When you enter the house, you can immediately feel the strong atmosphere of life, with a stone gray fireplace wall on the left, and chopped firewood stacked next to it; A smoky gray sofa group, in the center is a low oak solid wood coffee table, with a dark gray carpet below, and a few books and two ashtrays scattered randomly on the tabletop; Two shotguns hang from the log wall on the right, and the cabinet below is full of books; The cabinet near the window was piled high with assorted sporting goods, football, baseball gloves, some trophies and a row of empty lattices......

As if sensing Lu Li's gaze, Cole explained, "There were pipes there, and Jack was a pipe collector, but now all the collection is given to Frank. "Frank is Liz's older brother," Frank has sorted out the things at home, and the rest is up to you, and if you don't like it, there's a market next weekend where you can set up a stall.www.biquge.info For example, the sporting goods, I think the middle school society is more than happy to accept this gift. Of course, if you want to stay, that's absolutely fine. ”

Lu Li's footsteps involuntarily stopped in front of the bookcase, because when he was chatting with Liz, books were the most frequent topic. There are many different books on the shelves, not only in English, but also in Latin, French, Spanish, etc., and Lu Li even found books in Chinese, which Liz showed a strong interest when she learned that Lu Li was Chinese.

Liz was born in China, where his father and mother spent two years in Lijiang before moving to Marseille, where they grew up until they were eight years old, before coming to the United States and returning to the ranch. Therefore, Liz has always had a special complex for Chinese/Chinese culture.

Opening the bookcase, Lu Li took out the few Chinese books, one was Journey to the West, and it was a very old version; One is the Romance of the Gods, but the second half is already mutilated; There is actually a Xinhua dictionary, which makes Lu Li wonder.

Fold the books again and put them back on the shelves, just as he was about to leave, he saw a black plastic corner exposed from the two books, and out of curiosity, Lu Li pulled it out, it was actually a simple photo album. It's just a plastic sleeve stuffed with about a dozen photos inside.

Lu Li hesitated, this was Liz's privacy, he shouldn't open it privately. At this time, Cole walked over, "Do you like books too?" Same with Liz. Liz's favorite thing to do was sit in the rocking chair on the porch, flip through the books, and Jack was busy with the gardening in the yard...... "It's Jack who likes gardening," what did you find? Cole also noticed the photo album in Lu Li's hand.

Lu Li handed over the album, but Ke Er didn't hesitate, he opened it directly and flipped through it, "Oh." Cole sighed softly, then handed the album back to Lu Li, "Here's a family portrait of Liz, I mean, including Dylan." The album was open, and Cole pointed to the photo, "That's Dylan, Liz's son." At the age of twenty-two, he died in a car accident. ”

The photo shows a handsome and young man, dressed in a neat riding suit, standing next to a tall black horse, with a tall posture and a sparse face, and the vigorous vitality between his eyebrows eclipses the sun.

Lu Li had never heard Liz mention his family's situation, and out of respect, he didn't ask. He had wondered why no one was with Liz and why Liz was going to New York alone...... But unexpectedly, Liz was already alone, and the people closest to her had already left this world, leaving her alone.

"What kind of person is he?" Lu Li looked up, "I mean, Dylan. ”

"I don't know very well, when Dylan died, I was young, it should have been...... I'm not sure, twenty-five or twenty-six years ago? Cole sat down on the armrest of the couch next to him, "Yes, it must have been twenty-five years ago, when I was five years old. Cole struggled to scrape through the fragments of memories in his mind, "but the memories were blurry. I just remember that Dylan was a very nice person, teenagers always didn't like their younger siblings and didn't like to mingle with their children, but Dylan wasn't, he was always happy to take us kids on adventures, I remember one time, he took us to Marshall Valley to catch fish, and we kids all fell into the water and got wet, and when he came back, he was scolded by Liz. Thinking back to those troublesome years as a child, Cole couldn't help but laugh heartily.

