Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 70: No longer qualified to call me father?
"It was winter then, but it was colder than it is now, and the snow came earlier."

Lingge traced back to that extremely long winter day in his memory and saw that the entire street was covered with snow. Fine snow like goose feathers was floating in the sky, burying the figures of pedestrians.

Under the gloomy and heavy sky, well-dressed gentlemen walked by with elegant steps, tired workers were sweeping the snow on the streets without stopping, young children were selling newspapers along the streets, stepping over potholes made of snow and sewage; a mail coach pulled by two horses drove all the way here from the city gate, and the kerosene lamp hanging on the roof of the carriage on the high seat seemed to melt last night's snowflakes.

"Mr. Yang Ke ordered a batch of bread from Uncle Moredi's bakery for the next seven-day ceremony. But when he returned to Tianxin Church, he found that someone had sneaked into his house and wanted to steal the bread prepared for the seven-day ceremony. That person was not only someone Mr. Yang Ke knew, but also a resident of Songshi Street and a believer of the goddess. He had come to Tianxin Church many times in the past to participate in the seven-day ceremony."

"It is conceivable that Mr. Yang Ke must have been very disappointed at the time. But he was not angry. Instead, he asked the other party why he did such a thing. But in fact, the answer was not surprising to everyone."

There was a sense of alienation in Linger's voice, as if he had deliberately placed himself in the position of a bystander. Only in this way could he maintain a calm narration: "Since the invention of the steam engine and the beginning of the era of large-scale factory production, the gap between the rich and the poor has always been a major problem that the civilized world cannot solve, and Linville City is naturally no exception."

"The cold winter has worsened the living conditions of the lower-class people, and the city government's inaction has made things worse. The high road tax, cleaning tax, heating tax, gas tax, building maintenance tax and other taxes are enough to tear a family apart before spring arrives, and even their bodies will be burned to ashes under the snow."

"The good deed of Tianxin Church has slightly improved this terrible situation, but the power of one person is ultimately limited. Mr. Yanke cannot distribute bread and milk to every resident in the Holy Cross District and the White Citizen District. What he has done is only what he can do."

"The thief's family was in a difficult situation. He lost his job before winter came and had a wife and several children to support. He originally hoped to survive the cold winter by relying on the food distributed during the Seven Days of Offering. However, there were many people who had the same idea as him, and the number of people who could distribute food was limited. After not receiving any relief food for two weeks, he finally had the idea of ​​taking a risk. He abandoned the teachings of the goddess and transformed himself from a believer to an ordinary human being."

"This is a reflection of the fragility of his personal will, but it is also a tragedy caused by the times."

but.

The quality of selflessness would be praised even in the 28th century on Earth when material life is extremely abundant, let alone in the 19th century's steam age?

But in comparison, Alice was more concerned about the subsequent development of the story: "What happened next? Did Mr. Yang Ke forgive him? I think so, right?"

"Because people are only human when they are living." Linger glanced at the indignant maid: "When they are surviving, they are just beasts."

Wild beasts never care how shameless their actions are or how despicable their behavior is; to them, it is a matter of course and they have no right or need to criticize them.

Alice sighed, "He is indeed a good person."

Ling concluded in a calm tone.

After all, Mr. Yang Ke is a good man.

She admired him very much, but at least she felt that she could never do that.

"During the quarrel and conflict, the thief pushed Mr. Yang Ke to the ground by mistake, and his head hit the corner of the table, and he fell into a coma. In panic, he snatched bread from the kitchen and fled Tianxin Church without even thinking of calling a doctor. It was not until I returned home from school in the afternoon that I found Mr. Yang Ke fainted on the ground and sent him to the hospital. But by then, due to the long coma, his condition was already very grim."

When Alice heard this, she puffed up her cheeks angrily: "That's too much! How can you do such a shameless thing?"

"Good people don't necessarily have good luck." Linger said calmly. In Alice's puzzled eyes, he continued: "Human desires are evil things that can surpass all good qualities. Generous gifts and selfless dedication only inflated the thief's greed. Therefore, he asked Mr. Yang Ke for more, wanting to get enough food to sustain him through the entire winter, and even set his sights on the bread of the Seven Days Gift. Even the bitter pleading could not cover up the despicable facts."

"After Mr. Yang Ke rejected him, he actually wanted to take it by force, so the conflict broke out."

