Seeing that the sun was about to reach the height for lunch, Liu Xinghua put away her needlework, said goodbye to Grandma Zhao, and left to go home to make lunch. Grandma Zhao asked her to walk slowly, and she also put away her basket and got up to make lunch.
Liu Xinghua went home, washed the rice and poured it into the pot, covered the pot, and just sat behind the stove to light the fire, she suddenly saw Fang the matchmaker appear outside the door.
When Matchmaker Fang saw Liu Xinghua at home, she walked into the house without any politeness and said, "Hey, what's going on between Xiao Wuzi and the girl from the Xie family? They were getting along just fine and were about to get engaged? Why did they suddenly make a fuss?" After
this happened, Liu Xinghua was no longer enthusiastic about Matchmaker Fang and even refused to get her food or drinks.
She only looked at the flames at the bottom of the stove, her expression and tone were indifferent, and she said: "You are their matchmaker, how did they start the quarrel, and you come to ask me? You said sesame seeds are watermelons, what do you think happened?"
She was not embarrassed, but she did not continue to play dumb. She smiled suddenly, sat down and said: "Then I am not doing this for Xiao Wuzi's marriage, right? The girl from the Xie family is really good. From her appearance to her character, she is not one in a million, but she is one in a hundred."
She was a matchmaker not because she was keen on finding a marriage, wanting to make people happy, or to get some good luck, but because of her mouth. When running back and forth, she can eat some good food. If the marriage is successful, she can get more good things to take home, even wine and meat.
Therefore, whenever she acted as a matchmaker, she would play tricks and say things that people would like to hear. She didn't care if she turned a sesame seed into a watermelon, as long as it could work out. After all, the two would not meet much before the marriage, and she was the main matchmaker.
She didn't care much about being blamed in the future.
Now that the Ruan family's affairs could not be kept secret, she was first complained by the Xie family. Despite this, the Xie family was still willing to do this marriage, but they wanted to add conditions, so they asked her to run errands and have a serious talk with Ruan Zhigao and Liu Xinghua.
Ruan Changsheng and Xie Tao said that they would not discuss it because of a disagreement, so it could not be settled seriously.
Liu Xinghua no longer considered the Xie family and just said, "That's good, but it's a pity that our Xiao Wuzi is not worthy of her!"
Matchmaker Fang smiled and said, "I think the two of them are very compatible, a match made in heaven!"
Liu Xinghua sneered, "If you have something to say, just say it directly. You can't come to me to complain."
In this case, Matchmaker Fang didn't beat around the bush and looked at Liu Xinghua and said, "Then I'll say it directly. The Xie family is still willing to this marriage. Both the Xie family's parents and the girl are optimistic about your Xiao Wuzi. But now there is such a condition. Let you send Cuizhi back to her husband's family, and everything will go smoothly."
Liu Xinghua had heard this from Ruan Changsheng before, and she couldn't help getting angry when she heard it again.
She sneered again, with an impolite expression and tone, and said directly to Matchmaker Fang: "Let's not talk about this, there is no room for negotiation, let's just forget it. Even if our Xiao Wuzi doesn't find a partner in his life, we can't send his third sister back to her husband's family."
Matchmaker Fang was patient, "Think about it again."
Liu Xinghua said directly: "No need to think about it!"
Matchmaker Fang's smile was about to disappear. She has always been eloquent and wanted to continue to persuade Liu Xinghua with words. But Liu Xinghua didn't want to listen anymore, she looked at her and said, "Don't say anything, I don't want to talk about this anymore."
Matchmaker Fang smiled stiffly, seeing that Liu Xinghua really couldn't be persuaded, she stood up and said, "Okay, then I'll go to the Xie family to persuade them again. If they are willing, there is still hope, if not..."
Liu Xinghua added for her, "Then forget it!"
Matchmaker Fang smiled dryly and turned to go out, and the smile on her face disappeared when she got outside.
She muttered as she walked, "If this doesn't work, wouldn't I have come back and forth in vain?"
So she cheered up and hurried the thirty miles of mountain road to the Xie family to persuade them again.
As a result, the Xie family was even more stubborn and refused to give in. They just said, "I will never agree unless you send her away!"
