Chapter 35 Cobbler's Summer

There is a cobbler near the former residence, whose "site" is a narrow alley, where he sits on a small bench for many years, bowing his head to mend worn-out leather shoes for customers.I don't remember his face because his face was always dirty and his hands were dirty too.In that back alley, there is often a smell of old leather shoes. On summer nights, the cobbler would take off his jacket and sing while mending shoes. He was from a province, and I couldn't understand what he sang. One summer, he won the consolation prize of the Mark Six Lottery, and the bonus seemed to be tens of thousands of dollars. Since then, a woman often came to him, saying that she wanted to repair his shoes, but most of the time, she would just stand there and talk to him. He chatted and seduced him with her remaining flair.He took this woman to a restaurant to eat the best food, bought beautiful clothes with her, and took a trip to Singapore with her.She wears the gold he bought to show off.Later, his prize money was probably spent, and the woman never appeared again, and he went back to the back alley to mend the broken shoes.

That night, I passed by the old residence to see if he was still mending shoes in that alley. After so many years, I thought he was gone, but he was still there.On a sultry summer night, he sat on a small bench mending shoes.I recognized his back under the dim light, even though he was much older, it was still him.Perhaps, in his memory, he had love, he had left this back alley, although he would come back in the end.