According to legend, there was a Mr. Zhangguo in the Lujiufang in Chang'an City who liked to tell stories to his guests.
The old, the weak, the women and the children in Chang'an City have all heard him tell a story that happened fifty-three years ago. The protagonists of the story were a young monk and a girl named Liu who lived in Ruyi Tower.
Fifty-three years ago, Ruyi Tower was the most famous dance hall in Chang'an. The girls there were extremely beautiful, good at singing and dancing, and many dignitaries fought overtly and secretly for a good position in Ruyi Tower. The little monk and Miss Liu met here.
The story goes that the young monk accidentally killed someone in order to save Miss Liu. Miss Liu said that the man had committed many evil deeds and deserved to die, so she took the young monk who wanted to apologize and began to travel far and wide, doing justice along the way. Many common people received their kindness. But later, they still could not escape the disaster in their lives.
The catastrophe of love.
A drinker asked Mr. Zhangguo, "Did the little monk love Miss Liu?"
The gentleman said that perhaps only the young monk knew whether he had ever been moved.
The last time I saw Mr. Zhangguo was when the wine was finished and the crowd was leaving the Lujiufang. He was hobbling down from the railing, leaning on a brown and purple bamboo cane carved with plum blossoms.
I have also heard this story, and have been hearing it for seven years.
When he first heard this story, he was in good health. At that time, the snow was falling outside the building, and the red plum blossoms by the window were blooming brightly. He sat in front of the small stove, sipping new wine. When he finished the story, he stared at the red plum blossoms outside the window and was absent-minded for a long time.
However, Mr. Zhangguo has been telling this story for so many years, but he has never told the ending.
Many people want to know the ending, including me.
I asked the gentleman what happened to the little monk and Miss Liu in the story. The gentleman turned his back to me and slowly turned around with his hunched body. With a gleam in his eyes, he said, "The ending of the story is not with me, but with Miss Liu. If you want to know the answer, go north to Xinzhou. The old woman at the foot of Mount Wutai will tell you."
After saying goodbye to my husband, I rode north and it took me nearly three months to reach Xinzhou.
When I left Chang'an, the shadows of trees outside the city were sparse, and the red walls and green tiles were particularly eye-catching under the withered branches. When I arrived in Xinzhou, the road was covered with deep snow, and at a glance, the sky and the earth were connected.
I asked many people before I walked to the foot of Mount Wutai and found the old woman that Mr. Zhangguo mentioned.
The old woman sat alone in the snow in a cloth dress, holding a lacquered harp in her hands, staring blankly in the direction of Mount Wutai. The red plum blossoms beside her had buds, becoming the only red in the white world.
The old woman was mumbling something, but I couldn't hear what she was saying. When I got closer, I could hear a few words. The old woman was saying, "Little monk... Little monk..."
Fifty-three years have passed. Is she still waiting for her little monk ?
But has her little monk passed away in the Foguang Temple on Mount Wutai, or is he still accompanied by the wooden fish and green lamp?
I never believed that there really is such a thing as romance in this world that can transcend the years, from youth to old age.
Until the old woman finally turned around and told me the story that Mr. Zhangguo had not finished telling...