Matchmaker Fang was really tired and angry. She didn't have the energy to run anymore. Seeing that neither of the two families was willing to give in, she felt that the matchmaking was not going well, so she said to the Xie family, "If that's the case, I think it's better to forget about it."
The Xie family was also very angry and said, "No, then we can only forget about it!"
The Ruan family refused to give in when marrying a daughter-in-law. How could they ask their daughter to give in when marrying a daughter? There is no such reason in the world! Their
daughter will not have trouble finding a husband, but Ruan Changsheng has a divorced sister as a burden, so it's not easy for him to find a wife!
Matchmaker Fang gave up the marriage and didn't run away, so the matter was naturally forgotten.
Seeing that Matchmaker Fang was unreliable, Liu Xinghua no longer entrusted Ruan Changsheng's marriage to her. She planned to find another matchmaker to arrange a marriage for Ruan Changsheng, but because she had just been engaged, she was not in a hurry and planned to wait two months.
But before even a week had passed, the news of Ruan Changsheng's failed engagement spread throughout the village.
There were all kinds of things said, but the main topic was still focused on Ruan Cuizhi.
So her abandonment of her four children and divorce was brought up again, and now it was not just a mistake of abandoning her husband and children, but also affecting her brother Ruan Changsheng's marriage.
Some people said that if Ruan Changsheng could not get married in this life, it would be her sister's fault.
Seeing that she still did not go back to her husband's family after all this, naturally some people said that she was too selfish, only cared about her own comfort, and did not care about the life and death of her children, nor did she care about the future of her own brother. One person ruined two families.
Of course, they still wouldn't talk about gossip in person, they just gossiped in private.
Ruan Cuizhi got up early every day and went to the old tailor's house with Ruan Xi, taking care of the old tailor until he went to bed. She had no time and no energy to take care of other things. She couldn't hear these words, and Liu Xinghua naturally didn't tell her.
Ruan Changsheng's marriage didn't work out, Liu Xinghua only told Ruan Cuizhi that their personalities were not suitable.
Ruan Cuizhi didn't think much about it, and still went out early and came back late every day with Ruan Xi.
Early spring has passed, and the weather in April is the most pleasant, with warm breezes blowing on the face, grass growing and birds flying, and green everywhere in the mountains.
The old tailor is old, and without any treatment measures, it is very difficult for the bone injury to heal. But he was not paralyzed in bed. He stopped lying in bed after half a month and got up on time every day.
Of course, he didn't move much. If he wasn't lying in bed, he would lie in a rocking chair.
Before he fell, although his movements were a little slow, he could still sit in front of the sewing machine and operate the machine to make clothes. Now he can't do that at all. It's not easy for him to take care of himself every day.
In most cases, someone still needs to take care of him.
He couldn't move, and the tailor shop was now entirely run by Ruan Xi, who took over all the work, and everyone trusted her now. Ruan Cuizhi was learning while helping with the work, and also helped take care of the old tailor, doing laundry and cooking.
The only thing the old tailor still did was to draw paper patterns according to the measurements.
In fact, he also felt very tired when drawing paper patterns, so in the past month, during the daytime, as long as he was a little better in spirits, he would call Ruan Xi to teach her how to draw paper patterns.
Different clothes have different styles, and there were actually very few styles for clothes in the 1970s. Except for the differences in fabrics and colors, the styles of women's jackets and trousers are almost the same, especially the honeycomb collar.
The rest are more fashionable styles such as uniforms and military styles, and men's clothing also has Zhongshan suits.
But the old tailor taught Ruan Xi more than that. She also taught Ruan Xi how to draw skirts and dresses, various styles of fashionable shirts, some special wedding dresses, and even taught her to draw different styles of cheongsams.
Ruan Xi sewed with the old tailor every day, and could feel that his strength was getting weaker day by day.
Especially after the fall, he aged faster and faster. Not only did he have difficulty walking, but even his hands were shaking when he used chopsticks to eat.
So when eating again, Ruan Xi replaced the old tailor's tableware with a spoon.
The weather was getting warmer, and the days were getting longer and longer.
After dinner, it was still light outside. The old tailor put down the spoon in his hand and went down to the rocking chair in the yard with the support of Ruan Xi and Ruan Cuizhi. After sitting down, he touched his big breasts, and a layer of sunset glow covered his face.
