“Is this Luo Xiao’s home?”
Following Grandma’s steps to the orphanage gate, Xia Lan looked at the rusted gate before her and the weathered sign, murmuring, “Looks like it’s been a while.”
Xia Lan had of course investigated Luo Xiao’s background, but the feeling of visiting the actual place for the first time was still different.
The yard was small.
Lush weeds grew from cracks in the concrete, the fence was covered in rusty red, but the entrance was swept clean, as if polished by wind again and again.
“Oh, we don’t have money for renovations. Na Na, don’t mind it.”
Grandma looked at Xia Lan with a faint smile.
‘Croak, Grandma, what are you doing? You really just brought Miss Na Gou straight home?’
‘Is Grandma using this to observe Miss Na Gou’s reaction? To judge her character?’
“I don’t mind. Having a place to stay is already good enough.”
Xia Lan replied gently.
“Mm, that’s right. Na Na is such a sensible child.”
Grandma pushed open the gate, producing a long creak.
“Come in quickly. Grandma will cook for you.”
Luo Xiao followed behind the two, watching Xia Lan support Grandma into the yard with mixed feelings.
Her simple white dress brushed against the vines hanging from the doorframe, and her dark green hair shimmered with a soft luster in the afternoon light.
They looked just like a close grandmother and granddaughter.
Meanwhile, Luo Xiao seemed like an outsider.
The inside of the orphanage was more spacious than it appeared from outside.
A narrow corridor connected several rooms, with children’s crayon drawings taped to the walls.
The paper had yellowed and curled at the edges, featuring all sorts of odd, squiggly doodles.
“The children drew these.”
Grandma pointed at the wall, her voice brimming with pride.
“So many kids came and went, but their drawings stayed.”
Xia Lan stopped in front of one drawing.
The drawing was a red stick figure, with [Luo Xiao, Age 6] scribbled crookedly beside it.
The stick figure’s head was an irregular circle, its arms were crooked, and the smiley face had slipped off the cheek.
“Did you draw this?”
Xia Lan turned to look at Luo Xiao, her eyes barely hiding her amusement.
“Grandma! Don’t just display something like that openly!”
Luo Xiao’s face flushed bright red.
“Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?!”
Grandma slapped Luo Xiao’s hand away.
“This is Grandma’s treasure. What’s wrong with displaying it here?”
Xia Lan watched the grandmother and grandson bicker and suddenly felt that this Grandma was much more interesting than she had imagined.
“Grandma, let me help you in a bit.”
In the kitchen, Xia Lan rolled up her sleeves, revealing her fair and slender forearms.
Grandma wanted to decline, but seeing Xia Lan’s focused expression, she swallowed her words.
Sunlight streamed through the holes in the screen window, scattering small golden patches on the cutting board.
Xia Lan’s knife skills were surprisingly swift and precise.
Each slice of potato was uniformly thin and neatly arranged on the porcelain plate like tight flower petals.
Luo Xiao leaned against the doorframe, watching the busy Xia Lan.
He remembered the words Xia Lan said at the milk tea shop.
“Almost eleven years.”
In those eleven years, how many meals had she cooked? How had she lived when she was alone? Luo Xiao could not imagine at all.
At this moment, Xia Lan was focused and calm, as if slicing vegetables was the only important thing in the world.
Perhaps for her, every afternoon without battle was worth enjoying.
After a long while, the meal was served.
Maybe it was to celebrate Luo Xiao’s discharge from the hospital, or maybe because of Xia Lan, but Grandma went all out today.
Braised pork belly, sweet and sour spare ribs, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, and tomato egg soup.
A standard four dishes and one soup.
For Grandma, who had been frugal at the orphanage for years, this was already the level for New Year’s.
“Grandma, you made way too much food today.”
“Na Na is visiting for the first time. I can’t just feed her cabbage and radish, can I?”
Grandma said matter-of-factly, placing the largest piece of braised pork into Xia Lan’s bowl.
“Here, Na Na, you must be starving.”
“Thank you, Grandma.”
Xia Lan picked up the meat and put it in her mouth.
After chewing a few times, her eyes widened slightly.
“Delicious.”
When she said these two words, she was more sincere than ever.
The meat was rich but not greasy, savory and sweet in perfect balance, with the fragrant aroma of star anise and cinnamon.
The flavor of this braised pork was truly amazing.
“Then eat more.”
Grandma smiled, then abruptly changed the subject.
“I remember when Luo Luo was little, he was such a picky eater. When he first came to the orphanage, he wouldn’t eat anything. He was as skinny as a bamboo pole. It really worried me.”
“Grandma—”
“What, can’t I say that?”
Grandma ignored Luo Xiao’s protest.
“Children are always picky eaters when they’re little.”
Xia Lan nodded, as if she had plenty of experience.
“Exactly! I remember…”
“Grandma, if you keep going, Luo Xiao is going to crawl under the table.”
