Returning to the nest
The starlight from my trip to Lingshan still seemed to linger on my eyelashes, yet my body, carrying the crisp mountain air, had already returned to the familiar Anping Lane. Pushing open the creaking wooden door of "Time Sequence," a scent mingled with aged wood, machine oil, and a faint fragrance of books rushed out, instantly and gently enveloping the dust and weariness of the journey.
It was a strange feeling. I had only been gone for two or three days, but when I returned, it felt like I had been gone for a long time. Everything in the shop remained the same, and the silent clocks still faithfully recorded the passage of time, as if the owner's brief departure was just a few ordinary rounds of the hands for them.
However, some things are different now.
Lu Shixu placed his simple luggage aside, not immediately sitting down to rest. Instead, as if completing some kind of ritual, his gaze slowly swept across the clocks in the room, as if silently announcing his return to these old friends. His face still bore the weariness of the journey, but deep within his clear eyes lay a more serene tranquility, washed clean by the mountain winds and starlight.
Lin Zhiyi followed behind him, a satisfied and relaxed smile on her face. She took a deep breath of the familiar air in the store, feeling completely at ease. After putting her things down, the first thing she did was to go and open the window, letting the warm breeze and sunlight of early summer flow in and dispel the stuffiness in the room.
“This is still the best place.” She turned around, leaned against the window frame, and said to Lu Shixu with a smile.
Lu Shixu looked at her; the sunlight cast a warm halo behind her, and her smile was even warmer than the sunlight. He nodded and softly replied, "Mm."
The excitement and novelty of the journey gradually settled, transforming into a more enduring and grounded sense of belonging. They didn't talk much about what they had seen and heard on the mountain; the awe and emotion they felt had quietly settled deep in their hearts, becoming a treasure that belonged only to each other and needed no words.
After a short break, Lu Shixu sat back down at his workbench. Several items awaiting repair lay on it. He didn't immediately begin the complex work, but instead picked up a piece of chamois leather and began slowly and methodically wiping the tools, putting them back in their places one by one. His movements were gentle, as if he were going through this familiar process to reconnect with his own rhythm.
Lin Zhiyi wasn't idle either. She tidied up the clothes she had brought, then went to the back to boil water and brew a pot of Dancong tea, which Lu Shixu liked. The aroma of the tea rose gently, blending with the atmosphere of the room, making it even more tranquil and peaceful.
As she came out with the tea, she saw that Lu Shixu had stopped wiping and was tilting his head slightly, as if listening to something. She followed his gaze to the old wall clock that the old man had recently repaired. It was swinging steadily, ticking away, emitting a deep and peaceful "tick-tock" sound that perfectly blended into the symphony of time filling the room.
A faint, satisfied smile played at the corners of his mouth.
Lin Zhiyi gently placed the tea beside him, without making a sound to disturb his moment of concentration.
Lu Shixu noticed her approach, looked away, and looked at her with gentle eyes: "If you're tired, go inside and lie down for a while."
"I'm not tired." Lin Zhiyi shook her head, sat down in her usual spot opposite him, and picked up the book she was reading halfway through. "It's fine to sit like this."
She opened the book but didn't read it immediately, simply savoring the tranquility and peace of returning home. Watching him pick up his tools again and focus on a small gear, listening to its regular and familiar ticking sound, a sense of grounded security welled up within her.
The meaning of a journey may not only lie in seeing magnificent scenery, but also in returning home and finding that the place called "home" becomes even warmer and more precious because of shared memories and the person by your side.
Outside the window, the usual sounds of the old street in the afternoon filled the air.
Inside the window, time flows peacefully, now recalibrated.
They were each doing their own thing, without exchanging a word, yet the space was filled with a tacit understanding and contentment that needed no words.
Lu Shixu was repairing the clock, while Lin Zhiyi was reading a book.
Like small boats sailing on separate voyages, they have returned to this shared, tranquil harbor after a brief but beautiful journey. Their hulls may still carry the moisture and starlight from afar, but their anchors have been deeply embedded in the soil they have built together, a soil called "time sequence."
Returning is for a better start.
And this moment of peace is the warmest and most powerful foundation for the next journey.
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