Flame red

Snake Po is an old man who lives alone, but she is also a well-known psychic in the neighborhood.Uncle Zhang at the newsstand told Yanhong about this by accident.

Later, Uncle Zhang came to help her with the funeral of the Snake Woman thinking of old love, and asked several times if there was no other relatives to inform.

Yan Hong nodded, then shook her head again.

Uncle Zhang kept writing something in a small notebook, and frowned at her: "What do you mean by nodding and shaking your head? Aren't you her granddaughter?"

"I don't know." Yanhong replied.

"Aren't your parents in the country? Don't you have any relatives?"

"I do not recognize."

Yan Hong murmured like this, and then remembered that she called Mu Yu's phone after she found out that the snake woman had passed away, but the person who answered the phone was a middle-aged woman's voice that she was not familiar with or had never heard before.

The other party chattered to Yan Hong, but she didn't listen much at that time, but stood in front of the snake lady, the bright sunlight outside the window made her eyes sore.

Basically, Yanhong didn't need to listen to the specific content of what Mu Yu's mother said, because she could guess that it was about not to disturb Mu Yu and so on.

Oh, it seems that he also mentioned that he has opened the eyes of the sky, but he is not as reliable as the exorcist.

Later, she hung up the phone directly, too lazy to listen.

Yanhong remembered what the snake woman said when she lied to Mu Yu before.If she had been asked to guess, it would probably mean that Mu Yu's parents didn't treat Snake poorly at all, and it might even be thanks to them that they are living in a cheap rental house.

Among them, I don't want to involve too much in entanglement with Yanhong.

Uncle Zhang tore off a piece of paper, which was densely written with things to buy.Yanhong carried the few savings that the snake lady put under her pillow, dragged the piece of paper and ran to the market.

The old man has never been greedy for wealth and honor all his life, and he just muddles through life. The red notes he scrimped for on weekdays are only enough to pay for a pair of coffins and a few ever-burning lamps in the end.

Yanhong didn't ask for leave from the school, anyway the teacher wouldn't come to visit such a cheap rental house.Uncle Zhang ran around with Yan Hong, and finally completed the death certificate of the snake woman. Holding the few black and white documents, the paper just printed was slightly hot.

Yanhong finds it strange that the death of a person has the same weight as several pieces of paper.

Later, an unknown acquaintance introduced a monk who chanted scriptures. Yanhong didn't understand the complicated relationship between neighbors, and an aunt who seemed to have met before asked her to cook a table of vegetarian dishes to entertain this so-called master.

She didn't say much, after preparing the meals according to the adults' instructions, she heard the monks beating gongs and drums and began to chant scriptures. The room was filled with smoke, and the ghosts hiding in the corner didn't seem to like the sound of chanting so much, and walked to the door one after another.

After all the adults in the room were finished, they offered incense to the snake lady, and after eating the food made by Yanhong, they left without telling her what to do next.

Uncle Zhang Nian spent a long time with Yan Hong, so he accompanied her to listen to the monk's chanting. He recited for a whole day without stopping, and the scriptures she couldn't understand were repeated monotonously in the smoke that was like a dream.The voice is dull and hoarse, like a phonograph that is tirelessly repeating.

Uncle Zhang asked, "Why don't you cry?"

Yan Hong stared blankly at the small coffin of the Snake Lady, and frowned half-understood. "ah?"

"When a loved one dies, it's impolite not to cry."

"Is this a rule?"

"..." Uncle Zhang looked at her for a few seconds, Yan Hong's face was still expressionless.So he sighed without explaining.

At the wake that night, Uncle Zhang gave Yanhong a few words and left.The old monk and Yan Hong were left in the house, silent with the intermittent chanting.

The old monk took a sip of water and said in a hurry that you don't seem like a relative of this old man. I have been chanting sutras for decades, and this is the first time I have seen a child who has no half-living look on his face.

——No look of a living person?

Yan Hong wiped her face at that time, then thought for a while and said: "You probably want to say that you can't see emotions, anger, sorrow, or joy?"

"Little baby has good understanding." The old monk nodded and handed her three sticks of incense. "It's a pity that you are born with no way."

"I thought that the so-called attainment of the Tao was based on later practice."

"that's not what it means."

Yanhong held the three sticks of incense, a bit puzzled why the old monk lit them specially and handed them to herself.If she was asked to offer it to the Snake Woman, and she had only offered three sticks just now, who were these three sticks for?

She was suddenly disgusted.The snake lady passed away, but she didn't feel any grief at all.Even if she showed the slightest bit of happiness, Yanhong could still say that she has mental problems.

But now there is no ups and downs at all.

