he can fly

One hundred and seven.

"Some ducks say we become angels when we die,

You can sit on the clouds and look down. "

"Probably."

Death sat up, "You already have wings."

-

This summer has been full of disasters and difficulties.

On an ordinary afternoon in September, Yan Tang suddenly received a call from Aunt Li.

It's Aunt Li who shopped earlier at the west gate of Yantang Community.

"Hello, how are you?" Yan Tang looked at the number and noted "Aunt Li", but still didn't understand.

"Hey, Mr. Yan, hello, I was the sister Li who shopped earlier, do you remember?" Aunt Li on the other end of the phone was afraid that Yan Tang would not remember, so she said, "It's the owner of Dasheng!"

Only then did Yan Tang recall.

This is the owner of the chubby gentleman cat who came to Yan Tang's house as a guest during the Spring Festival.

But, why did she call him?

"Hi, I remembered, what's the matter?" Yan Tang was a little confused.

Aunt Li was a little embarrassed, "Hey, I'm sorry to bother you. That's it, Mr. Yan, Dasheng left the night before Dasheng, and I want to hold a funeral for him."

"You've helped me find it, so I'd like to invite you and your kids too—wouldn't it be convenient for you?"

Yan Tang was a little surprised when he heard that, "Da Sheng has already left?"

But Yan Tang digested it for a while, and the surprise in his heart instantly became clear again.

This is also reasonable, after all, during the Spring Festival, Aunt Li mentioned that Dasheng ran away from home because he felt that he didn't have much time.

No matter what, when Yan Tang heard the news, he still felt a little unspeakably sad.

Aunt Li sighed, "That's right, it was the day before yesterday."

Yan Tang looked at his schedule.

In the past week, his work rhythm has gradually slowed down. It is no longer like the previous few weeks that he may not be able to go home at ten o'clock in the evening, but he is still really busy...

However, Yan Tang thought about Ai Bao. Ai Bao liked that fat gentleman cat quite a bit. It seemed like a good thing to take Ai Bao to say goodbye to him.

So Yan Tang didn't rush to refuse, he asked, "How long is your cat's funeral?"

Aunt Li said, "Just this Saturday, do you think you are free, Mr. Yan?"

Yan Tang thought for a while, but still did not refuse, "Okay, what about the time and place? Ai Bao and I will come to participate on time."

After he finished speaking, he comforted Aunt Li again, "Don't be too sad, just let your condolences flow."

Yan Tang has always been stupid, and his comforting words are always dry, and he can't hear the sincerity in them.

Aunt Li looked very peaceful, "It's okay, I accepted this a long time ago."

After she finished speaking, she explained the time and place to Yan Tang clearly.

Aunt Li was also happy to hear that Yan Tang and his child were coming, "That's fine, then we'll see you on Saturday."

After speaking, she hung up the phone.

Since saying goodbye to Aunt Li and Dasheng last time, Yan Tang and Ai Bao haven't seen them for a long time.

Aunt Li didn't know why, she didn't open the breakfast shop for several months.

"So Mao Mao died?" Ai Bao asked Yan Tang while sitting in the car.

"Is that the fat cat?" he begged.

Yan Tang untied the safety belt for him, and replied, "Yes, it's that fat cat, the guest who came to our house for a few days in winter."

Ai Bao oh come on.

He remembered the fat gentleman cat.

The cat litter they made for it at home has not been thrown away yet.

"That's a pity," said Aibao, "Aibao still wants to play with Maomao."

Hearing this, Yan Tang rubbed Ai Bao's little head as a comfort.

However, there was no change in the expression on Ai Baoyuan's face. He didn't show any sympathy or sadness.

He accepted it very calmly, and he could no longer play with Mao Mao.

Perhaps for Aibao, death is a very common thing.

It is the same as birth, in the eyes of Ai Bao, it is an unconscious and predestined journey.

Yan Tang led Ai Bao out of the car.

He was holding a large bouquet of chrysanthemums in his hand, and Yan Tang told Ai Bao that this was for the deceased.

Ai Bao looked at the white chrysanthemum in Yan Tang's arms half-understood.

He doesn't understand the ways of the world, but this white chrysanthemum has thin petals, one petal after another, which Ai Bao thinks is quite beautiful.

The place where Aunt Li held Dasheng's funeral was in her yard.

When Yan Tang and Ai Bao came, she was busy greeting a group of other guests in the yard.

"Hey, eat slowly, eat slowly, don't rush—"

Aunt Li laid out the cat food mixed with canned cat food one by one, so that the cats in the yard would not fight for food.

