I went back to Yao's house, and when I passed the gate, Li Laohan stood up and greeted me.

"Your third master is sick at the Great Immortal Temple, and I told his little master that I will send him to the hospital tomorrow," I said to him. I told him the news because I knew that apart from that child, he was the only one who cared about Yang Laosan.

Li Laohan opened his eyes wide and opened his mouth wide, unable to answer.

"You don't have to hide it from me, you three masters have come to look for you, I saw it. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," I comforted him. I added, "I'm telling you, I think you'll take the time to see him." ”

"Thank you, Mr. Li," Mr. Li said gratefully. He asked anxiously: "It doesn't matter if the third old man is sick?" ”

"It doesn't matter, it'll be fine. However, it is not always a way for him to live in the Great Immortal Temple. You are a person who understands, why don't you persuade him to go home and live? It seems that his family is still getting by. ”

Li Laohan sighed bitterly, and then said, "Mr. Li, I know that you are kind-hearted. I don't dare to hide it from you, but speaking of which, the words are too long, and I can't live in my heart, so I'll report to you another day. He dropped his face into the street outside the door.

"Good. I'll go in and find Lao Wen to watch the door for you. You go to the Great Immortal Temple to have a look. ”

"Yes, yes," he said in succession. I stepped through the inner door and went down the stairs, and suddenly he called me from behind. I looked back. He pleaded with me in a tone of embarrassment: "The matter of the third master, please don't tell Lao Wen about it." ”

"I know, don't worry," I nodded to him gently.

I entered the second gate and walked down the patio. All four doors were open in the gatehouse, and an oil lamp was burning on the square table. Lao Wen sat on the threshold, smoking a leaf cigarette lonely. A short pipe was pinched in his left hand, and the cigarette butt flashed and lit up. His kind old face faintly appeared in front of my eyes, and then disappeared with the light of the cigarette butt.

I walked towards him. He stood up and walked down the steps to meet me.

"Mr. Li is back," he greeted me with a smile.

We just stood on the patio and talked. I simply told him that Li Laohan was going out to do something for me, and asked him if he could look at the door for Li Laohan.

"We'll go, we'll go," he replied cheerfully.

"Are both the master and the wife at home?" I asked him by the way.

"The lord and his wife went to watch a movie."

"Has Young Master Tiger come back?"

"When he arrived at his grandmother's house, he refused to come back until eleven or twelve o'clock. In the past, his wife sent someone to pick him up, but now the old man is not allowed to send someone to pick him up," he said indignantly. In the darkness, I felt that his eyes were always hovering over my face, as if to say, "You have to find a way." Why don't you say a word?

"It's useless for me to speak. I persuaded him this morning. He always felt that Young Master Hu was good, "I said, as if I was defending myself."

"Yes, yes, my lord has such a temper. We thought that as long as Young Master Tiger was old and could improve for the better, it would be fine," Lao Wen continued.

I don't speak anymore. Lao Wen held the pipe and slowly walked out of the second door.

The moon broke through the clouds, gradually illuminating the patio, and the whole mansion was very quiet. I don't know where it came from. The moon was again obscured by a large gray cloud. I felt a dark shadow over me. My heart was seized by an inexplicable worry. I walked around the patio for a while. The whistle stopped. The moon is still burrowing in the clouds. Zhao Qingyun walked out of the inner courtyard and did not enter the gatehouse, but kept going outside the second gate.

I walked into the garden. I went into my room. The flute sounded again. This is from next door. When the flute stopped, there was another burst of young woman's laughter from the other side of the wall.

I couldn't sit still in my room, so I walked out of the garden, and even out of the mansion. Lao Wen sat on the Taishi's chair, but I was not in the mood to talk to him.

A crowd gathered in front of the mansion diagonally opposite. Two blind men and a blind woman sat on a bench playing the huqin and singing. This play is also familiar to me: "Tang Minghuang's Dream".