Ruan Xi and Ruan Cuizhi went to the kitchen to wash the pots and bowls, and then poured water into the pot to boil a pot of hot water.
The old tailor didn't like to be disturbed, so Ruan Xi and Ruan Cuizhi went to the main room to sit by the sewing machine and busy themselves.
When it got dark, they heard a whistle, looked up and saw Ruan Changsheng coming.
Recently, Ruan Changsheng would come over every few days, not to play, but to help the old tailor take a bath.
The old tailor is in poor health now, and it is impossible for him to take a bath by himself. Someone must help him.
Of course, Ruan Changsheng would come over out of kindness, not on his own initiative, but because Ruan Xi asked him to come.
He whistled as he entered the room. Instead of heading to the main room, he walked directly to the old tailor, rubbed Da Mi's head with his hand, looked at him and said, "Hey, old man, I'm here to give you a bath again."
The old man closed his eyes and snorted, saying, "I don't want to take a bath, you can go back." Who was he calling the old man?
Ruan Changsheng laughed unceremoniously, "Why? Did I serve you uncomfortably?"
The old tailor still closed his eyes, "Don't think I don't know, you just miss the food in my cabinet."
Ruan Changsheng laughed out loud, "Of course, you're not old and confused yet."
The old tailor was too lazy to pay attention to him, closed his eyes and said nothing.
Ruan Xi and Ruan Cuizhi looked out of the main room for a while, but did not come out immediately.
Seeing that the old tailor no longer paid attention to him, Ruan Changsheng naturally went back to the main room and asked Ruan Cuizhi: "Are you going to wash tonight?"
Ruan Cuizhi said: "Yes, the hot water is ready, don't worry, let him rest for a while."
Ruan Changsheng directly reached into Ruan Xi's pocket to take out the key. Ruan Xi didn't defend himself and didn't have time to hide before he took it away. Ruan Changsheng took the key and went directly to open the cupboard door, took out an egg cake and stuffed it into his mouth.
Ruan Xi took a breath and looked at him, then at Ruan Cuizhi, and said, "You don't care about your brother."
Ruan Cuizhi laughed, "He's grown up, I can't care about him anymore."
Ruan Changsheng stuffed a mouthful of cake in his mouth, locked the cabinet and stuffed the key into Ruan Xi's pocket again, looked at Ruan Cuizhi and Ruan Xi and said, "Where does this old man get his blessing? He has no children, and there are still people to take care of him when he is old."
Ruan Cuizhi glanced at him and continued, "This is one person, one fate."
Ruan Changsheng swallowed the cake in his mouth and almost choked to death.
Ruan Xi reached out and patted him on the back twice, laughing as he went to the table to pour him a bowl of water.
Ruan Changsheng felt better after drinking the water and burped.
Seeing that the sky was getting darker, Ruan Cuizhi and Ruan Xi went to get a bath tub, put it in the house and filled it with half a bucket of hot water, then helped Ruan Changsheng to help the old tailor to take a bath.
When Ruan Changsheng helped the old tailor take a bath, Ruan Cuizhi and Ruan Xi were waiting in the yard.
When Ruan Changsheng helped the old tailor take a bath and helped him to bed, Ruan Cuizhi and Ruan Xi cleaned up the house inside and outside, and said goodbye to the old tailor, locked the door and went home.
When leaving, Ruan Changsheng also said, "Old man, I'm leaving. I'll come back to help you take a bath in a few days."
The old tailor's most common way of facing Ruan Changsheng was to close his eyes and not say anything.
When he heard footsteps far away from the gate, and then heard the sound of the gate being locked, he was the only one left in the house in the darkness, so he could no longer endure the pain in his body, and hummed loudly.
He seldom hummed during the day, and he would endure the pain no matter where it hurt, and take a deep breath when it was really painful.
He didn't want Ruan Xi and Ruan Cuizhi to hear him, and he didn't want to get any more attention.
At the end of his life, he was very satisfied to have Ruan Cuizhi and Ruan Xi treat him like this.
Of course, there was also the rascal who came to help him take a bath from time to time.
Outside the house, the night was as dark as ink. The rascal, holding a flashlight, walked on the mountain road home with Ruan Cuizhi and Ruan Xi.
Ruan Cuizhi asked him, "Has mom found a matchmaker for you recently?"
