Chapter 20: Two figures, one large and one small, walk away from each other.

The next morning, the sun came out on a rare occasion and the weather was sunny, Lin Jian got up and decided to go to the small park behind the villa for two laps of morning exercise before coming back for breakfast.

As a result, just as he exited the bedroom door, the shadow of warm sunlight fell across the staggered floor, and he saw the one he hadn't seen in a long time sitting at the dining table eating breakfast.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, Shen Ke put down the newspaper in his hand and said, "Up? Come over for dinner."

Lin Jian's "go for a run first" rolled back into his stomach, "Oh", and obediently went to wash up and eat breakfast.

Shen Ke finished eating before him, but did not leave, just continued to sit next to read the newspaper, Lin Jian stirred the bowl of porridge with a porcelain spoon, always felt that Shen Ke seemed to have something to say.

Sure enough, when Lin Jian put down the spoon, Shen Ke said, "Do you know what day today is?"

Lin Jian froze and shook his head no.

Shen Ke puts down the paper, looks at him for a moment, and tells him, "New Year's Eve is a week away."

Lin Jian was stunned for a long time, his brain was running fast, and finally "snapped" and stopped at a point that made his heart jump.

According to the custom in their hometown, this week before the year, it is necessary to burn paper on the graves of their deceased relatives.

Shen Ke seems to have a bit of hesitation, after all, Lin Jian at this time has been completely out of the previous trajectory of growth, and the new life is everywhere good, once the tragic memories of the loss of a loved one seems to fade a little bit ...... But, after all, it is his father, if Lin Jian wants to, he does not have any reason to stop! Not to let.

After a moment's deep thought, Shen Ke asked tentatively, "Want to make a trip back?"

Lin Jian lowered his eyes and didn't know what he was thinking, and after a long time, until Shen Ke was about to resist saying that he should just forget about it, he replied in a faint voice, "Go ahead."

Shen Ke had probably guessed he'd say something like, "Go get changed and I'll get the car."

"You're giving me a ride?"

"I'll send you there." Shen Ke came back last night specially for this matter, after all, people's children are raised in his place, plus Lin Jianghe and Shen Zhangqian between that indefinable "favor", how to say that he should personally go to the pillar incense, to give people an explanation.

They went out early in the morning, still a five-hour drive, worried that Lin Jian will be like the last time he came back to the same long-distance motion sickness, Pei deliberately let him take motion sickness pills in advance, and cut a fruit box for him to bring.

Before the car left the city, Shen Ke chose a large mixed bouquet of madrigals and lilies from a flower store, a large bouquet so pure and white that it was like a pure and silent mourning.

This way, the car of the two are extraordinarily silent, one more than a word like gold, the only soothing pure music wandering in the car.

Halfway through the trip, Shen Ke suddenly asked, "Want to go back?"

Lin Jian leaned against the back of the car with his eyes closed and didn't hesitate for a second: "No."

When he left home, he said that when he left, he wouldn't come back.

Even the youngest vows are worth a thousand words.

So Shen Ke said yes.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, they arrived at the cemetery where Lin Jianghe was buried.

The north wind whistles past, the four fields are empty, only the yellow soil is filled with sand.

In front of Lin Jianghe's monument there is a fire pit, but it is empty, not even a fragment of ash, only the four walls are scorched black, leaving traces of the burning at the time of the burial.

It wasn't as if there were no blood relatives, and in the end, on a day like this when everyone was burning in silence and mourning, no one came to burn a wad of paper money for him.

From the moment he stood in front of Lin Jianghe's grave, Lin Jian never said another word.

Shen Ke placed the bouquet of flowers in his hand in front of the tombstone, picked up a small column of sacrificial incense and lit it, handing three to Lin Jian, waiting for Lin Jian to insert the incense into the incense burner in front of the grave in silence before he bowed down and inserted the incense in his hand next to it.

Then he saw that Lin Jian, who had retreated to the grave, stood silently for a few moments more before kneeling straight down to the headstone.

There is no picture of Lin Jianghe's remains on the tombstone, only the words "the position of the first Lin Jianghe", Lin Jian bent down and kowtowed three times to the white characters on the green stone.

Shen Ke squatted down next to Lin Jian, would pick up the paper money Yuanbao on the ground, lit a stack and handed it to him, whispering, "Talk to your father."

