I was groggy for more than a week. I had a fever, dizziness, a bad appetite, and weak limbs every afternoon. I don't admit I'm sick. I also sometimes go out to the movies. But I don't have to hunch down on my desk to write now. On a fine day, I walk in the garden twice a day. I drink plenty of boiled water and sleep more.

Lao Yao came to visit me once a day to talk about some gossip. He didn't know that I was sick, and only said that I had worked too hard to write articles, and that I was not in good spirits for the past two days. He advised me to get rest. He himself seemed energetic. He seemed to have completely forgotten all about the unpleasant things, and he had that smile on his face all day long that he didn't care about anything, and he often let me hear his hearty laughter. His wife also came often, and always sat for a while, and then went back with her husband. In the end, she was careful, she saw that I was sick, and she advised me to take medicine; She also instructed the kitchen to prepare porridge for me. Her calm smile was a sign of inner pleasure. I watched the relationship between the couple and I felt that they still loved each other, just like I saw when I first arrived. Xiaohu has also come to my room twice, and I haven't been seen by him in a long time. He's more polite to me now. When I asked him about it, he replied politely. From Lao Yao's mouth, I know that Mrs. Zhao took her grandson and granddaughter to a relative's house in another county as a guest, and it will be about two weeks before she returns to the province. Xiaohu had no one to play with, so he had to go to school and study in peace, go home to warm up his classes, and was willing to listen to his father.

Then the family should be happy enough by now. I rejoice in them and bless them secretly. One day I talked to Lao Wen about Xiaohu, and I said that Xiaohu has changed a lot now. Lao Wen sneered: "He won't change for the better!" Mr. Lai, don't believe him. As soon as the old lady Zhao came back in a few days, he would immediately change again. The lord and the wife are both kind people, so they were deceived by him. We all know his tricks. "I don't believe Lao Wen's words, I think his prejudice against Xiaohu is too deep.

My sick state suddenly stopped. I no longer have a fever and I can eat. The couple came to ask me out to hang out, and I saw that they were in good spirits and went out with them for three days in a row. On the third day, we came back early, and their car arrived home first. My driver was not running fast, and when he was turning a corner in the street, he collided with an oncoming car, and the two colleagues put down the car and quarreled, almost starting to use force, but they held back, scolded each other viciously, and each pulled up the car and left. When I returned to Yao's house, I unexpectedly ran into the Yang family child inside the gate. He was sitting on the bench talking to Li Laohan.

"Mr. Li, you're just back! I've been waiting for you for a long time! "When the child saw me, he jumped for joy." Mrs. Yao, they've been back for a while. ”

"It's been a long time since you've been here, how are you lately?" I looked at him with a smile and said kindly.

"I've been here twice, and I haven't run into you. I've been a little busy lately," the child replied affectionately.

"Let's go in and sit down, the moon is fine today," I said.

He followed me inside. He took my hand and said to me in a happy tone, "Mr. Li, my brother will get married tomorrow." ”

I asked him, "Are you happy?" "I tried my best to suppress my other feelings, and I was afraid that I would say something that I shouldn't have said at this time.

He nodded and said, "I'm happy." He went on to explain: "They are happy, and I am happy." I like my cousin, she is a sister-in-law, she must be better to me. ”

By this time we had entered the porch of the garden. The moonlight shimmers in the shade of the trees outside the stone railing, and the rockery is painted with white shadows, mixing darkness and light.

"You haven't been here in the evening," I said, leaning my head slightly over the child.

"Yes," he replied.

We followed the stone railing to the front of the lower flower hall. The scent of gardenias came to my nose one by one.

"I'm not going in, I'm going to stand down for a while and then I'm leaving," the child said.

"You're in a hurry to go back, are you helping to prepare for your brother's wedding?" I asked him with a smile.

"I'm going to get up early tomorrow morning, because there are many guests, and there are few people in our family, so I'm afraid I won't be busy," the child replied.

We walked down the steps and stopped under the osmanthus tree. The moonlight and the shadows of the trees paint a picture on the child's body. He raised his head and looked through the gap between the two osmanthus trees to look at a cloudless blue sky above.

"I want to attend your brother's wedding, are you welcome?" I asked, half-jokingly.

