“...... Mandarins, Wudang Mandarins ......"

"The north square of the city has arrived, please ...... passengers who arrive at the station"

“...... Dad, I want to eat marshmallows...... Okay, buy it for you. ”

"Let's go, go home, Mom will stew you today......"

"Old Xu, the girl asked us to go to her house for dinner...... Eh, I'm already on my way. ”

Checheng City, on the square, it is evening, it seems a little noisy and lively,

Vendors setting up stalls, parents with children, young people hurrying through the square, carrying school bags, chasing children,

All sorts of people gathered together in this square, and scattered from here,

Standing in this small square, looking at the pedestrians passing by from time to time in front of him, Lian Ge paused slightly.

......

"Buzz...... Buzz. ”

The mobile phone vibrated sound, and after looking at it, Lian Ge took out the headphones from his pocket, plugged in the phone, and after putting them on, he connected the phone.

“...... Eh, Lian Ge, you're on the street, why are you so noisy. ”

The phone was connected, and Gu Xiaoying's voice instantly rang in her ears,

"It's in the square. Lian Ge heard this and responded with a smile.

"The square in downtown Shangluo?"

"Car city. ”

"Eh, Checheng...... I'll see where it is...... On the edge of Ezhou, wasn't it still over there in Sanqin Province two days ago?" On the other end of the phone, Gu Xiaoying seemed to check it with her mobile phone, and then approached her mobile phone and said,

"Just arrived in Checheng. ”

“...... It's almost night, shouldn't you find a place to eat, what are you doing standing in the square? ”

"Squeak...... Squeak squeak!"

At this moment, the little mouse squatting on his shoulder turned his head and called twice,

"Hey, I think I heard the cry of a guinea pig, what did it say, Lian Ge?"

"It's agreeing with you. ”

Lian Ge smiled and said out loud.

"Then Lian Ge, what are you doing standing in the square?"

“...... Seeing a very strange person. ”

Lian Ge answered, turned his gaze again, and looked not far in front of him,

Outside the square, a figure not far from the intersection of the road,

It was an old man in a wheelchair, with age spots on his face and loose skin, looking about eighty or ninety years old.

He wore a black coat, a scarf around his neck, and a black hat on his head, and his whole body was tightly wrapped except for his face.

At this moment, the old man was tilting his head slightly, his hand on the wheel of the wheelchair, leaning on the back of the wheelchair, looking at the intersection in front of him, stunned.

......

“...... Lian Ge, are you sure you're seeing people?"

On the other end of the phone, Gu Xiaoying was interested and said loudly,

"It's people. Lian Ge looked at the old man in the wheelchair, and while moving his steps, he walked towards the old man, and said in a loud voice,

"It's just that the yin qi is a bit heavy. ”

"Is there such a ...... Well...... Is it by his side?"

Gu Xiaoying asked with interest,

Hearing this, Lian Ge smiled slightly,

"Wait a minute. ”

After speaking, Lian Ge took off the headphones, put them back in his pocket with his mobile phone, and at the same time, walked to the old man's side.

......

Retracting his gaze, Lian Ge once again cast his gaze on the old man in a wheelchair beside him,

The old man's hands were on both sides of the wheelchair, his fingertips trembled slightly, his wrinkled and loose face was already snow-white.

Under the pale skin, there are some bruised-like patches,

At this moment, his cloudy eyes, looking into the distance, seemed to be thinking about something, and he didn't notice Lian Ge beside him.

Glancing at the old man, Lian Ge withdrew his gaze, just like the old man, looking at the pedestrians and vehicles coming and going at the intersection.

......

“...... It's almost night, young man, what are you still standing here?"

After a long time, the old man slowly turned his head, looked at Lian Ge on the side, and asked in a hoarse voice,

"Isn't the old man too?" Turning his gaze, Lian Ge glanced at the old man, smiled slightly, and said loudly,

Hearing the sound, the old man rolled his cloudy eyes and glanced at Lian Ge,

"I'm old, I don't have anything else to do, it's the same everywhere. ”

After a pause, he turned his head again, and looked at the intersection in front of him with some distraction.

"Old man, can you tell me what you're looking at?"

"What do you see?"

The old man looked at the street at the intersection and asked aloud,

"People. ”

Hearing this, the old man turned his head, looked at Lian Ge again with cloudy eyes, and after pausing on the mouse squatting on Lian Ge's shoulder, he turned his head again and looked at the street with surging traffic in front of him.

“...... In my eyes, this is an old vegetable market, and in front of the vegetable market is a small street......"

As he spoke, the old man raised his trembling hand and swiped it in front of him,

"There's a photo studio there......"

The old man raised his hand and pointed in one direction,

In Lian Ge's sight, across the street in that direction, there was a high-rise building.

"There's a two-story teahouse over there, and there's a stall in front of the teahouse that sells flower buns......"

The old man's whirling hand,

And the direction of pointing, is a shopping mall,

“...... On this small street, vegetable farmers who have to pick vegetables from time to time and children who chase them pass by...... There was also a half-grown boy who was pestering his father to buy maltose. ”

The old man pointed to the street and drew down, and the street was congested with vehicles,

"There was also a vendor with a load of bean curd along the street...... And the inhabitant of the upper floor poked his head out of the window and stopped the peddler......"

As he spoke, the old man slowly put down his finger-scratching hand, put it back on the wheelchair, and gradually fell silent.

“...... This was about sixty or seventy years ago. ”

After being silent for a long time, the old man spoke up again,

“...... I'm waiting for someone. The old man said, pausing, "Wait for someone who can't wait anymore......"

Hearing this, Lian Ge turned his gaze, glanced at the old man, and didn't say anything.

The old man raised his head slightly, and after being silent, he looked at the congested street in front of him and continued,

“...... It was just after liberation, I was twenty years old, and she was a year younger than me...... It was during the Silla War, so I made an appointment with her to join the army and go to Silla together......"

"That day, she and I took a picture in the photo studio, walked past the teahouse, stopped the vendor selling bean curd, and bought a bowl of bean curd...... When we walked to the entrance of the market, she told me that when we came back, we would still meet here......"

“...... When we got to the army, we separated, she went to another unit as a hygienist, and I went to battle......"

As he spoke, the old man raised his trembling hand and took off the black hat he was wearing on his head.

Stretching out his other hand, the old man scratched on the top of his head, put his hand down again, and put on his hat,

And in Lian Ge's sight,

At the moment when the old man lifted his hat, in addition to the snow-white hair on the top of his head, the skin and flesh of his scalp were blurred and rotten, and emitted a strong stench.

The scabs of black hair mixed with rotten pus-white rotten flesh,

While the old man scratched his head, he also tore off some hair, and the roots of the hair were still stuck to the bloody scalp.

The old man seemed to be unaware, and after shaking his hand, he put on his hat and continued.

Looking at this scene, Lian Ge paused,

didn't say anything, Lian Ge retracted his gaze and continued to listen to the old man,

“...... This battle lasted for three years, and I was injured several times from the beginning to the end, but I survived, and in the end, I almost ...... If it weren't for ......"

After a pause, the old man shook his head,

“...... In the past three years, I have also been in contact with her a few times, I have sent her a few letters, and she has also written back......"

As he spoke, the old man seemed to have some itching on the back of his hand, and he stretched out his other hand and scratched it......