Xia Lan chuckled softly.
“Alright, alright, I’ll stop.”
Grandma waved her hand, but then remembered something.
“Oh, Na Na, would you like to see some photos of Luo Xiao when he was little? Grandma has kept a whole album!”
“Grandma!!!”
Luo Xiao’s voice had taken on a tone of despair.
But Xia Lan’s eyes lit up, and a mischievous curve appeared on her lips.
“Then I’ll trouble you, Grandma.”
Soon, Grandma retrieved the photo album from an old wooden cabinet in the bedroom.
The cover of the album was worn and frayed, with cheap gold star stickers stuck on the plastic cover.
When opened, yellowed photos were pressed under transparent film.
The mixed smell of old paper and dust rushed forward, as if time had folded here.
Xia Lan gently touched the first photo.
Luo Xiao looked much smaller when he was younger.
He stood at the orphanage gate, wearing a white T-shirt that was clearly two sizes too big, looking timidly at the camera.
‘So cute.’
This was the thought in Xia Lan’s mind.
She had no resistance to cute little kids like this.
“This is his first day here.”
Grandma pointed at the back of the photo, where a date was written in crooked handwriting.
“He was only this tall back then, not even up to my waist.”
Xia Lan looked up at Luo Xiao beside her and studied him carefully.
“What is it, Miss Na Gou?”
“Can you turn back into that form so I can hug you?”
“?”
Ignoring that creepy remark, Xia Lan flipped through the pages one by one.
Photos of Luo Xiao swinging in the yard, with cream smeared on his cheeks on his birthday, on his first day of elementary school with his backpack, and a silly group photo with Bai Jia, arms draped over each other’s shoulders, grinning at the camera…
Bai Jia.
Xia Lan didn’t have a deep impression of him.
She probably only saw him at school and knew he was Luo Xiao’s childhood friend.
Grandma sighed when she saw this one.
“That kid Bai Jia is still lying in the hospital. No one knows when he’ll wake up. How could something like this happen…”
Luo Xiao was silent for a moment.
“Grandma, Bai Jia will be fine.”
His tone carried a faith that needed no reason.
Xia Lan didn’t speak, simply continuing to flip through the album.
Bai Jia appeared very frequently; their photos together took up almost half the album.
It was obvious that Luo Xiao and Bai Jia were brothers who literally grew up sharing the same pants.
Then Xia Lan turned to the second half of the album.
Although this photo was in the back, the date marked on it was earlier than the previous ones.
The photo showed a child about six years old.
He was lying on a bed, sprawled out carelessly, fast asleep like a lazy little pink pig.
From the name written on it, this was Bai Jia as a child.
Xia Lan’s gaze had been casually skimming, but the next second it suddenly froze.
Because of his messy sleeping posture, Bai Jia’s shirt had been lifted, revealing his round little belly.
And in the center of that underdeveloped abdomen, a long, thin surgical suture was clearly visible.
The line extended from above the navel down to the lower abdomen, with fine, even stitches, like a centipede lying on tender skin.
This was not an ordinary surgery.
“Grandma, what is this…?”
“Oh, this was taken when Bai Jia first came to the orphanage. He was abandoned at the gate when he was six, and that line on his belly was already there back then.”
Grandma sighed.
“I guess his parents abandoned him after the surgery.”
Xia Lan’s expression didn’t change, but her heart suddenly exploded.
‘Sister Liu Hua.’
[In terms of timing, circumstances, and marks, it closely resembles Dr. Xia’s work from back then.]
‘If it’s true, then this Bai Jia might very well be Xia Lan’s—’
Bang!
Suddenly, as if she had realized something, Xia Lan looked solemnly out the orphanage window.
‘That Annie… at this time…’
“Na Na, what’s wrong?”
Luo Xiao also looked at Xia Lan in confusion.
Seeing her so serious, he sensed something was wrong.
“What’s wrong, Na Gou? Did something happen?”
“Nothing. But I suddenly have something to attend to. I need to go out for a bit.”
Before Grandma could speak, Xia Lan swiftly left the table and ran out of the orphanage, so fast that neither of them had time to react.
“Huh, what’s all this about?” Grandma was completely bewildered. “Luo Luo, tell me, does Na Na have some urgent business?”
Luo Xiao immediately calmed down.
“Grandma, did Na Gou say anything to you just now?”
“Mm, she just looked at Bai Jia’s photo, and then…”
‘Bai Jia’s photo?’
Luo Xiao also looked at that photo, which he had seen countless times.
‘Bai Jia…’
‘Wait, the direction Miss Na Gou looked at just now… isn’t that the direction of the hospital?!’
In that instant, Luo Xiao realized something and immediately got ready to move.
“Grandma, I have something too. I’ll be back to eat later!”
“Huh! Even you, Luo Luo—”