These new challenges come from the ever-changing nature of life. If you say that cars, houses, telephones and other things actually existed when I was young, but at that time everyone was relatively poor, and most people couldn't afford to play, but today, people are starting to have extra money to enrich their lives, which is actually just an improvement in living standards, but there are some things that I have never seen or even believed in the future when I was a child, but they have been emerging over the years.

For example, there is a thing called a pager, it is said that the appearance of this thing has reduced the barriers between people to visit each other, maybe you come to my house to play with me, I may not be at home, then your trip is in vain. Or if you write to me and I don't reply, or I don't receive it, then your letter is a waste. At least you've wasted the time writing this letter, but the pager can tell you who is calling you in the simplest of notes, and you need to reply to the call.

As I said, the communication barrier between people is reduced.

Another example is a thing called a computer, what I know about it, it's actually a bunch of numbers, what three-eighty-six, four-eighty-six, five-eighty-six, when I first heard them, I thought that the bus in front of the door had a few more routes. It's hard to believe that one day people will be able to put their wisdom in such a way that it looks like a small screen that is no bigger than a television.

Unlike most people, I am relatively wealthy, and the income I earn in this profession is not taxable. And the more I get older, the more I like to study these novelties, but when I actually buy it home, how to open it and light it up bothered me for a whole day. When I first bought a computer, I read a newspaper that said that soon human technology will be able to enter the intelligent era, and people and machines can have human-computer dialogue, and I thought that would be fun, I don't have a companion at home alone, and it would be good to have a machine to talk to me.

But when I finally lit up the computer, no matter which direction I spoke to the display, it never paid attention to me. So the computer, which could only be plugged into a floppy disk, became a fixture in my home for a long time to come, but I still lit it up from time to time, and then dangled the mouse around the screen, at least it could still move, which was also a discovery, and I have always been so relieved to myself.

From that time on, I deliberately went into contact with young people, who were much more receptive to new things than I was as an older person, even though sometimes they were kind enough to teach me, and it was very difficult for me to learn. I am a person who refuses to admit defeat easily, I thought to myself that when I was only a few years old, I followed my husband to learn the Four Books and the Five Classics, can it be said that this foreign goods can be more difficult to study than the obscure words left by our ancestors? If I can't even learn a computer, then my ups and downs over the past few decades have not become a joke in other people's mouths?

So on the one hand, I consulted young people, and on the other hand, I went to the bookstore to buy books, and one of the young people I consulted was Da Mao's son. He was a man who loved to laugh and had a lot of respect for his elders, and we all liked him very much. Even though most of the time when I invite him to my home to teach me how to use the computer, he is usually crackling, and I can only look at it with his mouth half-open on the side, but I still find it interesting, especially when he plays something that looks like a game on my computer, with villains, guns, and houses, and a few gangs of people are there fighting each other silently, just to fight for the victory. One day, I couldn't help it, so I asked Da Mao's son, "What the hell are you playing with?" He pushed the glasses on his nose and told me that it was called Red Alert.

With the help of many well-meaning young people, I gradually learned to turn on "my computer", learn to play music, and learn to type. But since I didn't learn Hanyu Pinyin, in order to learn typing, I also went to the street to spend a lot of money to sign up for a training class called "Wubi Input Method", and I became the oldest person in our training class.

Life went by very simply, but I never wasted my craft, and thankfully, I quit smoking cigarettes for decades during that time, because the reason for smoking was gone. I once tried to follow the example of the big hairy son, go to the game called "Red Alert" to fight, want to see what the hell these guys are on guard, but the screen always gets stuck in two or three minutes, and then pops up a few English letters in the center of the screen - "GAMEOVER", I believe these letters mean to say, the computer is malfunctioning, it needs to be repaired, otherwise why would it be stuck?