As the old monk said, "There is no look of a living person."

Yan Hong was sitting on the ground holding three sticks of incense, and after the old monk said those words, he tilted his head and crossed his legs in a drowsy way, and in the dim light, he didn't know whether he was falling asleep or simply resting.

She left it on the spot for a long time, and finally the three sticks of incense were burned out, and the ashes were scattered all over the floor.Yan Hong came back to her senses, a thin layer of cold sweat oozes from her back, she is familiar with this feeling, usually when she looks up at this time, she will see something.

So Yanhong made mental preparations and looked up.

Sure enough, she saw the snake woman sitting cross-legged on the sofa, her eyes staring straight at something.

Yanhong knew that it was just the soul of the Snake Lady, because her body, which had been completely cold, was still lying beside the coffin, covered with a white cloth, and pressed paper money.

The old monk snored softly, in the silent house, Yan Hong stared at the soul of the snake woman, and the snake woman looked at nowhere, two lines of tears flowed down the wrinkles on her face.

Yan Hong looked back, and found that what the snake woman was watching was the second-hand small TV.

"Snake lady," she muttered. "What do we do next?"

The other party did not respond.No response is possible either.

The snake mother raised Yanhong, and she was destined to use her life to repay her.Including doing various chores, including protecting Mu Yu.

Yanhong never thought of anything irreconcilable or something she could do for herself.If it is used for music, it means that you have not learned to think about the value of your life.

But a large part of this is also influenced by the snake woman.Because the old man never said what he wanted to do tomorrow, he took great pains to send Yan Hong to that noble school, obviously this little living expenses was not enough for a few meals.

She remembered that day when she was sent into the middle school gate for the first time, she was a little stunned looking at the simple and elegant new building, and the bright and beautiful appearance of the students and parents around her gave Yanhong a little headache.

Turning back to the snake woman behind her again, she confirmed that the other party just pushed herself forward.

"Study hard," said the snake lady.

But when he was speaking, his gaze passed Yan Hong and landed on some student.

If the snake lady said east, then Yanhong would not go west.But if one day, the snake woman no longer gives her directions, then Yan Hong will just wait in place, maybe she will wait like this forever, and she will definitely not learn to take a step by herself.

She is Yanhong.And "Yanhong" is the name given by the snake woman.

Now, the snake lady is so obsessed with it, but she just wants to see Mu Yu.

Yan Hong sat on the ground and listened to the old monk snoring, obviously she had never been close to the snake woman, and lived with each other docilely in a place not far or near, but as time passed, she could already see what the old man was thinking and expecting.

If it was projected on the big screen, Mu Yu's cold look would be everywhere.

All right.Yan Hong resigned to her fate and said in her heart, then took out her mobile phone and dialed the unsigned number again.

What is love, what is love, she doesn't understand, just looking at the look of Mu Yu in Snake Woman's heart, she feels that her whole body has lost weight, and even her feet have left the most familiar land lightly.

If one day she can learn to fly, maybe she won't be so terrified to regain the lost weight.

If it was Yu Le who made a call late at night, he might have hung up on Yan Hong directly.But that square dance went on for two reincarnations, and Mu Yu's sleepy voice was still heard.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Mu Yu's voice was calm and cold, with soft laziness, like winter rain falling on bamboo leaves, pattering away in a mist.Yanhong discovered that besides being good-looking, that person also had a nice voice.

She sighed, and then quietly said to Mu Yu: "I'll give you an address. Come here immediately, don't use any excuses like being sick at work, if you don't come, then I won't see you anymore. "

"... Yanhong?"

"I'll just say it once, remember it."

——Perhaps when the snake woman picked up Yanhong, she still had some expectations that she would look a little bit like Mu Yu, right?

But it's a pity that things backfired. Mu Yu's cold and deep beauty can't be copied by anyone. After all, Yan Hong is just an ordinary girl who can be seen everywhere. She hasn't grown up and hasn't understood adults yet. the words said.It seems to be living in its own world, but it is actually acting for the look of the snake woman.

She has been an orphan with nothing since she was born.

The snake lady gave her a name, a bed and a girl's life.

Later, she realized that perhaps the world she had was nothing more than a trembling old back.

The old monk woke up at the beginning of the second half of the night, rubbed his eyes, and started chanting again without apologizing.

Yan Hong didn't feel sleepy at all, she still sat on the ground with that unliving expression.Tomorrow, the snake woman will be cremated, and then find a place to put the ashes. After this series of arrangements, the old man's savings will be used up.After tomorrow, she will return to that orphan status with nothing.

So is life.

