"I mean when we first brought it home."
"...Our plum tree got sick a while ago."
"Student Xiao's plum tree is very healthy now."
"Although there isn't really any connection..."
The old man smiled. "But I suddenly have some faith that our plum tree can recover."
"Isn't that rather inexplicable?"
The old woman slowly nodded.
"...A little."
The old man smiled bitterly.
"But..."
The corners of the old woman's lips lifted slightly.
"I hope your feeling is right."
"Sometimes, things really are quite mysterious."
"Take that little plum tree. We asked so many people to come look at it, and they all said it couldn't be saved."
"But didn't it survive until now?"
"Perhaps it sensed how strongly we wished for it to live..."
"So, could it be that the more sincerely we believe it can survive, the more surely it will..."
"Old man, I believe in your feeling."
The old man froze.
Then he narrowed his eyes, a hint of amusement in his voice. "Mm."
"Oh, the soup should be ready."
The old woman rose to her feet.
"Hurry up and eat."
"Don't just sit there chatting."
"Can't we chat while we eat?"
"The food won't taste good once it gets cold."
The old woman turned and walked toward the kitchen.
Her thin figure was slightly hunched.
Her graying hair looked a little glaring beneath the fluorescent light.
The old man rubbed his nose and muttered, "...We really should go get it checked..."
He looked at Xiao Xiao. "Don't let the old woman fool you with this appearance of hers. She actually cares a lot about her looks."
"A few years ago, she was always saying that she wanted to become an elegant, refined old lady..."
But after what happened to Lele,