flower

Leave something unsaid, as if it's never truly over...

The Marco Polo Bridge Incident occurred on July 7th, and Beiping (Beijing) fell to the Japanese.

The dragon lies dormant, causing widespread sorrow.

Japanese troops roamed the streets of Lankang every day, dressed in uniforms that were neither quite yellow nor quite green, appearing imposing in appearance. They engaged in acts worse than animals, yet they had their own set of beliefs.

The Hua family's ancestral home was in Beiping, and on this day, someone was sent to deliver a message.

Upon opening the package, Xu Sheng immediately frowned, his heart filled with unease.

He held the letter in his hand, pondered for a moment, and then called out to the door, "Uncle Chen, pack your things, I have to go back."

In late autumn, a desolate scene unfolds. Yet, the leaves fall gracefully.

Lankang is in the south, where the climate is better. Therefore, many trees are still covered with leaves.

Gradually turning yellow, still green, the tips tinged with crimson. Graceful in form, elegant in appearance. But autumn has truly arrived.

Before leaving, he finally went to see Yiling.

Xu Sheng slowly walked up from downstairs, trying to deliberately prolong the time.

Through the half-open door, Yi Ling sat on the balcony of the bedroom, fully clothed, reading a blue book, humming a little tune, and gently tapping her hand on the table in sync with the melody.

She still possesses this simple and elegant beauty. Even if she spends her whole life rolling in the mud, as long as she has time to stand up, she will regain this charm.

This is what he loves about her. Regardless of her appearance or looks.

After all, how long can one maintain a relationship by using one's looks to please others?

He approached and stopped behind the chair she was sitting in.

Sensing the familiarity of the newcomer, she continued humming, though her voice softened and the notes lingered, transforming into a lover's murmur.

What kind of lovers are they? She just wants him to remember her.

"I'm going back now."

She seemed stunned for a moment, then her words drifted out slowly.

"Alright, from now on, marry your modern wife and live a stable life, okay?" He trailed off at the end, as if coaxing a child.

Xu Sheng stroked her face with his palm; his fingers, calloused from holding a pen for so long, were rough.

Following his touch, Yi Ling closed her eyes. Her long, black eyelashes trembled like butterfly wings.

"Everyone says I'm foolish, clinging to a widow who's much older than me. You think so too, and of course I know that."

He turned around, leaned against the table, and looked down at her from above.

"As for you treating me like a toy, I have no regrets. I am willing to be your toy."

"Then you're really obsessed." Yi Ling smiled and looked up to meet his gaze, then quickly turned back to continue staring at the book in her hands.

Even on the last day, he still managed to whet his appetite.

Xu Sheng smiled and remained noncommittal.

Love is something you can't take with you when you die.

Since you've chosen to love in this world, why not be true to your heart, love thoroughly, and love with understanding?

There's no need to keep it on everyone's lips.

If you are willing to indulge in this, then dedicate yourself to love; actions speak louder than words.

Since love has come, let it not be missed.

Passion should be let go; do not linger.

He held his hat in his hand, the velvety edge brushing against his palm, their unspoken words lingering between them.

"Well then, I'm leaving."

After saying that, he put on his hat and walked to the door. She didn't say anything to stop him.

Xu Sheng smiled faintly and went out the door. His car was already waiting there.

As Yiling heard his increasingly faint footsteps, she slowly stood up from her seat.

The window was so small that it only reflected half of his body.

He got in the car and left.

"Leaving" means that there is no guarantee that we will meet again.

The sorrow, unrequited love, and separation in romantic relationships are only half of the wholeness.

I don't think about it often, but when I do, it pierces my heart; it's my other half, my perfect match.

Though the form is not perfect, the meaning is already there.

Love is not sweet as honey, nor is it intoxicatingly beautiful; rather, it is a spiritual practice for those who are alive.

Spiritual practice is about experiencing pain without being heart-wrenching, tearing apart without being excruciating, and enduring hardship without suffering.

Everything has an infinite tendency toward tragedy.

Joy is not perfection, but rather half the path to sorrow.

Given time, joy will eventually turn into sorrow.

This means that tragedy is the ultimate fate of the living.

Yi Ling watched as the car's dark silhouette finally disappeared from her sight, then slowly slid back into the seat she had been sitting in.

People are like that; they only remember someone's good qualities when they are no longer around.

She gave a mocking laugh, her lips curling upwards, her eyes looking down sadly.

The hairpin flowers have withered and died, and upon closer inspection in the mirror, I see that I have aged considerably.

"Flowers continue to grow."

