Alleys, the ground is paved with ancient stones.

The weather was cool and windless.

Ye Bei walked in this alley, looking at this ancient stone road, his eyes were leisurely.

The middle part of the ancient road, which is passed by all the year round, is extremely smooth and clean, as if it is a straight heavenly road.

But on both sides of the road that day, it was overgrown with weeds and dust, and no one paid attention to it all year round.

After a long time, Ye Bei walked to the middle of this alley, and then stopped gently.

In this central location, there is one less house and one more ancient well.

Around the ancient well, a semi-arc-shaped guardrail is piled up with stones, and inside the guardrail, there are some egg-sized stones without water chestnuts, and there are some water stains flowing in the gaps, and some stones are still sticking to a few wisps of moss.

Ye Bei watched quietly......

Thoughts flew by for decades.

On that day, the sun was just right, the spring breeze was still there, and some of the peach trees planted in the yard stretched out their branches, and the fragrance of flowers wafted away.

Several old people, sitting in front of the courtyard, with serious faces, talked about the general trend of the world.

A few children were barefoot, jumping around the ancient well, splashing water and playing.

A black kitten, squatting on the guardrail, squinting, looking lazy.

A coarse cloth girl, with her sleeves pulled up, revealing her white and slender arms, carrying a brown wooden barrel, beads of sweat on her forehead, was fetching water from this ancient well, although she was tired, she was still smiling like a flower.

A young man in a white shirt passed by here and stopped slightly.

It's a pity......

As the years passed, everything inadvertently changed dramatically.

The old men are gone, or have turned to loess; Those children have long since left their homeland, and they do not know where they are dying;

"I don't know where the human face is, and the green wave is still flowing eastward!"

After a long time, Ye Bei withdrew his thoughts, sighed lightly in his mouth, flicked his sleeves, turned around, and in his sight, a woman, with a staggering step, holding a cane in one hand and a small wooden barrel in the other, was walking slowly behind her.

Between the woman's eyebrows, there were deep traces of time.

His frosty hair was disheveled.

After seeing Ye Bei, she was stunned for a moment, and then her eyelids were slightly relaxed, as if she was struggling to even open her eyes.

"Young man, you're back from out of town, aren't you? Whose children are they...... It's familiar. ”

Next to the woman's ancient well, she skillfully tied the rope to the wooden barrel, and muttered in a low voice, as if she was talking to herself.

Ye Bei didn't say anything, just watched quietly.

"In recent years, young people have basically gone out, many people's homes, have moved away, even the door of the yard is rusty, broken out of big holes, no one has come back to see, this alley I heard that it will be demolished soon, but unfortunately, I will never be able to drink this well water in the future."

Boom......

The woman's voice was hoarse, and as she spoke, she threw the barrel into the ancient well with a crisp thud.

"yes, they're all gone!"

Ye Bei spoke at this time, his voice was very soft, and his eyes were faint.

"Young man, which yard are you?" The woman's expression was intent, and her legs trembled a little as she pulled the small bucket with the water, and some sweat stains appeared on her forehead, which was full of furrows.

"Courtyard 99!"

Ye Bei replied lightly.

"Coincidentally, I live in Courtyard 98, and it's right across the door from you!" The woman's voice was a little surprised, and as she spoke, half a bucket of clear water had been lifted from the ancient well, and the water was clear and cold.

"Hmm." Ye Bei nodded, and his mouth was soft.

The woman put the crutches in the middle of the handle of the wooden barrel with both hands, held the crutches with both hands, and lifted the half bucket of water vigorously, but after lifting it, she paused slightly, showed a kind smile on her face, and shook her head gently: "This water is so strange, I come to carry it every day, but I feel a lot lighter than usual." ”

"It's just that it feels lighter, but it's still so much." Ye Bei opened.

The woman walked on the ancient stone path with a very slow step, and walked in the middle impartially: "By the way, young man, I didn't see you yesterday, but I just returned today, right?" I'm going to fetch water to cook, so if you don't dislike it, come to my house to eat. ”

"Okay."

Ye Bei readily agreed.

Then he followed the woman leisurely, very slowly.

In the alleys, it is sparsely populated.

Occasionally, some peach blossom branches stretched out from the yard, and the flowers bloomed lonely and brilliantly.

"What's your name, young man?"

The woman walked in front, very close, but far for her, about three meters, and when she put the barrel on the ground, her hands on her knees, and her voice was a little panting as she spoke.

"Holy North." Ye Bei didn't hide it and spoke softly.

The woman rested for a few seconds, then lifted the bucket again: "Sheng Bei? I've heard this name before, but when I'm old, it's easy to forget...... Maybe when I first met you, you were just a barefoot child. ”

"Well, maybe." Ye Bei's eyes were faint and he replied softly.

"Young man, what are you going to do when you come back this time? During the Spring Festival, there were still more people, but now it is too deserted. "It seems that there is someone to talk to, and there are a lot of problems for women.

Ye Bei thought for a moment, and replied softly: "Come and see one person, plant two trees." ”

"It's really interesting for you to speak, unlike other young people, after coming back from the big city, all they discussed was something I didn't understand, what country is now ranked in the world, which country is going to war again, what new mobile phone has been released, Wang Heqiang and Ma are divorced...... It's still easy to talk to you. The woman shook her head and sighed.

Ye Bei replied lightly: "They are still too young. ”

"You're very young, too, but you're completely different from those people." A smile appeared on the woman's face.

Ye Bei: "Maybe." ”

It was still early, and the sun was shining, and in the alley, the shadows of the two were constantly stretched.

Ye Bei chatted with the woman like this, stopping and stopping all the way.

Ten minutes later......

The woman stopped, stopped in front of an ancient courtyard, and reached out to wipe the sweat on her forehead: "Finally arrived home, this road, I have walked for decades, when I was young, I felt that every time I walked, it was the same, but now...... It's different every time. ”

Ye Bei took his hand, turned his back to the woman, and did not answer.

At this moment, he was standing in front of an ancient courtyard, the door was full of weeds, the wooden door that was once painted bright red was now decaying, and even the big copper lock hanging on the door was stained and eroded by the years.

Creak......

When the woman pushed open the door and there was a 'creaking' sound, Ye Bei also stepped forward, stretched out his white hand like fat, and placed it on the copper lock.

Click!

The copper lock opened, sending up a puff of dust, and the air smelled of decaying metal.

Chirping......

The wooden door in disrepair slowly opened, and the familiar and unfamiliar scenery was presented in front of Ye Bei's eyes little by little.

In the ancient courtyard of No. 98 opposite, the woman had just stepped in with her front foot, and after hearing the sound of Ye Bei's door opening, she seemed to remember something, her body was stunned, and her slightly closed eyes gradually expanded.