"Grandpa."
Xu Zizhen called out.
"I'll do it."
He snatched the broom from the old man's hands.
The old man smiled.
He didn't insist.
He was getting on in years.
His back couldn't take even a little bending for long.
He'd better not push himself.
Otherwise, if something happened, the children would be the ones left with the trouble.
"I want to sweep up these leaves."
"So your grandma won't feel sad when she sees them later."
"Where's Grandma?"
Xu Zizhen instinctively looked around nearby.
He didn't see the old woman.
"Your grandma went inside to rest."
The old man ran his fingers over the fallen leaf in his hand. "Your grandma really loved this maple tree."
After all, who wouldn't love such a beautiful maple tree?
"It's just..."
Then that thing happened.
No matter how beautiful the maple tree was, it couldn't matter more than their own son.
Grandma had grown resentful of the tree.
Even though she knew she was taking her anger out on it...
People's feelings were often beyond their control.
So many years had passed.
Their son had gotten better and better.
Little by little, Grandma had made peace with the maple tree.
Without her prejudice, her old affection for it had rekindled.
And after she learned the tree didn't have long left, that feeling had only grown stronger.
The old man smiled.
"Your grandma fell in love with this maple tree the first time she came to this house."
"When your grandma and I got married, the maples were red..."
Even now, he could still picture how beautiful the red maples had been back then.
"Every autumn, your grandma makes maple leaf crisps."
"She doesn't have to wait until autumn to make them."
"But your grandma insists on being particular about