Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve, the Eighteenth Day from the Last: Erlang Visits the Mansion

Erlang finally walked into Zhong's garden in a grand manner. For this unusual moment, he deliberately changed his outfit and put on the full outfit he used to play Wu Song back then.Everyone has their own gown to attend the most important date in their life, and Erlang's most grand packaging is the first costume. There seems to be a clanging of gongs and drums coming from the sky, which is the sound of gongs and drums in the "quick wind" at the beginning of a good show.He listened attentively, and recognized that it was an erhu, that was a sanxian, and that was a single-skin snare drum. He helped the feathers on his head, brushed off the skirt on his knees, shook his head, and pushed open the door—waiting Too long, too hasty, too eager, and I don't want to be careless, but I want to take a calm stride and make a show, and then step into the garden with big strides.

The moonlight spreads softly on the gravel road, it is a full moon, and the green leaves and white flags all over the garden have a cool and emerald light under the moonlight, like a curtain on the stage.The curtain rises, and Erlang's play is about to be staged. Tonight, is he singing "Love Detective" or "Garden Tour"? "Life and death. Lonely fate. A lover can't call a lover's answer..." Erlang never cheated in his life.He treats love with such sincerity.Although Kunqu Opera is not his specialty, and it is not what he wants to play in reverse, but as long as the reunion dream is fulfilled, it is just a fancier, so why not?

The female statue in the pool is lifelike, shy and eager to speak.Is this Xiao Cui?She was so beautiful, yet so cold, so silent.Her statue stands here, where are her people?Where is her soul?Is she alive or dead?Where were you born?Where did he die? Erlang stood in front of the statue for a long, long time, the gongs and drums in his ears changed to the melody of a waltz, vaguely as if he saw Xiaocui dancing in the moonlight, how could the once lively woman be a cold statue can replace? "Life is weak like a spider's thread." Xiaocui has such a vain and decadent attitude of distrust towards life, and lives only on drinking and watching theaters, drunkenly dreaming and dying, and playing games in the world.She was always laughing, but never happy; she cried occasionally, but she kept her tears from being seen.Her style is fatal, she is the unique Han Cuiyu, indescribable.

"Xiao Cui, whether you are alive or dead, I will definitely find you." Erlang murmured to the statue, Ru Nian said, "Where are you after all these years? Have you changed your mind? I never Suzhou Creek, I have been waiting all the way to Huangquan Road. For more than 60 years, I have never stopped waiting and searching for you. Can you give me some guidance and tell me where to find you?" Actors can't miss the show, and lovers can't miss their appointments.Xiaocui, Erlang trekked through mountains and rivers, crossed the yin and yang, and finally came tonight to fulfill your half-life promise. Are you here waiting for Erlang?

"Senior Erlang, let's go in." Wuyan urged, "If you delay any longer, the sky will dawn." Ever since Lingzheng slammed the door the night before, her heart seemed to have been hollowed out. Her whole body was vacant, and she seemed to be a ghost in broad daylight, but after nightfall, it seemed that her soul could not see the light in the daytime. Anyway, something was wrong. ; It was like a huge boulder was put into the hollowed out place, which was heavy and difficult to move. However, even if it is the walking dead, she still has her mission to complete. The purpose of her return is not only for herself, but also for Erlang.No matter what the result is, Erlang has already helped her reunite with Ling Zheng, and once got his true love, even if it is only a few days, she should have no regrets; and so far, she has not done anything for Erlang Woolen cloth.She has to fulfill Erlang's wish and help him find Xiaocui; even if she can't find Xiaocui, at least let him go into Xiaocui's room to take a look.

Her body was too weak, every step she took seemed to be dragging a heavy burden, and every breath she took, her chest would burst open. If Ling Zheng left her, her mission of returning to the world would be over. If it wasn't for Erlang, she would rather lose her soul the moment before Ling Zheng left, so as not to have to face that cruel breakup again.But, no matter what, she will fight for Erlang.It took her a whole day, and she finally arranged the entire Zhong Mansion properly before midnight, opened the gate of Zhong's Garden to Erlang, and broke open the door of Xiao Cui's room with her own hands.

