When she said this, tears were already welling up in her eyes. I took out a tissue from the glass table between the outside and handed it to her.
She stretched out her hand to catch the tissue, then wiped her eyes, and then said to me apologetically: "Thank you. I'm sorry, I feel like this every time I think about this matter."
I smiled at her and said, "Actually, I was also shocked." Then I asked her, "So, did you take his words to his mother?"
She nodded, then shook her head again, then took a sip of coffee before continuing -
After Thursday it was Friday, and after Friday it was Saturday. The weather was good on Saturday, so I got up early and rushed to the bus terminal. Only when I arrived did I realize that I had gone early, and the bus to that small town took half an hour.
The train left after an hour. I sat and walked around in the waiting room and finally used up my free time. When I got on the bus, I asked, and I found that I was still waiting for the free time. The whole journey would take five hours.
I relaxed and half lay down. I came up as soon as I fell asleep. After sleeping for a while, I made up for the lack of sleep in the morning and my mind became clearer. At this time, someone was talking to me next to me, and the tone was soft and strange.
The dialect of the town I was going to. I began to imagine that town. After thinking for a while, I subtracted a large amount of Ye Qiang’s age and let him return to his youth in the town. I think he was in
The town must be happy. Although the life is simple, there is a yearning in the simplicity, the yearning for the future. How could he have thought that when he successfully walked out of the town, he was actually sending himself to a point of no return?
.
I thought about his mother again and my meeting with her. For this mother, my appearance was unexpected and awkward. When I knocked on the door, I must have seen a pale and...
A face of despair. Looking at that pale and desperate face, how can I introduce myself? How can I explain my purpose?
I rehearsed the meeting situation in my mind, but it didn't feel good. I rehearsed it again, but it still didn't feel good.
It was already afternoon when the car arrived in the town.
The autumn sunshine shines down, making the town in front of you a little brighter. The streets are not wide, but there are many people on the streets. When there are more people, the street scene becomes quite busy. But fortunately, there seems to be something hidden in this busyness.
It looks quaint. This is in line with my imagination.
Following the address I copied down, I first found a white stone street and then an alley. Walking fifty meters from the alley, I saw an old-fashioned house. Obviously there are not many such buildings in the town anymore. I
I spotted a door, raised my hand and knocked a few times. The knock on the door did not open the door, but instead attracted the head of a woman at the opposite door. The woman's head was caught in the crack of the door and asked me: Who are you looking for?
I called out the name of Ye Qiang's mother, and the woman nodded and said, "It's here, but she's not here."
I asked her where she was, and the woman said: I don't know. Then she said: She hasn't been at home for several days. After saying that, she put her head back.
I stood helplessly for a while and suddenly thought of the stationery store. Maybe she was bored at home and ran there. With this thought, I hurried out of the alley to inquire about the primary school in the town. There are three primary schools in the town.
So, I hesitated for a moment and decided to go to each school one by one. As soon as I found the first one, I saw a small closed shop next to the school gate, with the word "stationery" sticking out of the door.
I asked the shopkeeper next door, and the shopkeeper said: What are you buying? I have some here too. Her shop also sells stationery. I said that if I don’t want to buy anything, I will find someone else. The shopkeeper looked at me carefully and said:
Something happened to her family, it was a big deal, why would she stay here?
I had no choice but to go back to the white stone alley, enter the building, and directly knock on the door of the house opposite. The woman came out and asked: Why are you here again? Didn't I tell you she wasn't at home?
I said: Please help me think about where she might go?
The woman said: Who are you? Are you a relative of her family?
I said: No, I am from the court.
The woman was stunned for a moment: From the court? Why are the people from the court here when everyone is dead? Are they here to collect money for bullets?
I quickly said: No, no, I have something to give to his mother.
The woman asked: What is it? Is it important?
I replied: It's important.
The woman said: But she doesn’t let me tell anyone where she goes.
I said: You are not telling others casually, you are helping me and her.
The woman hesitated for a moment and then told her a place to go, which turned out to be a temple. The woman said: The temple is not far away, but it's a bit late for you to go now. You'd better stay in the town for one night and go early tomorrow.
I didn't want to do this, so I hesitated for a while, but couldn't find a better way. I left the town to find a hotel, and it was already dark after I stayed. I went out to find a snack bar, filled my stomach, returned to the hotel, and asked
Get off at the front desk and ask the receptionist to take you to the temple.
When I woke up early the next morning, my genius had just begun to shine. I washed up and went out. I had only walked a short distance when I encountered a commotion. It turned out to be a funeral procession. The procession was quite long, and in front was a band dressed in unique clothes. The costumes looked a bit like
The music played by the Beiyang warlords in military uniforms was also somewhat unique, it was actually "On the Field of Hope". Amidst the music, firecrackers jumped into the air one after another, first making a crisp sound, and then scattering red and yellow confetti.
Come down. There is a photo of the deceased walking in a conspicuous position in the middle of the team. Behind the photo is a coffin carried by four people on their shoulders. Those shoulders do not seem to be strenuous. It is certain that the coffin is no longer filled with the body of the deceased but the cremated ashes.
Following the coffin was a long line of wreaths, followed by a quiet and lax crowd seeing off the coffin.
I haven't seen this kind of funeral procession for many years, and I found it a bit strange to see it in this small town. I turned my eyes away and looked at the black coffin again. On both sides of the coffin were walking more than a dozen people wearing uniforms.
Men and women in mourning clothes heard some wailing sounds from time to time. However, they were both wailings, but the content was different. Some were just going through the motions, and some were really sad.
I thought about Ye Qiang. I thought that any death is a destination. His body may have been brought back to the small town, but when he returned to the small town, he definitely had no dignity. It was impossible to carry him around like this.
Walking through the streets of the small town in the morning. The most likely possibility is that he was quietly put into a grave in the dusk and received a scrawled and silent funeral. There might be only one sob at the funeral, and that was his mother's alone. Oh, he died.
He killed himself and at the same time took away his mother's right to cry sadly in the market.
I speeded up to get rid of the excitement and left the town. I walked on a main road for a while and then turned onto a dirt road. The dirt road ended and I reached the foot of a mountain. There was a stone path going up from the foot of the mountain. At this time, the sun had just peeked out of the top of the mountain, and the light looked very fresh.
.
I walked up the stone path. The trees beside the road were quite tall, but not too dense. The mountain wind passed through the branches and blew my hair. The faster I walked, the higher my hair floated. I walked
If you go slower, your hair will look calmer. After walking like this for half an hour, a road sign appeared in front of you. The arrow pointed to the top of the mountain to the right, and the arrow pointed to the temple to the left.
Follow the arrow and walk to the left for dozens of steps, and you will encounter a pair of stone lions and a stone gate. Walking through the gate, you will see a long stone road. The stone road is protected by branches on both sides, which makes it look very strange.
Quiet. I walked in the quiet, and my heart seemed to become quiet, and the slight sweat on my body slowly stopped.
When I arrived at the temple, the door was closed. I entered from the side and saw two exquisite wooden houses. There was a copper bell and a round drum inside. The words "morning bell" and "evening drum" were written on the foreheads of the houses. To the left
Just around the corner is the Heavenly King's Hall, and further forward is the Mahavira Hall. The hall is empty and there seems to be no one, but the sound of tapping wooden fish can be heard.
I walked a few steps in lightly, and suddenly I saw an old monk standing next to me. He closed his face and moved his mouth slightly, tapping the wooden fish with the mallet in his hand. I didn't dare to disturb, so I took a few steps back and reached the door.
Outside, my ears refused to go away and listened quietly. (To be continued)