In the courtyard, just as Qiao Ziruo reached out to touch the coffin, someone suddenly patted her shoulder.
She jumped, only to hear the person behind her call out:
"Little girl?"
Qiao Ziruo instantly broke into a radiant smile and turned around. Sure enough, she saw an old woman with graying hair, wearing a padded jacket patterned with tiny flowers.
"Grandma!"
Qiao Ziruo threw her arms around her grandmother and cried out happily.
"Good girl..."
Her grandmother smiled gently, her eyes narrowed, and patted Qiao Ziruo on the back.
Qiao Ziruo had no idea what was wrong with her. Tears streamed down her face, completely beyond her control. Hadn't she only gone away to school? It hadn't been that long since she last saw Grandma. Why am I crying?
Red sunlight fell over her. Everything around them was quiet and deserted. Only she and her grandmother stood embracing in front of the coffin.
But Grandma seemed thinner... shorter, too, and her body was ice-cold...
"You silly girl, how did you end up here? Ah..."
Her grandmother suddenly patted her head. Qiao Ziruo found it strange, because some peculiar warmth seemed to pass from her grandmother's hand into her body through the top of her head as she patted her.
"Didn't someone in the family pass away? Grandma, who was it?"
The old woman in the floral padded jacket looked at her and sighed softly.
"All right... all right... it's good that you came. Now that you're here, stay with Grandma. Don't leave again."
With that, the old woman gripped Qiao Ziruo's hand tightly and led her toward the main room.
"Come, let's go inside and rest..."
Qiao Ziruo looked down blankly at the hand her grandmother was holding and asked in confusion, "Grandma, aren't we bringing the coffin in? Who