"Welcome, welcome!" The child said happily. "Mr. Li, you must come!" Before I could reply, he continued, "Tomorrow will be lively, but there is only one person missing." If Daddy is here, we'll all be together. He changed his tone and lowered his voice, as if he were talking to himself. He suddenly turned his head sideways, looked at my face, raised his voice and asked, "Mr. Li, haven't you heard from my father yet?" ”

I was stunned for a moment, and resolutely replied, "No!" I immediately added, "He doesn't seem to be in the provincial town anymore." ”

"I thought so too. I haven't found him for so long. Li Laohan'er also has no news of him. If he's still here, someone will see him, and we'll all look for him! He must have gone somewhere else, and maybe he'll come back someday. ”

"He'll be back," I replied mechanically. I'm not ashamed of my lies. Why should I break even his hope, which will never be realized?

"Then I will accompany him here and see the handwriting he has carved with his own hands," said the child, dreamingly, and went under the camellia tree, and stretched out his hand to stroke the tree for a while. His head was covered by a large black shadow, and I couldn't see the expression on his face. He doesn't speak. There are only the cries of small insects calling friends in the garden, which seems quite lonely. A gust of wind blew, and the moon shadow shook slowly on the ground, and then stopped. Two or three mosquitoes stung me on the cheek. My heart paints the silence with a faint layer of sadness. Suddenly, the long, thin, dirty face came to my mind, and I saw the bright eyes, the slightly moving lips, and the scabies right hand. I haven't forgotten this last glimpse! What is he going to say to me? Why didn't I give him a chance? Why not let him find a little comfort in his dying moments? But now it's too late!

"Mr. Li, let's go that way again, okay?" The child suddenly asked me in a crying voice.

"Okay," I woke up. The moonlight shone all around, and only the place where we stood was shrouded in shadows. I struggled to glance at the kid in the shadows. I caught his eye, and I turned around and said, "I'll go with you." "My heart ached slightly.

We silently walked along the winding path in the middle of the rockery. He walked very slowly, and when he was about to get under the paper window of the Shanghua Hall, he suddenly stopped, pressed one of the corners of the rockery next to him with his hand, and said, "I have tripped and fallen here, and my forehead [note 1] has touched it, and now I still have a scar." ”

"I don't see it," I replied casually.

"Right here, cover your hair, or you can't see it." He reached out with his right hand to touch the scar, and I followed his hand to look at it, but I didn't see it.

We walked along the wall, from the magnolia tree, to the goldfish bowl, and he pressed his hand on the rim of the tank, and said to himself, "I remember this jar, it is older than me." After two or three minutes, he walked towards the flower platform. Then we went back to the osmanthus tree.

"Go inside and sit down," I proposed, tired from standing.

"No, I'm going back," said the child, shaking his head; "Mr. Li, thank you!"

"Okay, I know your family is waiting for you, and I won't keep you. You can come back often when you have time in the future. ”

"I'm coming," the child replied kindly. He hesitated for a moment, and then continued: "But I heard that my brother has been transferred to another county as a director, I hope this is not true." Otherwise, our whole family will have to move out, and then when my father comes back, he won't be able to find us. A little anxiety leaked out of this young voice, and I was so moved that I couldn't speak a word for a long time. But in the middle of this, the child took his leave and left. Before leaving, he didn't forget to invite me, and he said, "Mr. Li, you must come tomorrow." Old man Li knows where we are. ”

I had no choice but to respond.

I walked into my room, turned on the light, and saw a registered letter on my desk. I opened the letter and read it, and it was written by the senior writer, and it included a bill of exchange of 4,000 yuan, which was part of the manuscript fee for my novel. He also said in the letter: "Come on, many friends are here, we are waiting for you to come, we can do something together." He named several people, two of whom were indeed old friends of mine, whom I hadn't seen for more than three years.

I couldn't sleep that night, and I lay in bed and thought about it for a long time. I thought about the things that went away. Indeed, I should go. My novel is finished, the story of Yang Mengzhi is over, and the "misunderstanding" between Lao Yao and his wife is eliminated. My old friend was waiting for me in another place. What am I going to do in the Garden? I can't be a long-term diner here!

The next day, Mr. and Mrs. Yao came to see me, and I told them that I was leaving. I saw a look of surprise and disappointment on their faces. Naturally, the two of them took turns keeping me, and they were very sincere. But I firmly declined. I have some reasons for mine. They have their reasons. In the end, we found a compromise: I promised to come back next year, and they promised to let me go after half a month. I entrusted Lao Yao with the purchase of tickets at that time.

On this day, Sister-in-law Zhou came to bring me food, and Lao Wen guarded the door for Li Laohan. It is said that Li Laohan took leave to see his relatives. I knew that he must be going to the Yang family's wedding to do another day for his old master. But I didn't say anything like that to him when he came back.

【Note 1】Forehead: Forehead.