Dreaming in the garden

three

The cold moonlight poured in from the wide open window and fell on the bed.Chang Nian turned over and sat up again.

During the day, he visited the "Peony Garden", but did not go upstairs, and naturally he did not explore the "haunted house" that Uncle Zhang said.He is not the kind of rebellious youth who likes to go against the grain.Grandpa used to say that he was too "obedient", and it seemed that nothing could arouse his interest, so life was like a pool of still water, without waves of passion.

But now, inexplicably, the spooky story that Uncle Zhang told might just be for a stunt lingered in his mind over and over again, making it difficult for him to fall asleep.

Chang Nian leaned over and took out a rectangular wooden box from the backpack at the end of the bed.The sandalwood box is bathed in the moonlight, warm and thick, like a humble old man, who is twisting his beard and preparing to tell a story about the past.Open the lid of the wooden box, and there is an old pocket watch lying quietly in the white velvet.Chang Nian carefully took the pocket watch out of the box, the watch chain made up of pearl-sized jade beads caused the whole pocket watch to drop a lot.Chang Nian opened and closed the watch cover, gently rubbing the surface of the watch cover with his thumb.The watch stopped a long time ago, and I don't know at which moment in history it stayed.

This pocket watch belongs to grandpa.No one knows the story of this pocket watch. It has never been seen in the past that grandpa told. It is an unspeakable secret.Probably only the dense scratches carved on its surface by Daolin Jianyu's life can testify to its early days of traveling with its grandfather to fight in the north and south.Other than that, this pocket watch has basically no other damage, which shows that it is very well protected.

Chang Nian still clearly remembers that day, the day before his grandfather passed away.Grandpa entrusted the pocket watch to Chang Nian with trembling hands. The poor old man was unable to speak at the end of his illness. He opened his mouth wide and tore his throat. pain.

It's hard for you to imagine that a tough guy who has dominated the battlefield and shopping malls all his life, and never shows weakness even in the face of serious diseases, would have such a painful and vulnerable side.

Finally, he burned out his remaining fire of life, and expressed his final appeal——

"... Go back... Go back..." At that moment, the grandfather and grandson burst into tears.

Good fortune always loves to play tricks on sincere people.Grandpa has been obsessed with returning home all his life, but unfortunately his homeland does not welcome him, who was an important general of the M Party back then.And when the motherland was willing to accept him again, he was too sick to move.

A few years after his death, Chang Nian finally returned here with his relics and stories that he could not tell.

A slight sound interrupted Chang Nian's thoughts, as if someone had smashed a pebble on the outer wall of the old house.Maybe I was worried that the people in the room didn't hear it. After a few seconds, the crisp "pop~" sounded again.

Chang Nian poked his head out of the west window, the street lamps on both sides of the road strangely did not turn on tonight, only the hazy brilliance of the moon sprinkled on the road.Chang Nian can barely see an afterimage flashing, hiding in the shadow of the side door.

who is it?Chang Nian quickly put on the windbreaker, stuffed the pocket watch into his pocket, and prepared to find out.

The moment Chang Nian walked to the door and was about to open it, he stopped all his movements, and a strange expression appeared on his face—doubt and fear.In the still air, Chang Nian could clearly hear his own slight breathing, and - the sound of the door of the opposite study opening.Apart from him, there shouldn't be and it's impossible for there to be another person in this house.

Immediately afterwards, there was a burst of urgent and depressing footsteps in the corridor.

Chang Nian held her breath, and waited for the footsteps to fade away before taking a deep breath, then opened the door and followed lightly.

The two, one in front of the other, walked through the house with the same depressed pace, as if they were afraid of disturbing each other.

Coming to the west door, Chang Nian hid behind a clump of banana trees.Layers of leaves gave him good cover, but also blocked his sight.Chang Nian could only hear the man open the door and meow like a cat, and then there was a slight conversation, and then the door was closed again.Chang Nian poked his head out slightly, but there was no one at the side door.Chang Nian quickly followed out.

The moonlight stretched the shadows of the two people walking side by side in front, thin and long, like two streams, flowing from the heels, spreading and spreading on the empty street——finally merging together without distinguishing each other.

Chang Nian followed from a distance, and followed to the river beach at the entrance of the town.

Chang Nian hid behind a large rock, and with the moonlight and water, he finally got a general idea of ​​the mysterious two people.The two looked a few years older than him. The man on the left was wearing a shirt and vest, with his hands in his trouser pockets casually. His boots were rolling back and forth on the stones on the soles of his feet. .Full of rage, this word came to Chang Nian's mind.The other person stood still with a smile in his phoenix eyes, and he was outlined very delicately in a long gown, like a warm night wind blowing over the river.

Silence is an emotional precipitation.

Probably finally vented his boredom on the stone, the man in western attire said, "Lin Yusheng, Lin Yusheng, tell me how I treat you?"

"Second Master is the best for Yusheng." Lin Yusheng replied with a smile.

It's a pity that the person called "Second Master" didn't appreciate it at all, so he poked Lin Yusheng's forehead with his backhand: "Still laughing, if I don't want someone to come to you, you won't take the initiative to see me, right? You have to insist on coming out in the middle of the night."

