Linxia

Chapter 245, Muddy Waters

"Ugh!"

Master Ou sighed, "My eyes started to become blurry a few months ago, and I thought it was just my age. People of my age can't expect to be like young people, so I didn't tell anyone. But I didn't expect it to get worse so quickly. Now I'm almost going blind."

"When I sit across from you, I can't see your face clearly; when I eat, I can't see the food on the table clearly; I can't read a book at all. Every day I just eat and sleep, sleep and sit..."

"It sounds like cataracts." Fang Lin sat down next to him and asked, "Master, have you asked a doctor to take a look? I have a doctor named Li who used to be the imperial physician in the palace..."

"Your father came over a few days ago. He was a quiet man but a very kind person. He immediately went to invite Doctor Li after hearing what I said... Doctor Li said that this was a problem inside the eye and that it was difficult to cure with medicine. If we wanted to cure it, we had to do something like Hua Tuo who scraped the bone inside the eye to treat the poison. But I'm old and it's not easy to have surgery... So I said forget it. I'm already this old, so I don't want to bother going back and forth and wasting time and money."

Master Ou spoke calmly, as if he was talking to someone else. He did not become irritated or chattering because he could not see. He was quiet and peaceful from beginning to end.

Fang Lin looked at Mr. Ou, whose clothes were clean and whose hair was neatly combed, and he couldn't help but think of Mrs. Ou. She was the same. No matter what kind of illness or torture she suffered, she always maintained a peculiar dignity.

Now that Master Ou is like this, Mrs. Ou's eldest daughter and second daughter take turns to take care of him here. This month, it is the eldest daughter who said, "When Dad eats, he can't see the dishes in front of him, and he has to ask someone to pick them up... However, for other things like washing his face and feet, he always insists on doing it himself and doesn't let us help."

"Recently, I often see my father taking a book from the bookshelf, opening his hazy eyes, and looking hard at the big words on the cover, rubbing his hands back and forth on the cover; after a while, he takes out another book and repeats the same action..."

As she spoke, scenes seemed to appear in front of her eyes, making people feel the faint sadness. She wiped her eyes and stood up: "You guys talk, I'll go buy groceries and cook."

Master Ou looked at his daughter with hollow eyes and said, "People are like this. As time goes by, their bodies will become like rusty old objects, becoming more and more dull. Sometimes it's not this that breaks down, but that that doesn't work... It's always a trouble for our children, and I don't want to add more burden to them."

"I'm almost a hundred years old, and I'm already in my twilight years. I've figured it out a long time ago. While I'm alive, I should live every day to the fullest. If the day comes when I have to go, I won't be afraid." He said this with a calm look on his face.

Fang Lin listened and secretly sighed at Master Ou's open-mindedness. The ups and downs of nearly a century had really tempered him into a diamond. Although his body was old and weak, his mind was getting stronger and stronger.

"I've heard from here in the alley that in the north, there's a rebellion this year where officials are killed, and tomorrow there's another one, and the court sends troops to suppress it... It's the same in Liaodong, where the Tartars have been coming in and plundering year after year... I think Daxia is about to come to an end, just like me. After every two or three hundred years, it's time for the next dynasty."

Indeed, the north has become increasingly chaotic in recent years, and many people have fled south. The government regards these people as the source of chaos and despises them very much. The local people are also quite hostile to them because they come to rob resources.

This was a good opportunity for the other party. He established connections with the provincial capitals in the Jianghuai area, and most of these people were packed up and moved overseas, making a huge contribution to the current stability of the Jianghuai area.

Master Ou and Fang Lin were talking under a sweet-scented osmanthus tree. Master Ou was waving a palm-leaf fan to drive away the mosquitoes which were becoming increasingly scarce as autumn approached. The sun was getting lower and lower.

Farther away, the orange tree in front of the old house was full of fruits, and a group of children were picking them.

The orange tree that was picked up by Fang's father and planted at the door has now grown very big and tall. When the season comes, the treetops are covered with green fruits. When the fruits ripen and turn yellow in autumn, they are ripe.

In the past few years, Fang's mother and her family would come to pick the fruits and distribute them to the neighbors in the alley. Later, it was too much trouble, so they let those who wanted to eat them in the alley pick them themselves, as long as they didn't break the branches.

——Because of Fang Lin’s identity, the children in the alley were warned not to pick the fruits, so that the oranges on the tree would be kept until they were ripe and still hanging there, unlike the cherry tree in Xiaowu Mountain, where the cherries would die before they turned from green to red every year.

Another group of children went over to pick oranges and greeted Mr. Ou and Fang Lin as they passed by.

