Chapter 61 Chapter 3 Winter Sunset

Marty was sitting in the last row of the bus. This was a new car, and the driver seemed happy to test its limits. He could still charge forward in the rush of traffic, quickly leading left and right.Every time there was a bump in the road, Marty at the rear of the car would separate from the seat and bounce up. At first she was amused and smiled, but soon she felt embarrassed when the car stereo was playing a melodious Violin solo. On Saturday afternoon, after making an agreement with Xiaoye to go back to the coffee shop later, Marty was heading towards Muzha, crossing the ridge at the southern tip of Taipei, and home is on the other side of the mountain.

The Xinhai Tunnel is not far ahead, and the municipal funeral home is not far in front of the Xinhai Tunnel. The warm sun in winter reflects on the yellow glazed tiles of the funeral home. The Second Municipal Funeral Home, which resembles a temple, shines brightly in the sun, exuding the style of a former palace.It seems that the funeral parlors I have seen since I was a child are all exactly the same, a complex like a palace and a temple.Is it to maximize the idea that the dead are the greatest?Or do you want to create an atmosphere of an extradition station in the dark, to soothe the hesitation of the living?

Marty has no way of knowing, what she knows is that because the design of each funeral home is so similar, no matter where you glance at any one, it becomes a window pointing to the same memory.The funeral home always reminded Marty of her mother who died young.Unhappiness and hard work took the life of his mother, leaving Marty helpless, living in his father's house, and started an unhappy childhood.If her mother hadn't died, Marty's life might have been another scene. At this time, the bus briskly passed through the Xinhai Tunnel.At the moment before entering the tunnel, Marty looked up to the sky and saw the whole green mountain, full of vitality, the whole green and green hill. The mountain was a clear blue sky washed by water because of a thunderstorm before noon.The high-chroma green and high-bright blue penetrated into the whole vision, leaving a kind of spiritual happiness, and even the tunnel she was afraid of did not appear eerie.

After exiting the tunnel, the white sunshine poured down like a waterfall.The bus had already reached the Muzha area, and after a few turns, Marty got off the bus not far from the hillside. Dad and aunt are still sitting in the living room, working on their buttons together hand in hand.Pearl-colored daylight slanted into the living room, setting off the silent silhouette of the two of them.It's a picture frozen in time, a dreary movie Marty's tired of watching, and now she's back. Dad was as surprised as Auntie by Marty's visit, and both stood up.Auntie said she was going to see if there was hot water for tea, so she went into the kitchen. Dad hurriedly moved aside the processed buttons that were piled up on the sofa, and called Marty to sit down.Dad moved in a hurry, and a pile of rivets for fastening buttons fell and scattered around the sofa, so he was very busy picking them up all over the floor.Dad's hospitality and aunt's indifference bring the same feeling, which is very different.

"Dad, don't be too busy. I'm not a guest, I'm a daughter." "Not busy, not busy." Dad slowed down his movements. Aunt brings a cup of hot tea.After putting down the tea, the aunt hesitated. The delivery date of this batch of processing was very urgent, but it seemed inappropriate to continue her processing work now, and she did not want to stay in the living room.The previous quarrel between this unpleasant daughter and her still makes her very unhappy. Although she won the quarrel, it damaged her status as an elder after all. This loss is indescribable. For those who are not good at words She is even more aggrieved.Auntie was about to pick up the small bench and wash the leeks later, but Marty picked up the semi-finished products on the table and started to help process them.

Marty is familiar with this kind of small handicraft that father and aunt often do, and it is easy to complete a button with a gold border.She handed it to Auntie.Auntie threaded the button into a counting twister and threw it into the nylon bag next to it. Auntie sat down on the bench. The three of them quickly reorganized the production line, Marty assembling the buttons, Dad nailing the rivets, and Auntie screwing the top of the button and then threading the twist.Under the cooperation of the three parties, a pile of broken parts gradually turned into beautiful finished products. Marty chatted with his father, mostly about his younger brother's college life.It turned out that the younger brother Ma Nan insisted on living in the school dormitory, and had moved to the campus near Wai Shuangxi long ago. This home became more quiet, leaving the loneliness and dryness of the elderly.Dad is really an old man. He is nearly seventy years old and has gray hair all over his head. His unhealthy thin body looks particularly fragile.Auntie is also getting old, her gradually bloated body is wrapped in a one-piece grandma's dress, and a few strands of gray hair fluttered from the hair bundle to brush her face, showing the look of a haggard old woman.

"I think I will come back to accompany you when there are holidays in the future. Everyone, go out for a walk occasionally, so don't stay at home all the time." Auntie looks at Marty through her new glasses.It seems that she said it casually, right?Today's young people are not enough to be busy working hard. How can they really have time to spend with the elderly?Even so, her words were pleasing to the ear.Auntie's new glasses were bought with the money Marty sent home every month, 20,000 yuan a month, which was an unexpected fortune for the family.Since Ma Nan went to a private university, everyone was very short of breath because of his expenses. Ma Nan said that now a college student can hardly survive without ten thousand yuan a month for living expenses.The aunt was shocked. This change destroyed her original financial plan. For this reason, she complained about her husband who had been clean and poor all her life. It was not until Marty's remittance arrived that she just solved her troubles.

Auntie is really old, and now she is rubbing her lower back with both hands, suffering from perennial back pain.Marty felt a little sympathy.This stepmother with whom she was once in the same situation gave her a terrible teenage life, and now that Marty is independent, it is only childish to think about all the disputes in the past.It is always like this, no matter how much hatred and confrontation there is between people, only time will prevail in the end, and time will slowly clean up the two sides, one first, one behind, and they all return to dust in the end. Where does dust come from hatred?

"Won't you be bored like this? I'll bring you a small stereo next time. When you're busy, turn it on and listen to music. The atmosphere will be much more lively, okay?" Marty said. Economic power had brought Marty a new status in the family, and even her tone was decisive.Dad and aunt were noncommittal, not quite used to being in the hands of their children. "That's it." Marty dusted off her hands, her voice lithe. In the confrontation with her aunt, there must always be a gesture of reconciliation by one party. Now Marty doesn't like her aunt as before, but she knows that this emotion is not good for her life, not for everyone else.Auntie is just a narrow-minded woman who struggles to protect her own territory. No one has ever taught her how to be broad-minded, so Marty turned himself around and no longer confronted her.

Seen from the side, this stepmother who had rejected her for many years was a bloated and sickly woman.Marty forgave her in his heart, and in that forgiveness he felt his own ability to be autonomous from his emotions.This taste is sweet, almost worth the bitter tears of the past. "Let's stay for dinner today?" Dad said. "Eat leek dumplings." The aunt who had been silent all this time raised her head and said.Her brand new reading glasses reflect a bright sunset.