Twenty years have made some faces pass away and some faces added to this village, interpreting the alternation of years and the withering glory of life.

Twenty years ago, some of the children who read and wrote in the village school stayed in the village, and some left the village to use the knowledge they learned in the village to seek a different future.

In the past 20 years, the village has changed a lot, and the young man has entered middle age, the only thing that has not changed is the thatched hut where he lives, the open space in front of the house, the children who come here every day to read and write, some teenagers and girls, and the white butterfly that appeared beside him.

For twenty years, no one in the village remembered the young man's original name, and they had long since become accustomed to calling him 'Master', and this has become almost his only name now.

On this day, a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy in plain clothes was going to leave the village to go out to gain fame, and before leaving, he hereby bid farewell to this gentleman who had educated him for more than ten years.

The middle-aged master, looking at the young man in front of him, was also a little relieved in his indifferent eyes, this is the smartest child he has been teaching in this village for 20 years, and he also hopes that this son can have a different future.

"What do you think about this benevolent character?"

It was a question that he was already familiar with, but after Yang Chen pondered for a while, he said: "Benevolence is virtue!" ”

Hearing this, the master smiled slightly: "You can go!" ”

"Yang Chen bids farewell to the master!"

Yang Chen left, leaving Baiyang Village alone, perhaps he still carried the expectations of the whole village, expecting him to become the first person in the village to be named on the gold list.

Baiyang Village has regained its former peace, and the master is still repeating the same life, teaching and educating people.

In the blink of an eye, three years have passed, and that Yang Chen finally returned, returning with the name of the champion, at that moment, the entire Baiyang Village fell into unprecedented joy, this is the first champion in their village for so many years, and it is worthy of everyone in the village to rejoice.

The first thing Yang Chen did when he returned was to come to the master to thank him, but the master just nodded appreciatively and said, "This is your own hard work, but this is only your first step towards a different future, and you have to walk the road of this future by yourself!" ”

"Students understand ......"

Yang Chen stayed in Baiyang Village for more than a month, then packed his bags and went to Beijing to take up a post, and when he left, he came to the master again and said respectfully: "Please also ask the master to teach?" ”

The master just smiled slightly and said, "What is benevolence?" ”

Yang Chen pondered: "Benevolence is virtue!" This is the same answer as it was three years ago.

"You can go!" Same answer three years ago.

In the blink of an eye, it was another three years, and Yang Chen returned to Baiyang Village again, only this time, he was not alone, but with his family and entourage, it can be said that he returned to his hometown in fine clothes, and his wife was the daughter of the prime minister of the dynasty.

This time, the entire village, men, women, and children all walked out of the village and greeted them at the entrance of the village, but the master did not come out.

After entering the village, Yang Chen brought his wife to the master to greet him.

This time, Yang Chen's family stayed in Baiyang Village for a month and then returned to Beijing.

Because of Yang Chen's relationship, some scholars in Baiyang Village have also gone out of the village one after another, seeking an errand in the capital, or doing some small business, with Yang Chen's care, these people's lives are getting better and better, while Baiyang Village is becoming more and more deserted.

Yang Chen returned to the village less and less, and so did those who relied on his connections to develop in the capital, and as time went on, there were fewer and fewer people who remained in Baiyang Village.

In the blink of an eye, another 20 years have passed, and Baiyang Village is still the former Baiyang Village, but most of the former households have been deserted now, and there are almost no young people left in the village, all of them are some old people.

It has been 50 years since the master came to Baiyang Village, and he has become an old man from a young man back then, and has stepped into his twilight years.

The thatched hut where the Master was still there, the plaque with the word Ren on the door was still there, and the open space in front of the hut was still there, but no children came here to read and write.

During the day, the master would drink tea and chat with the old people in the village, and at night, the master's life was no different from before, whether it was reading by candle at night, playing a song on the piano, admiring the moon alone, or going to bed early, it was the same as before, and the white butterfly was still there.

Five years later, when the old man in the village woke up early one morning, he found that his master, who had stayed in the village for more than 50 years, had left without a sound.

In this regard, the old people who remained in the village were embarrassed, and it was the arrival of the master that gradually changed the fate of the young people in Baiyang Village, so that the people in this village gradually walked out of the fate that was no longer passed down from generation to generation.

Just looking at the deserted village now, these old people can't help but feel a sigh in their hearts: "It was not necessarily bad in the past, and it may not be good now!" ”

Although the former Baiyang Village was poor, it was also self-sufficient, and full of vitality and laughter, and now the villagers are better off than before, but is Baiyang Village still the former Baiyang Village? I'm afraid it's long gone.

