Chapter 21 Chapter 21
Zong Xuecheng and Zheng Yuandao went downstairs.
Downstairs, Zong Fei and Xie Qiao were playing around Song Lingxi, Qiao Ziqi and Minnie were whispering on the sofa, and Lan Xi was fiddling with the grilled fish by himself, enjoying himself.
Zong Fei and Xie Qiao had just gone to the backyard to see Song Lingxi's masterpiece. Zong Fei planned to find someone to make a one-to-one replica of it and take it home. He danced and described how he knew a famous sculptor who would be able to reproduce it perfectly.
Song Lingxi sat by the fire, lying on the rocking chair like a salted fish, and for some reason thought of Yeats's "When You Are Old".
When you are old, gray-haired, sleepy,
Take down this poem from the fire,
Read slowly, recalling the gentleness of your eyes in the past,
Recalling their heavy shadows of the past...
So she imitated the movements of the elderly, slowly rocking the rocking chair, and looked at the two children entertaining their parents with colorful clothes with a look of satisfaction.
Yeats once wrote his own epitaph: Cast a cold eye, towards life, towards death, knight, forward!
Song Lingxi felt that she also needed to write an epitaph for herself. What if she didn’t like what others wrote for her?
She couldn't help thinking.
After thinking for three seconds, Song Lingxi coughed, hooked his fingers, and said in a deliberately low voice, "My sons and daughters, I have an important task to entrust to you."
This aroused the curiosity of Zong Fei and Xie Qiao.
Song Lingxi: "As you know, everyone will die. You died later than me. I decided to tell you my epitaph now. Please remember to engrave it on my tombstone in the future."
Zong Fei/Xie Qiao: "..."
The two looked at each other in silence, realizing that today Song Lingxi was making an old snowman of himself and imitating the actions of an old man, which was very weird.
"Okay, then I'd like to hear how unique your epitaph is and whether it's worth your explaining it fifty or sixty years in advance." Xie Qiao crossed his arms.
Song Lingxi shook his head, with an expression that said "this child is incorrigible", and said solemnly:
"In this life, I am committed to science and have done my country a honor.
Now, grandma, I'm going to learn magic!"
Xie Qiao: “…”
Zong Fei: “…”
"...You are quite balanced and you don't focus on one subject. That's good."
Xie Qiao held it in for a long time and finally made a dry joke, but he didn't expect to attract Song Lingxi's admiring look.
"That's right! I clearly wanted to learn magic in this life, but my talent was not in the right place," Song Lingxi said with deep regret, pounding his hands solemnly, "I must not make the wrong choice again in my next life. I want to embark on a new adventure."
She said with a smile and complacent expression: "Life is an adventure. Only the brave can succeed."
Perhaps it was because her eyes were too gentle, or perhaps she expressed a mother's earnest instructions to her young bird in these powerful words. Many years later, whenever Zong Fei and Xie Qiao felt frustrated, they would always think of these words spoken by the fireplace that would remain in their minds for the rest of their lives.
At that time, I thought it was normal.
Zong Fei stared at Song Lingxi blankly. To him, the word "mother" was just a cold photo and a few words from other people's mouths. No one had ever told him the truth of life in a gentle and caring way, and no one had ever looked at him like this.
At this moment, Zong Fei was a little jealous of Xie Qiao because he missed his mother.
If his mother were still alive, would she be as gentle and powerful as Xie Qiao's mother? Or would his mother have a strong personality and not be patient enough to teach him the truth of life, but would she protect him like a she-wolf?
Zong Fei didn't stay in his depressed mood for long because his father and Uncle Zheng came down from upstairs.
Zong Xuecheng looked towards Song Lingxi subconsciously, then froze for a moment, then looked away as if nothing had happened.
"What are you talking about?" He walked to Song Lingxi and sat on the single sofa on the side, his long and straight legs bent casually, and his deep eyes under the gold-rimmed glasses looked fixedly at Song Lingxi.
Song Lingxi was quick to notice the scrutiny and turned to look at Zong Xuecheng, only to see that his eyes were dull, as if it was just an illusion.
Song Lingxi sneered and collapsed back into the recliner, feeling at ease as if the world was in turmoil and it had nothing to do with him.
Seeing that Song Lingxi didn't say anything, Zong Fei had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "Xixi asked me and Xie Qiao to remember her epitaph in the future."
