Time passed, although Kan Wenyuan wrote hundreds of poems to Wang Like and bought some gifts for her, Wang Like finally did not accept his pursuit and became someone else's girlfriend in the second semester of her sophomore year.

Kan Wenyuan was heartbroken, Wu Dao encouraged him to review hard, wait for him to be admitted to Peking University as a graduate student, and then pursue Wang Like in a new capacity, maybe things will take a turn for the better. Kan Wenyuan thought so, and then worked harder to read and study.

In the semester of Kan Wenyuan's junior year, Wu Dao set off for Xi'an to study for a doctorate. Before leaving, Wu Dao and Kan Wen met each other and said to him:

"Wenyuan, you are a very talented young man, and you will continue to write in the future. It takes a lot of effort to get admitted to the graduate school of Peking University, but it should not be too much of a burden.

I am going to Xi'an to study for a doctorate now, and if you fail to get into Peking University in the future and want to go to graduate school again, you can also consider other schools, such as Jeju University, or the school where I want to study for a doctorate now, it will be easier, and I can also provide you with some help within my ability.

There can be many choices in life, don't be too attached to one goal. ”

"Teacher Wu, I remember your words. However, let's talk about the future later. Kan Wenyuan said.

On September 4, Wu Dao said goodbye to Shi Qingqing and Wu Yisheng, took the high-speed train to Xi'an, and began a four-year doctoral life. Far away from Fangzhou and without work, Wu Dao felt the relief he hadn't seen for a long time, and he devoted all his energy to doing research.

Professor Chen asked Wu Dao to stay in Xi'an for the first two years of his doctoral studies, and he could do it anywhere without any requirements for the next two years, but Wu Dao spent the entire four years in Xi'an, and only returned to Fangzhou and Qicheng during the holidays.

Of course, there were also several major events that happened in the past four years, so that Wu Dao had to return to Fangzhou and Qicheng.

In the second semester of Wu Dao's first academic year and the first semester of the third academic year, Wu Yang and Li Mei died of illness one after another, and neither of them had the same longevity as Wu He, Wu Yang lived to be sixty-six years old, and Li Mei lived to be sixty-seven years old.

In the middle of this, in the second semester of the second academic year, Fangzhou College officially changed its name to Fangzhou University, held a grand celebration, and asked all teachers to go back to participate, and Wu Dao also returned to Fangzhou.

In the four years since Wu Dao left Fangzhou, Kan Wenyuan's life has also taken a major turn. Before the winter break in the first semester of his senior year, Kan Wenyuan took the written test for the graduate school entrance examination.

After the exam, Kan Wenyuan felt that he did well, but after the results of the written test were announced, he was still eliminated, and his score was very low.

In fact, before the results were announced, Wu Dao had already expected Kan Wenyuan to be eliminated. After the written test, Wu Dao called Kan Wenyuan in Xi'an and asked him what questions he had tested in the written test and how he answered them. Kan Wenyuan said:

"There is a wide range of questions in the written exam, but I have seen them all. When answering questions, I did not follow the content of the book, but quoted the words of the scholar at the beginning, and then developed my own opinion. ”

Hearing Kan Wenyuan say this, Wu Dao couldn't help but shake his head, he wanted to say, "How can you answer the question like this?" It's crazy and it's impossible to get into an interview. But he thought again, isn't this kind of answering questions exactly Kan Wenyuan's style? Isn't what I admire is also such Kan Wenyuan? Wu Dao said to Kan Wenyuan:

"The graduate school exam is finally over, and no matter what the result is, if you take it, you won't have any regrets. I still remember that Xiao Dongpo said in his reply to you that you should always regard your ideal as an ideal. If you don't get in, it's not necessarily a bad thing. I remember that your other dream was to go to the west to teach, and you had to prepare early. ”

After the results of the written test were announced, Kan Wenyuan was a little disappointed, but he was not depressed. After failing the graduate school entrance examination, his remaining dream was to teach in the west.

Wu Dao told Kan Wenyuan to be prepared with both hands, on the one hand, to pay attention to the news of the western plan, and on the other hand, to look for a job, if he can't go to the west in the end, he can still join the work, so that he will not have nowhere to go after graduation.

Kan Wen traveled to several different cities, participated in more than a dozen job fairs one after another, and submitted countless resumes, but there was no news. Just when he was desperately disappointed, the Western Project began to sign up.

Kan Wenyuan decisively signed up and persuaded his parents to allow him to go to the west. The number of graduates who signed up for the Western Program was very small, and finally Kan Wenyuan successfully entered the list of volunteers of the Western Program.

When Kan Wenyuan was selected as a volunteer for the Western Plan, it was when Fangzhou College was renamed and the school celebration was held, and Wu Dao returned to Fangzhou. When the two met, Kan Wenyuan said to Wu Dao:

"It was my dream to go to the west to teach, I originally wanted to go there to do something, but I didn't expect it to become the only way out.

"Regardless of the process, it's good that the dream comes true in the end, and I'm really happy for you." Wu Dao said.

Kan Wenyuan graduated at the end of June and left school, and will only take a train to the northwest in mid-July. He realized his dream of teaching in the west, but he was not admitted to the graduate school of Peking University, which is also a great regret after all.

