阿姐抱来一盆绿植时，我正在给窗台的蟹爪兰松土。青瓷花盆"当啷"搁在木桌上，惊得水培瓶里的铜钱草晃出涟漪。
"你瞧这叶脉，银丝游走如冰裂纹。"她指尖拂过垂落的细叶，像琴师拨动箜篌弦。我望着那些修长的叶片在穿堂风里摇曳，恍惚看见童年老宅檐下的吊兰，也是这样披散着翡翠发辫，在梅雨季生出白茸茸的气根。
她却说这是珍品兰花，从福建兰友处辗转求得。见我盯着盆底冒出的匍匐茎发怔，忽然笑出两个梨涡："等爆了小球，分你几个种。"阳光斜切过她鬓角，将几根银发染成金线，我突然想起十二岁那年，她也是这样抱着课本冲进院子："等考上重点中学，笔记都留给你！"
瓷盆里的植株在晨露中舒展，叶尖坠着剔透水珠。我偷偷用识花软件扫描，屏幕上跳出"吊兰属"三个字时，南风正送来米兰的甜香。阿姐往盆里填着腐叶土，碎碎念着："得用松树皮垫底，兰花最忌积水..."她的指甲缝沾满泥垢，如同旧照片里插秧的母亲。
昨夜暴雨，我去阳台收衣服，撞见那盆"兰花"在雨幕中疯长。新抽的枝条探出铁艺栏杆，嫩芽像婴儿攥紧的拳头。突然明白有些等待不必追问真假，就像她当年塞给我的"稀有昙花"，后来开出的不过是白色草茉莉——但那个夏天，我们确实守候了十五个夜晚。
When my elder sister carried in the green plant, I was loosening soil for the crab cactus on the windowsill. The celadon pot clinked against the wooden table, rippling the water in the pennywort bottle.
"See these silver veins? Like crackled ice." Her fingers brushed the cascading leaves like a musician plucking harp strings. The slender foliage swaying in the draft reminded me of spider plants that used to hang under our childhood eaves, sprouting fuzzy aerial roots during monsoon seasons.
She insisted it was a precious orchid obtained from Fujian. Watching her stuff rotten leaves into the pot, dirt under her nails like our rice-planting mother in old photos, I secretly scanned the plant. The app read "Chlorophytum" as jasmine scent floated in.
Last night's storm made the "orchid" stretch its limbs beyond the balcony railing, new buds like infant fists. Suddenly I understood some anticipations need no verification, like the "rare night-blooming cereus" she gave me that turned out to be white four o'clocks - yet we did keep vigil for fifteen summer nights.
暴雨初歇，瓷盆里钻出数支翡翠箭，顶着米粒大的白蕾。阿姐的语音消息带着山涧般的清亮："是兰！是兰！"我望着那些即将绽放的星点，忽然希望它们永远不要开花。
