Jacques suddenly turned on the electric light, startling Xia Xue, who had been immersed in darkness.

The bright light illuminated Xia Xue couldn't open her eyes. She raised one arm to cover her eyes, and it took a long time for her misty eyes to open.

Outside the house, the stars twinkled, and the moon hung high. The silhouette of the peaks and peaks of the Grand Canyon resembles an eerie silhouette in the night, exuding a supernatural image.

Jacques and Xia Xue, one after the other, walked out of the store. Stepping on the starlight all the way, walk slowly on the way home.

On the dark road, there is not a single pedestrian in sight, and everything is silent. Jacques held Xia Xue and slowed down his pace, lest there be something wrong with Xia Xue's feet.

Xia Xue, I really didn't expect you to be so young and your parents would be gone. I was in the store just now, and I was very sad to hear you talk about this. Jacques looked deeply at Xia Xue and said.

Xia Xue's eyes hung down unconsciously, and she said gloomily. My parents, who are not very old, were in a traffic accident. However, the 、、、、、、 of that incident seems to be very strange, and there are still doubts. However, there is no evidence.

How so? Jacques asked, surprised.

I don't know. At the scene of the incident, the police have already verified it and concluded that it was a traffic accident. Perhaps, I'm suspicious, right? However, it is still unknown why my parents suddenly returned to China because they had settled abroad early in the morning. Xia Xueyi suddenly felt sad, this knot has been lying in her heart, like a fish in her throat.

Jacques looked at Xia Xue blankly, pondered for a moment, and didn't seem to understand. He concluded in his heart that there might be some inside story about Xia Xue's parents. It's just that Xia Xue is reluctant to take the initiative to say it, and he can't chase after him.

The two of them walked up a gentle slope, and the moon in front of them seemed to hang on the top of the slope, and it seemed to be very close to them.

A little further on, the moon still hung not far ahead, as if playing a good-natured joke with them.

Xia Xue, my father died a long time ago, but when he died, I didn't feel sad in my heart. Even when I was a child, I hoped that he would die soon! Jacques stared at his feet and said calmly.

Yes? How so? Xia Xue asked.

My father was an incorrigible drunkard. He would get drunk almost every day, and whenever he was drunk, he would beat my mother badly. Therefore, I only have hatred for him in my heart. My mother, kind and cowardly, was extremely obedient to my father and never thought of turning her back on him. Jacques talked about his mother, and there was a touch of tenderness in his eyes.

Xia Xue didn't speak, and listened silently.

Jacques didn't continue, he was silent for a long time, he turned his head to look at Xia Xue, and said.

Xia Xue, my mother married a pen pal who had been friends for many years some time ago. Her pen pal, my stepfather, was only released from prison last summer. Jacques pursed his lips and smiled.

Wow, what a happy event, your mother finally has a home of her own. However、、、、、、 Xia Xue did not continue.

Jacques understood Xia Xue's concern and said. Are you worried about my mother? I think my stepfather might be a murderer, right? Ha, actually, he's not terrible. He embarked on the path of crime in the first place, entirely for the sake of her mother.

Xia Xue looked up in amazement and looked at Jacques expectantly.

What was the reason why his stepfather was in prison? How did that man become a pen pal with Jacques's mother while he was in prison?

Jacques looked at Xia Xue and smiled indifferently.

Xia Xue, this stepfather of mine is Otis Johnson, and he is 69 years old. He spent 44 years in a prison in the United States.

Last summer, he walked out of the prison gate with $40 handed over to him by the warden, two bus tickets and an ID card.

Only those who have lost their freedom can feel the preciousness of freedom. He will never forget that late night in 1970.

In the middle of that night, his heart was full of pain and confusion. Her poor mother was once again severely injured by her alcoholic father, and had to sneak out of the house and hide in a relative's house.

His mother told him that she was going to flee to another place.

But my mother was penniless. When several of Johnson's friends who were wandering in society learned about this, they decided to join forces to help his mother pay for the journey.

Johnson was dragged onto a motorcycle by his friends and cycled in the dark of night to a supermarket.

The moon was obscured by layers of dark clouds, and the sky was dim, except for the faint light in the supermarket.

Johnson was arranged by a friend to let off steaming on the side of the road.

After a while, I saw two patrolling policemen walking towards this side. Johnson whistled hard in a panic. Immediately afterward, his friends ran out of the supermarket.

The two policemen stopped them at a faster speed and pulled out their pistols.

One of Johnson's friends pulled out a sharp knife and stabbed the officer, who then pulled the trigger.

Eventually, they were arrested and imprisoned for attempted murder of a police officer.

Johnson was sentenced to prison as an accomplice, and he was 25 years old that year.

Time in prison is like years. Initially, after being imprisoned, Johnson was full of despair in life. But then, he met a kind pen pal.

The pen pal, Jones, was a young mother who had been subjected to domestic violence for many years but had no strength to leave. Her experience reminded Johnson of his own mother, and his heart ached.

He wrote to Jones about his experience of being convicted and imprisoned, and encouraged Jones to be brave in the face of misfortune.

Jones also wrote back to comfort him, asking him to have confidence in himself and strive to get out of prison as soon as possible.

