"Because Fei gave Grandma Ji a red butterfly."
"Ah?"
After a brief moment of stunned silence, the woman asked in surprise, "Fei gave my mom a red butterfly?"
After they'd gone home that day, the old woman had thrown herself into painting.
They hadn't wanted to disturb her while she was so focused.
They'd thought they could ask her later.
They hadn't expected her to keep painting until late into the night.
If the woman hadn't urged her, the old woman wouldn't have stopped even then.
Though her eyes had already grown heavy with sleep, since it was past her bedtime,
she'd still stubbornly tried to keep going.
Under the circumstances, the woman hadn't asked her anything.
By the next day, there'd been no need to ask.
The old woman had forgotten everything.
So the woman knew very little about the old woman's meeting with Fei.
She only knew that the old woman had finally gotten her wish.
She was happy for her.
"So that's how it was..."
The woman sounded a little wistful.
"I knew it..."
"Grandma wouldn't have painted butterflies for no reason."
"So Fei gave her a red butterfly."
"Fei really..."
The woman paused. "It does care about my mom."
"My mom's been thinking about it all these years, so it's only right."
"She wanted to see it."
"We've all wondered... if it might matter more to my mom than we do."
The woman smiled.
Once, they'd nearly argued over it.
After all, they'd found it hard to understand why the old woman ignored her family's concern...
while fixating on someone whose whereabouts were unknown, and who might not even still be around...
"The red butterfly was what Grandma Ji said she wanted back then."
Xiao Xiao's eyes curved slightly.
Huh?
The