The master left Baiyang Village alone, walking alone in an ordinary carriage without direction, all the way through the stars and the moon, eating and sleeping in the open, and he was always on the road.

Two years later, the master came to the capital by accident, and happened to see a person who was about to be beheaded in the vegetable market, and this person was none other than Yang Chen.

It turned out that after Yang Chen's title on the gold list became the champion, he successfully became the son-in-law of the prime minister of the dynasty, and his career was really smooth sailing, step by step, and finally became the prime minister of the dynasty.

And a few years after he became the prime minister, the emperor of the dynasty died suddenly, because the new emperor was young, so the emperor made Yang Chen a minister before he died, and fully assisted the new emperor.

In this way, the new emperor was young, and all the government was controlled by Yang Chen, which also boosted his ambitions, so he began to form a party in secret, eradicate dissidents, and become more and more powerful, almost becoming a real and unknown emperor.

This situation has lasted for more than ten years, and the entire court has almost completely become Yang Chen's court alone, and thinks that he has firmly held the emperor in his hands, perhaps he does not want to bear the infamy of plotting to usurp the throne, and does not abolish the emperor, and he also thinks that it is enough to firmly control it.

It's just that the reality is never so simple, the emperor who has become an adult has already been secretly accumulating strength, although Yang Chen has been in charge of the government for more than ten years, there are still people in the court who are truly loyal to the emperor, so under the careful planning of these people, they still saw the opportunity to capture Yang Chen in one fell swoop, and beheaded him in the name of plotting to usurp the throne, and it was the nine clans of Zhulian.

The master in the crowd saw Yang Chen on the beheading platform, his wrinkled face did not fluctuate, but he still slowly walked out of the crowd and walked towards the beheading platform.

Today's Yang Chen is no longer the weak-crowned young man he was back then, and he is nearly sixty years old, but now he looks older than his master, and when he saw his master, his dead eyes finally fluctuated a little.

When the master walked to the front of the stage, Yang Chen, who was kneeling on the stage, directly bowed down and bowed, and said, "Students meet the master!" ”

At this moment, whether it was the surrounding court officials or the ordinary people who were watching, they all showed surprise, what Yang Chen committed this time made all his relatives and friends in the capital be connected, and there were still his relatives and friends there, not to mention that it was his mentor who appeared now, and he could make Yang Chen bow down, obviously his respect for this mentor.

The master looked up at Yang Chen on the stage and said lightly, "What is benevolence?" ”

It was still a familiar question, but Yang Chen's expression changed, and he pondered for a moment before saying, "Benevolence is virtue!" ”

"What is virtue?"

Hearing this, Yang Chen's face changed suddenly, blue and white for a while, and finally said bitterly: "It turns out that the student has never understood what benevolence is, and he has failed the master's teachings!" ”

The master shook his head and sighed: "Forty years ago, your answer when you left was not wrong, your virtue at that time was with everyone's expectations, and your answer thirty years ago was not wrong, when you were already living in the capital, your virtue was to benefit the whole village and neighbors, and your answer twenty years ago was not wrong, and at that time virtue was to show great ambitions in the court!" ”

"Now the virtue you say in your mouth has been in vain, even if you still remember, but twenty years ago, your so-called virtue is to accommodate other people's expectations, the sustenance of virtue, and these twenty years your so-called virtue, is only your own virtue!"

"Red dust scratches, change not only a person's age, but also mentality, also change a person's opinion on the same thing, forty years ago asked you what is benevolence, your answer is your ambition, now ask you what benevolence, your answer is just the loss of power after the downfall!"

Yang Chen's expression changed a few times, and finally sighed: "The student knows his mistake, ......"

The master shook his head and said, "This is your own choice, and it is also the fate of you and the village, it is you who have changed the fate of the villagers, and you have completely buried it. ”

Yang Chen was silent for a moment, then bowed to his master again, and said, "Farewell to the teacher, student!" ”

The master didn't say anything more, turned to leave, and soon disappeared into the crowd, and when the people of the court reacted and wanted to arrest him, there was no one to be found!

Three years later, at the foot of a green hill only a few dozen feet high, the master stopped walking around and settled here, and now he is gray-haired, drooping and old, and can no longer walk around.

On this day, the master sat on a stone outside the thatched house, looked at the cloudless sky, and muttered, "Seventy years of mortal life, comprehending the way of man, is now coming to an end!" ”

This novel is from the book website