"Later, most of what happened to Dylan was heard from my parents, and Liz and Jack were barely willing to talk about him." Cole shrugged his shoulders, and there was inevitably some regret between his eyebrows, "I only know that Dylan is a very good person, he is the first person in our town to be admitted to an Ivy League university, he went to New York to study, and he has seen a lot of the world; He was no slouch when the other boys were riding horses and shooting guns, but other than that, he loved to read, and most of the books in the Liz bookcase were bought for Dylan. Back then, almost every girl in the town had a crush on Dylan, and when he was at his high school prom, there were even girls who fought to be his dance partner...... Ha ha. ”

Lu Li couldn't help laughing, the interesting things in those memories have more or less changed, they may be exaggerated, they may be distorted, but they still truly reflect the ups and downs of youth.

"I think maybe God was so jealous of him that he summoned him back early." Cole's voice gradually lowered, and the atmosphere in the silence was a little solemn for a while, but soon Cole took the initiative to break the heaviness, "I've been living in the back building all this time-" Cole pointed in the direction of the north, "That's where the cowboys live, you can stay here tonight, if you need to, push open the back door and shout, I can hear you." ”

Cole stood up and looked left and right, "So, any questions?" Or do you need me to show you around the house? Without waiting for Lu Li to answer, Ke Le suddenly remembered something, "By the way, I'm going to drive the sheep back now, if you're interested, you can come with me." ”

Lu Li is indeed a little curious, after all, ranch life and cowboy life are all learned from novels and movies, and if you can personally participate in them, the feeling will be different. But after thinking about it, he drove all the way over, and he was still a little tired after all; Second, he wanted to wander around the house, so he shook his head.

Cole chuckled, "It's okay, it's a fixed route every day, and every day has a chance to experience it." With that, Cole picked up his cowboy hat from the couch and walked to the door, "Just make this your home." Then he laughed to himself, "Look at my memory, it's all yours, this is your home." So, don't be too inhibited! Then, pressing the brim of his cowboy hat, Cole left the house.

After watching Cole leave, Lu Li lowered his head again, flipped through the photos in his hand, there were not many photos, less than twenty in total, but each one had Dylan in it, and there was even a black and white photo of Dylan when he was just born.

At that time, Liz was still young, and she should have looked like a rock lover when she was young—the kind of chick who would go to Woodstock and then support anarchism, and could only vaguely find the elegant lady Lu Li knew from between her eyebrows; Standing next to him, Jack was honest and handsome, and his bright smile could not hide the joy and happiness in his heart.

The time in the lower right corner of the photo attracted Lu Li's attention, "1969-11-14", which made Lu Li stunned, and then a spark flashed in his mind, and then he understood.

Dylan was born on November 14, the same day as him; Then, the information in Cole's words just now, and the expression of Liz in the hospital at that time...... All the debris surged between the lightning and flint.

Liz found Dylan's shadow in him, which is why she kept the ranch to herself, because they both have a relationship with China/China, because of the friendship in the accident, because they have similar hobbies, and because of the young man with a sunny smile in the photo in his hand.

Although this was just Lu Li's own speculation, the photo in his hand still became heavy.

Looking at Dylan on the photo, the brilliance and publicity of time are eternally frozen in that moment, as if it will never fade, and it is so beautiful that people are intoxicated; Looking up at the quiet grassland outside, the sun was setting in the west, and the soft sunlight was falling all over the sky, so quiet that it seemed to hear the sound of a breeze.

Over the years, Liz has been sitting here, every corner, every road, every moment can find the figure of memories, how did she persevere, especially after Jack also left, that windy afternoon, she sat alone in the rocking chair on the porch, flipping through those old books, chasing the footsteps of memory.

When chatting in the hospital before, I learned that Liz goes to New York every autumn because "it's the most beautiful season in the city", which is Liz's exact words. But Lu Li couldn't help but imagine, did this sentence come from Dylan? Liz's visit every autumn is not looking for traces of memory, "If I walk the road you have walked and see the scenery you have seen, will I be closer to you." ”

Now, Liz has left him this pasture, a land full of memories, life, and hopes, and solemnly handed over to him. However, he decided to sell the ranch for auction.

Flipping through the photo of Dylan riding a horse again, Lu Li was a little distracted, and his thoughts settled down on this quiet afternoon, and the sound of the wind whistling by seemed to hear the whispering of the beech woods.