She finally saw the old man who was looking for the photo.
It was at her adoptive father's home. The old man was already in his seventies, but one could still vaguely see how handsome he was in his youth. When he stood with her adoptive father, she saw for the first time in him the spirit and energy that she imagined he should have, a sharpness and grandeur that he once had.
The two old men looked at each other and smiled.
"Director Ye, I have long heard of your name."
"Secretary Lin, I have admired you for a long time."
"It's been almost forty years. I never thought we would meet again in this life. Life is just a dream."
"Live long and long, there will always be something new happening under the sun."
She quietly backed out.
There was a faint sound of conversation floating out with the faint and silent wind, floating into her ears. She listened carefully for a few sentences, but it was difficult to understand the meaning. She stopped listening and just focused on cutting her own green onions.
That "Director Ye" stayed at her adoptive father's house for half a month. Half a month later, her adoptive father called her and said in an unquestionable tone: "I will go to Leshan with your uncle Ye to attend a social gathering in a few days. You must accompany us and you are not allowed to refuse."
Her adoptive father rarely asked her to do anything, so she had no choice but to ask for leave from her unit. A few days later, she accompanied her adoptive father and "Director Ye" on a bus to Leshan.
She felt that the relationship between Director Ye and her adoptive father was very strange. They should have met for the first time, but they were as familiar as old friends, as if they had many old friends in common. Along the way, she listened to their conversations, and Director Ye talked about his forty years: "That year, Jiang Huanshan's identity was discovered, and he left this photo to her before his execution. She seemed to have suddenly found spiritual sustenance, staring at this photo every day. I was also amused, and I was jealous of a photo. I snatched it away to burn it, and she snatched it back when it was half burned... There is nothing here that I can miss, and I guess I am not welcome here. This time I came, I just hope to find this photo, or ask Mr. Jiang's third daughter for a photo of them, and burn it for her next time when I commemorate her, which will at least comfort her in the underworld."
She was very curious and wanted to ask who Jiang Huanshan was, who "she" was, and who Mr. Jiang's third daughter was. However, her lips moved but she did not speak.
Unexpectedly, her adoptive father suddenly called her: "Nannan, let me tell you a story. The protagonists of the story are Mr. Jiang and Miss Jing. The story begins in Wuhan in 1937..."
This is a very long story. When she finished, it was dark outside. They had also arrived at their destination. There were brilliant lights ahead in the night, and faint laughter could be heard. Her adoptive father said to her, "Miss Jing once rejected Mr. Jiang, and also went to find him alone when everyone thought he was dead. They had experienced war, separation, and long separation, but no one could separate them. Nannan, a temporary hardship is nothing. Some people are so obsessed with love that they are not afraid of changes in the world."
After a pause, he continued: "As long as you truly love each other."
Her heart trembled slightly. Her adoptive father had never said a word about her love affair. She had never expected to get comfort from him, but she never expected that today would come! The face of her lover reappeared in front of her eyes. Winter passed and spring came again. That face had always been in her mind and had never blurred.
A surge of pride suddenly swelled up in her chest, and she bowed to her adoptive father and "Director Ye": "I have something to do, so I'll leave first."
Without waiting for her adoptive father to answer, she ran towards the bus that was about to start. She wanted to go back, find that man, and put her heart in front of him.
Before getting on the bus, she looked back and saw the door being pushed open, with brilliant lights pouring out from the crack.
It is March in Leshan, and the first batch of crabapple blossoms in 1988 are blooming tremblingly in the evening breeze and lights .