Chapter 001: A Confusing Background
Today is October 1, 2017, it is the golden autumn October, and it is the annual National Day, so although it is only more than eight o'clock in the morning, Xi'an's famous tourist attraction at home and abroad - "Huifang" has ushered in tourists from all over the country, even from all over the world to visit, go shopping sprees, and feast.
The so-called "Huifang", also known as "Muslim Street", belongs to the famous food and culture district of Xi'an, which has a long history and has a history of thousands of years, and it is also a place where you will not regret traveling to Xi'an.
Xi'an "Muslim Street" is the collective name of many streets in the "Muslim Street" district, which is composed of several streets such as Beiyuanmen, Beiguangji Street, Xiyang Market, and Dapiyuan. It is home to many Mu-Srin men and women who wear white hats and hijabs, and the mosque (a place of worship for Mu-Srin men and women) is also located here.
"Fang" originated in the Tang Dynasty and was a kind of regional division in the Tang Dynasty, and Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty, as the starting point of the Silk Road, accommodated a large number of Mu-slin who moved in from West and Central Asia. With the influx of a large number of Muslims, Islam also began to spread in China, for the convenience of religious activities and life, Muslims lived according to the mosque, this layout from the introduction of Islam to China has continued to the present, each mosque forms a "fang".
"Fangshangren" is a kind of affectionate name for the "Hui" people who believe in Islam in Xi'an, so it is called "Huifang".
Every year on the National Day, there is usually a seven-day long holiday, which is the second longest holiday in China in addition to the Spring Festival holiday. Therefore, for an international tourist city like Xi'an, this time is recognized as the Golden Week of Tourism.
And this year's National Day is a little different from previous years, to be precise, more festive.
Because this year's National Day has a Mid-Autumn Festival in the middle, it has become a rare eight-day holiday than in previous years, which naturally attracts more people to go out to play and vent the irritability and emptiness accumulated in work and life on weekdays.
Although the ancient city of Xi'an at this moment does not see the sunshine and rain, it still can't stop the interest of tourists from afar, only to see the streets and alleys of the whole Huifang crowded with people, laughter, aroma overflowing, lively and extraordinary.
Of course, not everyone will smile on such a day, no, on the steps of the underpass at the entrance of the bridge on West Main Street, there is a young girl of about twenty-one or twelve years old who is sitting there in a daze with a sad face.
In her hand she clutched a letter, an old envelope that looked a little faded and yellowed, and although it looked old, it was still neat and unopened, enough to show that the person who owned it had been carefully treasured for so many years.
There were no extra words on the envelope, only four juanxiu brush words - Yanyu personally opened.
And this sad girl sitting on the steps, with a delicate face, a slender figure, and a natural beauty, is the recipient of this letter - Yanyu.
She is a recent graduate of Xi'an Jiaotong University, majoring in hotel management.
She had obtained her diploma three months earlier, and on the night she got it, she wanted to open the letter immediately, but when she thought that it was the only relic her mother-in-law had left her, she couldn't bear to open it.
For one, this letter was the only thing she had in mind to remember her mother-in-law, who she had carefully treasured for four years since her death four years earlier, and could not bear to destroy its integrity.
Second, according to her mother-in-law, this letter was written by her own hand more than 20 years ago, which contains her true life experience, for Yanyu, who was raised by her mother-in-law since childhood, although she is extremely eager to know her life experience, but she is afraid to know her life experience, it is this contradictory and complicated mood that makes her unwilling to open this letter.
Because Yanyu is unwilling to destroy the only good memory in her mind, from childhood to adulthood, that is, the only blood relationship in this world, and the only relatives who love her the most are her mother-in-law, and no one else.
For her, her mother-in-law's kindness to her is that she can only say one ten-thousandth of it for ten days and ten nights in a row.
She didn't want to know that after reading the letter, she would know that she was actually an abandoned baby picked up by her mother-in-law, and she was not related by blood, and her parents and mother-in-law did not know, then she really became a poor orphan in this world who was ruthlessly abandoned by her biological parents, and even poor until a hundred years later, she didn't know who her relatives were, and finally died with hatred.
This is really too cruel for her, to be honest, she would rather not know her true life experience, just think that her mother-in-law is her only relative to live this life, and it is also a kind of happiness without regrets.
As for her parents, Yanyu, who was ignorant and ignorant when she was a child, also tried to ask many times, but every time her mother-in-law suddenly became very sad, and after being silent for a long time, she cried silently, and over time, she grew up and became sensible, and she obediently stopped asking.
Of course, this does not mean that she does not want to know her life experience, but she does not want to see her mother-in-law who loves her the most sad. I had to bury my curiosity about my life experience deep in my heart.
Although her mother-in-law never wanted to mention her background, she repeatedly warned her since she was a child that she was a Hui and a child of a religious minority.
When the young Yanyu asked suspiciously what "Muslim" meant, her mother-in-law explained to her the meaning of "Muslim" very solemnly.
She said that the Hui character for the Hui is based on the "Hui" in Islam, the old name of Islam in China, which can be understood as "a big mouth with a small mouth", and that the purpose of using the word "Hui" is to warn people to match their words with deeds, and it is in line with the Islam belief of "confession of tongue and honesty of heart (Muhammad's mission at the command of Allah)".
