七楼 · 第九天
The Seventh Floor, Episode 9: Grandma Zou's Shop
Name: ________________ Date: ________
昨天晚上，乔安问妈妈，快递站那儿以前是做什么的。妈妈过了一会儿才问她：“你还记得邹奶奶吗？”
乔安想了想。“有一点儿。是不是一个很爱笑的奶奶？”
“对。”妈妈把碗放下，坐了下来。“快递站那儿，以前是邹奶奶的小商店。商店不大，可是什么都有。你小时候，天天拉着我去。”
“我去那儿买什么？”
妈妈笑了：“什么也不买。你就喜欢看她的花。”
“花？”
“邹奶奶最喜欢花。六号楼上面有一个小房间，房间外面还有一点儿地方。她在那儿种了很多花，什么颜色的都有。春天的时候，从楼下就能看见。”
乔安的心跳得越来越快。“六楼上面……”
“对，大家都叫那儿‘七楼’。邻居们见面常常说：‘走，去七楼看花！’”
“那邹爷爷也常去商店吗？”
“邹爷爷那时候也不爱说话，可是每天下班都去商店帮她。他也有商店的钥匙。”
乔安一下子明白了。她每天开的那个门，以前是商店的门。门没换，锁也没换。
“妈妈，邹奶奶现在在哪儿？”
妈妈很久没说话。“她已经不在了。她走了以后，商店关了，七楼的花也慢慢没了。七楼的那个门，从那以后就一直关着。”
乔安想起了桌子上的那片叶子，也想起了邹爷爷说的那句话：“她一直都给我留着。”
“还有一件事，”妈妈说，“快递站那张旧桌子，你知道是谁的吗？”
“我每天用的那张？”
“对，那是邹奶奶的。以前，她天天坐在那张桌子后面。”
乔安听了，马上站起来。那张桌子有三个抽屉。上面的两个抽屉，她每天都用。最下面的那个，从她上班的第一天到现在，一次也没打开过。
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 站 | zhàn | station; stop |
| 一会儿 | yíhuìr | a moment; a while |
| 记得 | jìde | to remember |
| 笑 | xiào | to laugh; to smile |
| 奶奶 | nǎinai | grandmother (father's mother); grandma |
| 小时候 | xiǎoshíhou | in one's childhood; when one was little |
| 花 | huā | flower; blossom |
| 上面 | shàngmiàn | above; on top of; on the surface of |
| 外面 | wàimiàn | outside; out |
| 颜色 | yánsè | color |
| 快 | kuài | fast; quick |
| 以前 | yǐqián | before; previously; formerly |
English (for the teacher)
Last night, Qiao An asked her mum what the parcel station used to be. After a moment, Mum asked her: “Do you still remember Grandma Zou?”
Qiao An thought about it. “A little. Was she a grandma who smiled a lot?”
“Yes.” Mum put down her bowl and sat down. “Where the parcel station is now, that used to be Grandma Zou's little shop. It wasn't big, but it had everything. When you were little, you pulled me there every day.”
“What did I go there to buy?”
Mum laughed: “Nothing at all. You just loved looking at her flowers.”
“Flowers?”
“Grandma Zou loved flowers more than anything. On top of Building Six there's a little room, and outside it there's a bit of space. She grew lots of flowers up there, in every colour you can think of. In spring you could see them from the ground.”
Qiao An's heart beat faster and faster. “Above the sixth floor...”
“That's right, everyone called it ‘the seventh floor’. When neighbours met, they'd often say: ‘Come on, let's go and see the flowers on the seventh floor!’”
“So did Grandpa Zou go to the shop a lot too?”
“Grandpa Zou didn't like to talk much back then either, but every day after work he went to the shop to help her. He had a key to the shop too.”
Suddenly Qiao An understood. The door she opened every day used to be the shop's door. The door had never been changed, and neither had the lock.
“Mum, where is Grandma Zou now?”
Mum was silent for a long time. “She's no longer with us. After she passed away, the shop closed, and the flowers on the seventh floor slowly disappeared. And the door to the seventh floor has stayed shut ever since.”
Qiao An thought of the leaf on her desk, and of what Grandpa Zou had said: “She always kept them for me.”
“There's one more thing,” Mum said, “that old desk in the parcel station, do you know whose it is?”
“The one I use every day?”
“Yes, it was Grandma Zou's. She used to sit behind that desk every day.”
Hearing this, Qiao An stood up at once. That desk had three drawers. She used the top two drawers every day. She had never once opened the bottom one, from her first day at work until now.