But they probably didn't expect that this time, it would be July.

July in the north is the hottest season. The hill is now lush and the fragrance of flowers is refreshing. The large green is slightly shaking in the wind, and the colorful wild flowers are blooming. The grass seems to have put in full force, growing from the yellow and tender buds to half a person's height in one breath, almost covering the tomb.

Amid the sounds of cicadas, the grass rustled and then separated a road. A little girl in a light yellow dress jogged over, her forehead covered with sweat and grass leaves, looking embarrassed.

She had an anxious and worried look on her face, as if some treasure had been landed on the mountain, and was in a hurry to see if anyone had picked it up.

She ran to the grave and tried her best to trample all the lush weeds and exposed the tombstone. She took a breath, then looked around with vigilance, and shouted: "Is it there? Are you still there?"

There was no one around, only the crazy grass rustled.

She had to shout again: "Are you there? Are you still there? Are you there———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Still no one answered.

She simply squatted down and wiped tears while using her hands to pull out the mixed weeds. In a short while, there were a few long and short black marks on her face. Under the weeds was black soil, but the black soil was mixed with dead branches and leaves, which was extremely difficult to dig. The six-year-old girl didn't have much strength and was panting after a few minutes, but there was only a shallow pit the size of a palm in front of her.

She had to sit on the ground and cry while looking at the words on the tombstone.

In just one line, there are only a few Chinese characters she has learned in her preschool class—

The tomb of the beloved son Li Zhen.

The children in the countryside are not like children in the city. They are used to hearing the stories of mountain monsters told by the old man, and they are always more courageous. However, Yu Qingqing seemed to be more courageous. After accidentally discovering the strange things that happened in this new grave, she not only did not cry out in fear, but instead became close friends with the "ghost brother".

This can be regarded as the only secret of this little girl, so at such an innocent age, that ghost brother became the second only to her parents in her heart.

However, now I have revisited the old place and found that my brother who had been with me for several months has disappeared. I suddenly remembered the words that the old people often say to me—

People die like a lamp that goes out, and if they are gone, they will be gone.

A strange and inexplicable sense of fear climbed up to her heart. She stared at the few words she had just recognized on the tombstone with tears in her eyes, and couldn't help crying loudly.

Maybe he really was like those people in other graves on the mountain and could never get out again. The little girl thought so in her heart.

After crying, she turned into a thrust-she was tired of crying. However, she still stayed here and refused to leave.

The sun was still burning with scorching heat, and the weeds were swaying in the wind. Yu Qingqing stopped for a while, looked at the tombstone reluctantly, and finally planned to leave this "sad place". However, just as she was raising her feet and preparing to leave, she suddenly heard another voice-

"...Qingqing? Is it you?"

The voice was hoarse and low, as if it came from under the thick soil layer... No - Yu Qingqing held her breath and heard the sound again, she finally confirmed that it was coming from under the soil layer!

She opened her eyes wide and was obviously startled. In any case, this voice was a little different from the "ghost brother" she remembered - his voice shouldn't be gentle, just like his father?

She stayed for a while before she spoke timidly: "Brother Ghost, is it you?"

Perhaps I noticed the little fear in her voice, and the voice stopped for a while before saying, "...I'm scaring you? I can just speak... I didn't look like this before."

But this sentence is enough. Yu Qingqing suddenly lay on the ground, laughing with tears in his arms: "It's really you? Can you speak? I thought you were gone, why did you ignore me just now?"

She asked three questions like fried beans, and the voice was separated for a while before she said, "I...was sleeping just now."

"Ghosts can sleep too?" Qingqing took a breath in surprise.

This time the answer came even slower, and it was only when Qingqing wanted to ask again that the voice replied: "Qingqing, I... am not a ghost. I am a human."

So when the hottest time of the summer day, Yu Qingqing and her "Ghost Brother" - now it's time to call "Brother Li Zhen" - chatted for two hours across a thick layer of soil. However, most of the time, the little girl was talking about her aunt's house, the new classmates in the class, the pencil case she just bought, and the "Fuyu" brand ice cream that she wanted to eat again after eating twice.

Finally, I talked about the last time I left. Yu Qingqing took out a neatly stacked piece of paper from his pocket and said as if he offered treasures: "Brother Li Zhen, I understand all the words you wrote last time - you asked me 'What year is it now', now it's 2014... Well, the teacher said it was also the 36th year of Chang Geng."

Li Zhen didn't say anything.

Yu Qingqing waited for a while, and saw that he didn't respond, and asked excitedly: "Brother Li Zhen, can you come out to see me?"

"Not yet..." said the voice from the underground, "In another month... I will probably come out to see you."

"Then I will cheat my mother and kill a few more chickens so that you can grow faster!" Yu Qingqing squinted her eyes and smiled. She never asked why Li Zhen was in this grave - even a six-year-old girl could find that once this issue was involved, her brother Li Zhen was no longer talking. So she could only hide this "little" question in her heart.

Anyway, there are enough strange things, right? Not everyone can have a good friend who lives underground.

After a long separation, both of them left surprises for each other. If such days continued, more interesting things might happen. However, on the night when the two met again, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit the northeast of the province - the epicenter was in the small mountain village where Qingqing lived.

The earthquake displaced more than 80,000 people, many landslides and rivers were diverted. The vast northern plains were wailing all over the field overnight, and the emotions of grief and despair almost tore the night sky. In such an atmosphere, the strange friendship between the two came to an abrupt end, becoming an inconspicuous wave in the countless emotional tides of separation from life and death.
Chapter completed!