On the second day, Minglang got on a bus bound for his hometown of Taiping Town.

Taiping Town is not far from Guangzhou, about three hours by car. She hadn't been back for a long time, and her hometown wasn't what she remembered in the past.

All these years, I have been in the United States, and after I came back, I didn't go to his grave to worship, think about it, that grave is already overgrown with weeds.

The bright sunlight came in through the car window, and the memories of youth flashed through my mind all the time.

She had always been reluctant to admit that the swollen corpse on the riverbank was her handsome father, but she knew that, even if she didn't want to admit it, the truth was the truth, and that he had disappeared from this world twenty years ago.

Listening to the passengers in the bus talking in the familiar and unfamiliar hometown dialect, she felt an indescribable sadness in her heart, she was from Taiping Town, but she couldn't speak the vernacular of Taiping Town.

If, if Zhang Zijing hadn't left that year, what would she be like now?

The past cannot be traced, and there are not so many ifs.

Next to his grave, there was a small grave, and she knew that it was her own clothed grave.

She silently pulled out the weeds in front of the grave, and then sat down with the grave mound, with a mess of thoughts in her head, she said softly: "Dad, one day, I will lie next to you and be with you!" ”

In that small grave, one day, it will no longer be a well-dressed mound, but a real her.

She was suddenly not afraid of anything, and after wandering for so long, her heart finally settled down.

She closed her eyes, the mountain breeze gently brushed her face, and her ears seemed to hear his warm voice again: "Zhenzhen, let's go touch the fish, and fry the big fish for you to eat at night!" ”

"Zhenzhen, Dad really loves you and Mommy, but Dad can't hold on......"

As if hearing the giggling laughter of her young self again, she opened her eyes, and her face was already full of tears.

After sitting for an afternoon, as the sun was setting, she slowly descended the mountain along the way she came.

The location of the home in memory can be found quickly, but it is no longer the original house, it should be demolished and rebuilt in place. She passed by the small courtyard with blue bricks and white walls, and at the gate of the courtyard sat an old man smoking a hookah, with coffee-colored hookah traces outside the big bamboo tube, even though she had passed twenty years, she still recognized him, he was much older, like a man who was about to become an ancient.

He would beat her with a broom every night she cried, and he was a grumpy and irritable old man, her grandfather, who had passed on all the grief of the loss of his son to his granddaughter.

Did he regret it?

Minglang walked over and asked, "Old man, how do you get to the station?" ”

The old man looked up at her indifferently, then lowered his head and snorted again.

"The offspring girl, his ears can't hear, it's useless for you to ask him!" An old woman in an apron came out of the next room and came up to her.

She looked up at the familiar and unfamiliar face in front of her. She no longer knew who this woman was, let alone what to call her, and she thought it was either an aunt or an aunt.

"Oh, is that so? No, I'd like to ask about the way to the station! She stood up, looked at the old woman, paused, and asked, "Has this old man been living on his own?" ”

"Yes," the old woman sighed, "his son and granddaughter died young, but his daughter-in-law still sent him money every month, and his life was worry-free, but he was really pitiful in old age!" ”

Minglang used to hate him, but now standing in front of him again, the hatred has disappeared, but the family affection that is deeply rooted in the blood has poured out.

"Will her daughter-in-law come back to see him?" She asked.

"Every year during Qingming, his daughter-in-law will come back to worship and come to see him by the way, but he doesn't like his daughter-in-law, and every time he comes back, he always drives people away. His daughter-in-law is really good, no, the house caught fire a few years ago, and his daughter-in-law gave money to rebuild it! The old woman sighed and said, "Are you going to the station?" Walk along this road, turn right at the entrance of the village, cross the bridge and go straight! ”

Minglang said thank you, and was just about to leave, when the old man suddenly got up and grabbed her arm, staring at her strangely, "Are you Zhenzhen?" ”

Mingming's heart was beating suddenly, and he looked at him in a daze.

The old woman next to him hurriedly walked over and pulled his hand away, "Second uncle, it's not Zhen Zhen, Zhen Zhen is dead!" ”

The old man seemed to hear her words, and his messy eyebrows twisted, "Nonsense, Zhen Zhen is not dead, isn't this coming back?" ”

"Hey, I didn't hear what I should have heard, I heard everything I shouldn't hear, second uncle, Zhen Zhen is gone, don't frighten people!" The old woman said apologetically to Minglang: "I'm sorry, he is in a bad spirit, and he always recognizes the wrong person!" ”

Minglang kept looking at him, her throat choked, and when she heard the old woman's words, she hurriedly lowered her head and said, "It's okay, I have to go, I'm in a hurry!" ”

With that, she hurriedly lifted her feet and left.

Behind him, there was an old man's heart-rending shout: "Zhenzhen, don't go, don't go, grandpa is wrong, grandpa shouldn't beat you...... Zhenzhen, you come back, grandpa has been waiting for you......"

Tears fell without warning, and her heart seemed to be held by a big hand, and then rubbed it wantonly, so painful that she could barely breathe.