After returning home, Kan Wenyuan decided to go to Beijing to see Peking University, which he had dreamed of for many years, before going to the west. On the edge of Weiming Lake, Kan Wenyuan sent a poem to Wu Dao, and the last four lines of the poem were written like this:

Let's put it on together

The red scarf

Boya wrinkled by the wind

That's just your reflection

Looking at the poems written by Kan Wenyuan, Wu Dao remembered Jing Like, Si Baifang, and the wandering poet Quicksand. The reflection of Boya Tower was wrinkled by the wind, but the tower still stands, an inner monologue of Kan Wenyuan after a setback.

After reading it, Wu Dao felt very ashamed, because his shadow had already been wrinkled by the wind, and not only that, but his heart was also shattered.

In mid-July, Kan Wenyuan and hundreds of volunteers set off from Jeju for a train to the northwest. On the night of departure, Kan Wenyuan also sent Wu Dao a poem, the name of the poem is "Westbound Train", and the text is written like this:

The train was speeding all the way

There is no sunlight

Outside the window, it was a familiar night

But inside the window is unfamiliar

The train is racing

The night is racing

I give my heart to the night

Stop thinking

But the night is racing

What did I leave behind?

Looking at Kan Wenyuan's poems, Wu Dao couldn't help but sigh, Kan Wenyuan was sitting on a train running in the dark, why shouldn't he? Kan Wenyuan is going to the place he yearns for, where is the train he is taking? After so many years, there are too many things that I have left behind.

After thinking about it, Wu Dao replied to Kan Wenyuan:

"Every new choice means giving up the old life. Congratulations on the beginning of a new chapter in your life, which will be a completely different kind of existence. Take care all the way. ”

In October, Kan Wenyuan sent an email to Wu Dao, which read: "Hello, Mr. Wu! I worked as a teacher in a very remote middle school in the northwest, with a river and endless pastures in front of the school, and the snow-capped Tianshan Mountains in the background. The people here are all very nice to me.

I met a girl named Mina, she is very beautiful and very nice, I have fallen deeply in love with her and she likes me too. The two of us have great obstacles, but we have made up our minds that no matter how difficult it may be, we will not back down and will always be together.

Here, I not only gained love, but also a lot of creative inspiration, and I feel that what I am writing now is the real poetry. Xiao Dongpo is right, a person who insists on the pursuit of literature is a happy person in himself, and I really feel that I am a happy person now. I wish you happiness too! ”

The email was followed by a poem he wrote called "Ideal":

There is no shadow of a man who walks in the night

People who walk in the dark tell me

The earth will never fall

His shadow is the night

From where the wind blows

Blow your voice and your shout

The window that closes suddenly and the heart that has been closed for a long time

None of them can stop the rain from coming, your coming

After reading Kan Wenyuan's email, Wu Dao felt more and more that his life was stuck in a dead knot, and he didn't know how to untie it, and no one could untie it.

At the beginning of January of the following year, Wu Dao received a New Year's card from Kan Wenyuan, on which were written four sentences, which was also a poem:

In the past, he sought the way in Fangcheng,

I was fortunate to be able to teach about my previous life.

Teachers and friends are comforting,

There is still a pure love when you are lost.

Looking at these four sentences, Wu Dao felt very relieved, after he arrived at Fangzhou College, he had taught more than 1,000 students, and only Kan Wenyuan was the only one who could be called a teacher and a friend.

Wu Dao remembered his mentor Tian Mowen again, he left Jeju University at the age of twenty-seven, and he only met twice after that, and in the first few years, he would send text messages or email greetings every year on Teacher's Day and Spring Festival, and then the contact became less and less.

Wu Dao can't remember how many years he hasn't been in contact with Tian Mowen, it may be eight years, it may be ten years, or even longer.

Looking at Kan Wenyuan's New Year's card, Wu Dao suddenly missed Tian Mowen very much, so he took out his mobile phone and dialed the latter's phone number, but that number was empty. He thought that Tian Mowen was now in his sixties, and he had probably retired and left Jeju a few years ago.

Kan Wenyuan logged in to QQ again and asked his later junior brother and sister if there was any news that Tian Mo asked, and a junior sister told him that Tian Mowen retired a few years ago, and went to France after retirement, and there was no news after that.

Wu Daoda was happy for Tian Mowen and Kan Wenyuan in his heart, they both went to the place they wanted to go. However, after being happy, he felt sad for his situation, he thought of Tian Mowen's failed marriage, and felt that he could not escape the tricks of fate.

Four years passed quickly, Kan Wenyuan had been living in the northwest for two years, and after Dr. Wu Dao graduated, he had no reason to continue to stay in Xi'an, so he could only return to Fangzhou University.

Soon Wu Dao heard that his uncle Yang Chengzhi had been removed from his post as branch secretary for embezzling village funds, but he was not criminally punished, but the funds were returned, and Yang Zaixing's engineering team was not affected.

In March of the following year, Wu Dao was promoted to associate professor. With the help of Dr. Wu Dao and the associate professor of Fangzhou University, Shi Qingqing made a big fuss about Shi Dao education, attracting more students to sign up.

However, Wu Dao's life is still full of depression and loneliness, and he can't see where his life path is at all.