled to his feet.

He bent down to pick it up, walked over quickly, and crouched down to help pick up the apples. Seeing that the basket that the old man was carrying in his other hand was already full, he thought for a moment, lifted the hem of his trench coat, and pocketed them in.

"Young man, there's mud on the apple. The old man, who was meeting him for the first time, watched his movements and reminded.

When he faced this old man, he felt a little timid and apprehensive for some reason, and he didn't know how to answer for a while, so he could only whisper: "It's okay, wipe it and it will be clean." As he spoke, he used his other hand to pick up all the remaining apples. After doing this, he carried the pile of apples in one hand, picked up the umbrella placed aside in the other, covered the head of the old man who was slowly standing up straight, and said, "I...... Will I send you home?"

He was a little worried about being rejected.

Fortunately......

The old man just glanced at him, then showed a kind smile, nodded and said, "Then thank you." ”

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"I ...... Carry the basket for you. ”

"Then I'm not going to be polite to you. ”

In this way, with an apple in one hand and a basket in the other, he followed the old man who walked slowly with an umbrella. While walking, he noticed that the old man's leg seemed to be injured, and his posture was a little unnatural when he walked. As if sensing his gaze, the old man looked down at his legs, and said with a smile: "The old problem is sick, and it hurts badly on a rainy day." It seems that the rainy season will continue for a while, so I only bought so many things this time, and I have stocked them up, so that I don't have to go out for a while. ”

“…… Well. He hesitated and whispered, "Or, you...... Hold my arm. ”

When the old man heard this, he glanced sideways at him.

He held his breath like a prisoner waiting for a verdict.

"Then I'm not welcome, old woman. ”

The old man raised his hand.

He walked slower and more steadily.

In the rain curtain, he carried the weight of the old man, a basket, and a bag of apples, and walked slowly. He suddenly wondered if she had done what he had done now, and if what he was doing was really what she had done, then, in a sense, they had been together, right?

Her home is a very large house, which seems to be a little old, but she can still vaguely see the background of the past.

"Sit down, young man, and I'll go find a towel to wipe your clothes. ”

“…… Good. ”

He watched the old man walk slowly into the room, put down what he was holding, and did not sit down, but looked around the room. His eyes finally fell on a picture frame next to the TV stand, in which was the old man and her, and she was lying on the old man's shoulder, smiling very brightly, her eyebrows and eyes crooked.

He stared blankly at her in the frame, as if he had crossed time and space, and looked at her again. He's grown up, and she's still the same as when he first saw her. …… No, as far back as he could remember, he really had never seen her smile so brightly.

"That's my granddaughter. ”

At some point, the old man had already walked up behind him and explained in a low voice.

“……”

He turned around, feeling embarrassed that he had been caught peeping.

The old man didn't say anything, just handed him the slightly wet hot towel in his hand: "Come, young man, wipe it." ”

He let out an "oh", then subconsciously picked it up and wiped his face.

“…… This is for you to wipe your clothes. ”

“……”

He was a little helpless to "take" the towel off his face, and after a moment of confusion, he quickly began to bow his head to wipe his clothes, and then he heard the old man's low laughter. He suddenly became more confused, and then he heard her ask himself-

"Young man, you're an outsider, aren't you?"

“…… Well, yes. ”

"What are you going to do here?"

"I ...... Come and find someone. He said in a low voice.

"Did you find it?"

Hearing this, he subconsciously wanted to answer "no", but in the next second, he turned his head to look at the photo frame again, looked at the "image of her" that had been stored in his memory for a long time, nodded, and replied, "Found it." ”

"Yes......" the old man smiled slightly, "it's not too early, let's stay for lunch." ”

"Huh?"

"What, what's next for you?"

"No, no, no. He stayed in surprise and surprise.

"I'm old and don't have enough energy, so you can do me a favor. ”

“…… Good. ”

He doesn't actually know how to cook at all, but under the guidance of the old man, it's still okay to wash and cut vegetables. Especially the latter, the old man praised him and said, "The knife work is very good, have you practiced it before?", he struggled for a while, but he didn't say the sentence "I have really practiced before, but I just practiced the ground to cut people".

