【Gao Gui】The Glorious Years

2012.4 Motoko Sakamoto

In the few days since I returned to Osaka from my grandfather’s apartment in Okinawa, I have been immersed in an indescribable emotion.Xiao Wu made fun of me for being sentimental, and I didn’t argue with her. The short story my grandfather told really touched me a lot. I couldn’t help but guess the ending of the two protagonists. I don’t know if they are still alive now. Alive, are they staying together firmly or are they getting married?really want to know.

Two weeks later, the school organized a visit to Osaka University.This kind of activity similar to the spring outing should be to motivate us to muster up our fighting spirit so that we can achieve good results in the unified examination in January next year.Before the trip, the teacher gave a lot of passionate declarations. We all felt very boring, and few people listened carefully.Thinking that I will be admitted to university next year, I am really a little nervous, but the pressure from the school every day makes me very irritable.It seems that if you can't get into a top university, your future will be dark.Grandpa said that he didn't like studying at all back then, but didn't his business do very well later on.

But I still like Osaka University. It is close to home and the greenery is good. The whole school looks very atmospheric and beautiful.When I was very young, my mother said that she hoped to send me into the gate of this school one day, and I think I can do it.I hope to be admitted to the Department of Literature. If the current trend continues, as long as there are no major mistakes, there should be no problem.

"Suzi, I hope we can still be classmates next year." Takahashi, who was wearing glasses, said to me flatteringly.His father was the director of a certain research institute at Osaka University, and he always proudly declared that he could study in this school without taking an exam.And he is very clingy to me, I don't like him very much.

I pretended not to hear him, and turned my head to look elsewhere.It happened that a small car stopped not far away, and many people were waiting beside it. An old man got out of the car first, and one eye seemed to be covered with gauze. The slightly taller grandfather.

"Wow, look, what a long hair!" Several girls chattered.

It's really long.The grandfather was wearing an elegant suit, his back was straight, and his long snow-white hair was shining brightly in the sun.Although separated by a distance, it can be seen that he is quite extraordinary.

The people who were waiting by the car immediately gathered around, shook hands with Grandpa Long-hair one by one, and warmly guided him to a nearby building.The long-haired grandpa said something to the one-eyed grandpa, and the one-eyed grandpa pointed to the back seat of the car, probably saying that he would wait for him in the car.The long-haired grandfather couldn't help but lead him to walk forward together, which caused the girls next to me to giggle again. "What kind of relationship is it? I'm so curious!" they said.

"Oh, that long-haired old man studies history and literature. It seems that he has published several monographs. The school invited him to give a report." Yes. My dad also said that this old man is very strange. He doesn’t have a wife or children at such an age, and he goes with another old man everywhere. Well, it may be the one with gauze on his eyes. He seems to be a famous professor of medicine. The two seem to have participated in World War II together, tsk tsk."

Long hair, World War II, no wife and children.I was shocked, this can't be...

"What's this old man's last name?" I grabbed Takahashi's arm and asked anxiously.

He seemed a little flattered by his first initiative to express his enthusiasm to me, and he blushed for a while before saying, "It seems...it seems that the surname is Gui..."

Gui!Sure enough... it really is them!

I stared blankly at the two old people who walked hand in hand and smiled at each other from time to time, and couldn't believe that I was not dreaming.They are really still alive, and after decades, they are still by each other's side, and they didn't even leave each other when they gave a report!

Great.

Really good.

"Suzi? Why are you crying, Suzi?"

Are you crying?Really.

What exactly is going on?Although she was very happy, she couldn't stop crying for some reason.

2012.4 Tatsuma Sakamoto

After answering Suzi's call that night, I dragged a deck chair to the balcony to lean on, and lit another cigarette, the kind Takasugi taught me to smoke.Aaron fell asleep in the bedroom, so he didn't have to worry about being taught a lesson by pointing his nose at her.Just like this, I was half lying in the bright moonlight alone, swallowing clouds and mist leisurely.

Suzi was crying and laughing on the phone, and it took me a lot of effort to understand what she was talking about.It turned out to be like this, Takasugi and Gui are still alive and well, which is not beyond my expectation at all.