After a long and arduous journey from south to north, they finally arrived in Beiping (Beijing) a day and a night later.

Hua Xusheng gathered his luggage and came out. The Hua family's driver had already seen him. He hurriedly went up to take his suitcase and said, "Young Master, you must be tired from your journey."

"How is your father now?"

"The master has been taking the medicine prescribed by the doctor for half a month, but there is still no improvement."

He frowned upon hearing this, and quickened his pace.

The Hua family were originally from Lankang, but by his father's generation, they had moved here to do business.

As a result, the youngest brother died shortly after they moved in.

Later, a fortune teller told me that the north is incompatible with the north, so it is not advisable to establish a household there.

But the timing coincided with his father's business booming, and Master Hua absolutely refused to agree to go back.

Madam Hua cried, "You've become blinded by money. Sooner or later, your whole family will be ruined by this place before you realize it."

Fortunately, no major problems arose in the following ten years or so, and the whole family was finally able to settle down peacefully.

Unexpectedly, Master Hua suddenly contracted this incurable disease at the age of fifty. Everyone said it might be due to a clash of feng shui, but Xu Sheng didn't dare to think too much about it.

As the car drove into a narrow alley, a wealthy young master was seen emerging from a courtyard on one side. A beggar lying at the door saw him and immediately reached out his thin, dark hand to grab the corner of his clothes, begging him for some money to save his life.

The young master kicked him away violently.

"You damned beggar, even nine lives wouldn't be enough to atone for soiling my clothes. Get out of here!" The tone was one of utter disgust.

Xu Sheng looked on from afar, his expression darkening. He said to Old Chen, "Uncle Chen, let's give them all the money we have left."

Beiping has already fallen. In such a desolate city, who can be any better than whom? When forced to flee everywhere by the war, they are no different from rats.

The rich crawl into a big mouse hole, the poor crawl into a small mouse hole. It's a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

If a nation falls, all wealth and possessions amount to nothing more than slavery in a conquered land. In the end, all that remains is withered bones and dry hair, awaiting death. The soul drifts away, the flesh decays. What joy is there in overflowing gold and silver then?

As soon as he returned, he went straight to the ancestral hall where his ancestors were enshrined and bowed three times devoutly.

"May our ancestors bless my father with a speedy recovery. Your unfilial descendant, Hua, sincerely prays for continued life."

People say that feng shui and metaphysics are superstitions, but sometimes that's not necessarily true.

Those who lack a sense of awe will inevitably suffer the consequences.

Upon exiting the ancestral hall and seeing Madam Hua, he walked up to her and called out.

"mom."

Madam Hua turned to look at her son, and tears quickly welled up in her eyes.

He studied in the West for three whole years without returning home, and one can imagine how much his mother missed him day and night.

She only looked at it carefully for a while before saying...

"Good child, go see your father, he is waiting for you all day long."

Xusheng bid farewell to his mother and went into the very center, where he gently knocked on the brown-red lacquered door.

"Father, I've come to see you."

As soon as the words were spoken, a voice, dry and parched from long exposure to smoke, came from inside the door: "Come in."

As Xu Sheng walked in, the entire bedroom was filled with the heavy scent of herbs. This aroma hung in the air, as if pulling him by the skin of his head, leading him to Master Hua.

Xusheng slowly squatted down and knelt before his father.

"Father, I'm back."

The hoarse voice trailed off: "It's good that you're back."

But given the current situation, the Hua family has no choice but to leave Beiping.

"When will peace return to Beiping?"

Xu Sheng held his bony hand and said, "Father, please rest and recover first. I'll figure out how to handle things at home."

Master Hua looked at his son with his dark, sunflower-like eyes, and suddenly smiled: "I used to say you were too young, so I sent you abroad to study. Your mother would say I was heartless."

"But looking back today, my decision wasn't entirely wrong. You've finally grown up."

After laughing, he suddenly coughed. Xu Sheng poured some water from the teapot on the table and fed it to him.

"My days are numbered, and you must remember this one sentence well,"

Upon hearing this, Xu Sheng frowned and said, "I'll get you some good doctors; you must live a long, long life."

Master Hua gently shook his head and gripped his arm tightly.

"I can feel my own body. You don't need to waste your energy searching for a good doctor to cure me. But you must remember what I'm about to say."

Xu Sheng could only kneel up straighter solemnly, nodding with tears in his eyes.

Master Hua slightly propped himself up and said:

"Our Hua family will never allow any contact with these Japanese. Do you understand?"

He stroked the rough surface of those bony hands and nodded heavily.