Chapter 9 bookshelf and traveling man

This is the second palm novel with a book as the main character.The entertaining and educational fantasy novel fits well in the ten-page manuscript format, and writing this short story was an enjoyable experience.Looking at the reference materials of the assistance, I am very envious of the luxury cruise itinerary for 17 days and 16 nights.When I take a boat trip on this kind of trip, I also take a special-made suitcase with a hundred books in it that I want to read slowly.Although I really want to be extravagant like this, it is simply impossible in terms of time.Just imagining being chased by deadlines while on a boat trip is enough to give me a headache.What the old man in the story said is that an ideal book written just for oneself is actually impossible.There are countless people in the world, and there are also countless books. One of them is a perfect combination with one of them. This possibility is not completely impossible.As long as you find this book and read it again and again in the rest of your life, that's enough.This kind of reading life is also good.By the way, my personal thoughts are also hidden in the words spoken by the protagonist of the story.Good books can support each other. If there are many good books, they can enrich each other's lives and add happiness.

Anyone's life can be restarted at some point in time.I welcomed this moment in the first spring after the age of forty.The software company I started with a friend from my student days was doing very well, and several encryption software for email and the Internet were very popular.However, excessive success in the career has led to crises. Our small but nutrient-dense company attracts larger predators.At the beginning, the investment plan with very ideal conditions was proposed for convenience, so personnel from large Internet companies began to enter the company, and soon after, friends and partners from the student days proposed a new expansion plan.Our company has lost its original harmonious atmosphere.

After a few months, I sold all my holdings to my friend and the big business, and left the company.In the middle of my life, I got money that would allow me to live comfortably for the rest of my life.I believe that no one can imagine how empty it is, full of boring taste twenty-four hours a day. The relationship between husband and wife, which had already dropped to freezing point, also fell into an irreparable state at the same time.But now, I should be grateful that our husband and wife did not have children.I took out the money from selling the company, paid enough alimony, and dissolved the marriage.A divorce agreement and a bank remittance certificate ended twelve years of married life.

I have nothing to do in both work and private life, so I tried what people with nothing to do and took part in long-term boat trips abroad.I want to reflect on my past life, and I also want to think about the rest of my life.Traveling is undoubtedly the best choice, but I am exhausted because I have fallen into a state of depression, and it is impossible to feel any joy at all. As long as I take a boat trip, the boat will automatically take me into a different scenery. I chose the 17-day and 16-night voyage from Hawaii to Daxi.The cruise ship has a total length of 190 meters, a total of twelve decks, and two 9,000-horsepower diesel engines.There are four royal honeymoon suites on the tenth floor on the top floor, and my room is one of them. It is obviously too spacious for one person to live in an actual square meter room, with a bathroom and a small balcony with a view of the sea.

Only the first day is joyful.I explored the cruise ship like a small city, said hello to other passengers, and watched the changes in the sky and sea.However, growing up in the city, after three days, I got tired of seeing the blue sea horizon and the shining cumulus clouds in the sky.Why does the sea always show the same expression without tireless basic fine lines?Why is the sky always a dull blue?Afterwards, I drew the curtains of my honeymoon suite and barely stepped out onto the deck. The theater on the sixth floor always plays some old movies. Although there is a casino on the cruise ship, I am not interested in gambling.My life has become more monotonous than ever.

Get up lazily around noon every day. After brunch, I go to the library to read in the afternoon to pass the boring time. For dinner, I sit alone in front of the atrium hall for dinner. In the evening, I escape to the bar on the top floor behind the empty bridge on the 12th floor.As a result, I didn't think of any developmental plans for my future life.Originally thought that the cruise ship was a paradise for galloping on the ocean, but it turned out to be a luxurious prison.It seems that human beings can find themselves no matter where they are. I met the old man at the top floor bar.The bar seat by the window overlooks the swimming pool in the blue light, and the old man greets me from the bar chair two seats away.

