Jing'an District, Huashan Road, a secluded community near Hanhai Drama Academy, not far from the noisy Hengrong Square, but here is quiet, the tall wall isolates the sight and hustle and bustle of the outside world, the red brick façade is covered with vine roses, and the dense French plane trees shade the scorching sun.

Ren Pingsheng has been calling Zuo Xiaoxiao's mobile phone for the past few days, but no one has answered for a long time, and the familiar avatar in the QQ list has been dimmed for a long time, and he does not answer Ren Pingsheng's message, all in all, Zuo Xiaoxiao seems to have completely disappeared in his world.

In desperation, Ren Pingsheng had no choice but to find this community according to the address Zuo Xiaoxiao gave him before.

Although he deliberately cut his hair today, changed into a new shirt and trousers, and looked fresh and neat, he was still stopped and interrogated by the security guard at the door for a long time, even if he brought up Zuo Xiaoxiao's name, it was useless, and the security guard asked him what his intention was.

Ren Pingsheng couldn't say that he was here to save his ex-girlfriend, so he could only prevaricate in the name of visiting his classmates, but the suspicious security guard didn't let him go easily, and asked a bunch of personal questions to the bottom of the matter, until he showed his student ID card of Hanhai University, and the security guard let him go.

The interior of this community is not big, after all, it is in Jing'an District, where every inch of land is valuable, and the residences inside are all two-storey single-family villas, with a single villa construction area estimated to be more than 500 square meters, and there are more than 200 square meters of courtyards and gardens outside, the building materials are mainly red bricks, outdoor corridors with Roman columns, shallow sloped roofs and attics are full of American style.

Although Ren Pingsheng walked into the community, but his heart was a little unhappy, from the language and expression of the security guard, it can be seen that he does not belong to the class of residents in this community, although Ren Pingsheng has gone away, but the vigilant and suspicious eyes of the security guard are still chasing behind, making him feel uncomfortable.

"Now that we're here, don't dwell on it anymore. Ren Pingsheng secretly said to himself that now is not the time to take care of that humble self-esteem, in order to make up for the regrets of his previous life, in order to save his college romance, he must come up with the determination and posture to break the boat.

Under the self-encouragement, Ren Pingsheng quickened his pace, found the single-family villa with the house number 17, stepped on the cobblestone path, and walked through the lawn planted with moon flowers, Ren Pingsheng stood in front of the brown gate that he had never stepped into, feeling that his heartbeat was speeding up sharply, and he could even hear the sound of blood vessels expanding, just like his first date with Zuo Xiaoxiao, nervous like a rookie.

"Don't think about it, the man's husband should be decisive, do you still want to repeat the mistakes of your previous life?" Ren Pingsheng thought about it again and again, and finally made up his mind, but felt amused by his previous timidity.

He rang the doorbell and waited almost a minute for the door to open.

Ren Pingsheng didn't see the coveted shadow, the person who opened the door for him was an old aunt in her early 50s, with an old-fashioned bun like duck eggs, and a simple face that came out of the mountains, judging from the dress and posture, it should be the maid at home.

Zuo Xiaoxiao seems to have mentioned to Ren Pingsheng that she was always brought up by Aunt Guo in the family when she was a child, and this Aunt Guo came to her house at the age of twenty to help, and until now she still serves the Zuo family diligently.

The woman in front of her should be Aunt Guo, and she said in Mandarin with a Huizhou accent: "Hello, who are you looking for?"

"Hello, my name is Ren Pingsheng, I am a student of Hanhai University, I am looking for Zuo Xiaoxiao, we are friends. Ren Pingsheng made a serious introduction.

Aunt Guo didn't seem to be unfamiliar with his name, she nodded slightly and said, "You come in first and sit in the living room." ”

Aunt Guo's attitude was neither enthusiastic nor indifferent, which made Pingsheng relax a little, but she didn't say to inform Zuo Xiaoxiao, and Ren Pingsheng couldn't let go of it in his heart.

Watching Aunt Guo's footsteps disappear at the staircase, Ren Pingsheng looked around, the interior of the house is mainly decorated with dark yellow rosewood, the entrance entrance is facing the stairs leading to the second floor, the left hand side of the entrance is the dining room and kitchen, with a finely painted flower and bird screen as a partition, on the right hand side is a spacious large living room, the ceiling of the living room is more than 5 meters high, the long floor-to-ceiling windows are hung with dark gray Roman curtains, and there are bookcases on both walls, which are full of all kinds of books and decorative ornaments.

