Chronicle of the Republic of China

When Fang Wuyu ran to the hospital, he was out of breath.He was shocked to realize that he was indeed old, although he was always unwilling to admit it.

Meng Xisheng was lying on the hospital bed, so thin that he almost lost his appearance. He was obviously younger than him, but aged faster than him. His white hair was clearly visible, and the wrinkles were clearly engraved on that face. He was sleeping with his eyes closed. He frowned, as if he was having a nightmare.

Fang Wuyu touched and stroked him anxiously. The doctor said that he had a stomach ache and had just given him a sedative, and he still hasn't woken up yet.Just as he was about to explain Meng Xisheng's condition to Fang Wuyu, the old gentleman suddenly grabbed the patient's hand and lay down beside the hospital bed, crying so hard that he couldn't make a sound.

This seems to have become a terrible practice, just like when Fang Wuyu heard someone sing "Farewell" to him back then, the phrase "It's rare to be together in life, but parting is more." They really kept parting for most of their lives , Every time we parted, it lasted more than 2000 years, and every time we met, one party hugged the other and wept bitterly.

Meng Xisheng was released from prison early because of a relapse of his old illness. This year is his sixth year in prison.In fact, in the past six years, his illness has relapsed many times. There is a lack of medical treatment and medicine in the prison. Every time, he survives on his own, or goes to the infirmary to swallow two painkillers.In the past half month, the situation has become more serious. He fainted five or six times successively. The pain was so painful that he died in the middle of the night before yesterday. The doctors in the infirmary were helpless, so he was sent to the hospital.

The doctor told Fang Wu about the situation, and they wanted to perform an operation immediately, but the operation was very risky, because Meng Xisheng was too weak, and he was accompanied by symptoms of arrhythmia, anemia, and many minor ailments. If the operation is successful, postoperative recovery will be extremely slow, and there is a high possibility of recurrence.

Fang Wuyu is a very transparent person, the doctor doesn't need to say so much, he already understands.The other party simply wanted to tell him that the success rate of this operation was extremely low, and even if it succeeded, Meng Xisheng's lifespan would not be too long after suffering such a severe trauma to his body.

Fang Wuyu listened quietly, nodded, and went back to the ward without answering the doctor.

Meng Xisheng woke up the next morning, and Fang Wuyu stayed up all night, watching his thin eyelids move, and slowly opened those dull eyes.

Fang Wuyu said hoarsely around his neck, "Honey, it's me."

Meng Xisheng was still wearing a gray prison uniform, and under the rising sunlight outside the window, there was a little otherworldly smell.Trembling in Fang Wuyu's voice, he carelessly touched his cheek, and he stopped after a long time, tracing his outline with ten fingers.Fang Wuyu kissed the corner of his mouth, and pressed himself and Meng Xisheng tightly, wishing they could merge together, so that they could be perfect and never be separated again.

That sentence of "darling" made Meng Xisheng laugh out of tears, but despite his age, his smile was exactly the same as that of the past, like the spring breeze blowing green on the south bank of the river.

Fang Wuyu told him the risks of the operation, and Meng Xisheng's body belonged to him, so he couldn't make a decision for him.Meng Xisheng thought for a while, nodded quickly, and said, "I will."

Fang Wuyu also nodded, realizing that he couldn't see it, so he grabbed his hand and said, "Okay."

In the deep winter of 1973, Meng Xisheng underwent a second operation and returned after narrowly escaped death.Fang Wuyu made all the preparations, and even thought about how he would face Meng Xisheng's body when it was pushed out of the operating room.But this time, Meng Xisheng still survived, and his tenacity made Fang Wuyu unbelievable.

Meng Xisheng spent the rest of 1973 in the hospital, and Fang Wuyu almost regarded the hospital as his second home.

In 1974, the theater was reorganized, and many people who were imprisoned in the theater finally returned home.In late spring, Fang Wuyu took Meng Xisheng out of the hospital, and the two returned to their small room, doing nothing, just cuddling on the bed for half a day.

In the coming year, Yuncheng Hospital wanted to hire Fang Wuyu back, but Fang Wuyu refused.He hasn't been a doctor for several years, and he almost doesn't know how to hold a scalpel.

But he and Meng Xisheng had to live, so they had to work.

Fang Wuyu finally went to the Red Cross Society, got a job in the infirmary, and went through the back door to get Meng Xisheng in as well, doing logistics and miscellaneous work, and accompanying the children in the Red Cross Society.Meng Xisheng still insisted and didn't want to stay at home. His physical condition should have rested.Fang Wuyu persuaded him several times, but he couldn't persuade him, so he simply found him such a job.

Once he saw Meng Xisheng laughing while working, talking to his colleagues, the haze on his face was swept away, and he was quite bright.This was something Meng Xisheng couldn't see from his face when he stayed at home.

Fang Wuyu was fascinated, and he felt very strange why Meng Xisheng could still laugh like this.He spent most of his life on a poisoned sharp knife, and the pain was carved into his body and soul, but he can still smile like this, pure and clear, without the coldness of his youth, gentle as ice pool water.

Fang Wuyu also smiled, and greeted him in the twilight.

The two went to work together. In the midsummer of 1976, the afterglow was shining on the streets and alleys. The heat could not cover up the popularity. Just before the meal, the shops and teahouses were bustling. The fried food in the pot crackled, and the full smoke and fire spread in front of them.

There was no cooking at home today, so the two went to the restaurant together, ordered three dishes and one soup, and ate to the fullest.

Passing by a fortune teller when going downstairs, the other party inexplicably held that iron-mouthed cover in front of them to block them, looked at Fang Wuyu curiously, and said, "Sir, we have met."