Even she had never entered that door before she was alive. "Listen to the wind and rain everywhere, and always care about love every night. The wax torch will never die, and shed tears to wait for the dawn." This is Xiaocui's boudoir where she listened to the wind and rain all night and waited for dawn with tears in her eyes.Everything in the room is obviously strictly maintained the old appearance, and the objects are not deliberately organized. The curtains are divided into two layers. The thick velvet curtains fall straight to the ground, and the inner curtains of white gauze are raised high. A huge golden brocade sunflower hangs tremblingly on the bucket arch, and a golden wind chime hangs between the two layers of curtains. Although there is no wind in the room, when people look at it, they seem to hear one or two voiceless sounds coming from a distant place; Waltz.

On the walls and on the bedside table, there are pictures of Xiaocui hanging everywhere. It can be seen how proud she is of her appearance, knowing that she is beautiful, and beauty is short-lived.She likes to take pictures very much, with big dark eyes looking at the camera, the corners of her mouth are slightly raised, but it is not a smile - she deliberately hides and seeks with people, so that you don't know whether she is going to laugh or talk.If she spoke, what would she say? In the middle of the room is a vermilion leather round French bed, hung with a dreamlike tulle curtain, twisted into a large lily flower to cover the entire bed, half of the brocade quilt is laid on the carpet, revealing the water red pillowcase and The embroidered embroidery on the cover; the floor-to-ceiling mirror is inlaid on the white lacquer wardrobe in gold, and the mirror surface is already a little blurred, as if still remembering the shadow of the old owner; Close it tightly with one hand or pull it completely; on the hanger, there is even a gorgeous dancing skirt, as if her master just hung it up after returning from a banquet, maybe one day, it will be worn again Its owner chooses it and wears it to go out to see the world-it has not seen the world for more than sixty years.

Clothes from more than 60 years ago are dark and old, but under the light, the gold and silver threads are still bright, and even the style is not outdated, which is still common on the dance floor of banquets today.It's just that the pearls on the neckline are slightly yellow, which can be seen from the age. ——All the arrangements clearly show that a charming woman once lived here, and this room belongs to her. Looking at all this with no face fascination, very envious.How can a young mistress arrange an independent boudoir for herself in her husband's house?Han Cuiyu is really unique.Although she married Zhong Ziming and became someone's wife, deep in her heart, there always lived a little princess who refused to grow up, and kept her own crying and laughing, joy and sorrow. The reason why all places draw their own boundaries, right?However, is it to guard against the customs, or to draw the ground as a prison?

She thought, after all, she was not Xiaocui.Xiaocui's personality is a little crazy, a little decisive, and she is very willing to do things without leaving any room for it.She fell in love with Erlang, and followed him to Beijing regardless of the consequences.However, he loved Ling Zheng deeply before he was alive, but he forbears to say nothing, and would rather commit suicide in a car crash than reveal his thoughts; when he returned to the human world after death, he was so hesitant, not daring to tell him the truth, so that he ended up with a clean break today.I am far less able to afford it than Xiaocui, so I can't have as much love as Xiaocui.

