If the reminder fails, you will be teased

Sicily is the oldest place in Italy. This island is like a dazzling diamond decoration on the high-heeled shoe of the Apennine Peninsula. Although it is not as exquisite and luxurious as the northern region, it also has a sense of tranquility away from the hustle and bustle. .

The plane landed in Catania, but their destination was another coastal city south of Catania - Siracusa.This time Luo Wangshu got his wish and changed to another means of transportation, the train.

There were not many passengers on this train, and the compartment was rare and clean.The train kept running close to the sea, and the sea surface was illuminated by the sun, and even the long waves seemed to be mixed with light spots.The sentiment is there, but the price is not too light.

"Do you know Benito Mussolini?" Qiao Wei sat opposite him and pulled the ring, then pushed the juice to Luo Wangshu. "He was Prime Minister of Italy."

"That fascist dictator?" After admiring the beautiful scenery outside the window, Luo Wangshu focused his eyes on Qiao Wei, and made eye contact with him.

"That's right, one of the culprits of the Second World War. Presumably in your history textbooks, this man has a lot of misdeeds, but he has a major political achievement." Qiao Wei rested his elbows on the corner of the table, alone She looked at him with a chin on her hand and a smile.

"What is it?"

Qiao Wei stretched out the index finger of the other hand, and lightly tapped the tabletop: "I made the Italian train leave on time."

After the words fell, Luo Wangshu couldn't help laughing out loud.

Probably because the Italians have a lot of sensibility and don't pursue high efficiency in many things. Just now they wasted a lot of time at the train station in Catania. The train was delayed for three hours. It was not easy to get on the train bound for Syracuse.

"Many people think of Archimedes and Plato when they mention the old city of Syracuse, but I think you should know another thing." Qiao Wei continued to say with a smile. "In Homer's Epic, Artemis, the goddess of the moon, was born on the island of Ortigia in Syracuse."

Luo Wangshu was choked by him, and reflexively remembered that when he went to Qiao Wei's house for the first time, he was called "Little Moon" by this person for fun, and now he was teased by Qiao Wei again, blinked twice, and laughed again When I got up, there was a bit of a smirk: "So, it turns out that the place we are going to is the hometown of the goddess."

He was ready to bicker with Qiao Wei all the way, but Qiao Wei's next sentence would be: "Your status in my heart is like Artemis' status in the old city."

Luo Wangshu: "..."

This man is really too cunning.

Luo Wangshu didn't know what expression he should use to face Qiao Wei, so he simply held the juice can and walked towards the car window sideways.

The place where Qiao Wei's parents live is far away from the city center, specifically a small but exquisite town close to Syracuse.

The tallest building in the town is not even as good as the Catholic Church seen along the way. The baroque style is not obvious, but there is still a sense of history. From time to time, an exquisitely carved circular fountain pops up on the not-so-wide street. There are some mottled spots, obviously it has existed for some years.

It just finished a light rain this morning, and the water on the ground has been completely evaporated by the sun, but there is still a little wet feeling in the air, and the brightly colored buildings are almost crystal clear by the rain.

After seeing the astonishingly large and imposing villa on the outskirts of Rome, Luo Wangshu was a little surprised that Qiao Wei's parents would choose to settle in such a simple and rustic place.

"This is the place where they met for the first time," Qiao Wei said to Luo Wangshu, dragging the suitcase containing the two people's clothes. "It is said that if it wasn't for the insistence of the elders in the family, they would still hold their wedding here."

This reason sounds romantic enough.

The advantage of the town being away from the city is that the air is fresh enough, and the eyes are full of comfortable green. Luo Wangshu followed Qiao Wei to the south of the town.It was the first time he came here, but he could still recognize the one where Qiao Wei's parents lived in from the courtyards of these houses at a glance.

It's not that it is exquisite and luxurious enough to attract attention, but that its architectural style seems too... out of place among the local houses.It is a building with obvious oriental characteristics, not as exaggerated as the ancient houses, but it is enough to stand out in this pile of western buildings.

Just from the style of the courtyard, it can be seen that the relationship between Qiao Wei's parents is very deep, and the husband must be extremely tolerant and doting to his wife who was born in the East.

