Zhejiang, Xitang.

This is a place that makes people feel like they are in a painting, and the infinite scenery of the south of the Yangtze River is full of here, graceful like the charm of the fairy Hongluo half-covering his face. In the evening, the west slopes, the lights and shadows gradually brighten, the fishing boats sing in the evening, and the sky and water are quiet and peaceful. It really is: this scene is picturesque, and people swim in the painting.

It is such a thousand-year-old town, which attracts countless tourists every year, some of them leave, and some of them are left here by this beautiful scenery.

Xitang East Street, there is a small bar in a corner, the façade is not big, but the decoration inside is very stylish, the annual rings on the solid wood tables and chairs are faintly visible, the dim light makes everyone's face slightly blurred, because the price is fair, and the atmosphere is soft, so the business is passable, not too good, not too bad.

The young proprietress would sit here every night, sitting quietly behind the bar, with her hair casually coiled behind her head, a black dress, often dressed in a gauze dress, light makeup, and a kitten, giving people the feeling of being as approachable as the sign of this bar, the name of this small bar is 'Chenguang Cat'.

Chenguang is Jiaxing dialect, is the meaning of time, cat-like lazy and casual time, tourists who come here, will enjoy a more or less relaxed moment, that is to sweep away the road tired of the precious Chenguang.

The proprietress is like a foreigner, came here a few years ago, her husband died after a car accident last year, she also suffered some injuries on the head and was in a coma for two days, but soon woke up, and after the injury was healed, she has been living alone, she is usually very quiet, and she is also very kind and likes to make friends, most of the people who work here are young people from other places, some of them are college students who have not yet graduated, and some are scattered and down-and-out people, but they are all attracted by the beautiful scenery here and stayed, It's just that some can work here for a year or two, while others only stay for a month or two.

Now the bar singer is a young man who has been in the bar for a long time, his name is Yao Yuan, twenty-five or sixteen years old, I remember when he first came, it seemed to be with a body of dust, although his face looked childish, but he had a slightly hoarse voice of vicissitudes, slender eyes, an ear ring hanging above his left ear, his surname is a little free and easy in this tender Jiangnan land, life is informal, and his voice is very soft, just like his singing, although there are tattoos on his back, but his temper is indeed very easy-going, Every time I finish singing, I tell us some interesting stories.

There are most girls in this store, and they all like Yao Yuan's story very much, because his stories are very exciting, they are all ghosts, gods, or something, plus his unique humor of Northeast people, which often makes people laugh, and the original terrifying story doesn't sound so scary, and over time, everyone is addicted to it, just like the storytelling they listened to as a child, and even some customers are deeply immersed in it.

Slowly, his storytelling became a habit, and the proprietress also liked his stories, whenever Yao Yuan finished singing and rested, she would prepare a glass of beer or whiskey for him, and then a few of us leaned on the edge of the bar, listening to Yao Yuan drink while telling bizarre and strange folklore stories in a slightly hoarse voice in the desolate north, and Yao Yuan also has a bad habit, that is, he always likes to use himself as the protagonist of these stories.................. The story is written here, I want to say that I am not Yao Yuan, just a bystander, I think his story is very interesting, there are sorrows and joys, and there is a trace of indescribable melancholy.

Everyone who works at this shop has their own story.

Yao Yuan likes to laugh very much, which may have something to do with his appearance, his lips are upturned, even if he has no expression, he seems to be smiling, and the girls discuss him behind his back, and they seem to like his lip shape very much.

And in Yao Yuan's story, he said that his mouth was torn apart by a monster, which made us all laugh, where did the monster come from in this world.

However, we are very interested in things that do not exist, after all, life is too dull, and we need a little spiritual stimulation, but Yao Yuan's story has accompanied us for so many days.

However, there is a time when the story will be told.

It was on this night.

Yao Yuan came very early, and he smiled at the proprietress as usual, and we always felt that he liked our young proprietress very much, but he didn't say it.