What are you talking about? Lin Jian took the paper money and waited for the candle-red flame to burn up before placing it in the fire bowl, while softly calling out, "Dad."

The sky was pale, the cold wind swept by, and no one responded to the faint cry.

Shen Ke sighs, then gets up and walks away, leaving the child, whose eyes are red but stubbornly refuse to shed tears, alone.

After kneeling for a long time, Lin Jian finally spoke slowly, his voice so soft that it sounded as if he was speaking only to Lin Jianghe: "Dad, don't worry, I'm doing very well now."

"The grandfather you saved was named Shen, and he got someone to take me home, and now I'm living in the Shen family, with his son."

"Their families are wonderful and have been very good to me ...... and have sent me to a particularly awesome school for my education."

"I do well in my studies too, just like here, I always come in first ......" Lin Jian's light voice paused for a moment and then whispered, "But I can't get you to sign my papers anymore ......"

The cold wind blowing from all directions shook the firelight in front of us, Lin Jian picked up a string of "golden treasures" and put it into the fire pot, and said: "The one who came with me is Grandpa Shen's son, according to the generation theory, I have to call him a young uncle, but I can't call him out ... he's too young, just one round older than me. ...He is too young, just one round older than me, there is no such young uncle, is not it?"

"But he was especially good to me, taught me a lot of things I hadn't heard before, although he was always busy and didn't come home often, he found an aunt to take care of me, I called her Auntie Pei, Auntie Pei was especially good to me as well, always making me good food for fear that I wouldn't have enough to eat ......"

"Dad, I eat well every day now, I eat and dress well, better than at my great aunt's place, don't worry ......"

"I also learned to ride a pony, and now I'm learning to write in brushstrokes. hmmm ...... Practicing writing is harder than riding a horse, but I kind of like it."

"I know you're thinking of me, I miss you too ...... You have to be good over there too, don't spare yourself the good stuff ......"

The flickering fire in front of his eyes gradually weakened, and the cold wind blew, freezing people to shiver. Lin Jian kneeled for too long, until the last stack of paper money left in his hands, behind the sound of footsteps approaching.

Shen Ke looked down at the slightly blown face and waited a long time before asking, "Finished?"

Lin Jian gave a "hmm".

Shen Ke took out a handkerchief from his pocket, squatted down and handed it to Lin Jian: "It's New Year's Eve, wipe your father's tombstone."

Then, Shen Ke took the last stack of paper money from Lin Jian's hand and put it into the fire pot himself. The fire burst into flames, and Shen Ke stared at it for a long time until the yellow paper in the pot was reduced to smoke and ashes, then he whispered to the name on the gravestone, "Please don't worry, the child will grow up well, I promise."

I don't see it in the end, and I know it by my tears.

More grief is in this rush.

Going back.

Lin Jian wiped the floating soil from top to bottom of the tombstone, slowly stood up from the ground and said softly, "Let's go."

They had a long drive back and really couldn't stay much longer.

Shen Ke nodded and joined him as they headed out of the cemetery.

Under the feet of all the dirt and gravel, Lin Jian just kneeling for too long, the knees are sore and numb, just walked two steps and stepped on a piece of dirt, the center of gravity is crooked, almost fell to his knees again.

Shen Ke was quick to grab his arm.

"What's wrong?"

"Numb legs."

Shen Ke asked, "Can you still walk?"

Lin Jian nodded his head.

Shen Ke didn't really let go of his hand and let him go on his own; the hand that was holding Lin Jian's arm moved away for a moment, and then the next moment he was holding his small hand in his palm.

"Lead on."

The young man's hand was thin but warm, able to hold his entire small hand. Lin Jian was held by his side and followed him with hobbling steps, step after step, like a lost lonely goose that had suddenly found a place to stay.

After taking two steps, Lin Jian suddenly turned around, waved his other hand at Lin Jianghe's tombstone, and shouted, "Goodbye, Dad!"

Shen Ke smiled and asked, "Why didn't you say so just now?"

Lin Jian is a little embarrassed, "...... forgot."

A quiet winter afternoon in the middle of an empty and lonely wilderness. The footprints on the land were swept away by the cold wind and disappeared, and a cold sun hung in the clear blue sky.

Clouds clean sky, only a large and a small two figures, each other to walk away.

Slow and rambling.