Jones's letter rekindled hope in his heart. Decades passed, and Jones's correspondence never broke.

Just before Johnson was released from prison, he received one last letter from Jones. In the letter, she told Johnson that she now runs a farm in the small town of Thal, Illinois, and that she hopes Johnson will come to her, and that her farm is in need of a good helper.

Johnson lingered for a long time on the side of the road near the prison, bewildering as he watched passing cars and pedestrians, as if he had suddenly fallen into another planet.

The world is not at all what he remembers, everything has changed. The strangers who hurried past him, almost all of them wearing headphones, made him panic, could it be the CIA investigators traveling en masse?

What struck him even more strange was that pedestrians sometimes talked to themselves. From time to time, he pulls out a rectangular object, sometimes holding it to his ear as if chatting with someone, and sometimes holding it to rub against the green trees and flowers on the side of the road.

He braved the scorching sun to look for a phone booth on the side of the street. After walking for some time, he finally found a phone booth next to a building.

He tried to call Jones, but was surprised to find that the phone bill had risen from $0.25 to $1. He tentatively stretched out his finger and dialed the phone number, but for a long time it was a blind beep.

He pulled out Jones's letter to confirm her phone number, but sweat had soaked it into a blur.

He had to walk thousands of kilometers to the small town of Tár, but thankfully he remembered Jones's address.

The night is getting dark, and the neon lights of the streets are lit up. A large screen suddenly lit up on the sky-high building, startling Johnson.

He walked into a convenience store with his chest clutched, wanting to buy some food to satisfy his hunger. But in the face of the colorful packaging bags in the window, he really didn't know what to buy?

He had to turn to the shopkeeper for help, saying that he wanted to eat noodles.

The shopkeeper immediately brought him a large bowl in a purple package and asked him if he needed to eat it right away. He nodded quickly. The shopkeeper then opened the package, poured boiling water into it, and sealed the bowl.

When he went to pay, he found that many people no longer paid cash, but took out a card and handed it to the cashier.

He hesitated out of the shop and looked into the distance, where the lights of the houses not far away flashed with crosses.

He happily searched for the light and came to a church. He was helped in by the men inside. He couldn't help but cry like rain, telling him about his helpless situation.

The priest arranged for him to stay first so that he could get acquainted with the current environment.

During those days, Johnson had a very good time. During the day, he attended religious services with the group, and in the afternoons and evenings he learned to meditate and practice tai chi. The church is also actively helping him to contact his former family.

Gradually, the people who came to worship learned about him. As a result, everyone introduced him to the way of transportation, shopping and survival today, as well as the use of the Internet. Someone else gave him a mobile phone and taught him how to use it.

He also took the bus and subway under the guidance of his friends, as if entering a mysterious time and space tunnel. He gradually liked the current world and stopped panicking and running away.

Although science and technology have advanced and advanced, the human heart has not changed, and love and justice have always been there.

A few days later, the church heard from his family. His parents and family are long gone. There was a distant uncle in his family who left him an inheritance before he died.

With the help of the church, Johnson went through the inheritance process.

Johnson remembered his mother, who had suffered in the past, and Jones, who had suffered domestic violence like his mother. He made a decisive decision: he wanted to establish a women's shelter to protect the less fortunate ones.

When he told the church about his decision, he was widely supported and respected. Countless brothers and sisters have raised funds in anticipation of the establishment of the shelter.

With everyone's help, half a year later, the women's shelter was finally established. Friends also helped him find Jones through the Yellow Pages on the Internet, and he spoke to Jones on the phone for the first time, and he burst into tears of emotion.

Jones's husband died years ago, and she now runs a farm in the small town of Thar. When she heard the news of Johnson's establishment of a women's shelter, she was overwhelmed.

Johnson told her to be patient, and when the shelter was in orbit, he would go to Tal to pick her up.

Jones smiled and asked him, "Remember our agreement?" ”

Johnson said: "Of course I do. You say, you're going to dig a hole under the corner of the north side of Taal Park, and you'll have a red top hat in it. When I put it on, you'll recognize me at a glance. ”

Half a year later, Johnson arrived in Tal by train. He wandered around to the park Jones had spoken of, and came to the corner.

Jones said that she would place a large rock at the entrance of the cave.

His eyes lit up and he found the stone. He excitedly moved the stone away, revealing a piece of glass immediately. Underneath the glass, a red hat is reflected.

The golden afterglow of the setting sun spread slanted on the ground, and Johnson whistled cheerfully and wore that red hat and walked into the distance.

、、、、、、

Without waiting for Jacques to continue, Xia Xue intercepted his words and said.

When the sun was setting and the sun was melting, Jones stood under a banyan tree on the side of the road, and saw a glittering red hat from afar, which kept floating towards him、、、、、、

Xia Xue said here and smiled.

Jacques, that Jones, is your mother, isn't it?

Jacques nodded happily and looked at the summer snow in fascination.

What a romantic couple of old people, I'm so happy for them! Xia Xue cheered heartily.

Jacques stopped, grabbed Xia Xue's graceful and white wrist, and forced her to face herself.

Xia Xue, I hope you can be braver, braver! For love, for our tomorrow, okay?

Jacques' eyes were full of affection. A pair of deep eyes, misty with wet waves.