Lan'er's home is a calm and comfortable nest. His father had long since retired, and he spent his years idly with the rank of general, knighthood, and salary. His pipe remained out of his mouth all day, except when he was sleeping, it fell from his flaccid lips, rolled over his wide breasts, and fell into the folds of his robe.
At such times, his bell-shaped hat may recline slightly on his head, and the red-topped beads on the hat point aimlessly at any angle. His wife liked to do needlework because she had a natural pair of skillful hands, and at such times he always looked at him with a smile, the man who had accompanied her through the long years.
There was not the slightest look of uneasiness on that serene face, for their lives were good. They had four children, two men and two women. Even the two girls were now concentrating on learning ancient Chinese in the hut behind the living room.
Their teacher was a lovely old man, fat and short-tempered, sitting with them, and the students occasionally deserted, and the teacher didn't care much, unless he suddenly woke up unexpectedly and was surprised to find that the girls were lazy.
Lan Er is an aspiring girl, she is a dreamer. Her dreams were so grand that sometimes she herself was taken aback, so she didn't tell anyone, but buried herself deep in her heart, secretly meditating, eager to acquire much knowledge to make her dreams a reality; longing for when in the future she would be able to break free from the constraints of traditional habits and peek into the world outside a door, or even outside the walls of a garden.
It was a secluded garden where the old gardener spent his time unhurriedly with his industrious hands and unhurriedly serving his beloved flowers and plants.
Father sat lazily, half asleep and half awake, smoking a cigarette. Mother sewed diligently. In the other room, the teacher was napping, and the two sisters were lying on the book, but who could believe that one of them had actually seen the crawling word, the word like a dragon with infinite changes seen in a baby's nightmare! It's the bright season of spring. In the garden outside the door, peonies, azaleas and magnolias bloom in the sky.
Lan Er put a finger on her lips and looked out the window thoughtfully. In the garden, bees are humming an intoxicating lullaby. Undoubtedly, the teacher was snoozing and the father fell asleep because it was spring! Lan Er's hazy eyes saw her maid Xiaozhu striding through the square of the garden.
She gently crossed the silent square, looked up to see Lan Er, sneakily put a finger on her lips, looked left and right quickly, nodded to her, and then turned decisively, walked quickly back to the other end of the garden, and disappeared.
Lan Er is familiar with this signal! She had seen it countless times before.
The signal told her, "He just entered the garden through the moon-shaped gate!"
Lan Er looked at her sister. Although her sister only smiled lightly, she showed a look of uneasiness. She looked worriedly at the teacher who was napping, leaning over to stare at her parents. She almost wanted to shake her head to stop her.
But she didn't do it because she loved her daring sister. For a noble Manchu family girl, Lan Er was bold enough. Lan Er looked at the teacher softly, slowly, with frightened eyes, left his seat, slipped out to pick the shed, and jumped out, all of which did not make any sound at all. She did not wake her father, who by this time his pipe was already lying quietly in the folds of his robe.
Her mother looked up for a moment and did not ask her why, because usually, at this time, Lan Er often had to go to the garden for a walk; especially when Xiao Zhu came to the door just now, she accompanied her cute little master, and there was no problem. In this way, Lan Er went to the garden.
