Chapter 2 On the top of the tower, count my trees

I stood there a thousand years ago I haven't changed after two thousand years Three thousand four thousand five thousand years, I am still there. When it was just getting dark, my toes stepped on the center point of the two intersection roads.For a while, the traffic stopped, and the lights they intertwined were so bright that I could see my eyelashes, but I couldn't see anything around me. I slowly raised my head, and my line of sight and the tall tower in front of me just formed an obtuse angle.So, I saw Xiaoxi again.She stood on a very high, very high spire, and I had to lift my neck to see the shadow on her chin.

As usual, I started by cutting out all the lights on the tower.Each window refracts light of various colors outward, and I just need to use my palm to cut off the light like cutting a square along the edge of the window.The rays of light falling from the window are like glass, transparent and fragile. I held them and slowly lowered them so that they could be suspended in the air. Soon, there was such a staircase paved with rays of light that reached the top of the tower. I stepped up slowly, and I didn't need to be extra careful when I passed the window.The people there always have their backs to me, even if they face me occasionally, they can't see me.It's not that I can be invisible or magic or anything, in fact, they can't see anything other than themselves at all.

When I reached the 101st floor, my white robe began to lose control, because the wind was strong for more than two or three laps.Probably, probably like a white bird, I held down the long hair that flew up, and let the robe swing along the edge of the wind as much as possible by the way. I like that very, very much. Finally it was the top of the tower, and now I was standing in front of Xiaoxi.The wind did not wash away her slightly self-satisfied pride.When she saw me, she moved her lips lightly, but because she hadn't drank water for a long time, a small opening opened immediately. She smiled, looking straight at me.

"Why do you have to stand so high?" I was always confused about this point, so I asked every time, and even memorized Xiaoxi's answer: "This is how you can see far. Besides, counting is a matter of concentration, and the noise on the ground is too loud and too hot, and I don't want to be burned by it." As she spoke, she liked to brush her thin hair behind her ears and start looking again. "How many trees do you have? Why can't you count them all?" This is a question I often ask. "Okay, okay, I know, you're going to say 'only one'."

And will answer quickly, simply, and firmly. "En." Xiaoxi affirmed lightly, indicating that the answer was correct. I'm usually followed by a surprised question: "So what else is there to count?" "Actually...a tree takes up very little space, doesn't it?" She would change the subject so suddenly that I would be a little caught off guard. Xiaoxi opened the coordinate drawing in her hand, "Time is the horizontal axis, and space is the vertical axis—here is my tree." She pointed to a small black dot on the grid, "There is only such a small place. But But it can grow infinitely, growing toward the sky."

"Oh." I don't see how this has anything to do with counting. "The color of each leaf is different, and the color of the front and back of each leaf is different. When the sun is good, and when it is cloudy, the number of leaves is different, and the number of birds perched is also more or less. Naturally, ...The fruits are not the same. These need to be counted and recorded every day." I've memorized all the answers to these questions, and now I'm saying it outright, Xiao Xi just smiles there, ah ah ah. Hey, don't think of me as a computer that only knows Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V!

"Today, we can start." Xiaoxi handed me the white umbrella.I have used it for her for many days. I propped it up and came to the sky extending from the spire.Xiaoxi's tree grew right in the middle of the sky. The tree is a very beautiful tree, so green that it seems that it will disappear when you touch it, and it has no sense of reality.No age or species can be seen, just a shade of green, and the entire crown of the tree slopes to where the wind has run away. I was carrying the umbrella, and the open umbrella was turned upwards. I went to the sky and sat on the edge of the open umbrella.Float, float, float into the middle of the sky.

I shook off the small fishing rod in my hand and began to wait for something to bite.What I caught were all weird things, tin drums that didn't ring, grumpy soda cans, and once, I caught a whole city. It was full of memories that were forgotten to be brought home.The memory of the same color as the sky kept flowing out of it, so Xiaoxi and I saw that girl at the same time. The raindrops are like small white flowers, withered and falling from the gray sky.The girl holds the umbrella with one hand, and tightly holds a new umbrella with the other. Not only the umbrella, but also two schoolbags, two tiny bells on the clothes, and even the black hair was tied into two braids.

There are so many "twos" that of course make as many "ones" stand out. In the double seat in the classroom, she sat alone; in the relay race in physical education class, no one would hand her a stick; when she was eating, there was another set of dishes next to her, with ice cream or cauliflower piled up like a hill on top. "This is not good, Xiao Mu. No one in the class is willing to be your friend." The teacher reminded the girl with a sigh. "It's okay, teacher, I have a younger sister." Xiao Mu touched the bell on her clothes. "But your sister is already dead!"

"Well, I know. But even so, she is always by my side! She wears the same clothes as me, uses the same schoolbag, and we even eat the same food. I can hear her breathing -" Xiao Mu spoke seriously, raising her small face. I took a quick look at Xiao Xi, she and Xiao Mu have two faces that are so similar. "That's right, I'm Xiaomu's dead twin sister." When it was only Xiaoxi and me left again, Xiaoxi told me the whole story. "I am indeed by Xiaomu's side...I don't want to go to another world yet." "why?" "I want to take care of Xiao Mu's tree. Everyone has a tree of life. If it is ignored, that person will get sick or die early. My tree must be forgotten, so I I can't let my sister's tree be forgotten."

