This was the 35th year since Wang Lin left Zhao, and it was also this autumn.
It was autumn in the country of Hou Fen. When the autumn wind blew across the sea and landed on the country of Zhao, it was already winter. The entire country of Zhao was covered in white snow. It was as if the country was wearing a white coat; it was as far as the eye could see.
Only the two rows of carriages on the official road gradually moved into the distance with the creaking sound of the ladle.
Along the official road, one could see an inn. This inn was covered in a thick layer of snow. It was bleak and there was no one inside.
More than ten years ago, most of the inn had already collapsed, injuring a few of the people who stayed there. The owner of the inn had gotten into a lawsuit and died in prison. As for the waiter from back then, he had also left quietly. No one knew where he had gone or where he had taken root. Perhaps he was still alive, or perhaps he had already died.
Over time, the inn that had once made the Great Scholar of the Kingdom of Zhao drunk slowly turned into ruins. It stood on the side of the official road, weathered by the wind and rain, and fell into ruin.
The carriage stopped for a moment when it passed by the inn. The curtain of the carriage was lifted and a burst of hot air came out. It didn't spread far in this cold world before disappearing.
An old man in white looked through the curtain at the abandoned inn that was covered in white blood. His eyes were filled with nostalgia. After a long time, he let out a sigh and put down the curtain.
"Wan Er, there used to be an inn here. I woke up here." An old voice came from the carriage as the carriage gradually moved off into the distance.
As they went further away, the sound from the carriage gradually weakened. In the end, the snow covered the world and everything became a blur. Only the howling of the cold wind continued to blow, as if it didn't know fatigue.
An old man's time was short. They could count the time they would return. They could silently look at the blue sky and white clouds as they watched the snow fall. Similarly, an old man's time was infinite. What was infinite were their memories, and they could forget the time they would return.
This carriage didn't move fast. As it moved along the official road, it slowly headed toward the small mountain village at the foot of the Heng Yue Mountain. At dusk of the second day, the snow was still falling. It was getting heavier and heavier and showed no signs of stopping.
The snow sealed the mountain and sealed the earth. Only the carriage silently moved on the ground and got closer and closer to the mountain village.
When dusk passed and the evening arrived, the mountain village in the wind and snow came into view. The mountain village in the snow looked quiet from afar, especially in the evening. Even the usually agile big dogs were huddled in their nests. Even when they heard the creaking sound of the wheels in the wind and snow, they were unwilling to raise their heads to bark.
Every family was next to a burning stove. On this cold winter night, they used the fire to keep themselves warm. Being together with their families warmed their hearts. The double warmth of their hearts and bodies could allow the mortals in this world to no longer feel cold during the winter.
Among the many houses in the mountain village, there was one house with two big dogs crawling together to keep warm. Aside from that, there was only snow.
In the house in the courtyard, there was a weak ball of fire that shone through the yellow window paper. It scattered in the courtyard, causing the color of the white snow to dim. It was like an exhausted sunset that was struggling to slowly lower its head and was about to return to the world.
In the light of the fire, a hunchbacked figure could be seen behind the window paper. That figure held a thin torch in his hand and was fiddling with the candle flame to make it brighter.
It was an old man, an old man with a face full of wrinkles. He could not even open his eyes completely. He sat there and stared blankly at the candlelight. After a long time, he tightened his cotton-padded jacket and looked down at his right wrist.
He was Big Fortune.
"It has been many years … He should be back soon …" Big Fortune looked at his right wrist. There was a golden handprint there. He gently stroked the handprint, and a look of reminiscence appeared in his eyes.
He had waited here for 35 years. He still remembered Wang Lin telling him before he left that he would be back. Wang Lin told him to wait here and keep waiting.
"He said that there would never be another 38 years in his life. He will be back soon …" Big Fortune looked tired. He stood up with the help of his walking stick and was about to rest. However, at this moment, the two big dogs in the courtyard that were too cold to open their mouths started to whimper.
The sound of the carriage wheels squeaking through the snow could be faintly heard. Finally, it stopped outside the courtyard. The door of the carriage opened, and Wang Lin walked out of the carriage against the wind and snow.
Behind him, Li Muwan, who had already become an old woman, walked out of the carriage with a gentle smile on her face. She stood beside Wang Lin and looked at the courtyard and the house with the light coming out of it.
With a creak, the door of the house was pushed open from the inside. Big Fortune stared blankly outside the courtyard and saw Wang Lin standing there after the wind and snow. He grinned like a fool.
"I'm back." Wang Lin looked at the old Big Fortune and smiled.
The wind and snow became even stronger.
However, the fire in the house in the snow-covered courtyard burned brightly. In this cold, the master and servant, after being separated for thirty-five years, met again.