1997 was what I consider to be a year of mixed joy and sorrow. Because at the beginning of that year, Comrade Xiaoping died of illness, the experience of this great man is a bit similar to mine, we have all been attacked and defeated for trumped-up crimes, but we have stubbornly survived, and the most important thing is that he led the people of our whole country to live a more and more prosperous life, whether it is socialism or the so-called socialism with Chinese characteristics, the life of the common people is better, comfortable, and they will naturally love this person who brings us a happy life. Therefore, his death is still a big blow to me, because I am a person who knows how to be grateful, and I am also a person who has witnessed the rapid changes and earth-shaking changes over the years.

It was also a festive year, as my hometown became a municipality. This means that under the direct jurisdiction of the state, our life and the construction of the city will be better and better. And what makes me hate is that the people in the household registration office always come to my house and knock on the door two times in three days, saying that they want me to change my ID card. This makes me very distressed, because of my profession, I often need to pretend to be someone with other identities for convenience, so I have a total of four ID cards, and three of them are not me at all, but just ask someone to use my photo to fool me around. Isn't that going to trouble me?

In recent years, Songzi's Taoist temple Yunsheng Palace was taken over by the government, although the country did not vigorously promote the national religion Taoism, but did some positive corresponding measures in this regard, the people who went up to the mountain to worship God and pray for blessings gradually increased, and the incense was much more vigorous than before. Songzi, who was supposed to be busier, slowly had nothing to do, and his age was not young, the young Taoists in the Taoist temple took the initiative to take on most of the work, as the most senior old Taoist, Songzi only needed to eat and drink well and rest well, which was the greatest contribution to the state religion.

But apparently Songzi is not a person who can accept such a life, he is in line with the purpose of life and tossing, and told the young Taoist priest in the Taoist temple that he has been on the mountain for a long time, a little tired, and wants to go down the mountain to the county for a walk, move his legs and feet, and inspect the people's feelings. So that year, he came to me. It was a happy thing to reunite old friends, but when I met again after many years, I found that his voice had changed, and he was originally soft-spoken, and it was said that he had a tonsil surgery a few years ago, so that now his voice is more sharp, and it is always accompanied by various broken sounds, very much like the Hong Kong film that was very popular on TV in those years, a Hong Kong actor called Zeng or something, listening to Songzi speak in such a voice, I always can't help but laugh.

I left Songzi to live in my house for a while, we talked and chatted every day, I took him to drive for a ride, went to the river to blow the wind and drink tea, and occasionally I received a new business to do, I would also bring him with me, because Songzi after decades of tempering, is no longer the Taoist who only knows how to read feng shui and the true shape of the five mountains, but has become a high Taoist with extremely rich theoretical knowledge and all kinds of spells, but the actual combat experience is still zero.

But during that time in the process of staying at my house, we had a falling out. The reason is that he has his own room and doesn't sleep, so he has to come and occupy my bed, and he often runs around the house naked after taking a bath, and after being scolded by me, he is angry and slips away at night.

In 2002, the advent of network technology made me, an old guy who had just figured out computers, at a loss again. But I also know the truth of living to learn, so I took the initiative to find a worker who can install the Internet outside, and told him that I wanted to go online, but when I didn't know how to get on, the other party told me, sir, you need to buy a cat.

So I bought a cat, and every time I turned on the computer, I would put the cat next to the computer, but I couldn't figure out how this cat could let me go online, where is this net? This cat probably doesn't agree with me, and always makes trouble for me at home, several times I heard the sound of rustling from the computer in the middle of the night, and thought there was something dirty in the house, and turned on the light to see that the stupid cat was scratching my computer mouse with its paws. It seems that cats and mice are natural enemies, and this statement is indeed true.

But that year, although I hadn't been able to figure out how to surf the Internet, I still learned something. Because that year I met a special young man, this person is a student of an old friend of mine who is far away in Yunnan, a local, who went to Yunnan to study, I have never met. It wasn't until this old friend of mine called me that his students were now back in their hometown to develop, but there was no way, and they were also fledglings, and they wanted to occupy a hill in this mixed rivers and lakes, and they wanted me to help take care of them and carry them. Originally, when I received this call, I politely agreed, anyway, I received several such calls every month in those years, and I promised to help, but people didn't come to me, so I didn't bother to ask.

