Outside the window, there is a banyan tree with dense branches and leaves, and the greenery is deep and quiet.

A gentle breeze blows through the birds, rustling the branches of the trees, and the bright and clean sunlight adorns this ordinary and peaceful afternoon.

"What happened?

My eyes were full of tears at some point, and I looked at the gray-haired, but still elegant and beautiful 'woman' in front of me and asked urgently.

Between the old man's eyebrows is the tolerance, peace and brightness that have been precipitated by the years, and there is still a slight glimmer of reminiscence in his eyes, as if he has not yet come out of the dusty past.

"Later," she said softly, the corners of her eyes seemed to be a little moist, "Later, Commander Fang understood that there was no hope of retrieving his father's body, so he ordered the artillery battalion to bombard the Tianma Mountain stronghold with the few remaining shells, blowing up the ground several times, and carrying out an 'iron burial' for my father and all the officers and soldiers left behind, and also let all the enemies who attacked the stronghold be buried together- Therefore, my mother later refused to go to Taiwan with my uncle and grandmother, nor did I want to go to Hong Kong with Uncle Lu, and later my uncle also wrote to me to take us over, but she still refused, so she stayed in Hengyang, guarded my father, and guarded her whole life. ”

I felt so bad that I couldn't speak.

The old man looked out the window, with a sigh and trance in his tone, "Actually, at that time, if they hadn't picked me up, if they hadn't seen me, my mother would have gone with my father a long time ago." ”

She paused slightly, while recalling, she said: "I was still young at that time, I can't remember many things clearly, I only remember my grandmother kept saying, 'Xiaosheng, look at the child, Jingjing is still so young', I remember that my mother finally hugged me and cried, before this, I never knew, how can a person's tears have so many tears, and how can they cry so much that people's hearts are pulled, she didn't cry, just hugged me tightly, tears kept falling, from I was awake, to sleep, and then woke up- Even though I was just a child at the time, and even though it was the first time I saw her when I grew up, she cried, and I don't know why, I couldn't help but cry along. ”

"I thought to myself, my mother must be a very crying person," she said slowly, "but you know what, this is the first and last time I saw her cry, and after that, no matter how difficult it was, she never shed a single tear— Even later, everything in the house was stolen, all the photos and letters were burned, and when she was criticized and sent for reform, she did not shed tears, I don't know what she thought in her heart, whether she regretted it, whether she was sad, but I never heard her say a word of complaint. ”

I became more and more sad, and I couldn't help but ask, "What about that painting, didn't that painting survive?"

"No," the old man shook his head, and there were some traces of remembrance in his eyes, "I couldn't help crying at that time, but my mother hugged me tightly and said to me, it's okay, it's okay, she said, except for me, nothing in this world can carry her thoughts about her father, she doesn't need to leave anything, everything is in her heart, forever." ”

I turned my face away, even though this is only in the past, even if this is only a matter of others, but my heart is still heavy, so sad that I can't speak, for such a noble lady, for her such an opportunity.

The old man seemed to see my thoughts, and smiled calmly, "Fortunately, my mother didn't suffer too much, and it didn't take long for Uncle Mu to hear about my mother, and he was greatly shocked and came to see my mother in person, I don't know what they said, but later, when I went to school, my classmates stopped scolding me for being a little capitalist, and the teacher told them that I was an orphan of a martyr." ”

When I said goodbye to the old man, I handed her favorite chocolates, she thanked me, and then got up and put the two boxes of chocolates together in a glass cabinet, which was full of chocolates.

She saw my eyes and smiled, "Later, I took back the original things at home one after another, and my mother only left what we needed for life, and most of the rest were donated to the orphanage, and this is one of them." ”

"Chocolate?" I didn't react for a moment.

The old man smiled and nodded, "Yes, every holiday or her birthday, or any day at all, but when she misses her father, she will use the money he left behind to buy chocolates, just like her father gave her." This habit was kept until she left, and now I've inherited it again – I always liked chocolate, like my mom. ”

"I'll send it to you when the article is published. I concluded.

"No, the reason I'm willing to tell you this story is because I thank you for bringing this to me. The old man shook his head slowly, and gently raised the yellowed and somewhat torn magazine in his hand, on which was a photograph of a cheongsam 'girl', a general in a military uniform, a beautiful and famous general, and envious of others.

She sighed softly, "You always say that I am everyone's girlfriend, but you see, the real girl's beauty should be like this, you see, my mother, how beautiful - until she is old, I and my 'daughter' accompany her to the street, so many eyes still fall on her, everyone admires her, all of them are her, my little 'girl' American boyfriend used to be stunned in front of my mother, and then said to my little 'daughter', your grandmother is beautiful and elegant even in her bones." ”

My gaze fell on the smiling cheongsam 'girl' with her, and I didn't doubt at all what she had just said, just a photo, which was enough to glimpse such a heart-wrenching elegance and charm.

"Also, because I think there are things that should not be forgotten," she said, raising her eyes to look at me, and slowly opened her mouth again, smiled, and said, "But I don't need anything to remember deliberately, and I will never forget." ”