These days, Lao Qiao is walking around the house, wanting to help do something, but others are unwilling to live or die, saying that the chief steward has ordered it, and Lao Qiao does not need to do things.

Although Lao Qiao is not very at ease, he has been busy all his life, and he is also happy.

And Zhang Qingye led Shi Lan to the eldest lady's courtyard every day, chatted, and did some subordinate work, and slowly got used to this kind of life.

It's just that after seven days, it's a little different.

The little boy Li Yanyao appeared at the gate of the eldest lady's courtyard, he wanted to splash and roll, but after seeing Shi Lan who was watering the flowers, his half-open mouth was stunned and did not make a sound.

The little boy trotted into the house, took the eldest lady's hand and whispered: "Great-grandmother, I heard that you want to take Shilan as your goddaughter?" ”

The eldest lady is already old, she doesn't know what such a child thinks, so she plans to tease the little boy, and says: "Yes, Shi Lan is so cute, who doesn't like it, she is not only Xiaoqing's granddaughter, but also my granddaughter." In the future, you have to call Aunt Shilan, don't break the rules. ”

"No way, no way!" The little boy suddenly panicked, "She is so much younger than me, how can I call her aunt, wouldn't it be a joke for outsiders to see me." Besides, I want to marry her when I grow up, so I can't call it that. ”

"Then I don't care." The eldest lady and Zhang Qingye looked at each other and smiled.

"No, I'm going to call her Shi Lan, Shi Lan is good, so I don't want any aunt!" The little boy wanted to sit on the ground, ready to roll around with a sprinkle.

"Is there anything wrong with calling Shi Lan?" Shi Lan stood at the door with a kettle.

The little boy was embarrassed and couldn't say half a word.

"It's okay, Shi Lan, you go and water the flowers." Zhang Qingye cleared the siege for the little boy.

"Oh."

The eldest lady smiled and pulled up the little boy, dusted off his pants for him, and said, "Silly boy, you call yours, I call mine, and it doesn't matter." As for whether to marry or not, it depends on your own efforts, now Shi Lan is also the eldest lady of the General's Mansion, but she can't marry casually, you have to see whether others agree or not. ”

"Great-grandmother, don't worry, I'll try." Without waiting for a response, the little boy turned and ran out of the house.

Outside the house, Shi Lan was not watering, but squatting next to a tuft of grass, the little boy walked over, only to know that Shi Lan was counting ants, although he felt quite bored, but the little boy still squatted down, and watched quietly.

After a long time, the little boy took a branch and drew a line on the path of the ants, and the dirt blocked the way of the ants, and the ants crowded together, and seemed to have a little deliberation, and scattered in all directions to find the way.

The little boy was immediately interested, drew another line, and continued to block the ants that were exploring the path, and saw that they were busy running for their lives, and the little boy was very happy to see them.

Shi Lan couldn't stand it anymore, reached out and grabbed the branch, and because of his strength, he accidentally broke the branch, "It's not right for you to do this, they won't be able to find a home." ”

"If you can't find it, you can't find it, what does it matter to me, I'm not an ant." The little boy pouted.

"But if you can't find a home, Shi Lan will be sad."

The little boy turned his head, just staring at the teacher's blue gaze, his eyes were very clear, without the slightest wave, and he couldn't see any emotion, but after looking at each other like this for a long time, the little boy felt that it was not very natural, threw away the broken branch, got up and said, "It's boring if you don't play." Hey, I said before that I would take you to see the General's Mansion, I'm free today, come with me. ”

"Oh." Shi Lan didn't refuse, Grandpa and Grandma didn't teach her to refuse, but just taught her to be obedient.

Shi Lan took a grass hat and walked out of the yard with the little boy.

The General's Mansion is very large, stop and go, and before most of it is finished, the little boy loses interest and takes Shi Lan to find his friends. These are the children of the people in the house, and they are specially playing with the little boy, and now, Shi Lan has also become one of them.

Shi Lan said very little, and never took the initiative to speak, just followed behind them, like a fart, playing with them, playing with them, and doing bad things with them.

Although some people disliked her weird cyan hair at first, after playing for a long time, it was no longer strange, and Shi Lan also integrated into this small circle, and her life was ordinary and ordinary.

Grandpa, Grandma and the eldest lady instilled in Shi Lan the idea that everyone should have, Shi Lan is just a blank piece of paper, and it is easy to be smeared with color.

Except for the secret that few people know, Shi Lan is not much different from the eldest lady who normally comes from a rich family, Shi Lan inherited the foundation of the "little flower basket", if she has been growing up like this, she will definitely be a beauty in the city.

Of course, only if, everything changed one day a year later.

On this day, the autumn wind was bleak, blowing yellow leaves, blowing the white veil of the yard, and blowing up the green silk and white hair.

Shi Lan was lying on the windowsill, not understanding why the entire General's Mansion was covered with white yarn, which did not match the autumn colors at all.

The little boy didn't come to her today, and Grandpa and Grandma were gone, and it seemed that he had gone out early.

Shi Lan had to lie on the windowsill, looking out the window at the colorful flowers, watching for a long time, but she didn't feel bored at all, she liked the prosperity of the world very much, but she also liked such tranquility, alone in a daze, watching the clouds roll up.

