This is normal, since we are two people who have never crossed paths in real life. So, we will only talk less and less about each other, and our enthusiasm for chatting will gradually fade away.
I won't regret it, because every kind of relationship will eventually come to an end. After all, we all have to die eventually. But I don't know if I have these thoughts because I've matured or become indifferent!
Or perhaps, she wasn't an important person to me at all.
...
The next morning, I woke up to my own alarm. The reason I got up so early was because I wanted to see Ye Zhi off. She had booked a flight to Shanghai for 9 a.m., so I had to get to the airport before 8 a.m.
Shortly after I got up, Ye Zhi had already packed her things and came out of her room. I took the suitcase from her and said, "There's still time. Let's have breakfast first, then go to the airport."
"Eating at the airport is the same."
"The food at the airport is expensive and terrible. There's a small shop nearby that makes really good rice noodles. I'll take you there to try it before it gets demolished."
Ye Zhi didn't refuse again, so I took her to the rice noodle shop that didn't even have a sign. Although the rice noodle shop looked very simple, it had a small platform with a view of Erhai Lake, and each table on the platform had a pot of succulents on it, which looked fresh and natural.
The owner of the shop was a middle-aged man who had a knack for making rice noodles. Before long, he brought two bowls of rice noodles to Ye Zhi and me. He smiled and said to us, "Today is the last day our little shop is open. You are the first customers, so I'll give you two braised eggs as a token of my appreciation."
Ye Zhi said, "Thank you."
My feelings were a bit complicated. I wondered how the boss would feel if he knew that the person who caused this whole area to be demolished was sitting in front of him right now and had become his first customer of the day. After all, it seemed quite dramatic!
At this moment, Ye Zhi, who was usually not very talkative, actually took the initiative to ask the owner, "Is this house yours?"
"Yes, it's a family heirloom."
"What compensation did you receive?"
"The city district provided two houses and 600,000 yuan in resettlement compensation."
Are you satisfied with this compensation?
The shop owner looked at his small shop and replied with deep emotion, "To be honest, what I'm really satisfied with isn't this compensation... We've been running this rice noodle shop for almost ten years. My children have all advised us to quit, but we just can't bear to leave. You know, our generation has endured all kinds of hardships, and we're even more afraid of being idle... Now it's all good, we can't not leave even if we want to... Yesterday, my wife and I discussed it, and we've decided that once this shop is demolished, we'll go to our youngest son's place in Kunming and focus on taking care of our grandson... Thinking about it, isn't this a blessing in itself?"
I replied, "Yes...yes, that's great!"
"So tell me, did we make a profit or a loss?"
Ye Zhi and I exchanged a glance, neither of us knowing how to answer.
...
The sun gradually rose from the east side of the lake, and Erhai Lake was made to look like a work of art by the clear light coming through the clouds. The rice noodle shop owner sat on the shore of Erhai Lake, smoking a water pipe with his back to us... I was just looking at his back, but I felt as if he was wiping away tears.
I think that no matter how you try to beautify it, demolition is a ruthless process, and material compensation can only compensate for one aspect of life, but it cannot compensate for the pain of losing one's spiritual home.
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