Zong Xuecheng didn't care about Zong Fei's disrespect for him, and asked nonchalantly, "Oh? What is it?"
Zong Fei: "In this life, I am devoted to science and have done my best for my country. Now, grandma, I am going to learn magic!"
Zong Xuecheng was stunned, and a smile appeared on his lips unconsciously. This was a typical Song Lingxi-style humor. However, the next second he suddenly stopped smiling and said softly, "Really? Why did you think of setting an epitaph for yourself in advance?"
What does "being worthy of the country" mean?
Song Lingxi said slowly, "I've been thinking about what I'll be like when I get old. When I think about aging, I naturally think about death. Some people say that death is walking out of time, but I think that death is walking into the next period of time and embarking on the next adventure."
"I want to tell everyone who comes to see me that I have embarked on the magical journey I have always dreamed of. Maybe I will become a great magical girl. Isn't that good?"
When Song Lingxi said this, there was a look of anticipation and yearning on his face, as if there really was an afterlife after death, and that magic really existed in some parallel universe.
It makes people believe that death is not scary.
You don't have to be sad for me, you don't have to grieve for me, I just ended an old adventure and can't wait to embark on a new journey.
"That's great." Zheng Yuandao, who had been silent all this time, couldn't help but smile sincerely. Few people could face death so optimistically. How open-minded and calm, and how natural, must be the one who could say such words.
Zheng Yuandao discovered that the "Song Lingxi mystery" seemed to have been solved a little, but it became even more elusive and confusing.
At this moment, a faint piano sound rang out, gentle and soft, as if whispering a song that was unknown to the little crowd.
The girl playing the piano looked focused, and occasionally looked up at Qiao Ziqi expectantly, as if she wanted to get Qiao Ziqi's praise. Qiao Ziqi was taking the fish grilled by Lan Xi and eating it with big mouthfuls, and from time to time she responded by looking at Minnie who was playing the piano.
Among all the people present, perhaps only Song Lingxi knew what was in Minnie's mind, and she just happened to know this song, a confession song written by a composer to commemorate his unrequited love.
Unfortunately, looking at Qiao Ziqi's reaction, it was definitely "I put my heart into the wrong zither, but when the strings broke, no one listened."
The two-day vacation was over. Not only Zong Fei and Xie Qiao, but even Song Lingxi was a little reluctant to leave. It was so comfortable to soak in the hot spring.
As soon as he got home and settled down, Song Lingxi immediately lay flat on his back, with a milk stick in his mouth, a pillow in his hand, and listening to a soap opera. When Xie Qiao left in the morning, Song Lingxi was in the same posture when he came back at noon.
Xie Qiao looked at Song Lingxi on the sofa with a reproachful look, "Mom, why do I feel like you've been particularly lazy lately? You never sit when you can lie down, and never stand when you can sit. This is not good for your health. Also, I remember you told me when I was a kid that people should have basic manners, standing like a pine tree and sitting like a bell."
Song Lingxi chuckled and said, "Then how about I use an exemption voucher?"
Xie Qiao choked.
The full name of the exemption ticket is error exemption ticket. It is obtained based on the housework contribution value and can forgive any mistake made by a family member.
So far, Xie Qiao has 128 exemption tickets, ranking first, while Song Lingxi only has a pitiful three.
Xie Qiao was tricked into doing housework since he was young and received many exemption coupons. Song Lingxi's exemption coupons were pitifully few, but Xie Qiao did not feel very happy.
Since he does the housework and rarely makes mistakes, what's the point of him having so many exemption coupons? And his own mother asked him for more when she ran out of exemption coupons...
Xie Qiao was speechless when he thought about it. He didn't bother to pay attention to her and went into the kitchen to get some water.
Song Lingxi sighed. When she was at the resort, she felt her body becoming more and more tired. It seemed that the end was approaching.
…
In the resort bar, the boss was sweeping the floor under the photo wall. There were several old and yellowed photos on the floor, which the boss swept into the trash with a broom.
The rule of this photo wall is that if the photos fall off, they will be thrown away. Even if customers come back and can't find the photos they took, the boss won't care.
For some unknown reason, the boss thought of the female customer whom he had mistaken for a guest two days ago. He picked up the photo from the trash can and examined it carefully, but in the end found nothing.
The boss shook his head and laughed, thinking that he was a little crazy. He stood up and prepared to continue cleaning. When he looked up, he suddenly saw a photo that was about to fall.
The boss' eyes widened.