After more than ten minutes, Emperor Tang Ming's "good dream" was awakened by the palace people. The blind man closed his mouth, and the huqin stopped making a sound. A woman who looked like an old mother came out of the door and paid. The blind man stood up and said thank you, pointed the way with a bamboo pole, and walked into the middle of the street. Walking in front was the young man who sang the role of Yang Guifei, he seemed to have one eye to see the light, and he could walk in the faint moonlight without a bamboo pole. He took the lead, playing the huqin all the way, all in a mournful tune. Behind him was the old blind man who sang the corner of An Lushan, with one hand on the shoulder of his young companion, and the other hand holding a bamboo pole, and the huqin under his armpit. I knew his face, I could call his name. Fifteen years ago, I often had the opportunity to listen to him sing. Now he sings a supporting role. Then there was the blind woman who sang the role of Emperor Tang Ming. Her voice is still so good. Fifteen years ago, I heard her sing "Nanyang Pass" and "Recommend Zhuge ". Now she should be a middle-aged woman in her forties. Her left hand rests on the shoulder of her elderly companion and her right hand holds a bamboo pole. I remember being told fifteen years ago that she was the wife of the old companion, and that her short and fat figure and round face had not changed much. It's just that people are much older.

The tone of Huqin's lamentation faded away. The three weakened backs that seemed to fall down at any moment finally faded. I suddenly remembered the old coachman and the blind woman in my novel. Isn't the poor couple in front of you a shadow of those two people? What kind of ending can I arrange for them? Can I still bring them happiness?

I'm troubled by this thought. I don't want to go back to that quiet garden. I'm standing in the middle of the street. Faded shadows loomed in front of my eyes. I suddenly remembered to go after them. I walked at a brisk pace.

I walked in front of the Great Immortal Temple again. I heard the sound of a blind man singing nearby. But as if attracted by a force, my feet stopped in front of the two faded black-lacquered doors. I hesitated for a moment, about to reach for the door. The door opened suddenly. The children of the Yang family came out of it.

He was a little surprised when he saw me, and then greeted me cordially: "Mr. Lai." ”

"You're only going back now?" I asked gently.

"Yes," he replied.

"He's better now?" I asked again. "Sleep?"

"Thank you, it's a little better, Old Man Li is there."

"Well, go back and rest, you're tired today."

"Yes, I'll be waiting for you here by nine o'clock tomorrow morning. Mr. Li, if you have something, it doesn't matter if you come to Yan. ”

"No, I'm fine, I won't come to Yan."

And we parted before this gate. I waited until his shadow was out of sight, and then went to push the door of the Great Immortal Temple. I pushed it softly, and the door slowly opened without making a sound.

I walked down the patio and there was candlelight behind me. I heard Li Laohan's crying voice: "Third master, you can't do this......"

I don't have the right to eavesdrop on their conversations, and I don't have the right to interrupt them. I hesitated for two or three minutes, then quietly withdrew. I heard a sentence from the "third master": "I don't have the face to harm my son anymore." ”

I went back to the mansion. It's still very quiet inside the second gate. There was a large flower on the oil lamp in the gatehouse. I can't see anyone. The moon had dispersed the clouds and hung in the blue sky like a large light bulb.

I walked around the patio with my head buried for a while, when I suddenly heard a familiar voice calling "Mr. Li". I know this is Mrs. Yao. I agreed, looking up.

She wore a blue-gray tweed cheongsam with a short white coat over it, and her kind smile still appeared on her face. Lao Li pulled the empty car up to the hall.

"Mrs. Yao came back from watching a movie, what about reciting poems?"

"He met a friend on the way, asked him to talk about something, and came back later. How long has it been since Mr. Lai came back? We originally wanted to ask Mr. Li to go out to watch a movie, and looked for Mr. Li in the flower hall, only to find out that Mr. Li went out without eating. Did Mr. Li eat out? ”

"I had a bit of a thing, ate outside. How is today's film? ”

"It's "The Soul of the Bitter Sea", it's good, it's just too miserable, it makes people feel sad to watch," she frowned slightly. Her smile was gone.