"So you're here to guard Xiao Mu's tree? On this high tower, and you're still barefoot?" I looked down at Xiao Xi, and her feet were already red from the cold, split open like her mouth A small hole was made. "Well, I kicked off the shoes myself. Because taking care of the tree of life is a very difficult thing, there were many tree caretakers who couldn't bear it and left. I couldn't, and I didn't want to leave, so I kicked off the shoes. Let myself never go away again. But, but, I don't want Xiao Mu to remember me all the time, I don't want her to have no friends! In that case, even if she doesn't realize it now, she will be sad one day ——I don’t even have a single friend, and no one needs me. Once Xiao Mu thinks this way, there will be yellow leaves on her tree.” "So, what do you mean?" Xiaoxi laughed and nodded, "Didn't you already guess it? I asked you to help me to help Xiaomu forget about me. Then, as a reward, I will take the tree you want to protect Find out where the tree of life is." Forgetting is a very, very big thing, as big as a hospital, and forgetting itself is full of the smell of disinfectant. In the afternoon when Xiao Mu's memory of Xiao Xi was erased, the sun became lower and lower, finally unable to support his own weight, and was about to fall from the treetops.I spoke—"It's all over." Yes, the light of memory is switched off. "So fast……" "Yes, until tomorrow, Xiao Mu will not remember anything about you. She will have new friends, but she will never miss your things; she will become very gregarious, but she will never remember anything about you again." You will feel the warm gaze that pays attention to her." The corners of Xiaoxi's mouth began to tremble, "Hey—what's the matter with you? Do you have to take the smile off my face?" "I just want to know, will you regret it?" "What about you? Don't you regret it?" Xiaoxi asked me back. "If I regretted it, I wouldn't have come to you in the first place. When we first met, we agreed that I would help you, and you would use coordinates to measure the location of the tree I wanted to protect. " Xiaoxi then opened the graph paper in her hand, her fingertips trembled slightly, and the pencil went up and down on the parabola, "Time is the horizontal axis, space is the vertical axis..." However, nothing appears. Xiaoxi panicked, she had enough reason to panic.Because if the guardian cannot find the tree of life, he will lose the qualification of the guardian. I started to squat down and untie the laces on my feet.I handed the shoes to Xiao Xi. "Although I am an old lady, and you are just a little girl, the size is definitely not suitable. However, please put on your shoes and go to another world. From now on, you are no longer a guardian, but you can also be released." Xiaoxi looked at me in surprise, as if she didn't know what to say. "Go to another world quickly, you have been here, and then you will come back again. This time you are Xiaomu's sister, next time, maybe you are her daughter, who knows? But it's interesting, isn't it ?” "But...Xiao Mu's tree..." "I will guard it for you! I will make that tree beautiful, grow, grow, and grow infinitely toward the sky." "So, you can also endure endless loneliness?" "I can!" "Can you endure extreme cold, and hunger and thirst?" "I can!" "You can't even sit, you can't move, you can only stand here, count and count, look and look..." "I can still do it!" The wind suddenly picked up. I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again, there was no one in front of me. After Xiaoxi left, I tied the bell on her clothes to the tree she guarded.Whenever there is a wind, I can hear the crisp sound after another-Ding Ling, Ding Ling. Then, in such a nice voice.Once again, I looked at the tree that I promised Xiaoxi to protect with great nostalgia. I count the leaves on the tree, and I use memories to drive away the loneliness in my heart. That was when I was 6 and my sister was 4.At the door of the hospital ward, I heard my sister say: "Mom, please leave my bell to my sister. And the dress that I can no longer wear, please leave it to my sister. Although I am reluctant, but the bedside In the tin box in the drawer, there are still sugar wrappers that I hid. Give her what my sister has always wanted. Mom, my illness really can’t get better anymore, can I? Mom, don’t cry anymore... ..." I will never, ever forget, the expression on the doctor's face when my sister was about to die, just like I will never, ever forget, the day my sister was born, even though I didn't understand anything, I became a shy little girl Little sister. These memories cannot be taken away, no matter what happens, no matter how old they are, they will never be forgotten, even if Xiao Xi so desperately hopes that I will forget it—because it is the most precious and brightest light in my heart. I am the elder sister who lived a happy life because of Xiaoxi's protection and died on Sunday morning——Xiao Mu. Because I have become such an old lady, Xiao Xi never recognized me. From now on, I will always watch Xiaoxi here, just like she watches me. The wind blew again, the bell rang again, and this time, it was me who guarded Xiaoxi.Waiting for her to take my blessing and lightly land on this world again. I would smile and whisper to the tree, "I'm right here, Xiaoxi! I won't go, Xiaoxi! I love you—Xiaoxi!"