At first, the smoke and rain were too small, and after listening to her mother-in-law's explanation, it was as if listening to a book from heaven, until she went to high school, she gradually understood the meaning of "Muslim" and had her own beliefs.
And her mother-in-law also leads by example, whether it is food, clothing, or usual words and deeds, she does not violate her beliefs, and is imperceptibly infected with smoke and rain all the time.
It is also Yanyu's unshakable belief in her heart that makes her originally kind-hearted, smart, and wise-hearted grow up to be a good girl who is virtuous, virtuous, kind-hearted, and talented.
For Yanyu, the days when she lived with her mother-in-law in the old-fashioned house in Huifang Xiaoxue Lane since she was a child were her happiest times.
It's a pity that happy times always pass quickly, four years ago at noon in late July, when she excitedly got the admission notice of Xi'an Jiaotong University and reported the good news to her mother-in-law, she didn't expect her mother-in-law to wake up from a nap, maybe she was too excited to be admitted to college, and she was so excited that she suddenly had a cerebral hemorrhage, and she was bedridden on the spot.
Although the hospital ambulance arrived later, it was not able to save her mother-in-law.
At that moment, Yanyu also wanted to cry without tears, which was originally a happy day, but it became a day when she would be heartbroken for a long time every time she thought about it.
After dealing with her mother-in-law's funeral, Yanyu returned home and saw the only relic her mother-in-law left her, that is, this letter, she cried again and fainted.
When she woke up again, she suddenly remembered that her mother-in-law told her weakly on her deathbed that if she wanted to know her life experience, she only had to open the letter and follow what it said.
also said that she wrote this letter when Yanyu was only one year old, and kept it in the pillow compartment, just in case she had an accident, and she would not cause Yanyu to lose the opportunity to understand her life experience forever.
However, what puzzled Yanyu was that her mother-in-law repeatedly told her on her deathbed that this letter could not be opened immediately after her death, and could only be opened on the day she successfully obtained her college diploma four years later, and it must be opened on the National Day of that year at the latest, otherwise she would never have the opportunity to know her background.
also asked Yanyu to swear on the spot that she would never open the envelope until that day, so she swallowed her breath with confidence, as if Yanyu didn't agree, she would die.
Yanyu also felt very strange about this, but she has always been well-behaved and kept her promises, although she would glance at the letter every day in the past four years and look back on the warm time with her mother-in-law, she never opened it in advance.
Even the day she got her graduation certificate, she gave up opening the envelope for fear of seeing the truth about her life experience that she didn't want to face.
Until today is the National Day, and it is also the latest day to open the envelope that the mother-in-law repeatedly emphasized before her death, Yanyu is still entangled, and I don't know whether to open the envelope and take a look.
So, distraught, she didn't have an umbrella, and came to West Street in despair, and unconsciously walked into the underpass of Qiaozikou, and finally sat on the steps with a haggard heart, clutching the envelope tightly and falling into painful memories.
However, when Yanyu saw a family of three tourists constantly passing by in the underground passage, she once again awakened her strong desire to know about her own background.
So, she calmed down and decisively tore open the envelope.
Unexpectedly, after Yanyu poured out the contents of the envelope, he found that in addition to a folded letter paper, there was also a small sealed envelope with the words "marriage contract" written on it.
Yanyu also found it difficult to understand the small envelope with the words "marriage contract" written on it, but she still endured her curiosity and decided to read the letter first.
When she trembled her hands and slowly unfolded the folded letter paper, she saw her mother-in-law's familiar handwriting.
The hairpin flower Xiaokai written with a beautiful brush is exactly the same as the four words on the cover, and Yanyu can also write, it was her mother-in-law who taught her from a young age, so for Yanyu, seeing such handwriting again, as if her mother-in-law appeared in front of her again.
It's just that after Yanyu read what was written on the letter, he was dumbfounded!
Because it is written:
Dear Rain,
When you read this letter, you must have successfully obtained your graduation certificate, right? And the mother-in-law must have gone to another world. Because if your mother-in-law is still alive after you get your senior diploma, she will burn the letter and personally guide you to do it. Now, although your mother-in-law is gone, you don't have to worry, and it's only a matter of time before you follow the two ways I said below to find out your background. If before the National Day, you only need to bring your Jiaotong University diploma and the marriage contract in another small envelope, go to the Damai Street Mosque to find an imam named Sun Zheng, and he will naturally tell you what to do next. But if you miss the opportunity before the National Day, then you can only use the second crazy method, that is, on the National Day, take the marriage contract in the envelope, go directly to the Grand Hyatt banquet hall, and ask the groom-to-be who held the engagement ceremony at that time to withdraw from the marriage. Naturally, someone will come forward to teach you what to do. But if you missed the National Day, you'll never be able to expect to find out. That's all your mother-in-law can help you, and the rest is up to you to decide.
Still, no matter what, mother-in-law will bless you in another world.
Love your mother-in-law
Autographed in June 1995
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When Yanyu read her mother-in-law's letter, she hurriedly opened another small envelope, and it was indeed a marriage contract between her and a man named Jun Buyu.
At that moment, Yanyu fell into extreme confusion again......