On the edge of the courtyard is a circle of gradually pink rose flowers, which are common in every household in China, and there is a small cluster of bright red roses further inside.The fence of the courtyard, including the entrance of the courtyard, is entangled with climbing roses, forming a simple flower arch, and you can smell the refreshing fragrance before you get close.

It is difficult to distinguish whether it is the fragrance of flowers or the taste of love between husband and wife, but they are all romantic and moving.

Probably because they didn't know the exact time of their son's arrival, Qiao Wei's parents didn't go out to greet him.Qiao Wei led Luo Wangshu into the courtyard, stopped in front of the house, did not ring the doorbell, but directly took out the key from his pocket and inserted it into the lock, and opened the door directly.

Compared with the subtle oriental style on the outside of the house, the interior decoration is much more ostentatious. Although there are modern elements, most of them are in a solid classical style.

The furniture is all solid wood, sandalwood or pineapple wood, with smooth and clear texture, and simple and meticulous carvings.

As soon as he walked in from the western atmosphere outside, Luo Wangshu's mind was inevitably stunned, and he suddenly felt a sense of time and space disorder.

"I'm back." When Luo Wangshu walked in, Qiao Wei closed the door of the house, put the suitcase aside, and shouted into it with a loud voice.He bent over and opened the shoe cabinet next to him, first found a pair of slippers of the right size and placed them in front of Luo Wangshu, then turned around and randomly took a pair of slippers for himself.

Until the two of them changed their shoes and walked into the living room, there were no Qiao Wei's parents, nor did anyone else appear.

Luo Wangshu asked him softly: "Your parents... aren't at home?"

"Upstairs." Qiao Wei smiled, walked around the screen with the suitcase in one hand, waved to Luo Wangshu, and carried the suitcase into the room at the end of the corridor, first took out Luo Wangshu's things and put them away one by one. "My room is opposite to yours. The housekeeper comes over once every two days. If you need anything, just come to me."

Luo Wangshu nodded, and after tidying up, he followed Qiao Wei to tidy up.

In Qiao Wei's room, Luo Wangshu saw the photos that Qiao Wei brought from home in Rome, all of which were carefully stored in a photo album, which was placed near the center of the desk, with Qiao Wei's baby on the cover Luo Wangshu couldn't take his eyes away after taking a look at the recent photos.

Qiao Wei saw the message "I really want to open it" from his eyes, smiled softly, pulled him to the desk, opened the first page of the photo album, patted his head, and turned back Go to the bed and continue unloading the laundry from the box.

The photos are arranged in chronological order, and the time of shooting is recorded below.Turning over page by page, the little baby in the photo has gradually grown into a delicate and lovely little boy. From the facial features, you can see the shadow of Qiao Wei now. Most of them have a stern face like a little adult, gray There was childish seriousness in her eyes, which made her look even cuter.

Occasionally, there are a few smiling brightly at the camera, or rather, at the person who took the photo.

Luo Wangshu compared the photo of Qiao Wei's home in Rome, and secretly sighed in his heart, how could such a little boy turn into such an inhuman appearance later on.

When the photo album was turned to when Qiao Wei was seven years old, the photos stopped at the end, and everything after that was blank.Needless to say, the photos of Qiao Wei when he was an adult, even the photos of his childhood were incomplete.

"All the photos are here." Qiao Wei packed up his things, walked behind him, looked at the last photo in the album, and sighed nostalgicly. "I don't like taking pictures, so I can't put ID photos in it."

"Is this taken by your parents?" Luo Wangshu closed the album and looked back at him.

Qiao Wei smiled and nodded: "My mother took the picture."

"It was so cute when I was young, but when I grow up, it becomes..." Luo Wangshu pondered for a while, and picked out a suitable word from the somewhat barren vocabulary. "Old rascal."

Qiao Wei couldn't help laughing when he heard this word, grabbed his shoulders and led him out of the room: "Then what should I do, I just want to be an old hooligan in front of you."

Luo Wangshu was about to reply him, when he walked out of the room, he saw a middle-aged man with a gentle smile standing in front of the screen, turned half of his body, and watched the two slowly approaching.

The other party's appearance is deep and handsome, and he has some similarities with Qiao Wei, but it is probably because Qiao Wei mixed his mother's blood, the similarity is not high.