But this young man was different, and he really came to my house and knocked on the door. In those years, if you want to do a lot of help, you will send money directly, and if you don't give money, you have to give gifts, and I only accept brain platinum when I receive gifts, but when this young man opened the door, he was carrying two baskets of eggs in his hands, and there was on the eggshell.

This reminds me of when I was young and studied with Lin Qishan, when most people didn't want to use money as a reward, and most of them gave eggs, food stamps or something. I've been for years, and I haven't received a gift or an egg. His behavior made me feel good about him, looking at the little boy with single eyelids who was grinning stupidly in front of me, combing an ugly middle part, and wearing a ponytail on his back, neither male nor female, but not annoying at once.

I talked to the young man for a long time that day at my house, and I felt that he seemed a little more mature than his peers of his age, but he was quick to talk and a little sharp. As a senior, I naturally want to follow his master's instructions, take a good hand, I originally wanted to pile up in my hands that I had to pick up, but it was very down to transfer the small single business to him to do, who knows the speed of this child's completion and the aftermath of the aftermath, so that I like this young man very much. Because he gave me the feeling that not only did he learn most of his master's skills, but more importantly, he had a kind of compassion that his generation of young masters lacked.

Over the years, I have seen many masters put themselves in danger or even die because they are too kind, perhaps this means that when you choose to be a strong person, you have to let go of your kindness. So at that time, I asserted in my heart that this kid was a good boy, but in this industry, especially in today's impetuous society, where everyone is mercenary, such a temperament is too upright, and it is estimated that it is very difficult to survive. But to my surprise, this kid is also a good person, and in a few years, he has become a familiar face in our local industry, with good popularity and many friends, and he can be regarded as a rising star among the young masters of his generation.

With his help, I finally knew how to surf the Internet, and I finally understood that the "cat" in the mouth of the network installer was different from the stupid cat in my house who was competing with me for the position of head of the family. I finally realized that computer viruses are different from cold viruses and do not infect people.

It wasn't until 2006 that I received a commission from a huge local engineering construction to talk about all kinds of strange and strange events encountered in a bridge project that was about to be built, because it was a government project and an important local face project. But when I got there, I found that the client had invited not only me, but also almost all the other masters in our industry that they could find, and dozens of people from each family, including this young man.

So that incident was done by me and this young man together, and since then, it has become famous, and I can be regarded as having an explanation for his master. However, this young man then became one of my favorite and concerned ones among the younger generations, I thought that my old age would be spent so peacefully, but because of this young man, we had a more thrilling experience, we not only broke the seven-star array left in our city by a metaphysical organization, but also let a big villain who wanted to kill people get the punishment he deserved.

In this way, I have a legendary experience worth remembering in my youth, middle age and old age, which makes me very satisfied.

But my long-time friend Matsuko passed away in 2011 due to illness. All I remember was that it rained a lot, and Matsuko left quietly because of a heartbeat that was no more ordinary. I was the one who covered his coffin and closed his forehead and eyes, and after building the mourning hall with the help of the neighbors, I called this little brother and called him, but he was actually reporting the funeral, but he didn't know how to speak, so I asked him if he was okay? He said it was okay and then asked me if I was okay, but I told him that I was okay.

The young man and his friends helped me with the funeral, and after the funeral, I was too preoccupied to sleep at home, so I went to Unsheng Palace and lived for a while in the place where Songzi had lived for decades. Despite this, this pain of losing a dear friend still can't be completely healed, I have reached this age, I may be destined to live too freely for most of my life, and in my old age, I still have to pay it back.

In order to divert my attention, after returning to my hometown, I took in an apprentice, a well-behaved and sensible girl. She is my only apprentice, just because a woman must enter the teacher before the age of seventeen, and I am already old, I know that I may not be able to accompany her for too long, so I use the way my master taught me skills, and teach her, except for one thing not to teach, that is, to play talismans.

Because I hope she can have a healthy and complete life like other girls, not like me, alone.

I still live in this house with a view of the river, but I often think of those old people who have passed away, maybe I didn't lose them, after all, it is because of them that my life has been embellished.

As the saying goes, life is like a dream, but why not a dream like life?

(End of book)