Ren Pingsheng took advantage of the waiting time to skim the bookcase, the books on it are complicated, it can be seen that the owner has a wide range of knowledge, and there are many arts and crafts from different civilizations, such as Buddha statues from India, folding fans from RB, tapestries from Iran, pottery from Bolivia, lacquer paintings from Norway, etc., all of which are witnesses brought back by the owner from his travels in various countries.

The huge living room only has two sofas in the center, which are draped with white hand-woven sofa seat cushions common in the last century, but the sofa material is glossy leather, and there is no TV common in Chinese homes in the living room, except for the artwork is a variety of books, even the sofa is full of books, which is completely in line with the style of a high-level intellectual family.

Being in this house with the fragrance of books and no vulgar thoughts, Ren Pingsheng really understood how Zuo Xiaoxiao's indifferent temperament was cultivated.

There is a calligraphy that has not yet been framed on the yellow rosewood coffee table next to the sofa, Ren Pingsheng leaned over and looked at it, the font on the paper is like a dry tree trunk branch, quiet and rugged, solemn and simple, there is a dragon and snake;

"It should be like a pure heart, not a heart of color, a heart, a heart of sound, fragrance, and taste, and a heart that should not dwell anywhere. ”

A deep and low male voice came, and Ren Pingsheng looked back to see that Zuo Yuqiu had already walked down the stairs.

Zuo Xiaoxiao's father, Zuo Yuqiu, is a well-known poet and essayist in the Chinese literary circle, especially in the series of poems published at the beginning of the century, which caused great repercussions and praise in China, and he himself was also selected as a national cultural representative, and at the turn of the century he had a roundtable dialogue with representatives from several major civilizations in the world, and his influence spread at home and abroad.

Zuo Yuqiu is currently serving as the honorary president of the Hanhai Drama Academy, and generally does not participate in public activities, lives in seclusion in the downtown area, and concentrates on studying books.

He had just turned 60 this year, with gray hair, a square face, rimless glasses on the high bridge of his nose, and many wrinkles on his face, which still showed that he was quite handsome in his youth. He was of medium height, neither fat nor thin, wearing a light white linen gown that had been washed cleanly, and black handmade cloth shoes under his feet.

Zuo Yuqiu walked to the side of the Huanghuali wood coffee table, pointed to the calligraphy and said: "This is the big seal, the ancestors turned the oracle bone into a golden text, and turned the golden text into a stone drum text, because of its regular lines and neat strokes, it is the ancestor of humanity in later generations." ”

"Very big, very much, very much. Ren Pingsheng groaned and spit out these six words from his mouth.

A hint of color flashed in Zuo Yuqiu's eyes, he just read out that the sentence on the notebook came from the Buddhist classic "Diamond Sutra", but he didn't expect that although Ren Pingsheng didn't know the big seal, he knew the "Diamond Sutra", and the six words he answered were Zuo Yuqiu's subsequent answer to quote the "Diamond Sutra".

In the "Diamond Sutra", Subodhi asked three questions to the Buddha Nyorai in a row, namely "The body is like Sumeru, is it not great?", "The number of sands in the Ganges River, how much?", "The world is not much?", and it is the six words of Ren Pingsheng who answered Subodhi.

This conversation at the first meeting was obviously very much in Zuo Yuqiu's mind, and it also made his first impression of this young man very beneficial.

"Hello, uncle. Ren Pingsheng nodded with his hands crossed.

"Sit down, you're welcome. Zuo Yuqiu smiled and raised his hand towards the sofa.

From the appearance to the present, Zuo Yuqiu's attitude is quite kind, and there is no celebrity arrogance, so that Ren Pingsheng's originally somewhat restrained hands and feet are also released, he looked around and sat down on the sofa opposite Zuo Yuqiu.

Aunt Guo appeared again, holding a carved wooden plate in her hand, placing two blue and white porcelain bowls in front of the two of them, and retreated without saying a word.

Zuo Yuqiu opened the bowl, a unique aroma came to his face, he picked up the bowl and put it in his nose, smelled it, closed his eyes, as if immersed in the fragrance of tea, his expression was very happy.

He opened his eyes, pointed to the bowl in front of Ren Pingsheng and said, "This is a ten-year-old Pu'er, young people may not be used to drinking it, you can try it." ”

Ren Pingsheng put the bowl between his nose and smelled it according to the gourd, the fragrance of Pu'er tea is very strong, he drank a lot of tea in his previous life, but he mainly drank green tea and white tea, Pu'er only tasted it slightly, but just based on the feeling just now, the Pu'er of this decade should be the top grade of tea.

Tea is good tea, but Ren Pingsheng is not in the mood to taste tea at the moment, he can't help but open his mouth and say: "Uncle, my name is Ren Pingsheng, I don't know if Xiaoxiao has mentioned it to you, I am her boyfriend, is she at home." ”

"Don't be in a hurry, don't be in a hurry, drink tea first. Zuo Yuqiu was not surprised by Ren Pingsheng's words, he raised his glass to his lips step by step and took a sip gently.

