Chapter 43 There is true love in the world

Not long ago, I wrote a short article: "The Garden Flower is Lonely Red", which is about an old couple living in front of the building on the right.The man is Chinese and the woman is German.It has been nearly half a century since they moved to China after they got married in Germany.Unexpectedly, the man died suddenly overnight.The little garden he cultivated every day has lost its owner.The few remaining rose flowers trembled and struggled in the autumn wind, lingering on their last breath, desolate and lonely. I walked through that small garden every day, and I also felt desolate and lonely.I always think in my heart: next spring, the small garden will become more and more decadent, and the rose flowers will not bloom again.Even those large morning glory flowers that only Mei Lanfang's family had in Beijing will disappear forever here.My heart is heavy.

Yesterday at noon, I walked through this small garden again, and saw the old German lady who was close to Mishou, busy by the fence.I took a closer look and she was collecting the seeds of the big morning glory.This is really new.I have lived here for 30 years, and I have never seen her grow flowers.I am full of doubts: Germans generally love flowers, this old lady is really a bit special.But why is she busy collecting morning glory seeds today?She was old, hunchbacked, dressed in black, and as thin as a praying mantis.Although collecting flower seeds is not a tiring job, she is also exhausted when doing it.I asked her, why collect this?Her answer was very short: "My husband is dead, but the morning glory he loves cannot die!"

My heart lit up, and I suddenly realized a truth.Her husband is dead, and her son and daughter are in Germany.It can be said that the old lady is unaccompanied in China.Although it is said that I have become a Chinese citizen, I have been in China for nearly half a century, and I can't speak ten words in Chinese, and I am not used to Chinese food.She seems to be a drop of oil on the water of Chinese society, out of tune with the whole society.I usually only interact with a few foreigners and Chinese students studying in Germany, and I seem very lonely.I often joke that she is naturalized organizationally, but not ideologically.At this time, the old man has gone, the children are away, and it is time to return to Germany.But she refused to leave.What's the point?I could not understand.Now, by a very chance, I saw her collecting the seeds of the big morning glory.It dawned on me: it was all about my dead husband.

Although the husband has left, the small garden and the very simple little house are still there.The little garden and the little house held her old memories, sweet memories of half a century.This is where they lived together.In order to be faithful to the memory of her husband, she refused to leave and could not bear to leave.I can imagine that she was alone with the lamp in the dead of night.The rustling of the small bamboo forest outside the window came through the window.Autumn insects whine in the grass on the earthy hill behind the house.Otherwise there was silence.When her husband was there, she knew that there was a relative sleeping in the hut opposite, so she would not feel lonely.But now, that person suddenly left him, gone, gone forever and ever.In the vast world, it seems that I am alone.So far in life, how embarrassing it will be!Putting myself in her position, if I were in her position, I would definitely leave here immediately, return to my motherland, and spend the remaining years with my children.

However, this old lady who was as thin as a praying mantis refused to leave, but insisted on sticking to the vacant room and this small garden.I know: it's all for the dead husband. This seemingly weak but extremely strong old lady has come to the end of her life.I'm afraid she understands this better than anyone else.But she wasn't desperate, she wasn't depressed.She was still brimming with vitality, and she was full of hope for the future in her heart.She still thinks about next spring, and she also thinks about the morning glories, and the scene of flowers blooming in the small garden in spring must flash before her eyes from time to time.Who can see this and not be moved?I think that morning glory is known, and next spring, although the host is gone, she will be full of energy, and the flowers will bloom bigger and bigger; the colors will be brighter and brighter.

September 20, 1992