When Yan Tang and Ai Bao had already walked to the door, and the wind chimes at the door made a crisp ping-ping-pong-pong sound, she realized that someone was coming, and hurriedly straightened up to greet him.

"Mr. Yan is here—" Aunt Li hurriedly welcomed Yan Tang and Ai Bao into the house, she still remembered Ai Bao's name, "This is Ai Bao, isn't it?"

She asked Ai Bao with a smile, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes were deep and winding.

She was still wearing a big mask like the last time we met.

Aibao is much more courageous now.

Although he doesn't remember Aunt Li at all, he can also respond loudly to others when Yan Tang discourages her.

"Yes, I'm Aibao!" Aibao said.

When Ai Bao talks to strangers, he always likes to open his eyes wide and round, like a little squirrel that has just come out of its hole.

Aunt Li was amused by Ai Bao's small appearance, "Come in and sit down, I weighed a lot of sesame candies - I remember last time Ai Bao didn't like it very much?"

Yan Tang looked at Ai Bao who was surprised and smiled helplessly. He really likes to eat, and he is almost like a sesame candy harvester. "That's really troublesome for you."

As he said, he handed out the bouquet of white chrysanthemums in his hand, "This is what Ai Bao and I bought for Dasheng."

Originally, Aunt Li specifically told Yan Tang on the phone not to bring anything.

She looked at the white chrysanthemum, and didn't refuse anything, she smiled and said thank you, and took it.

"Mr. Yan, wait a minute, I'll come after I finish taking care of these friends of Dasheng." Aunt Li took out all the fruit and snacks, and beckoned Yan Tang and Ai Bao to sit down on the sofa.

She held flowers and ran to the backyard again.

There is only one glass door in the backyard and in the house. When Aunt Li went out, she didn’t close the door properly. From time to time, Mimi’s meowing could be heard, and it was obvious that there were several cats in the yard.

Ai Bao straightened his neck to look very curiously.

"Wow, Yan Yan! There are so many cats!" Ai Bao pointed towards the yard with bright eyes, and he patted Yan Tang excitedly.

Yan Tang looked in the direction of Ai Bao's finger.

He is much taller than Ai Bao, and he can see better. There are about seven or eight cats wandering around Aunt Li in the backyard.

Aunt Li put the bouquet of white chrysanthemums under one tree after another. She said a few words to the tree, and then turned to entertain the other cats behind her.

That should be the friends of Dasheng.

Obviously, Dasheng's friends didn't particularly understand the rules, and Yan Tang reckoned that they didn't bring any other presents other than an empty stomach.

But Aunt Li was very patient with them. She put the food in front of one cat after another, and kept them far away from each other so that they could eat without disturbing each other.

Gradually, the seven or eight cats in the yard were all given food, and they stopped making noise.

Aunt Li stood up and looked at them with a smile that couldn't be hidden from the corner of her eyes.

"That should be Dasheng's friends." Yan Tang told Ai Bao, "They are also guests who came to Dasheng's funeral."

Aibao hummed twice.

Even if the cats in the yard were pointing at him with their fluffy butts and a flicking tail, Ai Bao's eyes were stuck to the cats in the yard, and he couldn't move them away.

"There are so many cats!" Ai Bao said to Yan Tang, and he was a little surprised when he said it.

Yan Tang heard Ai Bao's tone as if he had gotten rich, and laughed, "Well, there are indeed a lot of cats."

Yan Tang rubbed Ai Bao's little curly hair, and let him continue to look out of the yard with bright eyes.

Aunt Li seems to be in a good state of mind. She has also cleaned up the house. The last time I came here, the flowers and plants were piled up, and it looked a bit messy.

Now there are only a few pots left in the room, and it looks a little tidier.

If it weren't for the black and white photos of Dasheng on the TV cabinet, Yan Tang felt that he was not here to attend the funeral, but to visit Aunt Li and Dasheng.

Yan Tang raised his head and looked at Dasheng's posthumous photo.

In fact, he looked at it for a long time, but he couldn't tell if it was a posthumous photo - because Dasheng was a black and white milk cat, and there was really nothing to see in this photo.

"I've been waiting for Mr. Yan for a long time, and there's Ai Bao." Aunt Li came in and closed the glass door after taking care of the cat guests. "Our cats in Dasheng are very popular, and we have more guests."

When she said this, she was a little proud.

Yan Tang saw Aunt Li put the flowers in the yard outside, so he asked her, "Did Dasheng be buried outside?"

Aunt Li nodded, "Yes, I buried Dasheng and his favorite tree together."