Hearing this, Lin Yusheng put away his smile, frowned slightly, and his expression turned a little sad for a moment: "I heard that the old lady scolded you and didn't allow you to go out...you are all because of me."

"What is involved and not involved, what kind of responsibility are you blindly taking on yourself!"

Lin Yusheng shook his head and said, "What they said is correct. Second Master, you are a nobleman, and Yusheng is just a low-level actor. If you get too close to me, your reputation will be insulted."

"It's all bullshit!" The second master raised his voice and scolded Lin Yusheng angrily.With that expression, Lin Yusheng has no doubt that if the person who said that was standing here now, the second master would definitely hit him with an iron fist, "Whatever is up and down is the pedantic thinking left by the old men! No one has two eyes, one nose and one mouth, high and low, but human desires. Those who look down on others for this reason are fools, and those who look down on themselves because of this are even more fools among fools." After finishing the stern lecture, I realized that the "fool among fools" in my mouth was right in front of me, and immediately softened my tone, "So, don't underestimate yourself. If you want me to say, you are better than me." Those children of rich families who claim to be noble but rely entirely on the shade of their predecessors live a much more meaningful life."

"But……"

The second master seemed to know what Lin Yusheng wanted to say, so he interrupted him directly, and smiled: "Then let them talk, we don't live for them. Besides, you are probably the only one in this town, right?" Sincerely call me Second Master, and call my mother Old Madam. Others, who doesn’t have a trace of contempt hidden in their hearts, an abandoned concubine and concubine can pick up a basket of gossip behind their backs.”

Lin Yusheng was silent for a moment, he had heard such gossip several times before.Although the old lady and the second master have always taken good care of the townspeople, people are like this, and the merits of Tongtian are not as good as the stain of soybeans, which they are more fond of talking about.

For a while no one spoke.In this kind of silence, Chang Nian's heart was beating like a drum, a strange, indescribable feeling sprouted from his heart, the second master, Lin Yusheng, opera singer, Peony Garden...

At this moment, the second master finally couldn't help but speak: "Let's stop wasting time by being silent. Do you still like the hairpin and bracelet I gave you?"

"En." Lin Yusheng raised his eyebrows, obviously very happy.But then he showed a bit of embarrassment, "Such a precious thing, Yusheng really deserves it."

Lin Yusheng lived up to his name, and his appearance was as clear and exquisite as jade.At this time, under the radiance of the moonlight, with a frown and a smile, it was like a fairy descending from the sky. The person opposite was stunned, and he said infatuatedly: "A beautiful jade with a beautiful woman should belong to you."

"... How nice it would be if you were a woman." Unconsciously, the words that were as soft as a whisper made both of them startled.

The second master suddenly woke up, and changed the subject in embarrassment: "I... didn't mean that. In short, you can accept the things with peace of mind. Didn't I break the hairpin you used on stage? And I just spent a processing fee .That jade, I picked it up from the mountain behind. At that time, I thought it would be suitable for you to make a hairpin."

Lin Yusheng seemed to be still stuck in that sentence, and it took a few seconds to come back to his senses, and he smiled and said, "Thank you then! By the way, I have something to give you too."

Poor Chang Nian who had been squatting behind the stone for a long time, he couldn't help moving his numb feet, but he didn't want to step on some loose stone, he staggered suddenly, and turned to the right Toppled over, Chang Nian desperately clung to the rock where he was hiding to prevent himself from rolling out.But the pocket watch he put in his pocket suddenly slipped out, and the sound of hitting the rock pile was very clear in the dark night.Chang Nian was so frightened that he hurriedly covered his mouth and nose, for fear of leaking a breath.Fortunately, the two of them didn't seem to notice the movement here.

Chang Nian felt relieved, but just as he breathed a sigh of relief, he got stuck halfway.The man named Lin Yusheng just now seemed to have glanced here, but the speed was too fast, and Chang Nian suddenly became uncertain again.

Facts have proved that Chang Nian's mental journey tonight is not destined to be peaceful.When he fumbled to pick up the dropped pocket watch from the ground, the breath that had just been stuck halfway and hadn't fully gone down was brought up again.The cover of the pocket watch must have been knocked off in the collision, and the chest was wide open, exposing the dial to the night.What surprised Chang Nian was that the hands on the dial that had stopped rotating now woke up from a deep sleep.

"Tick tock, tick tock..." The energetic walking sound of the pocket watch appeared in Chang Nian's ears, and gradually turned into a duet.Chang Nian turned her head, under the bright moonlight, the pocket watch Er Ye was holding in front of his eyes was exactly the same as the one in his hand.

"Tick, tick, tick..."

Chang Nian felt like he had fallen into the long river of time, the sound of time flowing through his ears, getting louder and louder, until a huge wave drowned him...

"Ah~" Chang Nian sat up with a low cry, the feeling of suffocation squeezed by time still lingered clearly around her.Chang Nian looked around and found himself in the bedroom.It was dawn outside the window, Chang Nian tore off his sweat-soaked windbreaker and threw it on the bed, his thoughts were a little messed up.

Beside the pillow was a pocket watch with an exposed dial.

"Tick, tick..."

The author has something to say:

Strive for the end of four chapters