Fang Lin just smiled and nodded in response. It wasn't that he was aloof, but it was still okay a few years ago when he could still recognize whose doll this or that was and what their names were. But now he can't do that anymore!

When they first lived in the hutong, those familiar children have now grown up, married, had families and children, and they can still talk to each other when they meet in the hutong; after moving, in the first few years, the children born in the hutong families were known to each other because they came more frequently at that time, and now they are about the same age as Qiuqiu and her siblings; in the following years, as the older generation passed away and the younger generation increased, some of the hutong families moved away and some moved in, and the children who were born again may have read the stories written by Fang Lin and heard of Fang Lin's name because Fang Lin often came, or perhaps they had heard of Fang Lin from their parents, but they might avoid him from a distance out of fear of the high-ranking official.

If he is actually okay, at least he is a familiar face. Two months ago, Qiuqiu brought Fang Shuo and Fang Xing here, but the older people in the alley didn't recognize them. It was a bit like "I left home when I was young and returned when I was old, but my accent has not changed, but my hair has turned gray."

'Perhaps feelings like homesickness are all linked by people, things, and experiences... As the number of acquaintances in the alley decreases, the feelings will gradually fade, and in the end, I will just sigh and never want to come back again.' Fang Lin thought with his mind wandering.

At the Xin family next door, Xin You and Sha Xiaoyun came back. Xin You was in the fleet and had a day off recently, so he went out to buy things. Sha Xiaoyun was working in the factory. When they saw Fang Lin, they came over happily to say hello, and then sat down next to him to rest and talk.

Xin Yaer was also seen again. She was now in her twenties, but still small in stature, no more than two or three feet tall. Tian Xuan had said before that she did have her menstruation, but only a little each time, so she didn't know if she could have a baby, so there was no talk of marriage.

Sha Xiaoyun said, "Last summer in July, the head of the family went out to sea with the fleet. I worked in the workshop and bought a few acres of land outside the city. The second and third sons were harvesting, and the harvested millet was drying in the yard. Yaer was alone at home watching, holding a stick longer than herself, chasing the chickens to prevent them from stealing... It was a hot day, Yaer wanted to drink water, and the cold tea on the table was gone, so she went to the water tank to scoop cold water, stood on tiptoe and scooped hard, and fell into it... Fortunately, the teacher heard and saved her... Later, I took Yaer with me to the workshop, and it was also because Sister Guihua and Sister Xiaoqing were kind and arranged a job for Yaer in the workshop..."

From children to daily life, firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea: "I just went to buy vegetables, the price of rice has increased by three cents, and the same is true for vegetables, which are getting more and more expensive..."

Mr. Ou listened and occasionally interjected.

——Speaking of Master Ou, he is very interesting. He can talk to you about the past and present, the affairs of the court, these highbrow and lowbrow things, and he can also talk to the neighbors in the alley. It just so happens that at his age, he can still be quiet and peaceful, but he doesn't like quietness very much, especially after he lost his eyesight. He likes to talk to people more and make it more lively, which seems to dispel some of the loneliness of old age.

Fang Lin listened to these family matters and sighed in his heart: "In the current era, from the perspective of history, the Great Xia Dynasty has reached the end of its dynasty, and the situation is turbulent; overseas in the West, an unprecedented change is also taking place... Like Master Ou and the Xin family, they are just ordinary people in such a great era, and they will not even be mentioned in history books! They are like drifting wood, swept away by the tide of the times, unable to control themselves; like grass and dust, humble and insignificant, not worth mentioning on this large scale; and like dewdrops and mayflies, fleeting in the vast dimension of time. "But, truly entering this era, you can feel it more deeply than ever before: even these little people who will not be mentioned in history books are also living beings with flesh and blood. They have their own lives, dozens or hundreds of years, which is extremely long for an individual. How much have they seen and experienced? The thickness of that kind of life is magnificent, vast, like the stars and the universe. "

Of course, to be honest, although they are the background of the same era, there are also great differences. For example, compared with the people in the north who are suffering now, they are much better off.

Being born in different places and having different people around you means having a different life. It is really hard to describe, but I feel deeply in awe of fate.

Sha Xiaoyun said: "Nowadays, it seems to be getting more and more chaotic. The workers in the factory are saying that they can't go overseas... I also want to go abroad, but I don't know if it's right?"

"I'm stupid. When my father left, he told me that he had something important to ask Master and Fang Lin about in your family. You are smart people, can you help me come up with some ideas?" Xin You scratched his head.