There was a large bouquet of flowers in the vase. Although they were already dried flowers, they were by no means the dried flowers from sixty years ago—obviously Zhong Ziming often came in to clean, wipe, and change flowers.Grandpa loves grandma so deeply and passionately.He or Erlang, who loves Xiaocui more deeply?He deliberately maintained the old appearance when the owner left, so naturally he often came here to pay his respects and think about others when he saw things.So, on that day more than 60 years ago, what happened before the owner of this house returned and left? Grandpa said that grandma died of illness, but judging from the layout of the room, it seems that Grandma Wu's words are more credible—grandmother Han Cuiyu didn't die of illness, but disappeared and eloped, so she left in such a hurry. The dance clothes were not put away, and the door of the cupboard was not even closed tightly. But who did she elope with?Erlang waited all night in the Suzhou Creek and waited by the Naihe Bridge for sixty years, but he did not fly with the man in the mirror.So, where did Xiao Cui go? Looking at the photos on the four walls, Erlang was drunk.Every decoration in the room shocked him, loved him, envied him, moved him, inspired him, and dazzled him.He couldn't help sighing: "No wonder she doesn't like the hotel bed. It turns out that the bed she sleeps on is round. How can there be a round bed? Look at this dancing skirt. I saw this skirt once, and she still wore it." Dance with me; and this mirror, this mirror is really big, the price of such a big mirror can reflect people so clearly, it must not be cheap, it must be a Western product..." "This mirror is very special." Wuyan looked at the mirror and couldn't help but said to Erlang: "Do you feel that the mirror seems to be talking." "The mirror wants to talk?" Erlang was taken aback for a moment, then stared at the mirror intently for a while, then muttered in a low voice, "The mirror wants to talk? The mirror has something to say. If the mirror can talk..." "Mirror, can you really talk?" "Yes." Erlang looked up at Wuyan, he was as nervous as she was.No, he was more nervous than she was.He said, "There is a legend about mirrors, which I only heard about in hell, and I have never really verified it—they say that mirrors are spiritual. If the mirror sees something, it may have memories, When the time is right, it will tell people what it sees." "So, what will it tell us?" Wuyan gradually became excited, "Grandpa said that grandma was sick and died, but Grandma Wu said that grandma was not dead, but missing. If the mirror could talk, maybe it would tell us the truth What happened in this house, and where did grandma go?" "If I can finally find Xiaocui..." Erlang took a deep breath, "If the mirror can tell me..." "But how do we get the mirror to speak? How do we do it?" "First collect enough petals, make dried flowers, and refine the flower soul; then collect enough dew, put the petals in the water, light them with candles, and reflect them in the mirror. If the flowers can reopen, the mirror will speak." "Shuiyue Jinghua?" Wuyan was surprised.Since childhood, she has heard many legends about mirrors—— It is said that when the mirror was first invented, some people thought it was a kind of soul-receiving technique; the evil queen had a magic mirror, and it would say to her: "No, you are not the most beautiful person in the world, the most beautiful person, you are Snow White.” Also, unmarried virgins peel pears in front of the mirror at twelve o’clock in the middle of the night. Wearing clothes, you will know in advance what you will look like when you die; now, Erlang told her, let the dried flowers bloom again in the mirror, and the mirror will speak. "That's right. The allusion to the flower in the mirror comes from here." Erlang said hopefully, "Now, let's split up and prepare the flowers and dew." "The power of a flower is so great?" Wuyan hesitated, "Is there a rule what kind of flower it must be?" "This varies from person to person. Every flower hides a wish. Every flower blooms represents the fulfillment of a wish; and every flower withers means a tear. The important thing is, practicing People who love flowers must really love this kind of flower, so that they can use flowers to help them realize their wishes." Erlang asked Wuyan, "What flower do you love the most and have the most hope for?" "Rose." Wuyan replied painfully, "roses always have special meanings to girls. But, I don't know if I can still place hope on them. Because my roses have no love anymore. ..." "It's roses." Erlang said decisively, "Your grandmother also liked roses very much before she was alive. She had the habit of attending mass on Sundays, and she once sang to me the song 'Rose of Sharon'." The Buddha who smiles with flowers, foreigners use flowers as a metaphor for God in their hearts. Flowers are the most pure and beautiful things in the world. No matter how people choose their skin color, their fascination with flowers is the same. If Sharon’s roses can reopen, The mirror can speak, and your love can also be restarted." Ling Zheng had never been in such chaos in his life.He felt that he had fallen into a vortex, was about to sink, was about to suffocate, he struggled, but the more he struggled, the deeper he sank, and this sinking gave him an unspeakable joy amidst the pain.He seemed impatient to sink to the bottom, and the struggle was just a gesture. Is