"Wow." The man smiled friendly at Luo Wangshu, kept his gaze within the range of not being rude, then looked at Qiao Wei, sighed with emotion, and said in fluent Chinese, "You found it."

Qiao Wei smiled noncommittally, clenched his fist with his right hand, touched him, and then introduced to Luo Wangshu: "My father." After speaking, he covered Luo Wangshu's shoulder from behind: "Luo Wangshu."

"Hello, Qiao Muxiang." Qiao Wei's father also reported his Chinese name, looking at Luo Wangshu with a slight smile. "He will be free during this time, and you can have fun."

This "he" naturally refers to Qiao Wei.

Luo Wangshu's focus is not on this, but on Qiao Wei's father's name.He used his wife's surname and "Mu Xiang" as his name. This word means "longing for, yearning" in ancient Chinese. As for who the person he admires is self-evident.

From a certain point of view, these two people are indeed father and son. Luo Wangshu suspects that Qiao Wei learned this behavior from his father.

Qiao Muxiang's Chinese level is very high, and his understanding of ancient Chinese is more than one level better than Qiao Wei's. As a businessman, he is also very talkative. After dinner, he and Luo Wangshu have become acquainted with each other a lot.

It's just strange that Luo Wangshu didn't see Qiao Wei's mother until night fell.The father and son didn't take the initiative to talk about it, and Luo Wangshu didn't bring it up either.

"Go see your mother tomorrow," Qiao Mu said to Qiao Wei before going upstairs. "Just pick the flowers from those in the yard."

Qiao Wei responded and took out some fruits from the refrigerator and cut them into platters.Luo Wangshu originally wanted to help him, but was stopped by Qiao Wei directly, so he could only stand beside Qiao Wei and watch him cut the fruits into shapes of similar size.

The sound of Qiao Muxiang's footsteps gradually disappeared. After Luo Wangshu was sure that the other party could not hear him, he hesitated and asked Qiao Wei, "Does your mother live here?"

Whether it is the house design or the name of Qiao Wei's father, they all reveal the same message: Qiao Muxiang loves his wife very much.However, Qiao Wei's mother didn't live here, which was a little strange.

"Well, she's somewhere else." Without changing her expression, Qiao Wei inserted a piece of kiwi into Luo Wangshu's mouth with a toothpick, and dragged him towards the room. "Let's go see her tomorrow."

Luo Wangshu chewed the fruit and walked beside him, guessing why the couple lived apart temporarily, in order not to say something that shouldn't be said, so he didn't ask further.

Luo Wangshu thought that he woke up early enough the next day, but only after washing up did he realize that Qiao Muxiang and Qiao Wei had finished their morning exercise and were picking out blooming flowers among the rose bushes in the yard together. The scissors cut off the branches one by one, peeled off the sharp thorns, wrapped them in kraft paper, and tied a red ribbon around the lower end by Qiao Muxiang himself, and tied it into a beautiful bow.

The store hadn't opened yet at this time, and the kraft paper and ribbons must have been prepared in advance.Qiao Muxiang was very skillful in tying the knot, without the slightest pause, it looked like a bouquet that had been wrapped many times by himself.

Standing in front of the window, Luo Wangshu watched the movements of the father and son, went through the details of last night, and then contacted the words that Grandma Shen said in Rome, his face suddenly froze, his heart trembled a little, secretly Say no.

After breakfast, Qiao Wei went out with Luo Wangshu with this bunch of red rose flowers in his arms. Facing the hot sun, he headed east all the way, passed a small church, and walked to the other side of the town. edge of one side.

Luo Wangshu looked at the end of the road from a distance, and his heart became more and more heavy, and he had expected it.

He looked sideways at Qiao Wei, and found that the corner of his mouth was still bent, and there was a faint smile on his brow. He noticed Luo Wangshu's gaze, and he also looked at him, and at the same time, his smile deepened.

There are fewer residents in the east of the town, and the trees grow around a meadow, which looks more lush.The road under the feet narrowed slowly, and was paved with round light-colored cobblestones. Apart from the low-growing green grass on both sides, there were neatly arranged white stone tombstones.