Even now, he still has the intelligence of a teenager, but he is strong and can do physical work much better than ordinary people. However, he seems to be missing something in his brain, and he is one of the very few people who still call Fang Lin by his name.

"It's right to go out, early and quickly. You have children, and that day will always come... Zidun will not treat you badly." Master Ou said with a smile.

"Yes, Master, you are right. I also suggest that you leave. I think the Great Xia has not reached its most chaotic time yet!"

Fang Lin paused for a moment, and then continued, "It's not as good as it was in the early years, but it's not so bad. When you go overseas, men can get 80 mu of land, and women and children can get 50 mu. They are all top-quality paddy fields. You are factory workers, and your salary can be doubled... Master, you..."

"Forget it. At my age, if I fall asleep, I don't know if I can wake up tomorrow. I don't know if Daxia will go first... or I, an old man! I was born and raised here, so let me bury my old bones here! But I have told my two daughters to leave, but they are worried that I won't go..."

"Master, there's no need to rush. There should still be some time left. Let's wait and see. If the worst happens... then come to me..."

Next to them, the Xin couple made up their minds after listening to what Master Ou and Fang Lin said.

As we talked, it gradually got darker. Smoke rose from the houses in the alley, and from time to time the aroma of food wafted through the air. There was also the sound of someone shouting at their children to come home.

Fang Lin said goodbye and stood up.

After walking a distance, he looked back and saw Master Ou standing up with very slow steps. The sunlight shone on his old face, giving it a layer of golden light… He turned around and left. The sun lying over the alley in the west was about to set. The light and shadow passed by hazily, suddenly becoming bright and dazzling, and then quickly dimmed, like the last afterglow. Soon, the golden sunset completely sank below the horizon.

……

When I came back, Dong Zugao was actually there, waiting in the reception room. Fang's father was there to keep him company and talk.

Seeing Fang Lin coming back, Fang's father handed the venue to the two of them and went downstairs to arrange the meal.

"Brother Dong, are you here? Please keep me for dinner tonight. I just happened to have a jar of good wine here, it's Western wine. As the saying goes, good wine from grapes goes in a luminous cup..."

"Haha, okay, I'll have to try it then."

In the evening, Fang's father and others knew that Dong Zugao might have something to do, so they arranged a separate table for the two of them in the reception room.

Today, Dong Zugao was a little strange. He didn't talk about anything, but just drank and chatted with Fang Lin. Fang Lin had a premonition, but didn't ask.

Finally, when the drinking was coming to an end, Dong Zugao said, "Brother Fang, I am going to the capital."

"The capital?" Fang Lin put down his wine glass and looked at Dong Zugao.

Dong Zugao avoided Fang Lin's gaze and explained, "Brother Fang, you also know that some time ago, the Donglin Party split, Wen Zirong impeached Zhou Jingchong for ten crimes, Zhou Jingchong, who was on the front line, was captured and sentenced to death by slicing. The court army suffered a great defeat against the rebels in Lu... After Zhou Jingchong's fall, some positions in the court were vacant. Your Majesty may have seen my outstanding achievements and transferred me to the capital..."

Let's put it this way, now, facing the ironclad facts, Emperor Chongxiang probably realized the mistakes of the three new policies, and began to reflect on them as Zhang Ruian had expected. However, this reflection was not thorough, and was full of "blame-shifting" ideas, putting the blame on Zhou Jingchong. The sentencing of Zhou Jingchong to slow slicing meant a kind of "breaking the defense."

What do you think of Emperor Chongxiang's attitude towards Wei Zhongxian today? He realized that he might be wrong, but he didn't dare to admit it. He also wanted to prove that he was still capable of governing Daxia after leaving Wei Zhongxian. So Dong Zugao, who had outstanding political achievements and was obviously capable, and who had been suppressed by Wei Zhongxian and even nearly died, came into his sight.

In addition, Dong Zugao's father-in-law was Tao Chengbi, the former second assistant of the cabinet. He was also on good terms with the Pu Yuanhao and Han Yuanjing factions, and could gather a political force behind him... Well, after suffering a blow from reality, Emperor Chongxiang finally grew up a little and realized that he had to balance the Donglin Party and not let it dominate alone.

Fang Lin thought for a moment and figured out what Emperor Chongxiang was thinking. He understood the current situation, but he still looked straight into Dong Zugao's eyes: "Brother Dong, you know, that's not what I'm asking... The capital is a whirlpool now. With your wisdom, you know it. Not to mention that there is a Majesty like us. Brother Dong, do you really have to wade into this muddy water?"

……

(End of this chapter)