Shen Shu

At the end of the story is the silence of the reader.

After a while, Shao Zixun suddenly said to Zhou Tong: "Did I tell you about our family?"

Zhou Tong was a little puzzled: "The one surnamed Shao... is there any relationship?"

"That—actually, our ancestors might not have the surname Shao."

"?"

"My grandfather was picked up and adopted by a military doctor surnamed Shao on the battlefield. Military doctor Shao was never married, but he had adopted more than one child. Those were orphans who didn't know their parents."

"... Shao Heng?"

"I think it's probably done. Also," Shao Zixun slammed his head, went to the side and took out the oil paper that was removed at the time, and spread it on the table, "My damn brain. Now I remember."

The previous patterns on the oil paper have long faded, leaving only faint dark lines running along the simple lines, which seem to have a sticky and moist feeling in the rainy day.

"Although it's hard to tell, it's probably taken from the oil-paper umbrella." Shao Zixun copied his tablet casually and dug out a set of photos from the album. "Mr. Shao—I call him Grandpa—has always kept an oiled paper umbrella there, maybe it was kept when he was young. If I remember correctly, the texture is very close to this. Don't overthink it, the current one The umbrella to which the oil paper belongs may have been given to the author by him, or it may have been bought by the two of them together during a rainy day during a certain outing."

"I thought that wasn't the point."

"?" Shao Zixun turned his head suspiciously, and saw that Zhou Tong had stood up.

He patiently added what he meant: "The point is not the origin of the tokens, but the relationship between them." He concluded.

"——I think this makes sense." Shao Zixun immediately stood up—but instead of staying where he was, he turned into the room.Soon, Zhou Tong heard some sounds like packing his luggage. "So let's do something simple and crude but the most effective. No matter how you deny it, I am an out-and-out activist."

However, he would not have expected Zhou Tong to say something amazing again: "If you are really an activist, we have done it more than once before we left college."

※※※

This may be regarded as an abrupt decision: one is to return to Shao Zixun’s hometown in the north—not in the sense of blood, but the home of his grandfather’s adoptive father; the other is that they all know that the person they are looking for has passed away; the third is that Meaning they've left other things to travel thousands of miles just to give the deceased a belated relic—or gift.

It's more of a memorial without giving back, but they don't care.

"It's just a few eulogies." On the plane heading north, Shao Zixun heard Zhou Tong say this.Zhou Tong turned his head out of the window, but didn't see him.Shao Zixun leaned forward a little and looked at him.Another is observing the vacuum between the two panes of glass.

Like friends who have passed away after more than half a century - death has taken away the further opportunity of their relationship - a vacuum in the name of time.Until the end, they still don't know each other's whereabouts, only a vague estimate and a long gap that cannot be filled.

And this blankness did bring inconvenience to the two young people.For example, when I buried a letter, I didn't know whose name was signed. "I can't help it. When my grandfather left, everything was burned, especially the letter. I couldn't find it." When Zhou Tong was digging a hole in the backyard of the old house with a hoe, Shao Zixun came out of the house, half of his body covered in dust.Leaning against the wall, he watched Zhou Tong throw the hoe beside the dug hole, put the bundled oiled paper package on the bottom, cover it with a layer of soil, and stand the saplings upright, motioning for Shao Zixun to take the rest of the place. Cover it.

"That's how it is." After the incident, Zhou Tong grabbed the towel and wiped his forehead, trying to snatch the cigarette from Shao Zixun's hand, but failed - Shao Zixun quickly moved the hand holding the cigarette behind his back Withdrew, and was not caught.

"I'm going to quit smoking." Shao Zixun didn't put the cigarette back into his mouth, but threw it directly on the ground, crushing the less than a third of the smoke into the mud. "Don't imitate me."

Zhou Tong looked at his expression with interest, bent down to pack his tools, and said, "This doesn't quite look like you."

"Impulse."

"Quit smoking?"

"Hmm. I'm trying to harness my urges and see if that translates into a more stable lifestyle."

"To be honest, I don't like your way of speaking. The direction of seriousness is inappropriate."

Shao Zixun and Zhou Tong left the backyard holding hands, just like the deceased they paid their respects to expect for themselves and their friends.Before leaving, they glanced back at the tree they had just planted.

The color of the old house is old, reflecting the newly planted trees and the newly upturned soil underneath into an old color tone.Just like in the 26th year of the Republic of China, after getting to know each other, we parted ways.