While Bai Yi was working, Bai Ling reached out to clean up the fallen leaves and weeds from the grave bag.

It's just that, in addition to these, there is also a bamboo branch that has withered and yellowed on the grave bag.

"This ...... Want to unplug it? Bai Ling asked, pointing to the bamboo branch.

"I'll get it later." Bai Yi replied.

He opened the lid of the cowhide bladder and poured some more water into the axe, and this repeated repeatedly, and soon all the rust on the blade of the axe was worn away.

Bai Yi lifted the axe, tried the feel in his hand, then stood up and walked deeper into the mountain forest, Bai Ling followed, and found that there was a hidden bamboo forest nearby.

Bai Yi searched around for a long time, and finally found a bamboo branch that had not grown too tall, he stepped forward and slashed an axe at the bamboo root, cutting off the tender bamboo along with all its branches and leaves, he turned his back and carried the cut bamboo on his shoulder.

Bai Ling looked at this scene and suddenly understood that probably the withered yellow bamboo branch on the grave just now was the new bamboo cut down by Bai Yi last year.

"I'll help you." Bai Ling took the old axe in Bai Yi's hand with both hands and walked side by side with him, "Do you come here every year to do these things?" ”

"Hmm." Bai Yi nodded, "Let's move once, I'll change places and set up a clothed mound, anyway, it won't be troublesome." ”

The two walked to the grave together, Bai Ling put the axe, held the old bamboo with both hands and pulled it out, and then Bai Yi looked at the previous hole and inserted the new bamboo into it.

"Who is buried here......?"

"My mom." Bai Yi replied calmly, and then seemed to feel that there was some ambiguity, and added, "...... from the previous life. ”

After all this, the two took out the little paper money left from Bai Yi's baggage, pierced it with wooden incense, and stood in front of the tombstone.

After all, this is a mountain forest, and Bai Yi does not plan to burn incense on the open fire.

Bai Yi dug a pit in front of the tombstone with his bare hands and took out the letter that had just been opened by the city gatekeeper.

He crouched there and read it to himself again, then tore the letter in thin pieces, and finally gathered back the soil that had just been dug up.

"Overall, I've had a good year, and I've written all the details in the letter." Bai Yi whispered to himself, "It's just a little more accidental...... The world's dads are generally black, and they are not the master of trouble. ”

Bai Ling originally bowed to the tombstone and worshiped in silence, but when he heard Bai Yi's self-talk, he couldn't help laughing.

After doing all this, the two sat down on the raised rocks not far from the green mound.

"It's a nice place, it's hard to find a place like this." Bai Ling said softly.

She and Bai Yi sat cross-squarely, Bai Ling was facing the mountains and rivers in front of him, and Bai Yi was sitting in the shadows with his back to the convex stone.

"It's good to come here once in a while." Bai Yi replied in a low voice after a while, "It's just that those shrubs are too annoying." ”

"But it's better to keep it, it can stop tourists who go up the mountain to enjoy it."

When I see the world, I feel small, and the bad things in life are even smaller.

Bai Ling leaned on the boulder in the mountain breeze a little comfortably, and suddenly noticed Bai Yi's gaze, and couldn't help but look back, "Why are you staring at me again?" ”

Bai Yi's eyes were dark, "I always feel that after entering the palace, we all seem to have changed as people, and now we have changed a little bit, so let's take a look at it." ”

Bai Ling was stunned for a while, and suddenly remembered that on the evening of the confrontation with the imperial doctor, he walked back to Chengqian Palace alone in the twilight scene.

At that time, she also faintly felt that some kind of change was taking place in herself, like a singer who was gradually getting used to switching masks, but the place where she stood was not the stage, but the palace.

It felt strange, wonderful, and there was some hidden uneasiness.

"That day in the Qianqing Palace......" Bai Ling's eyes lowered and cut straight to the point, "You look like you're in pain." ”

"Hmm." Bai Yi didn't deny it at all, "To be honest, I'm not feeling good right now." ”

Bai Ling didn't ask any more questions, but looked at Bai Yi with his eyes instead of words, waiting for his next words.

Bai Yi was silent for a long time this time, and Bai Ling kept listening to his breathing.

His gaze stopped on the green mound not far away, and it took a long time to raise his head and look at the blue sky.

"You asked me once before why you are so concerned about the illness of the concubine, and if I have also been plagued by depression in the past."

"Hmm."

"I don't have it." Bai Yi said in a low voice, "But I have taken care of a depressed patient for a year, and it is also postpartum depression - it is my mother." Unlike the concubine, my mother has always had seasonal depression, but she never got better after giving birth to her second child in middle age. ”

Bai Ling's back straightened gradually.

Bai Yi glanced at Bai Ling, "I haven't told you about my mother?" ”

Bai Ling shook his head.

"Actually, there's not much to say." Bai Yi's voice was hoarse, "When I was studying for a Ph.D. in North America, my parents suddenly responded to the two-child policy and asked for my sister. But since the second trimester, my mother's mood has continued to be low, she can hardly do anything after the child is born, and the family can't support my dad at all, so they can't hide it from me before they tell me. My tutor and I took a year off from school, went home to see the children, and took care of my mother. ”

Bai Ling suddenly understood why Bai Yi knew how to take care of children.

"As soon as I got home, I felt that my mother's condition was not right, and insisted on taking her to the hospital, and the diagnosis given by the doctor was directly severe depression and anxiety, and recommended hospitalization for a month. I had no choice but to run back and forth with my sister in my arms and go through the procedures for my mother to be hospitalized. ”

Bai Ling was a little distressed when he heard this, "You have to take care of two people at the same time...... Very tired. ”

Bai Yi sighed softly, "During that time, it was basically spinning, and I didn't know how I got here." ”

"Where's your dad? Didn't he come to help? ”

Bai Yi raised his eyebrows lightly and snorted with a smile, "He was against going to the hospital at the beginning, and he just wanted to call me home to help temporarily, but I insisted on sending me to the hospital, so he pushed the boat down the river and became the shopkeeper...... He's pretty good at that. ”

Boling was silent.

"After entering the hospital, there were a lot of things, because my mother is an elderly mother, and I didn't make some preparations before and during pregnancy, so my body basically collapsed." Bai Yi stopped, took a deep breath, and continued, "But the effect of a month's hospitalization is still very good, and the doctor said that my mother is very lucky in this situation, because her body's response to the medicine is particularly good, and as long as she insists on taking the medicine after being discharged, she can fully recover in two or three years."

"I remember my mom went for wisdom teeth removal surgery a month after she was discharged from the hospital, and that night my mom couldn't sleep because of the pain from the anesthetic, and I forgot to change my sister's diaper at night...... As a result, both ends were crying, waiting for me to see. I was so tired that I sat on the living room floor, feeling like my body wasn't mine, I didn't know who I was, I didn't know where I was. ”

He suddenly laughed and looked at Bai Ling, "...... Have you ever felt something similar? ”