Ruan Changsheng himself was not in a hurry about this matter, he just said, "I won't go to see her even if she asks me, it's meaningless, I plan to find one myself when I have time. These days in Toucheng, people are into free love, I want to have some free love too, have some fun."
Pfft...
Ruan Xi: "You mean to be romantic?"
Ruan Changsheng: "It's all the same, as long as you understand what I mean."
Ruan Cuizhi looked at him and smiled, "Can you do it?"
Ruan Changsheng said, "Why can't I? Your brother is handsome, suave, and many people like him."
Ruan Xi laughed again when she heard this.
Ruan Changsheng turned around and looked at her, "Why? Am I not better than that little fool?"
What does this have to do with the little fool?
No, what does this have to do with Ling Yao?
Ruan Xi looked at him, "What are you comparing yourself to him? He is only fourteen years old, still a child."
Ruan Changsheng thought about it and it
made sense. He was a grown man, what was there to compare with a child? Ruan Cuizhi was listening and laughing. She felt that such a leisurely and warm day, the days when the family played and quarreled together, would never get boring even if they lived in poverty.
After Ruan Xi and Ruan Changsheng finished talking, she asked again: "What happened to that girl before? Was her personality incompatible?"
When mentioning Xie Tao, Ruan Changsheng cleared his throat and said half-truthfully: "I thought she was not bad when I first met her. She was pretty and looked comfortable. But after a few contacts, I found that she was not good. We couldn't get along. It's not that anyone is bad, but we just couldn't get along. People are like this sometimes. If you can't get along, you just can't get along."
Ruan Cuizhi thought of herself... Thinking of the days she had spent with Liu Xiong, she took a deep breath and said, "It's OK if we don't get along. There's no need to force ourselves together. We can separate if we're not engaged. When you get married and live together, you still have to find someone with the same temperament and personality, otherwise it will be painful."
Ruan Changsheng nodded, "I'll find one myself this time."
The three of them talked all the way back home. After they got home, they went to Ruan Zhigao and Liu Xinghua's room, sat under the oil lamp and chatted with the two old people, then took turns washing up and went to sleep.
The next morning, I heard the rooster crow and got up. I got up, washed up, and went to the old tailor's house.
There are not many families making clothes in the mountains during this month. Only when there is something going on at home, such as a wedding, will they come to ask the tailor to do it. For the remaining clothes that need to be altered, they will bring the clothes directly to the house, and they will just take the money after the alterations.
Now, when someone comes to ask for a tailor, the one they ask is the young tailor Ruan Xi.
The old tailor has been operating a sewing machine for most of his life, but now he can no longer make clothes, and he can't even draw patterns on paper. He lies at home every day, holding his breath, watching the sunrise and sunset, and his eyes gradually become dull.
His hands tremble more and more when he eats, and he even seems to have no strength to touch his breasts.
But he doesn't feel lonely every day, because Ruan Xi and Ruan Cuizhi will come very early in the morning, and soon after lunch, Ruan Jie and Ling Yao will come again, and sit in the yard with Ruan Xi to read and study.
The old tailor has been very generous recently, asking Ruan Xi to take out the paper and pencils he saved and share them with Ruan Jie and Ling Yao.
Ruan Jie and Ling Yao were reluctant to use them, and most of the time they wrote and calculated on the ground.
They would only use paper and pen when they wanted to practice calligraphy or when they had to.
Ruan Cuizhi watched the three people studying at first, and later when she had nothing to do, she would come over to study with them. She relearned many Chinese characters that she had long forgotten, and memorized a lot of ancient poems.
She went to school for a few years when she was young, and she studied very hard at that time, so it was easy for her to consolidate it now.
Before she filed for divorce, she felt that she was already old in her thirties, and the rest of her life would be to watch her children grow up slowly, and then watch them get married and have children.
But now, being with Ruan Xi and her group of children every day, she feels that she is ten years younger without realizing it. She learns to make clothes and learns new knowledge every day. She feels fulfilled and down-to-earth, as if she is reborn.
Sometimes she even feels that the past thirty years have been lived in vain, and she doesn't know what she is doing.
If she used to be worried about the decisions she made, now she is grateful.
She is grateful that she can still see another kind of life and doesn't have to soak in bitter water every day.
The days you like will pass quickly. Many evenings Ruan Cuizhi will sigh-the sun has set again.