Although Ren Pingsheng was anxious, he had to follow Zuo Yuqiu's instructions, although his demeanor was elegant and his tone was gentle, but there was an indescribable power that made people have to listen.

After drinking this tea, Ren Ping found that the temperature of the tea soup was just right, neither hot nor cold, the taste was mellow and fragrant, like a golden thread, slowly entering the esophagus through the throat, and then spreading to the whole body and internal organs, as if every pore had been ironed through.

Ren Pingsheng regained his courage and told in detail how he and Zuo Xiaoxiao met, knew each other, and fell in love in college, although his tone was a little intense, but Zuo Yuqiu just listened quietly while slowly sipping tea.

After Ren Pingsheng finished speaking, Zuo Yu didn't know if he could do it, put down the gaiwan in his hand, and said leisurely: "Pu'er tea is the most difficult to make, picking essence, withering, killing essence, rolling, autoclaving, Baking, the last course is the most important, and the key to baking is to master the heat, baking too heavy will leave smoke, drink the smoke and roast, there is a bitter taste; if the baking is not enough, there will be moisture, dull and turbid, uncertain, the entrance is obscure; only by mastering the appropriate heat, can we make a good tea cake, but this tea is not drunk at this time, although the entrance is sweet, in fact, it is shallow, lacks aftertaste, and then it is bland; good tea also needs years of precipitation, to be stored for aging, in order to make the taste thick, in order to have more changes, in order to be soft and cleanRich and considerate, this is the best tea. ”

Listening to this set of tea ceremony, Ren Pingsheng was quite beneficial, and Zuo Yuqiu not only talked about tea on tea, but also used the Pu'er way as a metaphor for life and emotion, he originally wanted to show Zuo Xiaoxiao with enthusiasm, but he was taken by this tea and a word, and he was actually half cold, and he only cared about slowly chewing the taste of tea and the meaning of the words.

Zuo Yuqiu seemed to know all this, and while he sipped tea, he said:

"Drinking tea is a very nourishing thing, the taste is secondary, some things are not urgent, some things are not slow, the taste of drinking is right, the kung fu is not in the back, do you understand?"

Ren Pingsheng looked dazed, he came to the door this time to find Zuo Xiaoxiao and want to save the relationship between them, but he met her father. Although Zuo Yuqiu was quite polite to Ren Pingsheng, he turned a deaf ear to Ren Pingsheng's appeals, and his words were even more foggy, so that he didn't know what it was or why.

Time passed second by second, and Zuo Yuqiu just tasted the tea casually. The tea is very fragrant, the sofa is very comfortable, and the atmosphere is also very good, but Ren Pingsheng feels that every second he stays here is so uncomfortable, because Zuo Xiaoxiao is not there.

Finally, Zuo Yuqiu put the finished teacup back on the table and stood up, Ren Pingsheng understood the other party's intention to send off the guest, and unconsciously stood up.

When he walked to the door, Zuo Yuqiu took the initiative to shake hands with Ren Pingsheng, and gently patted the back of his hand and said: "Although I am not a scholar, but I have also read through "Bingjian" and "Liuren Lesson", your bones are pure and noble, not for the emperor and general, but also a famous Confucian family, but there is a defect in the palace, you need to be in a hurry, patience, and concentration in order to avoid disasters and auspiciousness, remember, remember." ”

Ren Pingsheng nodded, accepted Zuo's message, and left Zuo's house with unspeakable loss and melancholy.

At the beginning of the crossing, Ren Pingsheng was originally full of confidence, thinking that with more than ten years of experience and knowledge, he could turn things around at will, but he didn't expect that the first thing would end in failure, which was quite a blow to him, and for the first time in his life, he doubted his strength.

He walked towards the entrance of the community in a daze, and he didn't go far, as if he heard footsteps coming from behind him.

Looking back, Aunt Guo of the Zuo family was out of breath, and ran to the front with small steps, although she moved very much, her expression did not change much, and she still said lightly: "Xiaoxiao just left yesterday, Mrs. Zuo has a performance in North America, and she accompanied her to relax." ”

Ren Pingsheng was overjoyed, but he didn't expect that he didn't find out the news in the Zuo family, but he accidentally got it from the servant, and he hurriedly asked, "Thank you, is this what the professor asked you to tell me?"

Aunt Guo seemed to expect Ren Pingsheng to ask such a question, and replied unhurriedly: "This is what Xiaoxiao ordered me before leaving." ”

Ren Pingsheng suddenly felt that the whole world was full of kindness to him.