Rain and Echoes of Time in the Cassette Tape
Ayu and Zhonghua's home is an old house full of stories. Time seems to have favored this place, leaving behind many mottled traces and memories. Today, they decided to give the attic a thorough renovation, and those objects sealed by time will soon see the light of day again.
In a corner of the attic, Ayu found a dusty cardboard box. She gently blew away the dust, opened the box, and inside lay several cassette tapes, one of which was titled "Scenes in the Rain." Ayu picked up the tape; its casing was yellowed and the edges were worn, as if telling the story of its long history.
"I never expected to find this." Ayu smiled, a hint of surprise and nostalgia flashing in her eyes.
Zhong Hua came closer and, seeing the cassette tape, couldn't help but sigh, "I wonder if it's still listenable."
Filled with curiosity and anticipation, they went to the living room, found the cassette player they hadn't used in ages, and put in "Scenes in the Rain." As the machine started, a noisy hum filled the room, like the low whisper of time itself. Ayu and Zhonghua sat on the sofa, quietly waiting for the music to begin.
However, just as they were about to lose patience, a muffled child's voice suddenly broke through the static. The voice was childish and distant, as if it came from another time. Ayu's eyes widened instantly, and she quickly pressed the pause button, completely stunned.
"What's wrong?" Zhong Hua looked at A Yu with a puzzled expression.
Ayu's voice trembled slightly: "This nursery rhyme, this nursery rhyme was taught to me by my grandmother in the old Shanghai alley, exactly the same..." Her thoughts instantly drifted back to her childhood, to the narrow alley full of life, to her grandmother's warm embrace, and to those nursery rhymes full of love.
Zhong Hua gently embraced Ayu, trying to soothe her emotions. He pressed play again, and the two listened carefully once more to the children's nursery rhyme mingled with the static. Every note, every lyric, was like a key, unlocking a long-sealed door deep within Ayu's memory.
As the nursery rhyme ended, Zhong Hua got up to rewind the tape, wanting to listen to it again. Just then, he noticed a small note on the back of the cassette tape. The note was slightly yellowed, and the edges were curled. He gently peeled it off and saw the words "Waiting for the rain to stop" written on it in pencil.
Zhong Hua frowned slightly, a strange feeling welling up inside him. He examined the three characters carefully, and the more he looked at them, the more familiar they seemed. Suddenly, his face turned pale, and the note in his hand almost slipped from his grasp.
"What's wrong, Zhong Hua?" Ayu noticed Zhong Hua's unusual behavior and asked with concern.
Zhong Hua took a deep breath and tried to keep his voice calm: "The pressure points in this handwriting overlap with the signature on my father's medical record before he passed away..." Involuntarily, the scene of his father lying on the hospital bed, weakly signing his name, appeared in his mind. Every stroke was filled with longing for life and helplessness.
Ayu was startled. She hadn't expected that this seemingly ordinary cassette tape would hide so many secrets related to their family. The two exchanged a glance, both seeing shock and confusion in each other's eyes.
Just then, the sound of rain on the cassette tape suddenly amplified. The dense and rapid raindrops seemed to burst through the cassette player and engulf the entire room. Ayu and Zhonghua subconsciously looked out the window, and in that instant, they could hardly believe their eyes and ears—it was really raining outside, and the rhythm of the rain was exactly the same as the torrential rain in 1995 recorded on the cassette tape.
Raindrops pattered against the windowpane, making a crisp sound that mingled with the rain sounds playing on the cassette tape, creating a resonance that seemed to transcend time and space. Ayu and Zhonghua sat quietly on the sofa, watching the rain outside the window, their thoughts drifting with the wondrous sound of the rain to the distant year of 1995.
In 1995 Shanghai, Ayu was a little girl with pigtails. She lived in an old Shanghai alleyway, where life was simple yet full of joy. Whenever it rained, Ayu would move a small stool to the doorway and watch the raindrops fall, splashing up tiny water droplets. Her grandmother would sit beside her, doing needlework while softly teaching Ayu nursery rhymes.
"Rock-a-bye, rock-a-bye, to Grandma's bridge, Grandma calls me her good baby..." Ayu's childish voice echoed in the alley, accompanied by the pattering rain, like the most beautiful melody. At that time, Ayu was full of curiosity and longing for the world. In her eyes, the alley of old Shanghai was the whole world.
In another city, Zhong Hua was still an innocent teenager. His father was a doctor, very busy with work, but even so, he would always make time for Zhong Hua. On rainy days, the father and son would sit together by the window, watching the rain outside, and the father would tell Zhong Hua interesting medical stories or teach him some principles of life.
However, fate is always unpredictable. Zhong Hua's father was injured in an accident, and his condition gradually worsened. In the final moments of his life, the father lay in his hospital bed, looking at Zhong Hua with eyes full of reluctance. With trembling hands, he signed his name on the medical record, each stroke of the pen expressing his deep love and concern for his son.
As time passed, Ayu and Zhonghua met, fell in love, and started their own family. They never imagined that a cassette tape they stumbled upon by chance would connect them so closely with their past relatives and bring back memories that had been buried by time.
The rain outside the window grew heavier, raindrops splashing high into the air on the ground. Ayu and Zhong Hua remained quietly seated on the sofa, absorbed in the strange atmosphere. Suddenly, Ayu seemed to remember something; she got up and went to the study, rummaging through a drawer.
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