That night, the wind howled and a lot of snow fell. However, the three people in the house did not feel the cold. Instead, they felt the warmth.
When the snow fell in the early morning, the snowflakes became sparse and fell sporadically. Although the sunlight couldn't melt the snow, it made people feel refreshed.
Especially when the sunlight fell on the snow, it made the ground look faintly dazzling. At first glance, it was difficult to open one's eyes. That morning, Wang Lin brought Li Muwan and Big Fortune to the grave of Wang Lin's parents at the back of the village.
They knelt in front of the grave. Li Muwan also knelt beside Wang Lin. The two of them stood there in silence for a long time.
"Father, Mother, her name is Li Muwan. She is your daughter-in-law … I brought her to see you." Wang Lin did not cry or shed any tears. He held Li Muwan's hand and bowed to the grave spirit.
Several days later, in the wind and snow, the carriage left the mountain village and headed toward the city of Su.
In the carriage, Wang Lin lifted the curtain and looked back at his home that was gradually hidden in the snow. The scene of Shi San carrying a bamboo backpack appeared before his eyes. Under his parents' kind gazes, every few steps he took, he had to look back. When he couldn't see his parents, he finally turned his head and walked toward the future.
At that time, he was still ignorant. He didn't know what his future path was. He only knew that he wanted his parents to live a good life and that he wanted his relatives to look up to his family.
Now, as he sat in the carriage and watched, the scenes of the past gradually blurred until they were replaced by the wind and snow. With a sigh, Wang Lin lowered the curtain.
The carriage left.
In the spring of the year 74, the carriage arrived at the city of Su.
In the spring of the city of Su, all living things came back to life. Especially after the snow melted, the fragrance of the earth and grass filled the heart and was unforgettable.
This smell was very familiar to Wang Lin. He searched for that fragrance. It was just like the first time Wang Lin came to Su. He rented a pleasure boat, bought osmanthus wine, and sat on the pleasure boat with Li Muwan. They drank wine, watched the sun rise and set, and enjoyed the rest of their lives.
Big Fortune was the same as before. He sat to the side and looked at Wang Lin with a happy smile on his face.
"This is a date. He will definitely come."
Wang Lin held the wine jug. He had already entered the twilight of his life, and the age spots on his hands were even more numerous and darker. He held the jug and took a sip.
The sound of the zither echoed. It was Li Muwan plucking the strings.
The days passed one by one. After a few months, spring in the city of Su quietly passed. It was another year in June.
It was the sixth month of the year 75. Willow catkins fluttered in the air once again. Wang Lin sat at the bow of the boat and drank osmanthus wine. He laughed loudly.
"Heaven and earth are the reverse journeys of all living things … Time is the passing guest of a hundred generations … And life is like a dream, how happy is it … and how happy is it …" As Wang Lin laughed, the pleasure boat moved along the river. Before it was a stone bridge. There was no one on the bridge, but there was a white bird in the sky above the bridge.
It had been a very, very long time since the bird had appeared. Now that it had appeared, it circled around the stone bridge, and gradually, the streets around the bridge became blurry. It was as if everything in the world had become blurry and indistinct at that moment.
Only the stone bridge and the pleasure boat were particularly eye-catching in the painting.
As the pleasure boat approached, Wang Lin's eyes shined brighter than they had in the past 70 years. He stood up and looked at the stone bridge with bright eyes.
"It's here …" Wang Lin murmured.
Just at this moment, the white bird whistled over and landed on the stone bridge from the sky. It turned into a white crystal light and spread out. From afar, it looked like a white vortex.
A person slowly walked out from the vortex.
This was a young man with a head of white hair. His cold expression was filled with confusion as he looked around in a daze. It wasn't until the pleasure boat got closer that the young man's eyes suddenly looked at the pleasure boat and at Wang Lin on it.
Their gazes met in the blur of the world. In an instant, it was as if time had stopped. Or it could be said that time in this dream had indeed stopped.
Li Muwan's hands that were playing the zither froze and the zither music disappeared.
Big Fortune sat on the side and looked at his right wrist motionlessly.
The sound of the river water around them disappeared. The willow catkins in the sky no longer danced and floated in the air, motionless.
Everything, everything in Heaven and Earth, came to a complete stop.
Only the young man on the stone bridge and Wang Lin on the bow remained the same.
"Why don't you come over and drink a cup of wine with yourself?" Wang Lin smiled and sat on the side.
The white-haired young man on the stone bridge was silent for a moment before he took a step forward. In an instant, he stood at the bow of the boat and sat down. He picked up a pot of wine and took a big gulp. He didn't look at his other self, but at Li Muwan, who had become an old woman. A very, very long time passed.