Shen Bai Yao sometimes wants to think about what is the most perfect coincidence in the world?
It was probably the day when the results of the high school entrance examination were released. Although she performed abnormally, she still narrowly passed the line with a score of 3 points higher.
It happened that on that day, she participated in a lottery at Siam Restaurant and won a ten-day and nine-night trip for two to country T, so she and her aunt went abroad to eat durian and watch elephants.
So for Shen Bai Yao, what is the most painful coincidence?
It’s this day every year.
When he was distracted, the porcelain wall of the noodle bowl felt like a flame touching the palm of his hand, and the fingers that came into contact with it felt a burning pain.
Shen Bai Yao realized belatedly and trotted along with two bowls in his hands. Finally, before losing consciousness in his fingers, he placed the bowls heavily on the dining table.
After putting down the bowl, she put her thin and tender hands on her earlobes to cool down the redness by exchanging temperature.
After washing up in the room, Feng Zhaoyun opened the door. The aroma of noodle soup and biscuits hit his face. He looked at his watch and saw that it was only six-ten.
Then he walked to the dining table and saw his daughter putting her hands on her earlobes.
He immediately stepped forward, took out the alcohol spray from the drawer, leaned down, and frowned slightly, unable to hide his distressed expression.
"Next time, just leave these things to dad."
He always took care of all the household chores at home and never let his daughter handle them.
In his opinion, his daughter should be loved and loved no matter her age. Where can she do such work?
Shen Baiyao looked at the longevity noodles on the dining table, and suddenly felt a little more confident, pushing away the alcohol spray.
"Not so squeamish."
“I cooked all these meals, it’s amazing!”
Feng Zhaoyun smiled happily, "That's great."
The brows that had been furrowed all night finally relaxed with a smile, unintentionally touching the fine lines at the corners of his eyes.
When Shen Baiyao heard that his father was getting up, he turned around and faced the morning sun slanting in through the window, showing a bright smile, "Happy birthday, Dad!"
She looked into her father's eyes, which were red from light sleep. She tried her best to hold back the sobs in her throat and the pain in her chest, but also showed the most calm side, because today was not only her father's thirty-eighth birthday.
It was also the day my mother left for ten years.
It's really a coincidence that even novels wouldn't dare write about.
However, one cannot always live with memories.
Carrying the past, when can we get out of it?
So every day, no matter what other people do, Shen Bai Yao must try his best to show a normal side. Since everyone maintains a tacit sadness, he can't let his sadness spread.
We want the family to see that the person who is least able to handle things in the family is so emotionally stable.
Others should not be overly sad.
"Thank you Bai Yao." The sadness between Feng Zhaoyun's eyebrows flashed away, and then he smiled, picked up another piece of biscuit, tasted it and commented: "This doesn't seem to be the semi-finished product I put in the refrigerator yesterday." What he ate was not walnuts. Kernel, but cranberry.
As a father, he is the one who cannot show any abnormality.
Feng Zhaoyun glanced at the excessively clean kitchen countertop again, thinking that the child had really grown up, and there was no mess after cooking, and they were cleaned up as if they had never cooked.
Shen Bai Yao followed his father's gaze and smiled awkwardly, "I bought it at the dessert shop yesterday."
The implication is that the cookies were simply put back in the oven to heat up.
"Dad, the cookies you baked contained too little sugar. I thought Mom might not like them, so I went to the store next to No. 4 Middle School to buy them according to my taste."
Feng Zhaoyun thought of the chocolate joke and couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth and nodded slightly, "Your mother loves sweets. She definitely loves this more than the ones I make."
Then he motioned his daughter to sit down, rolled up his shirt sleeves, and said warmly: "Let me have a taste of my daughter's craftsmanship." After saying that, he subconsciously poured two rounds of vinegar into the bowl. After pouring, he also paused in his hands.
Being jealous over noodles seems not to be my habit, but...
Pursuing every detail of her life, even if it takes ten years or a lifetime, he is willing to imitate the person he loves, as if his wife has never left.