Linger nodded gently and said, "Mr. Yang Ke not only forgave him, but also shared his food with him. Because if he took out a portion of the food reserved for the seven-day gift and gave it to him, it would hurt the interests of others and prevent someone from getting the help they need. Mr. Yang Ke was unwilling to do such a thing."

Alice was choked up and didn't know how to answer.

Mr. Yang Ke had already forgiven his theft and generously distributed food to him, but he still wanted to take more by force. Such a person is totally unworthy of the kindness given by others.

"This--" Alice suddenly had a premonition when she heard this.

Sure enough, the next moment, Lingge said in a tone that was so calm that it made people feel that he could have no emotional changes: "That night, Mr. Yang Ke died due to ineffective rescue."

"..." Alice didn't know what words to use to describe her shock, and she was even more unwilling to look up at Ling's calm gaze. A conversation between her and Metien two weeks ago suddenly emerged in her mind. She asked sullenly, "Metien said that Mr. Yang Ke died of severe lung disease..." "Mr. Yang Ke did have lung disease, but it was not serious to this extent." Ling's tone was still calm: "That was what I said to hide it from Metien."

Can understand.

If that innocent and kind little girl knew the real cause of her father's death, she would probably be very sad and even start to doubt human nature, right?

Everything that you have believed in the past will collapse in an instant.

The maid's voice lowered: "What happened next? Did the thief get the punishment he deserved?"

Because of his own desires, he indirectly killed a respected priest. Such a crime could never be forgiven, at least that's what Alice hoped.

Faced with this question, Linger did not answer immediately. Instead, he was silent for a while and suddenly talked about another seemingly unrelated matter: "During the treatment in the hospital, Mr. Yang Ke woke up briefly several times and regained consciousness. Perhaps at that time he realized that his time in the world was running out, so he left a few last words, hoping that I would obey them. Do you know what they were?"

Alice thought back to her conversation with Metien and replied, "I hope you and Metien can live a stable and peaceful life?"

On his deathbed, he was still worried about his two adopted children.

"This is just one of his last words." Ling Ge said calmly: "Another last word is to forgive him."

Alice opened her eyes wide in disbelief, her expression even more shocked than when she heard the real reason for Mr. Yang Ke's death.

Two words came to her mind: Holy Mother.

Forgiving the evil deeds of sinners while ignoring the harm they have suffered, such a person can only be described as a "saint". Mr. Yang Ke is not only a good person, but perhaps he has also broken away from the common moral concepts of this era and has entered a realm of pure goodness.

Ling said: "In the scriptures of the goddess, there is a sentence spoken by her: cleanse the impurities of the world, and then, may the guilty and the innocent live in that worry-free country."

Mr. Yang Ke has always been practicing the teachings of the Goddess with his own actions.

However, if we forgive the other person so easily, will we ignore the feelings of our relatives? It must be very difficult for Ling Ge, a child who has lost his father, to forgive the murderer who killed his father? He respected his adoptive father so much that it would be difficult for him to say no.

Alice thought about it and felt a little uncomfortable, as if she and Lingge at that time suddenly had the same mood.

"I promised Mr. Yang Ke that I would obey his last words, so he closed his eyes peacefully and returned to the lightless sea in the sky. But I broke my promise. I promised him what I should do, but I didn't do it."

On the day Mr. Yang Ke passed away, there was an unprecedented heavy snowstorm in Linville.

When Lingge recalls the past, he feels that the snow came at the right time, because every snow in this world is to take away someone's soul and bring someone else's soul. When the snow stops, it solidifies into glaciers, and when the ice melts, it melts into rivers. When the water condenses, it turns into clouds, and when the clouds gather, another snow falls. The cycle of snowflakes is the cycle of life, and the life of life is also like the life of snowflakes.

When the purest soul passes away, the heaviest snow falls on earth.

"After burying Mr. Yanko in the Itni Cemetery, I reported the case to the city police without telling Metien. I soon found the escaped murderer, who was at home at the time, feeding the child with bloody bread."

"I watched him being taken away to White Mountain Prison. I later attended his trial and learned that he was sentenced to thirty-five years of hard labor. The last I heard from him was that he had died while working in a quarry, having been hit on the head by a falling rock."

"It happened to be winter at that time, and it was snowing lightly like goose feathers."

"I did what I wanted to do, but it was not what I should do as a son, because it violated Mr. Yang Ke's last wish, and made him unable to rest in peace even if he returned to the lightless sea in the sky. So, it was in that snow that I suddenly realized something."

"I'm afraid I'm not qualified to call him father."

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)