Although the white yarn does not match the autumn color, it matches the sky very well, just like the clouds that fall into the world with the sky and become another heavenly realm.

In the meantime, there are people in a hurry, looming in the white veil, quite a bit of the ethereal meaning of the immortals riding the clouds.

Suddenly, someone came, saying that the ancestor had driven the crane to the west, Shi Lan did not know why, in a daze, he was taken by this person through the white yarn, walking through the familiar pavilions and buildings in the past, but today there are some unfamiliar pavilions and buildings, until the cry is in the ears, and it does not stop.

Except for Shi Lan, everyone was crying, even the subordinate who had just brought her here, they were hiding their faces, crying.

The steward came over and took Shi Lan into the mourning hall, Shi Lan glanced around, everyone was very familiar, but no one came to greet her.

She found Grandpa and Grandma in the crowd, and wanted to walk over, but was blocked by the steward, who saw her stop, patted her on the back slightly, and signaled to continue walking.

There is a coffin in the middle of the mourning hall, which is made of fine golden silk nanmu, and the coffin is very high, for Shi Lan's small body, you can't see what is inside.

After approaching, the aunt on the side picked her up, and Shi Lan saw a person lying inside, a very familiar person, this person has taught her a lot of things in this year, from simple eating etiquette to complex qin, chess, calligraphy and painting, this year, this person has spent half of his time on her, but Shi Lan has never known her name.

Today's eldest lady is not very beautiful, even if she has gorgeous makeup, she can't hide the paleness of her face, and there is no smile that will appear when she sees Shi Lan in the past, only the wrinkles on her face remain, so Shi Lan feels that she is not more beautiful than usual.

Shi Lan didn't cry and make a fuss, not even a single tear, it was as weird as her blue hair, so she didn't fit in with the atmosphere around her.

The aunt also seemed to notice it, and didn't let Shi Lan continue to look at it, put her down, and gently pushed her to Grandpa and Grandma's side.

After Shi Lan came to the crowd, he came to Grandma's side, and he had a lot of questions to ask, but he didn't have time to speak.

Grandma Zhang Qingye made a silent gesture, put on a white filial piety dress for her, and knelt quietly on the side again.

Shi Lan learned in a good way, but he couldn't help but look around.

There is no sound here except crying, so after listening to it for a long time, it will feel very quiet, even quieter than lying on the windowsill listening to the wind.

Shi Lan turned her head to look at Grandma, who had already cried and her eyes were red, but the tears did not dry, they slipped down the wrinkles, and finally condensed into droplets on her chin, and just about to fall, Shi Lan reached out and wiped them away.

The handkerchief wiped the corners of his eyes along the wrinkles, Zhang Qingye stroked Shi Lan's little hand, took the handkerchief and wiped the other side, but as soon as he finished wiping it, tears slipped down, and Zhang Qingye had to block his eyes with a handkerchief.

Grandma's hands are very cold, like snow in winter, this is Shi Lan's feeling.

She moved her kneeling legs and leaned on her grandmother, thinking that this should warm her grandmother, but she only felt her body trembling slightly.

In the evening, the three of them returned to the small courtyard.

Shi Lan didn't feel hungry without eating for a day, even if she was used to the way of life, she was still a tree in essence, and she could live for a long time without eating or drinking, as for how long, Shi Lan hadn't tried.

The dinner table was very depressing, grandpa and grandma didn't speak, grandma ate very little, hurriedly ate a few bites, and went upstairs to sleep.

Grandpa sighed, sandwiched a piece of green vegetables for Shi Lan, and said, "Eat more, don't be hungry." The old lady has lost half of her life, and now that the eldest lady is gone, her soul is also half gone. ”

"Master, where did the grandmother go?" Shi Lan tilted his head.

Grandpa realized that they had never told Shi Lan what death was, and now that it had happened, he didn't know how to tell Shi Lan, after all, he and his wife were almost about to get there, for fear that Shi Lan would be sad.

Grandpa put down his chopsticks and hesitated for a moment before remembering the ancestral saying of deceiving children: "Shi Lan, people are composed of body and soul, and when the body is old, the soul will leave, run to the sky, and turn into stars in the sky." ”

"Really?" Shi Lan's eyes widened, and after getting a nod of approval from Grandpa, he immediately jumped out of the chair and ran out of the door. The night had just fallen, but she could already see a few stars, Shi Lan kept looking for it, but she didn't see any stars calling her like the eldest lady Shi Lan.

"Master, I can't find my wife."

"The brightest one."

Shi Lan counted from left to right, and finally determined the one he thought was the brightest, pointed to it and asked Grandpa if it was the one, after seeing Grandpa nodding again, Shi Lan was a little happy, looked at it for a long time, and when he looked down, Grandpa had already returned to the house.

Shi Lan sat down on the steps and continued to look at the stars. The darker the night, the more stars there were in the sky, the first few were indistinguishable, the rivers that crossed the sky, the many bright stars, and the number of people who left were so innumerable.

Shi Lan stretched out his hand towards the sky, and as the Milky Way crossed, as if greeting and saying goodbye, he muttered softly: "It turns out that the senior brother and the little flower basket have really become stars in the sky, the Cowherd, the Weaver Girl, it's so far away." ”