Feng Zhaoyun suppressed his sentimentality and took a mouthful of noodle soup. The residual warmth from the hot soup spread along his eyes and reached the bottom of his heart.
Noodle soup made by family members is probably the most healing delicacy in the world. The warmth of a sincere heart is irreplaceable,
It’s not about the materials, it’s about the care.
After breakfast, the father and daughter will go to the place where they are forced to recall their sorrow - Shanhai Cemetery.
……
Shen Yunian took the earliest subway and wandered from the city to the suburbs, arriving at Shanhai Cemetery - the most likely place to bury her.
There are three large cemeteries in Dinghai City, one in the urban area and two in the suburbs. Shen Yunian is a native of Dinghai City. Most of her deceased elders are buried in Shanhai Cemetery, so she tried her luck and held a bouquet. Perfume Lily, came here.
It stands to reason that most people would give yellow or white chrysanthemums to those who visit them, but she wanted to give her fragrant ones.
Holding ten pink lilies in her hands, Shen Yunian stepped into the cemetery, but she encountered a problem: let alone the vastness of the sky, she didn't know where she was even in the cemetery. .
She stood in a daze under a tree. She could only hope that among the people coming and going, she could meet someone she knew and take her to the shelter of her body.
Half an hour, an hour... Finally, at one hour and twenty minutes, Shen Yunian waited for an acquaintance.
The visitors were a man and a woman. The middle-aged man was of medium height and had few hairs left. This may be related to his long-term exposure to chemicals. The middle-aged lady has wavy hair and a gentle face.
Shen Yunian only hesitated for a moment, and immediately recognized the two as colleagues from the Institute of Evolutionary Chemistry in the same year as her. The youthfulness of those years had been worn away by more than ten years, leaving traces engraved by the years.
If she were still alive... Shen Yunian shook his head secretly as if mocking himself. Maybe she was no longer the dazzling beauty, but a mortal whose edges had been smoothed by life.
But thinking about it from another angle, at least she stayed at her most beautiful moment...
That's still not beautiful. Looking at the backs of her former colleagues, Shen Yunian took out a mask from her pocket and put it on. Then she realized that no acquaintances from the past would recognize her, and she suddenly felt a sense of loneliness as if she had been abandoned by the world.
They followed the two people far and near for about ten minutes. They stood in front of the tombstone. Shen Yunian did not dare to get too close and only hid behind the tree, just in time to see the place where he was buried.
It was a place illuminated by the sun. The whirling light and shadow were particularly caring for the beautiful woman in the photo, as if they were afraid that she would not be able to bear the scorching sun at noon. Only a piece of clear light was shed there, adding a bit of aloofness, coldness and refinement to her. The beauty.
The person who chooses this address must be looking forward to the next time she will be born in the sun.
The two colleagues presented a bouquet of white chrysanthemums to each of the two monuments, bowed and left.
Shen Yunian was a little surprised. She looked around to make sure there was no one else. Following the point she had just made, she quickly walked to her monument, but was surprised to find that the person next door to her was also an acquaintance...
There was a buzzing sound in her mind, as if the whole world had been turned upside down. Her wide eyes did not dare to move, for fear that she had seen it wrong. After being stunned for a long time, she came back to her senses:
It turned out that her senior brother and colleague also died in the accident at the chemical plant explosion.
After his rebirth, Shen Yunian did a lot of mental construction before he dared to read the relevant reports on the accident ten years ago.
The report only briefly stated the time, cause, and casualties of the accident, and the content was not very detailed:
On September 26, 2010, at 19:00, a deflagration accident occurred in a chemical plant in Dinghai City, Huaining Province. The cause of the accident was a high-temperature explosion in a nitrification reactor, causing a total of 2 deaths and 7 injuries.
The chemical plant where the accident occurred had a project cooperation with the research institute where Shen Yunian worked. She was working overtime on the day of the accident. She went to take samples for testing in the evening, and it was his senior brother who accompanied her.
Unexpectedly, both of them were killed in the accident.
