Mountains and Books

Song Zhixia rushed back to her hometown in a heavy rain. Grandma is gone, and the villagers have already helped her with the funeral arrangements. She stood in front of the new grave, soaked all over, and the grandmother next door put a key into her hand - tied with red wool, which had been rubbed for too many years and had formed a layer of thin hair balls. Grandma said: "Your grandma said that if Xiaobao comes back, give her this key." Song Zhixia recognized the key. It was something that Grandma had worn around her neck all her life. When she was a child, she would secretly reach out to touch Grandma while she was sleeping. Every time she touched it, she would be caught and then pulled into her arms. Her back would be patted again and again, and she would fall asleep after being patted. She had never seen that lock open. The key is now in her hand. She pushed open the door of the old house, walked into Grandma's room, and walked to the wooden door that had been locked all her life. The key was inserted into the lock, and it opened with a click. Behind the door is not a utility room, but a study. The two rows of wooden shelves are full of old books, with county library labels on the spines. An open copy of "Andersen's Fairy Tales" is spread out on the desk, and next to it is a pair of reading glasses with tape wrapped around the temples. There is a tin box on the corner of the table, and inside is a notice from 1993 - the county library is closed and all books are to be disposed of together. There is a handwritten note in the margin: "The book cannot be burned, someone needs to read it." That's Grandma's word From the moment the door opened, Song Zhixia began to re-recognize the person she had called "Grandma" all her life. She followed the route map left by Grandma, rode the old tricycle, walked into the back mountain, walked into the orphanage, and walked into the road that Grandma had spent more than forty years on.