Linxia

Chapter 98, Life and Death

Time passed quickly, and it was Fang Lin's turn to rest. He returned to Xixiang Hutong in the evening. The sun was setting, and the golden red glow dyed half of the sky.

Master Ou was still sitting on the rattan chair under the osmanthus tree, watching for a landmark: "Is Linzi back?"

As he spoke, he took a sip of water, choked, and started coughing.

Fang Lin quickly stepped forward and stroked his back. It took him a while to recover.

"I'm old, I'm old!" said Master Ou.

"Really? Our boss was also saying a few days ago that people are getting old and have less energy." Fang Lin glanced at Fang's mother who was picking vegetables at the door of the house. He didn't go back and simply sat down here and chatted with Master Ou.

"How can he be considered old? As long as a person can dress himself, eat by himself, walk by himself, and move around normally without any illness or disaster, he is not considered old. When you are in your seventies or eighties and are no longer as good as before in all aspects, you are considered truly old. For example, sometimes I choke on a mouthful of rice and can't speak for a long time."

Master Ou sighed and said no more about this. He asked, "I heard from your mother that someone from your village is going to be beheaded in two days?"

"Well, I plan to go and see it for the last time."

"It's good to go and have a look. Life and death always make people realize a lot."

Mr. Ou said about himself: "I have three daughters and one son, but only two daughters survived. My son caught a cold when he was three years old, and had a persistent fever. His whole body was burning. He went to see a doctor and used folk remedies, such as inserting ginger into the root of the huangfeng, burning it in the stove, boiling it with boiling water, or pricking the tongue with acupuncture, but none of them worked. I remember that night, he started to have cramps again, his teeth were clenched, his eyes rolled back, and I pressed his philtrum. He finally woke up and called out "Daddy"... But not long after, he had cramps again and died...

I also had a daughter who didn’t have a fever but was coughing all the time. She died on the nineteenth night after she started coughing.

When I sent my parents away, the old sent their old, the pain was heart-wrenching; when I sent my son and daughter away, the old sent their young, I couldn’t cry. Every time I think of this place…”

Master Ou pointed to his chest and said, "It hurts a little!"

Fang Lin opened his mouth, but didn't know how to comfort her for a moment. Why did they suddenly talk about such a sad topic?

Master Ou was immersed in this emotion, and seemed to be sighing. Looking at the sunset in the distance, he suddenly said leisurely: "The difficulty of life is not just about clothing and food, daily expenses, but also spiritual life. When your loved ones leave you one after another, the unforgettable and heart-wrenching feeling makes people feel at a loss."

These plain words, at this moment, were like thunder exploding in Fang Lin's ears. He could not empathize with them yet, but he could hear a kind of sober and restrained sadness in them, which was extremely restrained, like thunder under the calm lake; yet also timeless and long-lasting, like the endless flow of a river... It made people feel great fear.

He subconsciously looked over there. Fang's mother was still relatively young and had no gray hair yet. Fortunately, that day seemed to be far away.

"Master, I see your two daughters come to visit from time to time, why don't I see you guys living there too?" Fang Lin thought for a moment and changed the subject.

"Why didn't you go?"

Mr. Ou answered, glancing at Mrs. Ou who was busy in the kitchen: "I'm fine, but my wife, according to her, either her daughter is not considerate or she can't get used to living here, so it's better for her to go back and be free."

"When she's at home, she can cook and stir-fry. No one will complain if she cooks the rice until it's soft. This way I can kill time easily. When I'm at my daughter's house, it's not my own home. It feels like I'm a guest every day. It's hard to give instructions when I go to the kitchen. I hope the rice won't be too hard and the vegetables will be more tender. But for the sake of harmony, I can't say these things."

'If you are not a person of deep affection, how can you know all these details and thoughts? ' Fang Lin thought to himself. At this time, Master Ou glanced at the kitchen again and whispered to Fang Lin: "My wife told me that once, my daughter had something to do and her in-laws cooked for her. She came to the kitchen and said that she hoped the potatoes would be cooked softer. She wanted to eat some, but she couldn't eat the potatoes served on the rice. She was full of sorrow and could only swallow it down... It's not easy to live with my daughters!"

As he was speaking, the kitten meowed obediently, came over leisurely, squatted down beside Mr. Ou, and licked its own fur.

Fang Lin reached out to touch it, but it seemed that it had not been back for a few days and was shy, so it moved away and hid over to Master Ou.

Mr. Ou also had a childish nature and teased it a bit, and this guy didn't hide this time.

"That's great!" he said.

"Master, do you like these little things too?"

"Yes, I had a dog named Ping An."

Before Fang Lin could ask, Master Ou said, "Then it died, and I never raised it again. These little creatures, if you have deep feelings for them, they can also let you experience the taste of life and death, time and time again..."

He shook his head and didn't say anything else. It seemed that he had talked too much today and was a little tired. He yawned and looked at Mrs. Ou in the kitchen again with a gentle look: "She is not in good health. I hope I can send her away. Otherwise, if she walks behind me, how will she live alone?"

Fang Lin saw it clearly. At this moment, there was indeed tenderness in Master Ou's eyes, a calm tenderness. Against the backdrop of the setting sun and sunset glow, the turbidity was glittering with brightness.

Just as he was feeling sad, over at Master Ou's house, Old Man Lu from the Lu family came back. After hearing what Master Ou said, he smiled and said, "Linzi, don't listen to Master's nonsense! I remember that a few years ago, Master said that he was old and in bad health, but he kept saying it, year after year, and he made my father die, and later my mother die. I think Master Ou will live a long life, and he might even make me die in the future!"

Fang Lin laughed out loud when he heard this.

"Haha!" Mr. Ou laughed himself, his gray beard shaking in the orange and red sunset.

The atmosphere was originally sad, but suddenly, it became inexplicably cheerful.

"Old man, what are you talking about? Why don't you come over and serve the meal?" Mrs. Ou called out in a bad mood. The tone of her voice was almost the same as when Master Ou was scolding a primary school student.

"Hey, here I come." Mr. Ou was very obedient, just like a little schoolboy. He got up and went quickly.

A red sun was setting in the west, and the sunset glowed brilliantly in the evening, shining on the kitchen and on the two people with gray hair, their small shadows leaning against each other and overlapping.

Fang Lin looked at this heartwarming scene and thought of the conversation just now. For some reason, he felt a faint touch of emotion and sadness in his heart that lingered for a long time.

However, this emotion was quickly suppressed and hidden in the heart. The youngest child of the Lu family ran over and shouted, leading some people over: "Brother Fang, you have guests at home!"

……

(End of this chapter)