"I often see you in the library, but there are too few books there." The old man was right. On the well-polished rosewood bookshelves, there were ostentatious books (mostly photo albums of interior decoration and gardening), as well as recent bestsellers.There is also a whole row of complete works of literature with attractive back covers.I looked at the bar in front of the old man. There were three worn books, each with a leather cover. "Did you bring those books on board yourself?" Withered and wrinkled hands caressed the back cover with a slightly different color.

"Yeah, the library on this type of cruise is usually a disappointment. It may sound weird, but the cruise is the best place to read. I always bring my own bookcase on board." My long-lost curiosity is just around the corner. "If you don't mind, can you show me your bookcase at your convenience?" The old man nodded with a smile. "These books are given to you as a commemoration of our acquaintance. You don't mind, just take them." I picked up the books that slid over from the bar. They were "Ivory Coast Voyages" by Eileen Steen Echrooney, "The Hidden Beast" by Hong Xiaotao, and "Unfinished Story" by Kojima Takekiyo, all of which were written by me. For writers I don’t know, ask the master to carefully wrap the books sold in the market with leather for each book.

"Can I accept such a valuable book?" "Of course, if you don't want them, I'm going to throw them off the deck when I go back." I must have looked puzzled.The old man said: "All my life, I have been looking for a book. In this world, there must be a book written for me. I have entered the final stage of my quest. These three books were rejected. For me, they have It's useless." "Is there really a book that only belongs to you in the world? I think that for things like books, just one book is not useful at all, and we must support each other."

The old man gave a puzzled smile. "When I was young, I also felt that it was ignorant to read all the books in the world. Now, I have no use for the number of reading competitions. As long as I can find the book that belongs to me, I will be satisfied. I have already chosen Candidate book. If you have time, would you like to read it?" I nodded, and the old man walked out of the bar first. When I was about to go to the elevator, the old man asked: "My room is very close to here, do you want to take the stairs?" Go down the grand staircase to the tenth floor where my room is located.The old man pointed to the royal honeymoon suite diagonally opposite and said:

"right here." As soon as you walk into the room, it is a spacious living room.With carpeted floors and sofas with legs screwed together, the ship's bright rococo interiors. The old man took me to the big leather suitcase that was placed in the best place by the window, and opened the lid with wheels. On both sides of the suitcase were separated bookshelves, and there were unevenly placed books with the same title as the three books just now. Book with leather cover. "In the past twenty years, I have read it many times, and I am constantly selecting. One of these books will become my book." I asked incredulously: "Is this suitcase full of books every time you get on the boat?" "Yes, I threw it into the sea after I finished reading it, and then I read other books, and threw it away again, and kept repeating. Perhaps, the boat trip is like a distillation factory, which can condense the soul of the book." The old man talked a lot about books, all of which were books I had never heard of before.It was nearly two o'clock at night when he left his room. After that, we chat every time we meet.Whether in a restaurant bar with a player piano, a promenade where you can feel the sea breeze, or a bar on the top floor, the old man always holds a few books. I asked him: "How many books did you lose?" The answer is different every time.The old man throws five or six books into the night sea on average every day.The cruise ship passed through Hawaii at the midpoint of the voyage and entered the Pacific Ocean.Waking up one morning, the color of the sea had changed to a mineral turquoise blue, shimmering. A few days before arriving in Tahiti, the old man sat on the sunny deck in the southern country and said excitedly: "I have spent my whole life, and finally there are only three books left, and I am going to make a decision tonight. Actually, I already know which book it is." That night, I headed to the top floor bar full of anticipation.However, the old man did not appear, and he was not seen the next day and the third day.It wasn't until the fourth day that the staff panicked over the disappearance of the old man. The old man appeared to have jumped into the sea from the aft end of the deck.A crew member once witnessed the old man leaning against the railing with a book in his hand at dawn.I can't help but think about who is happier, the old man or me.The old man searched for a book all his life, but died when he found the answer.And I don't have anything to look for. A few days later, when I saw the housekeeping staff tidying up the old man's room, I looked into the room without the owner.In the dimly lit room, there were only empty bookshelves scattered.