Chapter 23 Seeking a Memory 1 (1/2)

Chapter 23 Seeking a Memory (1)

When the woman opened her eyes and saw Grandma Li, she called out weakly, “Mom.” It was as if all her energy was barely enough for that one word.

Grandma Li leaned over immediately, telling her not to speak. She pulled out a clean handkerchief and wiped her daughter’s face and hands, all the while telling her, “It’s okay, don’t be afraid.”

I kept Grandma Li company in the hospital until the afternoon. It was only when my failure of a stomach started growling that Grandma Li told me that I should go back. When I was leaving, she even tried to buy me some food downstairs, but I refused, telling her to return back to her daughter’s side.

I returned to my dorm with a heavy heart, however, when I got back and opened the door, there wasn’t a single person there. It was only after I asked around that I learned that all the boys from our group had gone together to karaoke and because I wasn’t around, I missed out. I turned on my computer and played a few games, but it got boring fast. And so I found my thoughts turned back towards Grandma Li’s situation.

When I was leaving, I had originally wanted to return the Yuhua stone to Grandma Li. Surprisingly, she refused to take it back, saying instead that she was gifting it to me.

“It’s nothing important, but I want you to have it. It looks quite pretty.”

I flopped back onto my bed, staring at the little stone in my hand. I thought that Grandma Li probably also felt that it was unlikely for us to find the mountain god she had met all those years ago after all. That day when she begged Mr. Wen to help her, it was nothing more than a desperate, final attempt to stop her terminally-ill daughter from dying.

I then remembered the words that Mr. Wen said to me the other day.

“If a person lives, they must also die. To try and defy the natural law and order of things, humans are indeed arrogant.”

After visiting Grandma Li’s daughter today with her, I felt like I understood those words a bit more.

If I couldn’t find that person then… it was something that could not be helped and I could only apologize to Grandma Li. With that thought, I slowly slipped into dreamland.

——————————————————

The surroundings were filled with green grass. A stream gurgled past and there was the sound of a girl crying somewhere close by.

“It hurts. It really hurts!”

A young girl wearing a small floral dress was crouched on the floor. It looked like her knee was injured and she was crying softly. At her side stood a youth in all white, staring at her helplessly.

“H-hey, please stop crying…”

The girl’s cries only got louder.

“D-does it really hurt that much?”

The little girl glared back at him. “It hurts a lot!”

“T-then what should we do…” The youth also looked like he was about to burst into tears. He thought for a long while and then pulled out a pretty Yuhua stone, handing it to the little girl.

“Here, take this. Please stop crying.”

As soon as the little girl saw the stone, she indeed stopped crying. She wiped her tears while taking the stone.

“It’s so beautiful.”

“Right?”

“Where did you get it from?”

The youth pointed towards the stream. “That way. There are lots of pretty stones like that there.”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

“I also really want to find pretty stones, but my leg hurts too much.” The little girl suddenly got angry. “It’s all your fault!”

The youth looked aggrieved. “Why are you blaming me… You clearly fell over on your own.”

“Because you didn’t help me!”

He didn’t bother responding and just scratched his head helplessly.

“Wait for a moment.” After saying this, the young man vanished into the undergrowth.