The living must live on well.

I walked into that store and asked the clerk to get a suitable size. Then I packed up that dress. I was very excited and kept guessing how she would feel when she received the dress. "Surprise!" I shook the dress bag. "I told you not to buy it. You're always wasting money. What's the use of me wearing this when I'm so old?" She smiled, smiling happily. Sitting on the bus, the air conditioning lowered the temperature a little.

"Is it fun here?" She was sitting on the merry-go-round in the amusement park, smiling and giving me a thumbs-up. The sun shone on her. She was actually beautiful at this moment, like a princess in a fairy tale, enjoying happiness to the fullest. But who could have imagined that just a few minutes ago, she had refused to ride it because she thought it was too childish. Only after I said we had spent the money did she agree to ride it. She was so cute. I smiled and lowered my head.

"Do you know why I like this dress so much?" I was really curious. After all, there were so many beautiful dresses in the mall. This dress didn't even look very nice and seemed a bit old-fashioned. "Why?" She smiled and answered me. "That year, when my husband and I just got married, our life was extremely difficult. There was no betrothal gift or dowry." "Guess what he said?" She stared at me expectantly. I guessed wrong several times. "What is it, Grandma? Hurry up and tell me." "Well, well, he said that as soon as he got his first paycheck, he would buy me the most beautiful dress to make me the most beautiful woman. Today, when I saw this dress, it was somewhat similar to that one, so I liked it." "What about that one?" "Alas, since he got cancer, I've sold everything in the house, including this dress. Alas, this old man has left." Time seemed to stand still at this moment.

She wiped away her tears. "Well, I won't say much. Let's talk about something else." "I'll tell you, Little Li. When I go this time, I must wear this dress and take a lot of beautiful pictures." Then she took out an album from her hand. "Look, these are the photos I printed from the photo studio." In the photos, Grandma was very beautiful when she was young and could be on par with today's big beauties. "Do you know why I chose him as my husband?" "Because there were so many people chasing me at that time, but only he was the most sincere and treated me wholeheartedly. Although he was poor, I wanted to help him rise to success. But who would have thought..." "Grandma, it doesn't matter." "And your daughter is with you." "When we go to City W, I have one pose for two people, three poses for three people." Then she looked at me expectantly. "You, me and your daughter will take pictures." "That's right. In the future, the three of us will be a family. We must take a lot of beautiful pictures in those poses." "Fill them up!" The laughter lasted for a long time. It was so wonderful! That night, we talked until very late.

When I woke up again, it was already noon. The dog was lying beside me. A few rays of sunlight shone into the room, filling it with warmth. I picked up my phone and found that Grandma hadn't sent me a message. Maybe she had been sleeping because she had accompanied me for so long yesterday. Then I lay down and went to sleep again. In the evening, I took the dog for a walk in the shaded path downstairs. The nucleic acid testing station that used to be there was now idle. There were still eye-catching epidemic prevention publicity signs on the stairs. Since the opening, many people had tested positive. Maybe the epidemic was over, but COVID-19 had never really left us. I walked on the shaded path and looked at the night sky and the trees on both sides of the road. I thought about it. After going upstairs, the dog kept barking at Grandma's door. I put my finger to my lips: "Shh, don't disturb Grandma's rest."

"She still hasn't replied to my message. I woke up from my sleep in a panic, put on my clothes, and with a "bang", I opened the door. "Deng deng", "Grandma Wang, are you in?" "Kuang kuang", I knocked on the door for ten minutes, but no one answered. I found the property management and a locksmith. "How long has she been out of touch?" "About two days," the locksmith said casually while opening the door and chatting with me. "Click", the door opened. I hurriedly ran into the room. When I entered the bedroom, I instantly collapsed to the ground.

In the bedroom, Grandma Wang was lying peacefully on the bed, with a smile on her face. Beside her was the dress I bought for her that day, neatly placed, looking like she had prepared it for a long time. It reminded me of the feeling I had when I was looking forward to the Spring Festival when I was a child, always putting my clothes on the bedside. I smiled bitterly and cried. On the opposite side of the bed was an altar with her husband's portrait on it. The incense burner on it had long been out of incense. The room was drawn with curtains. Everything was so quiet that it was scary. It seemed that all the laughter and voices from a few days ago had never existed. Finally, I understood why there was the smell of incense in the room and realized that Grandma Wang had never let go of him. I cried uncontrollably. Suddenly, I found a letter on the table. I opened it. It read, "Little Li, I'm sorry. I seem to have a fever. I might be infected with COVID-19 and can't accompany you to see the cherry blossoms. You must take your daughter to see them and take good care of her. Don't tell her about my death for the time being so as not to disturb her work." My tears blurred my eyes. The tears rolled down from my eyes and blurred the words. I cried uncontrollably. Maybe if I hadn't taken her to the mall and played that day, she wouldn't have gotten sick and wouldn't have left. She would have always been here with me!

I sat on the car carrying her ashes with almost no strength left. My tears seemed to have dried up completely. I looked pale as I took the car home. On the way, I watched the street lights flashing by. The pedestrians were walking briskly. I didn't know why tonight seemed especially sad. When I got home, I put her ashes together with her husband's ashes. The dog seemed to sense something. The once lively dog that liked to come close to me was now just lying on the ground, staring blankly. Even when I gave it its favorite food, it just grunted a few times and then turned its head away. I was extremely sad and tossed and turned in bed all night, unable to fall asleep. I opened the photo album and looked at Grandma Wang's happy photos, which inevitably reminded me of every bit with her. "Sigh," I heaved a heavy sigh. I wanted to cry, but it seemed that I had cried all my tears dry.

The night was so quiet that it seemed to throw people into endless darkness.

I held the ashes box and walked to the cemetery. I still remembered what her daughter said to me before she left, "Sister, I bought three graves. If something happens to me, I'll bury all of us there. In this way, we can still be a family underground!" She said it so casually and smiled so brightly, as if death was just a small thing. Although we knew that life and death were uncertain during this mission, we smiled and said, "No, you will definitely come back safely. Don't forget to take us to see the cherry blossoms." "Dong", the ashes box was buried between the two graves. On one side was the anti-epidemic fighter who had been buried during the epidemic, her daughter. "It doesn't matter. In this way, the three of them can be reunited." I put a cherry blossom on each of the three graves. "Sorry, I couldn't fulfill my promise and didn't take your mother to see the cherry blossoms," I said standing not far away from the tombstone. A couple with red eyes put candy on their child's grave. Who can understand the feeling of an old person seeing their child off and losing their close ones one by one? I sat there, and the dog lay beside me.

A ray of sunlight penetrated through the surrounding woods and shone on me, warm. I had a kind of déjà vu feeling. At this time, three butterflies flew over together and landed on my fingertips, flapping their wings constantly. "When the person you miss dies, they will definitely turn into butterflies and come back to see you." The dog that had been depressed for several days wagged its tail and started doing many actions taught by Grandma Wang, her husband, and her daughter. Maybe they came back to see me. After a long time, the three butterflies flew away in pairs.

I walked my dog on the path and looked up at the starry sky. With just one glance, I saw the three brightest stars.

Those who have passed away are gone.

The living should live well.