"Ah, I've seen the story of a doctor and a girl. As a result, both of them were wrongfully put on the gallows. Both protagonists are well acted. ”

She paused for a moment and said with a thoughtful look, "I wonder why people are so cruel to people. A kind-hearted doctor and an unemployed female actor, they have not harmed anyone, why do others have to send them to the gallows? Why can't people be nicer to each other and hate each other? ”

She looked up at the sky with a sad expression on her face, which made her face appear purer in the silvery moonlight. For the first time, she confided her secrets to me. The other side of her life is finally revealed. The hatred of the Zhao family, the contempt of Xiaohu, and the ignorance of her husband. What a deep loneliness this should be......

Compassion makes me miserable. In fact, I have more sympathy for her, and I can't explain my feelings for her. I can say that even though I am an insignificant person in the present society, and my life is not worth a penny, I will not spare anything at this time as long as I can bring her happiness.

But how can I make her understand my feelings? I can't tell her I love her, because maybe it's not love. I don't have anything else on my mind. I just want to bring her happiness and make her smile smile forever.

"It's the old morality that hurts people. But the story of the movie is all fiction, and I know that there is still a lot of warmth in the world," I comforted her with these words, although the words were simple, but I put my whole heart in them, and I said in an accentuated tone, in order to make her believe my words, in order to dispel her sorrow.

She glanced at me, nodded slightly, and whispered, "I understand, but I feel too comfortable with my life." I don't say helping people, even for the poetry butler, and I don't have any achievements. Sometimes it's sad to think about it. ”

"I also know about Xiaohu," I finally spit out Xiaohu's name. "It was too negligent to recite poetry, and I persuaded him. For this matter, Mrs. Yao, you have suffered enough. But I think I'll understand after reciting the poem. You should be relieved, too. ”

She sighed softly, paused for a moment, and then whispered, "I don't understand why the Zhao family hates me like this?" Why did you teach a good little tiger like this for my sake? I am willing to be the daughter of the Zhao family and the mother of Xiaohu, but they don't give me a chance, they treat me as an enemy. If outsiders don't understand, they will definitely say that I am not right to be a stepmother. ”

It was as if something was choking my throat, and I looked at her tightly knit brows, unable to speak. Her eyes stayed on the wall outside the second door, and she didn't seem to notice that I was looking at her.

"Why does the Zhao family hate me so much? I thought about it, but I couldn't think of a reason," she continued; "Maybe it's good for me because I came to Yao's house to recite poems, and it is said that it is better than Xiaohu's mother, but this matter is something they are not happy about. But it's not my fault. I've never said a bad word about someone in front of a poem. I was only twenty years old when I came to Yao's house, and I was used to it casually in my mother's house. My mother was worried that I wouldn't be able to take care of the house, that I wouldn't discipline the children. I was scared myself. One day I was scared, learning to be a housewife, a wife, and a mother in such a big mansion. I don't understand anything myself, and no one teaches me. I would like to regard his wife's mother as my own mother, and his wife's son as my own son, but I can't do it. I don't know what to do. Poetry recitation doesn't help me either. I'm getting timid now. She said and buried her head again.

"Mrs. Yao, you don't have to be discouraged. Even people like me don't look down on themselves, let alone you. "I comforted her sincerely.

"Me? Mr. Lai, are you kidding me? She looked up and said to me with a smile. Where can I compare to you? ”

"Not really. You may not know how many things your words last night made me understand, but if I can live a more positive and meaningful life in the future, it will also be your strength. You add warmth to others. Why can't you live a more active life yourself? ”

I felt that her bright eyes had been looking at me, and they were very soft, and I seemed to see tears, but before I could finish my sentence, Lao Yao returned.

"You're all here! Why don't you go into the flower hall and sit down? He exclaimed happily.

"We're talking and waiting for you," she replied, smiling naturally. "We've been standing for a long time, I'm afraid Mr. Li is tired."

"Yes, you too should rest, and see you tomorrow," I continued.

Let's walk up the stone steps together. They walked from the hall into the inner courtyard, and I walked into the garden.