Snake woman sitting cross-legged on the sofa burst into tears, soaking her clothes.Yan Hong listened attentively, listening to the incense ash knocking down, chanting lazily, breathing heavily, and the wild cat outside the window screaming.

Then I heard a burst of hurried footsteps, from far to near, stepping on the stairs, rattling.

Yanhong said: "Here we come."

The old monk looked back at her suspiciously: "Who is here?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the unlocked door was pushed open.The moment Mu Yu walked in, the air in the house flowed like spring water. The old monk squinted at her, and suddenly let out an ah, and fell to the ground.

Then he grabbed Yan Hong's arm and kept talking about why Mu Yu was here.

Yan Hong said flatly that it was nothing, and came to guard the spirit.

"Shouling?" The old monk was startled.

Then Yan Hong didn't look at Mu Yu, and pointed to the small coffin next to her.She stared at the snake woman on the sofa, and the moment she saw Mu Yu, half a shattered light flashed in her eyes, like the moon in the water, and she burst into tears after a while.

The crying sound was harsh and echoed in her mind, pulling her nerves and causing pain.

The snake lady cried and said I'm sorry I can't protect you in this life.

She said that I, an old woman, have borne too many sins, so I can't implicate you.

But how could Mu Yu hear these words?Yan Hongxin said.In this small living room of about ten square meters, she is the one who listens, and she sees the crying. If you want to convey this kindness and guilt through her, then you have to think about whether Yan Hong knows what to do. .

Rubbing her eyes, Yan Hong saw Mu Yu walk to the side of the coffin, lifted the white cloth covering the body of the Snake Lady, and her face instantly became as white as a piece of clean printing paper.

She found that the other party was simply wearing a black shirt and trousers, and it seemed that he really rushed over in a hurry.

Mu Yu turned around and looked at Yan Hong, who was also looking back at her.

"...just you?" she asked.

Yanhong asked indifferently: "You want a group of servants? Don't you think about whether this small house will be overcrowded?" After finishing speaking, she patted the place beside her. "Sit down."

Mu Yu's face darkened terribly, but Yan Hong didn't feel the slightest bit of fear, and thoughtfully cleaned the floor for her.

She slowly thought about what to do tomorrow, sent the body to be cremated, came back to clean it up, found a place to put the ashes, and then returned to the normal track of daily life.The only difference is that the snake woman will no longer live with her alone, and no one will ask her to do anything.

Is this the end or the beginning?

Yan Hong thought about it.

Mu Yu sat silently beside her, tightly holding the silver cased mobile phone in his hand, so strong that it seemed to crush the mechanism.

Yan Hong glanced at her, then looked lightly at the Snake Woman who was covering her face and crying, and said, "I've been living here with her since I can remember."

As if he didn't expect her to tell him so directly, Mu Yu was taken aback for a long time before muttering: "So that's how it is..."

"I'm an orphan." Yan Hong said again.

"Ah."

"..."

I don't know if he got enough sleep, but the old monk worked a lot in the second half of the night, and finally stayed up until dawn. He looked at the time and said that it was time to get ready to go on the road.

Yan Hong then stood up, took out the phone number of the funeral parlor that Uncle Zhang had left for her from her pocket, and dialed it with the cell phone that the snake lady gave her. After making the reservation, she looked at the small coffin helplessly, Anyway, how to carry it out?

The old monk then suggested: "I'll send a call to Uncle Zhang, you clean up the baby." After finishing speaking, he walked out of the room, looked at Mu Yu twice before leaving, finally shook his head and sighed, without saying anything.

Yan Hong turned her head to look at the snake woman sitting on the sofa, Mu Yu noticed the seriousness in her eyes, and asked, "Is she here?"

"She is everywhere."

The snake lady seemed to have cried enough, seeing Mu Yu's wish was fulfilled, she stood up tremblingly, just like she was about to go to bed after watching TV in the past.It's just that this time, instead of street lamps and night, what seeps through the window is the glow of dawn.

Yanhong suddenly realized that maybe this was the last time she saw this scene.

Afterwards, the old man's parents sighed and their eyes fell on her.

Yan Hong looked at her for a few seconds without saying anything.

The snake lady knelt on the ground slowly and kowtowed to her twice.Yan Hong trembled all over, her feet went limp and she knelt down with a plop.But before she could say anything, the old man's soul disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Seeing Yan Hong kneeling down, Mu Yu was startled, and was about to stretch out his hand, but saw the child stand up again and turned his head.

"Yanhong." She hesitated for a moment, then stretched out her hand to comfort her.

But Yan Hong knocked off Mu Yu's extended hand, and said, "Leave me alone."