"The research we obtained will only be sold in China at cost price plus 10%. Don't scold me, old man, such a big company has to support so many people."
“Old man, what you taught Su Ran, she will definitely do her best to accomplish. Your past will never come again, and China will only get better and better in the future.”
"Old man, I've met your family."
“It’s your younger brother. He looks a lot like you. At that time, I thought you, the old man, had come back, but it turned out not to be.”
"He's not an old man."
"Although you look seven-tenths alike, you are not old men. You two are completely different."
“Master, you never mentioned your family once, yet every word you spoke was about your family. At that time, I wondered what kind of family members would wait for decades without wanting to come see you.”
"But back then, no matter what you said, Master, you just laughed it off. But afterwards, you held a box and looked at it for a long time. The old man missed his family too, didn't he?"
"Doesn't the old man hate them?"
Su Ran looked at the small mound of earth in front of her. Such a tall and imposing person, whose final life was buried in this desolate place.
She silently sipped the old man's favorite tea, expressing her longing for him in a wordless way.
Thinking back on everything that happened, I wonder if the old man hated them when he was dying.
Although she already knew the answer in her heart, Su Ran still refused to believe it.
Forty-odd years!
He was so young once, and now he's been trapped in Sujia Village for over forty years. How many forty-year periods does one have in a lifetime?
Have you been disappointed in the Su family for the past forty years? They could have brought you back long ago, but they refused. Look, old man, your family has probably forgotten you long ago.
“Master, I told your younger brother about your situation, but he was too slow to realize it. Doesn’t he know he’s already old? What is there that he can’t let go of?”
“Master, I first learned about you from the old gentleman, and then from your younger brother. You are so outstanding.”
"I remember you once said that outstanding people are often the target of many venomous snakes lurking in the shadows, ready to strike when they are not prepared and bite them hard."
"Why did you face so much inequality in your time? Shouldn't talent be everything?"
Su Ran really didn't understand. In that era, was it wrong to be talented? Was it wrong to dare to speak out?
Talent is not wrong, Su Zhengnian is not wrong, and those who left in that era are not wrong either; the only wrong thing is that era.
"Master, the tea trees are growing very well this year, but you can't come back to brew tea under the pavilion anymore."
"China is already doing very well now. Although there are still some areas where it has not caught up with other countries, and there are still areas where its research is being hampered, it will gradually catch up."
“Master, the current prosperous era is just as you described when you were young: it is strong, democratic, and thriving.”
"Master, once I've finished all my work, I'll come back to Sujia Village and drink tea with you every day, chatting with you. Master, please don't find me noisy then."
"Master, Ranran misses you."
Su Ran stared blankly at the small mound in front of her, her emotions no longer suppressed. She looked at him silently, tears quietly sliding down her cheeks.
The chirping of birds echoed from the nearby woods, and the barking of dogs could be heard in the distance. A gentle breeze rustled through the overlapping grasses.
The sky was dark, the wind chased the rain, and the rain chased the wind. The wind and rain joined forces to chase the dark clouds in the sky, and gradually, a light rain began to fall.
Su Ran's clothes were soaked, and rainwater slid down her cheeks, making it hard to tell whether it was tears or rain.
"Master, is your knee hurting again?"
Su Ran looked at the small mound in front of her. The old man hated rainy days, and his kneecaps would ache terribly every time.
I've been in pain for decades, and I still don't know how that adorable old man managed to endure it.
Su Ran only discovered the old man's affair when she had just returned to her master's side and couldn't sleep at night, and she found out by chance.
But what was Su Ran thinking when she saw her master enduring the pain and saying it didn't hurt?
She can't remember it now.
“Master, please don’t be born in that era in your next life. That era is not suitable for you. You are suited for the new era.”
“Your little apprentice has a friend who said that you will have a peaceful and smooth life in your next life, and I also believe that you will have a peaceful and smooth life, Master.”
"Old man, will I meet you again in the next life?"
But Su Ran will never hear the old man's scolding again; that old man will never come back.
The house is still decorated in the same familiar way, but after a year, there is no human presence in the house, and the accumulated dust rises and dances when you push the door open.
The decorations were familiar, but ultimately, no one was there.
The old man's tiled house was on the top of the mountain in Sujia Village. At that time, I thought the old man was a hermit who lived in seclusion.
But now that I think about it...
In those days, everyone in the village hated that kind of person, so the old man moved to live on the mountain and stopped associating with the people of Sujia Village.
The tiled houses are now even more obscured by weeds and trees, making them even less noticeable than before.
Su Ran offered incense to her master. It was already late, and she had just finished cleaning the tile-roofed house.
She was initially soaked, but slowly began to dry. Now her clothes are damp, and her hair, wet from the rain, is also uncomfortable.
After the rain, the road down the mountain was difficult to walk on and very muddy, so Su Ran decided to sleep in the tile-roofed house.
It's still raining, and it's probably getting colder. The surrounding heat is gradually decreasing as the rain washes it away.
The roof of the tiled house was flooded and water was sliding down. The thriving weeds around it were also bent over by the weight of the water, and dewdrops dripped from the tips of the grass and slid down to the ground.
The air was filled with the fresh scent of grass and the dampness of the rain, and the sky was still overcast.
Night was falling.
I could already feel the chill of the rainy night. Looking at the distant mountains, shrouded in mist, I realized that was the mountain where I used to gather herbs when I was a child.
There was no electricity in the tile-roofed house, and the only way to boil water was to use a stove.
Just like when she was a child, Su Ran opened the well lid and drew out bucket after bucket of water.
The well water was chilly tonight, so lighting the stove and boiling such a large pot of water was quite a struggle and took a long time.
It has been an hour and a half since the water I need was boiled.
I took out the clothes I had prepared from my backpack, took a shower, and changed out of my dirty clothes.
Wearing dry clothes, I couldn't blow-dry my hair, so I could only slowly wipe the water stains off with a dry towel over and over again. The night wind was a bit cold, so I took out a stove, lit some charcoal inside, and placed it at the door to warm myself by the fire, intending to use the heat to dry my slightly damp hair.
When she was little, her master always did it for her. Later, Su Ran learned how to do it herself, and the old man would always smile and say that.
“Little Su Ran has grown up and doesn’t need the old man anymore.”
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