The proprietress also nodded at him, and then Yao Yuan took a cigarette and smoked for a while, at this time most of the guests had already come, and seeing that the time had come, Yao Yuan walked on stage with a guitar, and before he wanted to sing, he talked to everyone, and after stirring up the atmosphere with his unique cold humor, he began to sing.

His singing voice does have an indescribable taste, this is not a skill, it should be the accumulation of life, he is indeed a person with a story.

After a game, Yao Yuan was already sweating, walked off the small table in applause, and then sat opposite the proprietress across the bar as usual, the proprietress carefully handed him a glass of brandy and a pack of tissues, and we also understood that the time to tell the story had come, so they would smile, and many regular customers saw that there was a story to hear, so they also came over with a wine glass.

We asked Yao Yuan to continue, Yao Yuan smiled honestly, then wiped his sweat with a tissue, took a sip of wine to moisten his throat, and lit a cigarette, and then continued to talk to us lightly.

Tonight should be the end of the story, so we're all concerned.

We were very concerned about whether the girl in Yao Yuan's story was dead or alive, but when he talked about whether the girl was still dead, several girls next to me expressed more or less regret, and when we heard him say that he was now looking for the reincarnation of that girl, we all looked at the proprietress and smiled meaningfully.

I really can't imagine that this Yao Yuan is quite romantic, I think he wants to use this story to express his heart to some proprietresses.

So, after Yao Yuan finished talking about listening to a song called "Dancing God" in Yanjing, everyone present laughed, and some of the regular customers even whistled at the proprietress drunkenly, and kept shouting, "Yao Yuan is so good!" ’。

And our proprietress obviously saw the big scene, and she didn't panic when she saw this scene, she just smiled and said to Yao Yuan: "Little Yao Yuan, your story is finished?" ”

Yao Yuan smiled lightly, then nodded.

I saw that the proprietress pursed her pretty lips, and then said softly to him: "I seem to have seen the ending of your story in a certain book, a frustrated customer told a story to an amnesiac coffee shop hostess, in fact, that hostess is the customer's former girlfriend, Xiao Yao Yuan, don't you want to say that I am the reincarnation of your girlfriend." ”

"No." I saw Yao Yuan shake his head a little embarrassed, and then after taking a puff of cigarette, he said to our proprietress with some emotion: "It's just a story." ”

Speaking of this, the crowd dispersed, and Yao Yuan smiled a little embarrassedly, then stood up, picked up the kitten on the bar, and looked at it for a while, then muttered: "Meow, do you eat fish?" ”

"It doesn't eat fish." I saw the proprietress smile, and then said softly: "Fish, meat, don't eat it, this kid." ”

Anyway, this long story is finally finished, our mood at this time is a little lost, although the plot of this story is bizarre and absurd, can not be said to be wonderful can only be said to be sad, but after listening, our hearts are a little empty, we are used to this story, what will we listen to tomorrow night? And is this really the end of the story?

I don't know, anyway, after Yao Yuan finished telling the story, the guests returned to their seats and started talking.

And Yao Yuan drank silently, as if he was still immersed in his illusory story.

The proprietress saw that he seemed to have something on her mind, so she said to him: "What's the matter, did I not accept that your feelings hurt you a little?" ”

"Nope." I saw Yao Yuan shake his head, then stood up and looked at the proprietress , only to see him reach out and gently stroke the kitten in his arms, Yao Yuan likes kittens very much, and the kitten is also very sticky to him, often crawling behind him, hooking his left shoulder with two front paws, licking his earrings.

I saw that she gently returned the kitten to the proprietress, and then lowered her head and thought for a while, and then said, "Sister, I'll go up and sing again." ”

"Okay." The proprietress smiled at him and said, "If you have a surname, come to one, and we will applaud you." ”

Yao Yuan drank all the wine in the cup, then stood up and walked on the stage, he talked and laughed at the guests in the audience, and said to them that he wanted to sing an original song, and the guests laughed, most of the people present were regular customers, they had heard Yao Yuan's original song, and felt too sad, so they disagreed with the good things, and they said to Yao Yuan: Your story just now is already quite sad, come to a warmer one, come to a 'doctor'.