The old man was very good at cooking, and his movements were smooth, and he watched carefully from the sidelines.

When served, he especially liked the plate of crisp raw cucumbers and lotus roots.

The old man looked at him who frequently played chopsticks, and he didn't know what he thought, and his eyes were full of smiles: "My granddaughter also likes to eat this." ”

"......" His chopsticks paused, and his heart was sour, no matter what, they could be regarded as having something in common.

"Later, I'll pretend to be some for you to take away. ”

"Is that okay?"

"There's nothing you can't do. The old man smiled and said, "When my granddaughter was studying, every time I came home, I would pack some for her to take back to school." She was happy at first, and later ...... Gradually, I don't want to bring it. ”

"Don't you like it?"

"It's for fear of being disliked. ”

“……”

"Look, I'm telling you what to do. The old man shook his head self-deprecatingly and sighed slightly, "When people are old, they talk a lot, do you have old people at home?"

"Yes. He nodded, "There's a grandfather." ”

"If you have time, spend more time with him. When people get older, sleep less, and have more free time, they especially hope that their children can be with them more. ”

"......," he hesitated, and asked, "hasn't your granddaughter been back for a long time?"

"yes, she's always busy. ”

For a moment, he wanted to say, "Then I'll stay with you for a few more days," but he couldn't help it. In what capacity did he stay? There was no position at all. And if he really said such a thing, I am afraid that the old man in front of him will not only not be happy, but will also drive him out.

After the meal, he got up to say goodbye, and the old man gave him a box of things and sent him to the door.

He propped up the umbrella, and after saying goodbye seriously, he heard her say behind him, "It's too dark, the road is too dark, young man, you go slowly." His nose was sour, and for some reason he felt a little sad, which drove him to turn his head and say impulsively, "Next time if I have time, I'll come to see you again." The old man was slightly stunned, and then showed an extremely beautiful smile, and at this moment, the traces of vicissitudes left on her face for a long time seemed to disappear.

He suddenly wondered if she had remained with the old man, would she have remained the way she had been, or would she have become more and more like the graceful and dignified old man.

When he got into the car from the town to the city, he opened the box in his hand and saw that it contained several bottles of green melon and white lotus root, in addition to a photo.

He froze in place for a long time before he carefully picked up the photo with trembling fingers and put it to his heart.

It turned out that his lying skills were really that bad.

It turned out that the old man had already guessed a qiē.

But there was nothing wrong with that, at least, he finally had a little thought. Even if that's all there is, that's enough.

Unfortunately, before he could go to see the old man for the second time, she died, in an accidental fire. When he hurried there, he saw her crying and kneeling in front of the house that had been reduced to ashes, crying hoarsely and unable to help herself. Du Jinnian knelt behind her and hugged her tightly, whispering something all the time, she finally cried until she had no strength and cried until she lost consciousness. Du Jinnian hugged her like this, and hurriedly turned to leave.

He watched their backs, walked out of hiding, and stood silently in front of the pile of ashes, unable to believe that the old man he had seen more than a month ago who would smile at him, cook well, and be wise enough to see through a qiē, had gone like this, and had died in a fire, almost without bones.

It's cruel.

It's too cruel to her.

He knew this, but he couldn't do anything.

Fortunately, there is Du Jinnian, and after a long time, she finally gradually recovered.

But it suffered a fatal blow.

After her grandmother died, she could at least rely on Du Jinnian to live, so after Du Jinnian's death, who should she rely on? Can he be her support?...... Even if he expected it, would she accept it?

He was really worried, because he saw that she was already determined to die—the sky and the earth were too big, there was so much cold wind, so little warmth, and it was really too difficult to survive alone.

He felt that he had to give her a little support to live, and he had to give her a little motivation to live.

If he can't be the driving force behind this, then let Du Jinnian be.

So, he did something, something that he might regret for the rest of his life - even so, even if he was given another 11 million chances, he would still choose to do so.

Because this is the only thing he can do for her in this situation.