"It is in the root of the tree, and the tree is on its body." Aunt Li said.

Yan Tang nodded.

Listening to Aunt Li's words, Ai Bao also nodded her head seriously.

"This is another way of companionship." Yan Tang said.

Aunt Li sat down on the sofa on one side, but she shook her head, "Is there any company or not? Dasheng finally let me go, and it's time for him to start his own adventure. It's just because, I think it's tired, so it just remembers to come back."

Even though she was wearing a mask, Aunt Li's eyes showed a different kind of tenderness, "Our Dasheng has always been worried about me, so I didn't leave. It actually reached its limit this spring, because I was afraid that I would go too far Sad that it lasted until now."

Both Yan Tang and Ai Bao listened quietly to Aunt Li's words.

Auntie Li doesn't have many friends, and there are very few people who understand that she and her cat have always been dependent on each other, and they don't want to find companionship.

"A cat's life is very short. Dasheng has been with me for more than ten years, and it is almost 20 years old. It is also a joy and death when it leaves." Aunt Li said, "This cat has been ambitious since childhood, and often changes at night. Go out to grab territory in the middle of the night, and come back covered in blood."

"Actually, I understand that without me, Dasheng's dream must be to go out into the world and be a great hero," she said, "but it has passed my life quietly for me."

"Now that it has finally let go of me, I don't want it to be with me anymore."

Aunt Li smiled and said to Yan Tang and Ai Bao that her crooked eyes were full of rare joy, "I hope for a big victory, it's flowers, grass, trees, wind...it can go to this place." All over the world, the ability to venture where no one else dares to go.”

"When I'm gone, I'll bury myself and Dasheng together," Aunt Li blinked her eyes at Yan Tang and Ai Bao.

She did not shy away from talking about her own death, "It has been with me all my life, and I will also wander around and take risks with it."

Yan Tang didn't know what to say for a while.

He has never raised small animals, so Yan Tang felt a little shocked by such a bondage beyond life and death, but also made him feel a little strange.

Ai Bao beside him seemed to understand.

Ai Bao said to Aunt Li, "That's very good!"

He repeated what he had just said, "That's great!"

Aunt Li frowned, "Yes, I think it's fine too."

Dasheng's funeral was very simple. Aunt Li took Yan Tang and Ai Bao to see the tree where Dasheng was buried, and showed them some photos of Dasheng.

Cook another big table of dishes and invite Yan Tang and Ai Bao to eat, and it's over.

When Yan Tang and Ai Bao were taken to the small tree by Aunt Li, Ai Bao waved his fat hand at the tree.

"Goodbye, Cat!" Abbott said.

He said goodbye to the chubby gentleman cat as cheerfully as he had when he first met him.

Yan Tang didn't say anything, he waved to the tree like Ai Bao, and said goodbye to the cat guest.

Aunt Li looked at them with a smile on the side.

When they returned to the house from the yard, they didn't know whether it was because the cats gathered outside were still there or something else, a meowing sound suddenly came from Yan Tang's ear.

He turned his head in some astonishment, and there was nothing else in the yard except the lush green sapling, and there were no other kittens in sight.

Probably the fat Mr. Cat is also saying goodbye to them.

Goodbye.

At the funeral, Aunt Li also played music, not the kind of mourning hall music that made people cry, but on the contrary, she played "Gong Xi Fa Cai".

Under the celebratory music of "Congratulations on getting rich, I congratulate you on being wonderful", Yan Tang was a bit messy holding the bowls and chopsticks.

Isn't this the song that is played on the roadside during the festival every year?

Ai Bao didn't think there was any problem, he really liked this song.

He sat at the dinner table and swayed to the music from time to time.

Aunt Li saw Yantang's confusion, she laughed and explained, "This song is Dasheng's favorite, before when he heard this song, he would shake his head and wag his tail like seaweed."

Yan Tang nodded dumbfoundingly.

He didn't expect that such a stable-looking gentleman cat is actually a cat that likes earthy things.

Aunt Li not only cooks well earlier, but her cooking skills are very good, even better than Aunt Zhang.

Ai Bao was snoring, and he ate a big bowl full, his hands and mouth were slick with oil.

Aunt Li saw him eating happily, and she was also happy.

She smiled with smile lines all over her face.

She was wearing a mask and refused to take it off, saying that she had just cooked and could not eat because of the smell of oily smoke.

Yan Tang also respected Aunt Li and didn't persuade her much.

When Yan Tang and Ai Bao were about to leave, Aunt Li gave them a pot of flowers.