All these years I have remembered how they parted.The sky was not yet bright that morning, only some sparse rays of sunlight, Gao Shan was standing downstairs with his luggage on his back, Gui limped out of the room, put his hands in a circle around his mouth, and smiled Said: "You stay there well, don't die."

At that time, I was very sad for Mutsu's weakening body. I thought that the parting of the young lovers would make me more sad, but it didn't.Gui's smiling face without any worries was as bright as the morning sun, and it actually comforted me who was worried.

He is positive and full of hope, driven by some kind of powerful energy. After Takasugi left, he did not show any disappointment, but practiced walking very hard.He kept walking, in the house, in the stairwell, on the street.I watched his busy figure silently every day, and sometimes he greeted me happily when he felt my gaze.That happy look always puts my mind at ease and makes me forget for a moment how bad everything is going on.

Not long after Gui joined the army, Mutsu died of illness.She raised her hand feebly before she died, and I moved my face closer, but she no longer had the strength to touch it up. "It's great to have you by my side. Live well." She finally gave me a very poignant smile.

I cried hoarsely that rainy night, exhausting the tears that followed for decades.I desperately hired a boat back to Osaka, but the boatman refused to transport the corpse, so I gave him all my belongings to move him.After sending Mutsu's body to her home, I was beaten to half my life by her father. I didn't fight back, but just endured all the sadness and despair of the old man.I knew his pain, so much, I went over it again while being beaten.Since then, I have gained a little peace.

After returning home, my parents didn't blame me. My mother hugged me and cried, saying that worrying about my safety every day would make life worse than death.Later, I continued to study step by step, learned to do business, married Aaron, and had children and grandchildren.There have been many difficult and difficult passes during this period, but for some reason, just thinking about the short time on Okinawa Island can relieve my heart.

As I got older, I handed over the family business to my son and bought a house in Okinawa.Yes, it was the place where I lived with Mutsu before.The original house has long since been demolished, probably destroyed by the war.

Okinawa is still as beautiful as it was decades ago, with plenty of sunshine and abundant rain.Xiaowu and Suzi also like it, and they often come to play during holidays.Sometimes I secretly told them about Mutsu, and they threatened me to tell Aaron, and they didn't give up until I flattered them with snacks.

Ashamed to say, as I grow older, I have gradually forgotten what Mutsu looked like. Only in my dreams can I remember her face when she was a girl.I am too old.Maybe it won't be long before I enter this fertile land, hold her hand again, and say to her: "I have lived a good life all these years, are you happy?"

Yeah, I'm too old.The cigarettes I used to smoke when I was young are getting more and more pungent now.But tonight I need it.I know I need it.

I took a deep breath with great difficulty, and slowly exhaled it facing the silver moon in the sky.In the lingering smog, I seem to have returned to Okinawa in April 1945. The small building is surrounded by lush Ryukyu pines, and the fiery red erythrina and phoenix flowers are downstairs.Gao Shan looked at Gui deeply.Mutsu gently rested his chin on my shoulder.

In those days, we were brave and fearless, reckless about the consequences, but we were cautious in our expressions and carefully considered every word.In fact, every exhortation is telling the same thing from the heart - how much I love you and how reluctant I am.To say it is an understatement:

"You are fine over there, don't die."

"It's great to have you by my side. Live well."

Those carefully wrapped words shine brightly in the long river of time, and the longer the time, the more radiant they are.In countless cold winters and dark nights, they warmed me, illuminated me, and polished my heart full of holes time and time again.And today, through my granddaughter's phone call, the last tiny hole in my heart was filled.What else is there to regret?

enough.Everything is enough.

I squinted my eyes and looked at the vast sky, which is a dark dark blue at the moment, deep and gentle under the embellishment of stars.I figured I'd take a moment to look at it, as it's been watching us cry and laugh, sick and old, love or die for so many years.

After this cigarette is burned out, I will close my eyes and fall asleep deeply, but I am too old to control the time to fall asleep, maybe I will lose consciousness with half a cigarette left, so let's say goodbye first.

Good night, Okinawa.

Good night, Mutsu.

Good night, my old friends.

Good night, those glorious years that have been accompanied by you.

good night.

END