Yao Yuan's temper was very good, so he shrugged his shoulders and responded with a smile, then took the guitar, tuned the strings, and slowly plucked his fingers on it, and a slow and lyrical music drifted faintly.

As a result, Yao Yuan's voice was still a little sad, when he played the piano, he always looked at the proprietress and saw him smile, and then sang slowly:

I have come to your city and walked the way you came.

Imagine how lonely you would be without me.

Take you, give the photo, familiar with that street.

It's just that without your picture, we can't go back to that day.

You won't suddenly appear at the coffee shop on the corner.

I'll have a smile on my face, wave hello, and sit down with you to chat.

How I want to meet you and see how you've changed lately.

No longer talking about the past, just greetings.

Say a word to you, just a word.

Long time no see.

……………………………………。

I know this song, the name of this song is "Long Time No See", Yao Yuan sang slowly, his voice seemed to be full of vicissitudes of life and a touch of sorrow, so that under the rendering of this song, the guests gradually quieted down and enjoyed the comfortable time of this Jiangnan night.

And Yao Yuan kept looking at the proprietress, the kitten in the proprietress was still very energetic just now, but in Yao Yuan's singing, it slowly fell asleep, it seemed that it slept very sweetly, and the two fluffy little ears occasionally fluttered, as if they were immersed in a beautiful dream.

With the end of this song, Yao Yuan's story is really finished like this, I have to say, his story is very suspenseful, maybe it is because he told it from his own perspective, I always thought that we would feel empty after the story ended, but in fact it is not, because although life will be affected by a story, it will not change because of a story.

The sun still rises on time every day.

Within two days of the night after the fight, Yao Yuan resigned.

It is common for people who work in this store to resign, but we are all a little surprised and reluctant to resign from Yao Yuan, after all, he brought us a story that is not good.

But it's a bit strange to say that this person didn't ask for this month's salary, but after talking with the proprietress in the house for a long time, he walked out with the kitten in his arms.

I remember very well that it was evening, he was dressed in the clothes that travelers often wear, with a backpack in his hand and a guitar on his back, and he nodded goodbye to us politely, and after walking out of the bar with the kitten in his arms, he seemed to pause thoughtfully, and then took out an iron ball ornament like a bell from his pocket, and he put the iron ball on the kitten's neck, and then patted its head, and stroked the goat-like pattern on its back, and the kitten seemed to be very useful. After that, they walked slowly down the street with him.

In the evening of Xitang, the sun shines on the water level, the warm pink hue is like a watercolor, and on the old street, the shadow of Yao Yuan and the kitten next to him is stretched for a long time.

I looked at Yao Yuan's back thoughtfully, and I thought to myself, if the story he said was true, then he must be going to find his lover now, or .............

No, it doesn't seem to be either, after all, it's just a story, isn't it?

So, we went on as usual, just like the flowing customers in this small shop, our lives did not change because of the departure of a wandering singer, the music in the small shop was remembered every night, with the laughter of the guests, and Yao Yuan, who later only appeared in our occasional conversations.

Some people say that he went back to his hometown in the northeast to sing in the underground passages, and some travelers who returned from traveling said that they had seen him on the desolate dirt slopes of Dunhuang, but this is just talk.

The proprietress liked the lad very much, and he said that the lad was very kind, and he would definitely be nice to the kitten who was only a few months old.

We nodded, yes, that kid is really good, but his appearance began to blur in our hearts with time, and the girls around us can just remember that there is such a person, with a tattoo on his back, and he speaks softly, and he likes kittens very much, and then.

Maybe not, none of us know where Yao Yuan has gone since then, but in the spring of the following year, I received a letter in the store, sent by Yao Yuan, it seems that they haven't forgotten us, so everyone in our store got together, and the proprietress gently tore open the letter, and there were some photos of good news.

One of them was taken in the ten-mile peach forest not far from here.

This year's peach blossoms are in full bloom, and the pink flowers look very warm.

And in the photo, Yao Yuan is holding a weak kitten, under the peach blossom tree, smiling so happily.

『End of the book』