Liu Yan didn't have much fortune, but there was still a lot of open space on the second level, more than enough for a child.
The small girl was a little scared when she first arrived in an unknown place, standing at the door of the room and unable to move.
"Can I sleep with you, Auntie?"
Liu Yan touched her pigtails and said, "Brave children will sleep alone, right?
"I'm a brave child." The little girl's eyes were already watering as she said this, and she had to force herself to breathe in order to keep the tears from flowing.
After a major traumatic event like losing your mother, it was normal to feel insecure in a new environment that you had just moved into.
Liu Yan pointed to the opposite side and said, "That's auntie's room, don't be afraid."
It was quite close. The distance between the two doors was barely three or four meters.
Baobao sniffed and nodded, her big eyes turned red, and she looked pitiful and aggrieved.
It was already dark, and even the buzzing cicadas seemed to rest, and the otherwise raucous world fell silent.
Liu Yan, who was laying on the bed, was wide awake and staring blankly at the ceiling in the dark night.
After a brief respite, the events of the previous several days rolled in like a flood, leaving no way out.
Her gaze darted across the bedside table.
On it was a stack of paperwork, one of which was a death certificate.
Sister is no longer alive.
She would never come back.
Finally, the brain that had been shut down for a few days started working again, and an unimaginable sadness slowly rose from the depths of her heart.
I no longer have a sister...
Only now did Liu Yan seem to realize this clearly.
Fragments of recollections from the last twenty years or so came in, circling in her head like a revolving lantern, arriving and disappearing.
She never had parents in her world, and now she has lost the only person who was ever close to her.
Liu Yan wasn't sure if she should cry, but even if she did, she thought it wouldn't help.
"This world is beautiful, Yanyan; you should smile more."
Her sister once told her that she always had a straight face and did not act like a child.
Liu Yan exhaled gently and was startled when she heard a faint sobbing voice.
Huh?
She got up from her bed, followed the sound, and slowly strolled out of the room, stopping at the door of the opposite bedroom.
"Baobao?" She gently knocked on the door.
The sobbing abruptly ceased.
After a while, the little girl's cry sounded, "Baobao, a brave child, yes…"
Noises of sniffing were heard again after that.
Liu Yan pushed the door open, felt for the light switch, and turned it on. She was shocked to see the little girl who was supposed to be sleeping huddled in the corner with only an old bear doll in her arms.
Like a big mushroom that sprouted on the wall.
"Baobao, Baobao is a brave girl... woo woo woo," Big Mushroom said, turning her head slowly and looking at her auntie with misty eyes.
Big tears streamed down her cheeks.
Liu Yan looked at her little face that was six or seven points similar to her sister, and a pain in her heart quickly swelled up.
"Don't cry, it's auntie's fault." She brought the little girl over and carefully wiped her wet face.
Baobao originally thought that she was brave and strong, but now after listening to the words of comfort, she suddenly felt a strong grievance and couldn't help crying.
"There are monsters, and, and the big bad wolf wants to eat me!"
"Baobao is so brave, woo woo woo, so dark, all, don't want Baobao anymore!"
After crying, the niece and the auntie had a long tug-of-war, and finally, each took a step back—open the door and sleep with the lights on in the living room.
Baobao's heart relaxed, "So the monsters won't bite my toes?"
When she said this, little sheep's little feet shrank into the quilt.
Liu Yan nodded, "Light has an agreement with monsters, and monsters cannot appear where there is light."
She was afraid of the dark when she was a child, but no one came to comfort her.
She didn't want Baobao to experience the same kind of bitterness she felt at that time.
Baobao looked up at the lamp above and felt much more at ease.
"Auntie, can you tell me a story?" Baobao, who got back into the quilt, pleaded softly.
Liu Yan was taken aback.
She didn't know how to tell a story as she had never done it before and never had someone do it for her.
"Please!" Baobao tugged at the corner of her clothes.
Who can refuse a request from a little girl?
At least Liu Yan couldn't.
She racked her brains for a long time, cleared her throat, and recited dryly.
"Once upon a time, there were three little pigs, and two were picky eaters. They were very unruly..."
For children, the logical errors that could be seen everywhere were completely unimportant. Of course, Baobao wasn't the exception, and she was even fascinated by it.
She raised her little hand very seriously, "I'm not a picky eater!"
"Very good." Liu Yan poked little cub's nose to show her encouragement.
"Then what?" Baobao urged, "Picky eaters are punished, but what about those who aren't?"
In fact, Liu Yan didn't know how to continue reaching this point in the story, but in order to give the child a complete childhood, she had to carry on with a straight face and a bit of a scalp.
"The little pig who is not a picky eater is sent to butcher and the pork belly sells for a good price..."
Baobao was stunned.