She escaped, sat down by the river, and looked at the river quietly with her knees folded. I don't know if she has grown up, and she always feels that the river is not as wide as before, but the current is still turbulent.

The river was covered with reeds as tall as a man, covering her body, and she sat quietly, uncontrollably immersed in the past.

An angry voice rang out above her head, "You're following me? ”

She looked up in amazement, but saw Zhang Zijing glaring at her angrily, her eyes were red, as if she had just cried.

She remembered that when she came just now, she vaguely saw a woman standing in the reeds, she didn't pay attention to it at the time, and she didn't expect it to be Zhang Zijing.

She didn't quarrel with Zhang Zijing, but said softly: "I was born here!" ”

"Edit, keep editing, don't you just want to follow me and pinch my handle?" Zhang Zijing didn't believe her a word, and sneered coldly.

Minglang looked at her red and swollen eyes, and suddenly wanted to give her a hint, "One night when I was seven years old, I stole my mother's money, and I was afraid of being beaten by my mother, so I hid here all night, and that night, I saw ......"

Zhang Zijing's face was stunned for a few seconds, and then she turned pale, and her eyes fell on her face like an arrow, "What do you see?" ”

"I saw a little girl, crying and running over, calling to the river for her father, she shouted and walked into the river, and after a while, the river swept her away!" ”

Zhang Zijing's body trembled and looked at her suspiciously, "Are you serious? Do you see? What does that little girl look like? ”

"It was too dark and it was raining heavily, I couldn't see clearly." Minglang Road.

"What did she say besides calling Dad?" There was a layer of mist in Zhang Zijing's eyes, as if it could condense into tears at any time.

Minglang thought for a while, and said, "I didn't hear it very clearly, it seems that I said something Mom and Dad, why don't you all want me, why don't you want me...... Grandpa beats me every day, I hurt so much, I miss you so much...... That's about it, I can't think of the rest. ”

Zhang Zijing's tears rushed out at once, and she trembled, "Why didn't you go out and pull her at that time?" ”

Ming Lang smiled, "I was only seven years old at the time, what do you think a seven-year-old girl can do?" She looked sideways at her, "What are you so excited about?" Could it be that you are the little girl's relative? Why did you let her run out alone so late? Is there no one at home watching her? ”

Zhang Zijing's face darkened, she silently retreated, sat on the edge of the river in despair, looked at it from a clear angle, and saw her side face, and the tears shining in the sunset.

She cried? Didn't she say that the dead don't need to be mentioned? Why are you crying? After all these years, why did she want to come back here?

She walked over, and Zhang Zijing looked up at her with hostility.

Minglang spread his hands, "I'm not following you, and I'm not interested in tracking you, besides, I'm also your adopted daughter's life-saving benefactor, even if you don't appreciate me, there's no need to speak harshly to me!" ”

"Between us, it's just a deal, don't raise yourself too high, you're not a benefactor!" Zhang Zijing said lightly.

Minglang shrugged, "Deal? What do you give? ”

"I don't believe you don't demand anything from me!" Zhang Zijing said slowly, "If you have any requests, just mention it, I won't refuse!" ”

Minglang smiled, "What else can you give me besides money?" And the last thing she lacks is money.

"Don't say that you don't seem to care about money, let me tell you, even if Zhen Yang is willing to marry you, those are his pre-marital assets, and you can't get it!" Zhang Zijing said with disdain.

"You're not him, so you know he won't give it to me? Even if he doesn't fall in love with me now, in ten years, twenty years, you promise he won't fall in love with me? Ming Lang scoffed.

Zhang Zijing didn't speak again, but she was contemptuous in her heart, she probably didn't know that Zhen Yang planned to divorce after the operation was completed.

"Are you really the little girl's mother?" Minglang asked tentatively.

Zhang Zijing didn't speak, her eyes fell quietly on the river, and after a while, she suddenly gritted her teeth and said: "There was a time when I hated this river, hated it to the bone, and it took the lives of the two people I loved the most!" ”

Minglang's heart was pounding, "The two people you love the most? ”

Zhang Zijing looked at her sideways, her cold eyes roamed her face, and she murmured: "If it was back then, if you could stop that little girl from jumping into the river back then, I would be willing to exchange all my things, including my life!" ”

Minglang hurriedly don't overdo it, and contain the tears that are about to rush out, right? Did she really value her like that? But why did you leave her alone?

If she hadn't gone out back then, would she have come back to her? Will you pick her up and leave here? Will you always grow up with her?

She stretched her waist and pretended to be careless: "Hey, I don't know if it was a dream or reality, Ah Gong said that I had a high fever for several days since that night, and then I heard that a little girl really drowned that night." ”

She left first, Zhang Zijing continued to sit by the river, the sunset stretched her shadow very long, the bleak wind swept by, the ends of her hair rose slightly, there was a bit of a sparse taste.

Minglang cried, and suddenly laughed again, I don't know what to laugh at, I don't know what to cry about, in short, the feelings in my heart are as complicated as a mess, I can't figure it out, and I can't explain it.