In the past, she always wanted time to go faster and faster, and wanted the children to grow up faster. But now, she wants time to go slower and slower. She wants to learn more things and accompany more people.
With the constant rising and setting of the sun, her tailoring skills are improving and her life is becoming more fulfilling.
In the midsummer of July, the sun above her head is as hot as a fireball.
Ruan Xi's life is the same as yesterday, without any major changes. Most of the time, she is in the tailor shop teaching Ruan Cuizhi skills, taking care of the old tailor, learning from Ruan Jielingyao, and taking some jobs to alter clothes.
Now Ruan Cuizhi's skills are very good. Except that she is not very good at drawing the pattern, she does very well in the work like operating the machine and manual work. Usually, there is no problem in altering some clothes and pants.
And the small part of Ruan Xi's remaining time is to go to people's homes to make clothes for them.
When she goes to people's homes to make clothes for them, Ruan Cuizhi will stay in the tailor shop to help continue to look after the old tailor.
After the old tailor stopped going out due to health reasons, the name of Ruanxi Little Tailor became more and more famous in the mountains.
In addition to the increasingly famous name of Little Tailor, there is also Ruan Cuizhi's increasingly sophisticated craftsmanship, and Ruan Jie's increasing knowledge. The only thing that has changed more obviously is the old tailor's body.
When everything is getting better little by little, when people are full of hope, only his body is going in a bad direction, getting worse and worse uncontrollably, day by day.
Ling Yao often brings Zhou Xueyun to see him, but it doesn't play any substantial role.
The old tailor himself is very calm, as if he has long since looked down on everything. There
is a lot of rain in summer, sometimes it comes quickly and sometimes it brews all day.
On this day, the sky was covered with dark clouds for a long time without raining. Suddenly, there was a thunder at night, and big raindrops fell.
Ruan Xi was awakened by the thunder when she was sleeping soundly, and she couldn't fall asleep again.
The night was dark inside the house, and there were constant thunders outside. Lightning flashed across the night sky again and again, illuminating the roof.
Ruan Xi couldn't sleep, so he simply didn't sleep. He got up and went out of the room, moved a small stool and sat at the door, watching the heavy rain outside. He stretched out his feet in straw sandals to catch a piece of cold rain.
The raindrops became smaller and smaller. Ruan Cuizhi was the first to get up at home. She left the room and saw Ruan Xi sitting at the door, with her long black hair uncombed. She raised her hand and yawned and asked her, "Why did you get up so early?"
Ruan Xi looked back at her, "The thunder was too loud and I couldn't sleep."
Ruan Cuizhi yawned again, "I was also woken up several times. It seemed to rain heavily at night."
Ruan Xi nodded, "It's light now."
Ruan Cuizhi went to scoop water to wash up, "There are many thunderstorms in summer."
While she was washing up, Ruan Xi went into the house to comb her hair, braided her hair, and came out to wash up. Together with Ruan Cuizhi who had packed up at the same time, they found the tattered colored strips and bamboo hat at home, put them on and went to the old tailor's house.
Although it was difficult to walk on the mountain road after the rain, and even the rain didn't stop, she had to go to the old tailor's house.
While walking on the mountain road wearing the waterproof colored strips and bamboo hat, Ruan Xi couldn't help but take a deep breath.
Ruan Cuizhi noticed that she was unusual today, so she asked with concern: "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Ruan Xi took a deep breath again, "I don't know, I can't explain the feeling, I feel uncomfortable."
This is how she felt after being woken up by thunder at night. She always felt that something was wrong in her heart, and she felt empty and uncomfortable, but she couldn't tell why, so she didn't sleep in the second half of the night.
Ruan Cuizhi looked at her, "Is it because you didn't sleep well?"
Ruan Xi thought about it, "Maybe?"
Ruan Cuizhi: "Then when you get to the tailor's shop, you can sleep for a while and take a rest."
Ruan Xi nodded and took a deep breath again, "Okay."
In order to avoid slipping, the two walked very slowly and carefully along the way. When they arrived at the old tailor's house and opened the door to the yard, Ruan Cuizhi went directly to the kitchen as usual, took down her hat and waterproof colored strips, and started washing rice and making breakfast.
Ruan Xi went to the main room and took off her hat and the striped cloth at the door.