Thinking of his past, Shen Yunian swayed slightly and stared at the portrait of his senior brother. Holding back the heartache that almost made him suffocate, he took out a piece of paper and brushed away the dust on the surface of the tombstone.
The senior brother in the photo has a broad heart and a fat body, with curved eyebrows and a kind and friendly smile. In Shen Yunian's memory, the senior brother's name was like that of a girl - Shao Jiajia, and his personality was as gentle and approachable as a girl's. He was kind to others and caring for the younger generation.
She still remembered that her senior brother had a son. The boy should be about the same age as her daughter.
I don’t know, how is that child doing now?
Shen Yunian forced a smile at his old friend, planning to put away the pain first, and then put the bouquet of lilies he had brought with him in front of his senior brother's grave.
She thought of something else, pulled out two of the branches, took off her hair and tied it, then took off one of the pink star hairpins on her head, and clipped the postcard she had written in advance to the lily petals. Finally, she placed the two lilies in front of her tomb.
Finally, I respectfully bowed deeply to my old friend and my departed self.
……
The father and daughter were speechless as they drove to Shanhai Cemetery.
Shen Baiyao looked through the rearview mirror and saw his father's thin lips pursed tightly and his expression serious. It was really a low-pressure zone.
In order to liven up the atmosphere, she logged into her account through the music software on the car navigation system and played relatively pleasant songs.
“The songs I listen to are quite contemporary.”
Feng Zhaoyun himself didn't know that when he was expressionless, he did have a certain degree of intimidation. Listening to the cheerful rhythm, his frown gradually relaxed and he smiled lightly to make himself look more natural.
Shen Bai Yao was taking a nap with his eyes closed. After hearing this, he opened his eyes and joked: "It's not bad. I'm not afraid that you old people can't accept the songs that are too hot now."
"Okay." Feng Zhaoyun said "good" twice in a row, smiling softly, "I'll remember it all for you."
Shen Bai Yao was unmoved, "People have to obey their old age."
In fact, she doesn't think her father is old at all. In terms of appearance, her father is even better than many young people in their twenties and thirties. But ever since she heard her aunt's fallacy: "You need to instill in your dad more of the view that he is older so that he won't find a stepmother for you."
When she said this, Shen Jinsi was joking. But who would have thought that my niece really listened.
When a normal person listens to it, he will know that this is something only a fool can believe.
But Shen Bai Yao chose "I would rather believe in something than anything."
Rationally, she didn't want her father to have a hard time alone. But emotionally, she doesn't want outsiders to destroy her family, take away her father, and replace her mother's position...
"Let the autumn wind take away my thoughts and my tears..."
The desolate and emotional singing scared Shen Bai Yao. She quickly turned off the music and smiled, "I'm tired of listening to the old songs. I'd better listen to some new songs next time."
Coincidentally, the car also drove to the parking lot of Shanhai Cemetery.
After Feng Zhaoyun stopped the car, he tried his best to hide the pain in his breathing.
When he spoke to his daughter, he forced a smile and pretended to be calm: "Bai Yao, you go ahead and take the things. Dad has a lot of things, so he may be a little slower."
How could Shen Bai Yao not understand his father's sadness? He nodded obediently, holding the biscuits and bouquet, and left quickly, leaving the space in the car to his father alone.
She knew that her father missed her mother.
The most reliable person in the world also wants to cry sometimes.
But at this time, he couldn't let himself see it.
Shen Baiyao walked forward step by step in despair. There were not many people in the cemetery today, and the surroundings were empty, leaving only endless desolation and loss to himself.
Tears flowed out inadvertently, and there was a tendency of more and more tears flowing out. She rubbed her eyes hard with her sleeves and looked up at the sky.
Just like when she was a child, whenever she wanted to cry, she would raise her head and let her eyes retract tears to prevent others from seeing her timidity.
Shen Baiyao took a deep breath, withdrew his gaze from the sky, and bravely looked straight ahead. However, in the blur, he found a figure squatting in front of her mother's tombstone...
It seems that he is crying too.
(End of chapter)