This fortune-teller, in his seventies and eighties, has white beard and hair, and sits under the black bricks and black tiles. The upright cover is just like him, and he is old. He is blown in tatters in the wind, which makes this person look like a fairy. , quite a bit unpredictable.

Fang Wuyu didn't have any spare money to give him, so he ignored him.Meng Xisheng thought it was him who called him, and blurted out, "Huh?"

The old man was so mysterious that he deceived Meng Xisheng, not sure what he meant, so he sat down and showed him the picture.Fang Wuyu shook his head and had no choice but to accompany him.

The fortune teller said a lot, saying that Meng Xisheng was born in the north, that he lost his mother when he was young, that he was high-minded and hard-headed, and that he had been through many hardships in his life, but he could always turn danger into safety.Speaking of this, Fang Wuyu laughed and scolded nonsense, why can I sit in front of you if I don't save myself.The fortune teller smiled, and said that Meng Xisheng had fought in war, he smelled gunpowder smoke on him, and he had killed many people.Fang Wuyu interrupted for the second time. Isn't this still nonsense? For example, there are not a few people at Meng Xisheng's age who have been on the battlefield, and in addition, he still has the cocoon of holding a gun in his palm.

Meng Xisheng muttered and turned his head to block Fang Wuyu: "Go away, don't bother."

Fang Wuyu: "...I'm afraid you'll be cheated!"

Meng Xisheng also became a virtuous person for all those whose fortunes were told: "It's also my business to be cheated!"

Well, whoever goes to fortune-telling doesn't know that this thing is half-truth, but people just want to hear these things, as if they can really grasp where their own destiny belongs from those few words.

Fang Wuyu had nothing to say.

So the old man continued to babble for a long time, and managed to make Meng Xisheng exclaim in amazement that he had wiped out all his wealth.But he still seemed dissatisfied, and asked the other party Wuyu to make a move. The other party Wuyu said that he had met him once, and Fang Wuyu pulled Meng Xisheng to leave. The old man smiled and said that this gentleman has a plump nose She is deep, but her cheekbones are slightly high, and she cannot escape the ups and downs of her life.

Fang Wuyu stopped abruptly, looked back at the fortune teller for a long time, and suddenly smiled.

interesting.He went back to the stall again, and took the tortoise shell for divination on the table and weighed it in his hands. Meng Xisheng didn't know what happened, and was a little dazed for a while.

"Is there a way to save it?" Fang Wuyu asked, and added in a timely manner, "Don't say that you are a mortal who only tells fortunes, not gods, and does not change your fate. If you dare to say it, I will smash your fortune-telling booth."

The old man stroked his beard and smiled when he heard the words: "Don't dare, dare not."

He didn't know whether he didn't dare to say it or took the opportunity to mock Fang Wuyu for not dared to do it. He snatched his eating guy back from Fang Wuyu's hand and used it to divination a copper coin for Fang Wuyu.This man had a serious face when divination, holding a shelf and displaying the score. If it was 40 to 40 years ago, it would be reasonable, but today, [-] to [-] years later, when the wires are piled up on the top of the head, and the lights are popular in every household. The high-end equipment in the barber shop opposite can give people a flamboyant afro hair. This fortune teller is like a person from another world who came out of an old photo or an old comic book.

After reading the hexagram, he looked up at the two people in front of him.His gaze made one's heart chill, as if the ordinary nose, eyes and ears could really be seen by him to be extraordinary.

Meng Xisheng asked curiously, "How?"

The old man glanced at Meng Xisheng, turned his head to Wuyu and said to Wuyu, "Fate is fate. The former is fate, and the latter is fate. Fate is predestined, but fate is ever-changing. There are variables all the time. A decision, a sentence, a person, It can change your luck, enrich or weaken your life."

Fang Wuyu raised his eyebrows in doubt: "So?"

The old man said: "Your fate is fixed and cannot be changed. But your luck has always been there. It helps you overcome many dangers and finally fulfills your life."

Fang Wuyu frowned slightly.

The old man put away the tortoise shell and asked Fang Wuyu for money.

He didn't understand clearly during the call, but he really had the nerve to extend his hand.Fang Wuyu thought it was funny, this man was just as rascal as before.He also went against the grain for a while, throwing him a few steel coins, was there too much?

The old man shook his head, despising Fang Wuyu's stinginess, not as generous as Meng Xisheng's, Fang Wuyu couldn't laugh or cry: "If you think it's too little, pay me back."

The old man looked up and said, "It's going to rain."

He closed the stall in a turbulent manner, and before Fang Wuyu could react, the old guy had already disappeared in front of him.

As soon as he walked on the front foot, the words on the back foot came true.The rain drifted up inexplicably, and within a short time it rained like a torrential rain. When the two rushed home, they were drenched in water.

Meng Xi sighed, "He's really accurate."

Fang Wuyu turned the key: "Maybe I heard the weather forecast on the radio yesterday."

"So you don't believe in fortune-telling?" Meng Xi laughed.

Fang Wuyu tilted his head and opened the door.

"I don't know," he said finally.

That night, Fang Wuyu played a newly bought record on the gramophone, held Meng Xisheng's hand and danced, and the two of them danced from tango to cha cha and then to waltz. Young master Fang shuttled through the shadows of his clothes and temples, and his dancing posture was quite good.

Meng Xisheng said that there should be no bystanders, otherwise the two little old men hugged and danced together.Fang Wuyu refused to accept it, claiming that Lao Tzu is in his prime, and that he has been a beautiful young master all his life.

Halfway through the jump, Fang Wuyu suddenly tightened Meng Xisheng's waist, and let out a long surprise: "I understand!"

"what?"

"What the fortune teller said."

The two stopped in the melodious sound, Fang Wuyu raised his hand to hold Meng Xisheng's face——

"The luck he said was you."