he afraid of Zhong Wuyan?She is a ghost, and people are usually afraid of ghosts.He saw a ghost and spent seven days and nights with a ghost. They went to Beijing together, went back to university together, watched swan dances by the lake together, went to the Huangpu River to enjoy the wind, and shared the same glass of Haagen-Dazs together.No, he wasn't afraid of her, even if the truth that she was a ghost shocked him, it was only by accident, not by fear.Although he yelled at her, he knew in his heart that she would not hurt him, never would, so what was there to be afraid of? Does he hate Zhong Wuyan?Maybe.But why should he hate her?It was because she lied to him.What had she lied to him?Lied to his feelings, made him fall in love with her, but had to face the pain of breaking up with her. Yes, he was afraid, and what he was afraid of was being separated again; what he hated, what he hated was not being able to stay together forever; he loved, he fell in love with Zhong Wuyan.All the fear, anger, and grief are just because he loves her, deeply, deeply in love with her, so inseparable! Love, is this true love?A mixture of fear, worry, pain, and anxiety.Love can make people get carried away, don't know what to say, and say things that are contrary to their own sincerity, and even they can't understand themselves and control themselves, is it like this?Some people say that love goes deep without resentment.However, Ling Zheng discovered that loving someone to the extreme is actually anger.The anger at my involuntary emotion, the anger that the score cannot last long, is the kind of anger where passion has nowhere to vent, and emotion and reason are entangled and fighting to the point of screaming.Love is to give your emotions to the other party to dominate, and you can only obey the instructions of fate. After returning from Zhong's Garden, he fell into a deep sleep just like Wuyan.The difference is that Wuyan returned to her human body at dawn and had to support Erlang in making ghost symbols, while Lingzheng could let himself sleep without hesitation. When he woke up again, it was already dusk of the next day, he didn't want to get up, and he didn't feel hungry.He thought of Wuyan, of Wuyan's thirst.Wuyan said that in order to return to the human world to meet him, she resisted drinking Mengpo soup, no wonder she always felt infinite longing... The scene of reuniting with Wuyan at the subway station jumped in front of my eyes, and Zhengzheng thought about it carefully, from the girl who committed suicide by lying on the rails, "Qimeng" coffee, Nineteenth Road Station, Zhong's Garden, School for the Blind and Dumb, Beijing, her alma mater's The basketball court, and the Swan Lake in the park—by the Swan Lake, Wuyan said to him: "Ling Zheng, you will never understand what love is like at the cost of your life." It turned out that what she said meant something.Love at the cost of life, she was talking about herself, wasn't she? Wuyan didn't want to lie to him, she just didn't know how to explain to him, confess to him, in fact, she had hinted at him, and warned him, more than once.When he saw her on the first day, in the cafe, she said to him: "I am coming back this time, only temporarily, and I will leave soon. In these few days, I hope you can Spend time with me, I won't bother you for too long, maybe, only a week." In her plan, it was not as long as 25 days, she just came to see him, she didn't really want to take his soul away, she didn't want him to die. In the classroom of the school for the blind and dumb, she said to him, "Ling Zheng, you have to promise me one thing: If one day I disappear again, you must love yourself well." She thought about using the way of disappearance. come to say goodbye, eh? She had so little time, her eyes were so busy looking around, her heart so busy receiving, her love was so deep and fervent, and her life so fragile and empty.But she said: "The quality of life cannot be defined by the length of time. If a person lives in fear of death every day, then the meaning of life becomes death itself. He lives only to wait for death; and if a person People's emotions can override life, ignore death, and surpass death, that is the real enjoyment of life. It doesn't matter whether her life is 25 days or only one week." One week, another week.She had only intended to be with him for a week.Do the math, as of today, exactly one week has passed, Wuyan, ready to disappear, withdraw from his life? Ling Zheng was shocked all over, thinking that he would never see Wuyan again, his heart tightened with pain, and he felt infinitely lonely.That night, what did he yell to Wuyan—— "I don't want to see you again, I don't want to be with a ghost, I want to get back my own life, live like a human!" "Come and take my life if you have the ability, but I won't let myself fall in love with you again! Obey you!" I won't let myself fall in love with you again.How stupid.Is there any more idiotic nonsense in the world? When a person keeps yelling not to love anymore, it means that he has fallen in love with someone with all his heart and is unable to extricate himself.What does it mean to regain one's own life? If there is no facelessness and love in life, what's the point of living?It is unimaginable what kind of harm these words will bring to Wuyan.How sad would it be to be faceless at this time? Finally, Lingzheng couldn't bear it anymore, and rushed out the door, no matter how