"Mr. Yan, this is the spider plant that Dasheng and I raised together - this pot grows the best," she said, putting the pleasingly green spider plant in her pocket so that Yan Tang and Ai Bao could take it away.

Yan Tang held Ai Bao, and was about to refuse, telling Aunt Li not to be so polite, but Aunt Li spoke before him,

"Mr. Yan, don't be disgusted. You know that I have nothing to give away. This can be regarded as my thank you for helping me find Dasheng!"

She said, stuffing flowers to Yantang, "This spider plant is very easy to raise, just water it regularly."

Yan Tang couldn't refuse any more.

This pot of Chlorophytum is indeed not expensive, and Aunt Li did it because she saw that Yan Tang was determined not to accept her expensive gifts.

"Thank you, Ai Bao and I will take good care of it." Mr. Yan thanked Aunt Li.

Aunt Li waved her hand. It was not enough for her to give a pot of flowers, so she took out a big new bag of sesame candies for Ai Bao.

"Ai Bao, Auntie doesn't have any good things here. Auntie sees that you like sesame candies, so I'll give you this bag of sesame candies." She said and handed the sesame candies to Ai Bao.

Ai Bao blinked his eyes a few times, he looked at Sesame Candy with sparkling eyes.

However, he still held back and didn't stretch out his fat trotters. Ai Bao looked at Yan Tang very politely.

Yan Tang looked down at Ai Bao's obedient appearance, and was speechless for a while.

Seeing Ai Bao's sensible appearance, outsiders must think that he is very obedient, but only Yan Tang knows that if he shakes his head, Ai Bao can attack him with his back for a week.

So Yan Tang thanked Aunt Li very kindly, and took the sesame candy for Ai Bao.

"Thank you, Auntie!" Ai Bao said sweetly to Auntie Li in a good mood when he saw that the sesame candy had arrived.

Aunt Li couldn't close her mouth when she heard Ai Bao's sweet voice.

Although she has no children, she also likes children very much.

"Hey, no thanks, no thanks!" She said goodbye to Ai Bao and Yan Tang with a smile, "Be careful on the road—"

At the door, she watched Yan Tang holding spider plants and sesame candies in one hand, and leading Ai Bao to the parking place with the other.

Ai Bao also turned around and waved his fat hand to Aunt Li.

It seems that he is full of affection for this aunt who will give him sesame candies.

However, last time she and Dasheng watched Yan Tang and Ai Bao leave together.

This time she was alone.

Aunt Li watched Yan Tang and Ai Bao walk away from the same spot, and then turned back to the house.

In the car, Yan Tang gave Ai Bao sesame candies to put on the back seat, lest Ai Bao rub more than half of it along the way.

Ai Bao is full now and has no appetite, so he has no dissatisfaction with Yan Tang's actions.

He sat obediently in the passenger seat, waiting for Yan Tang to drive.

Originally, Yan Tang thought that Dasheng's funeral would make people feel sad, but after all, he and Aunt Li have been dependent on each other for so many years, and the parting of life and death will be hard to let go.

And he really didn't expect that "Gong Xi Fa Cai" could be heard at this funeral.

In a sense, this funeral is also full of novelty.

Yan Tang looked at Ai Bao who was still in a bright mood.

Except that in the afternoon, Aibao was a little sleepy, and he yawned from time to time, everything else was normal.

Yan Tang thought about it. Although Ai Bao was only 17 years old, what was surprising was that he had faced death many times.

His first mother, his father, his second mother, and Dasheng, in Aibao's 17 years of life, death may be more frequent guests than birth.

"Baby, I found out that you are not sad about death, are you?" Yan Tang asked suddenly while driving.

He himself didn't know why he asked Ai Bao this question.

Abbot yawned again.

He rubbed his sleepy eyes and replied, "Yes."

"It's nothing to be sad about," Abbott said.

He always looked at death very plainly, and in Ai Bao's eyes, this was the beginning of a new journey.

And Yan Tang didn't know why, so he asked in a strange way, "Then what if I died?"

For an instant, the carriage fell silent.

After Yan Tang asked, he came back to his senses and realized that he asked some shit question.

He hurriedly made amends, "No, Ai Bao, I was just talking nonsense just now—"

Before he finished explaining, Ai Bao spoke up, "Ai Bao won't be sad either."

He looked at Yan Tang, with a calm expression on his clean face, "Ai Bao won't be sad either."

He said, "But if Yan Yan dies, Ai Bao will die too."

"Ai Bao will die too." Ai Bao looked at Yan Tang and said to him seriously.