The tombstone is not high and only reaches the knee of an adult. The design is very simple, which is in line with the first impression of the town.Lilies were placed in front of individual tombstones. In the green and white, the bunch that Qiao Wei put down in front of the tombstone on the east side of the cemetery was particularly eye-catching, like a burning flame.

One line of Italian and one line of Chinese on the inscription are all the names of Qiao Wei's mother. Luo Wangshu only understood the meaning of "Ortodosso" from the Italian.Both the couple put on each other's surnames, which is inexplicably touching.

The years at the bottom are from 1965 to 1996. Luo Wangshu silently calculated that Qiao Wei’s mother probably died when Qiao Wei was seven years old. No wonder the photos in the album stopped in 1996 because the people who took them had already gone.

The phrase "Qiqi is gone" that Grandma Shen said does not mean that "Qiqi" left Rome and moved to Sicily, but that she is really gone.

Qiao Wei has held Luo Wangshu's hand since he entered the cemetery, and did not let go after putting down the bouquet, leading him to stand in front of the tombstone together.

Luo Wangshu's heart was a little heavy, and he was even a little helpless standing beside Qiao Wei.All the elders in his family are still alive, and no funerals have been held among his relatives. This is the first time he has visited the dead at the cemetery, and it is also the first time he has experienced the separation of yin and yang.

Qiao Wei only lowered his eyes to look at the tombstone, without saying a word.Luo Wangshu held his hand instead, and was equally silent, wondering whether he should say something to Qiao Wei's mother in his heart like in the film and television works now.

The surroundings were so quiet that Luo Wangshu didn't even know how much time had passed.

Qiao Wei suddenly let go of his hand, turned to cover his hair, and lightly pressed his head to his side, making their foreheads touch each other for a short moment.

After seeing Luo Wangshu's expression clearly, Qiao Wei laughed and rubbed his hair with his hands: "Why are you showing such an expression?"

Luo Wangshu turned his head to look at him, and found that Qiao Wei's eyes still had the same smile when he came here, without any sadness.

The lack of sadness makes the viewer feel even more uncomfortable.

"Going back." Seeing him staring at him stupidly, Qiao Wei couldn't help pinching his hair, and pulled him back to the path. "We'll stay here for two days, and then I'll show you around Italy." He turned around and added with a smile, "In addition to Rome and Sicily, you should also visit Tuscany."

Specifically, Florence, the capital of Tuscany, is the world's art capital with the highest academy of fine arts mentioned by Lowangshu.

Luo Wangshu was dragged back by him. At this time, he was still in a negative mood, and he had no interest in Florence: "...you never said this before."

Qiao Wei smiled: "Life and death are just the form of human existence, there is no difference between the two." He held Luo Wangshu's hand tighter, "I still ask her a few questions occasionally, and I think I can get some Vague answers."

Luo Wangshu was startled for a moment.

"The last question was to ask her which city in China I want to stay in." Qiao Wei winked at him mysteriously. "She told me to go to City S. You see, you really live in City S."

Luo Wangshu was amused by his pretending to be unfathomable: "How did she tell you?"

"Her decision to come to Italy to work was made when she was traveling in S City," Qiao Wei replied. "If she hadn't made this decision, she wouldn't have met my dad."

Luo Wangshu noticed that Qiao Wei called his parents differently, and guessed that Qiao Wei might have often gone to his mother's grave to ask various questions in secret since a long time ago, and then obtained the answers in his heart through the events of his mother's life , Unknowingly, I respect her more.

"As for the question I asked just now," Qiao Wei deliberately dragged out the ending. "I'll tell you later."

When I passed the small church again, it was already quite lively inside.

Qiao Wei followed Luo Wangshu's gaze, sighed with emotion, and said with a smile: "It seems that there will be a wedding here this year."

"People from the town?" Luo Wangshu asked him.

Qiao Wei shook his head: "Not necessarily, maybe they are locals, maybe they are from other cities, or maybe they are tourists from abroad."

"They all hold their weddings here?" Luo Wangshu was surprised. "Why?"

This town is not well-known, and there are no must-see attractions, so why would anyone rush here to hold a wedding.

Qiao Wei stopped at the intersection, with a meaningful smile on his face: "

The author has something to say: Curious? "

Luo Wangshu nodded frankly.

Qiao Wei then changed direction and led him into this small church: "Then let's go to have some joy."