late at night, he wanted to find Wuyan. However, when he came to Zhong's Garden, he found that he couldn't get in. At this moment, Zhong's Garden has been redecorated and has become a paradise for ghosts and a forbidden area for people. Just as Erlang's soul could not enter the Zhongfu, now it is closed to Ling Zheng's body.Ling Zheng seemed to be walking into a ecstasy circle, turning around, but no matter what, he couldn't get through the door.A light blue mist floated around the surrounding area, swaying slowly and indistinctly, covering everything in it, making it difficult to see clearly. Ling Zheng started to move horizontally, running around like a trapped animal, but he was just circling in vain.When he was exhausted from running, he finally realized that this was probably what people often call "ghost hitting the wall".At this moment, he is pursuing a ghost, visiting a ghost, and he is in love with a ghost. He sat down, no longer engaged in the battle of trapped beasts, but hesitated again. Has he really decided to enter the lost city of ghosts?Will he die with Wuyan?After working hard for many years, I finally got admitted to university and waited until I graduated and entered the society. A beautiful life has just begun, so are you going to give up from now on? There seemed to be two selves arguing and fighting in my mind.One takes life as a spear, and the other takes love as a shield—if there is no attachment of life, isn't love nothingness?But what is the essence of life without love? The sky is getting brighter little by little, and the sun is rising in the east, protruding from the eaves of other people's eaves.The buildings of the Zhong Family Garden gradually became clear in the morning light, but at this moment, Ling Zheng didn't want to go in anymore. He walked home dejectedly, boiled water and cooked instant noodles for himself in despair, but couldn't taste the taste.He thought maybe he could turn on the TV to remind himself that he was still alive and this was still the world; he even thought maybe he should go to work and let the intense work help him forget.However, he just thought blankly, but did nothing. In a trance, he kept hearing Wuyan singing to him: "Falling in love with your back again and again, We meet again and again in dreams, Even if you turn around, you can't forget, You are the farthest star in the sky. Whose love never sheds tears, Whose infatuation will not be sad, If your name is called out loud, Will it startle the flowing clouds in the sky? " "Wu Yan!" He woke up with a start calling her name, and found himself in tears.Outside the window, the night sky is full of stars.It turns out that another day has passed, without a life of shamelessness, he is actually such a walking corpse, lost in spirit. Like a walking corpse, Ling Zheng walked out of the house in a daze, wandering around in a daze, not knowing where to go.These two days and one night seemed like a lifetime to him.He thought that he would never struggle like this again in this life. Such emotions can only happen once in a lifetime. Wuyan is right: the quality of life cannot be defined by the length of time.Wuyan loved him for almost her whole life, and even died for her love. ——When I went to hell after death, I was still in love.She didn't drink Mengpo soup, and came back to the world to find him, also because of love.Faceless love can break through life and death, and cross yin and yang.In the face of such a strong and unreserved love, what is the difference between a few days and a few years or decades? Wuyan has only twenty-five years in his life, and only twenty-five days to revive his soul, but what she asked of him was only one week. She had been alone for so long, silent for so long, and sad for so long, and he refused to make her happy even for a week? How many people live a long life without love, and how many people can meet true love?Ling Zheng dared to bet the whole world: There are definitely more people who live longer than people who know how to love.Maybe there is only one love like Wuyan that can pass through life and death in the whole world.He was so lucky to meet him, but he didn't know how to cherish and be grateful. Instead, he complained and hesitated. Isn't he the biggest idiot in the world? The highest state of love and ideal aspirations are nothing more than holding the hand of the son and growing old together with the son.But who knows how long this "old" period is?Can love be measured by time?Is ten years of love necessarily better than ten days?When people promise to love each other forever, who can sign a contract about the length of a lifetime in advance, specifying the minimum period of this lifetime?Wuyan never cared about giving and receiving, but he was the one who cared. Ling Zheng stopped, and found himself standing under the wall of Zhong's Garden. It was foggy again, and ghosts hit the wall again.But this time, Ling Zheng didn't intend to back down.If Wuyan can cross the Yin-Yang world for him, why can't he cross this wall for Wuyan? Unless, he doesn't love her enough. He clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and slammed into the front wall without hesitation. He didn't believe he couldn't find the door.With such a faceless love, he can go through everything for her, so why would he be afraid of a wall? However, just as he was walking, he discovered that the gate was right in front of him. He opened the door and walked in frankly.