She shook the water off the hat and the striped cloth and put them aside, shouting, "Master, are you awake?"
The old tailor did not answer. She turned around and pushed the door open to go into the room. As soon as she walked to the door of the inner room, she was frightened and her eyes widened instantly - the old tailor fell in front of the bed and was lying on the ground dying.
Ruan Xi shouted in surprise, "Third Aunt! Come quickly!"
After shouting this, she hurried into the room to pull the old tailor. Ruan Cuizhi hurried in when she heard the sound, her brows immediately locked into a knot, and hurried into the room to help Ruan Xi pull the old tailor up and put him on the bed.
Seeing the old tailor's state, Ruan Xi was obviously panicking, and she kept asking him: "Master, what are you doing? Are you going to the toilet? Don't you have the habit of getting up at night? Or do you want to drink water? Or eat something?"
The old tailor drooped his eyelids and held his breath, looking at Ruan Xi and opening his mouth but saying nothing.
Seeing the old tailor like this, Ruan Cuizhi's face turned extremely ugly.
Ruan Xi read a very bad signal in Ruan Cuizhi's eyes, so her heart beat faster unconsciously, and she trembled when she spoke. She stood up and said: "Fourth aunt, please take care of my master, I will go to find Doctor Zhou."
But before she took a step, the old tailor grabbed her hand.
Ruan Xi endured the discomfort in his heart, the trembling in his emotions and voice, and the tears in his eyes. He looked at the old tailor and said in a soft voice: "Master, bear it for a while. I will find Dr. Zhou for you and he will be here soon."
The old tailor shook his head and squeezed out a voice: "I have lived for another half a year, that's enough..."
He always felt that he was destined to die on the first day of the new year, and living for another half a year was a gift from God. Recently, he has been having more and more pains in his body. Every night when he goes to sleep, he groans in pain until midnight. He can't sleep for a few hours at all. He can't bear it anymore.
Seeing him say this, Ruan Xi felt even more uncomfortable in his heart. He could only frown and bite his lips to prevent tears from falling.
Then the old tailor looked at her and said, "Go... call Secretary Wang... ask him to bring a few more people..."
Ruan Xi sniffed, and without much hesitation, she turned around and ran out of the main house, ran into the rain, and ran to Secretary Wang's house in the rain and mud.
When she got outside, she raised her hand and knocked on the door desperately, her voice mixed with the raindrops: "Secretary Wang!"
Secretary Wang heard the sound and came to open the door. She didn't have time to wipe the rain off her face. She sniffed and immediately said, "Secretary Wang, my master is not doing well. He asked you to bring some people over. Go now." Secretary Wang's
face froze when he heard this, and he didn't care about anything else. He hurried to the village to find a few more village cadres, and went to the old tailor's house with Ruan Xi. When they returned, the rain stopped, but the sky was still gray.
Ruan Xi brought Secretary Wang and several cadres to the old tailor's house. After entering the house, she lay down beside his bed, wiped her face, sniffed, looked at him and said, "Master, I called Secretary Wang for you."
The old tailor slowly opened his eyes, looked at Secretary Wang and several cadres, but did not say anything.
His movements became more laborious, and he raised his hand and pointed to the camphorwood box in the room, "Key..."
Ruan Cuizhi understood what he meant, and hurriedly opened the camphorwood box and took out a bunch of keys from it.
She handed the bunch of keys to the old tailor and stood aside without saying anything.
The old tailor looked at Ruan Xi, put the key in her palm with shaking hands, then looked up at Secretary Wang and said slowly: "Please bear witness for me... As long as it is my personal stuff... house... yard... sewing machine... land... all will be given to my apprentice... to... Ruan Xi..."
Ruan Xi looked at the key in her palm, tears rolled out of her eyes unconsciously, and fell drop by drop on the washed blue checkered bed sheet.
Secretary Wang said behind her: "Don't worry."
The old tailor was relieved, looked at Ruan Xi again, and whispered slowly: "Xixi... this shop... will be left to you..."
Ruan Xi could no longer hold back her tears, tears burst out of her eyes, and instantly wet her face.
She grabbed the old tailor's hand, rested her forehead on the back of his hand, and cried so hard that her whole shoulders were shaking.
She cried so hard that she couldn't speak. After a long while, she choked up and called out, "Master..."
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