The Romance of a Young Painter

Chapter 37 If I See You

Zhou Nianjiu was feeling emotional when he heard a commotion from the tree-digging workers over there, as if they had dug something.He went over to look, and saw many glass bottles dug out from the soil under the tree, and there were things in the bottles.

Shen Guangji said: "Do you want to take a look? Maybe it was left by your mother."

"Okay." Zhou Nianjiu and Shen Guangji collected the bottles together and wiped them clean. The mouth of each bottle was sealed with wax, and there was a note inside the bottle. He opened one, and the note read in crooked Chinese :

Little butterfly, here I come again, where did you fly to? PS: This time I took what you left under the tree with me.

Signed with a letter J and dated 20 years ago.

Zhou Nianjiu couldn't wait to open the other one, and on the paper was beautiful cursive characters:

If Should See Thee

After long years.

How should I greet thee,

With tears, with silence.①

Signed by the same person.

Zhou Nianjiu arranged the notes in the bottle in chronological order. There were thirteen sheets in total, twelve of which were in Chinese, and the last one in English was written nine years ago. Read it slowly and carefully, then carefully fold the note and put it back in the previous glass bottle.His heart was not peaceful. In those letters, the man signed by J wrote down his longing for his mother in short words. Every year he came with hope, and then returned empty-handed. In 13 years, this man was probably finally disappointed and never came again.

Shen Guangji didn't read it with Zhou Nianjiu just out of politeness, and asked at this time: "Is it written by your mother?"

Zhou Nianjiu shook her head and said, "No, but it should be for my mother."

Shen Guangji asked: "Is it her friend?"

Zhou Nianjiu said: "Although I'm not sure, I guess the person who wrote this may be my biological father. Judging from the above date, he would come here every year for a while, and then leave a letter in a bottle for my mother."

Shen Guangji asked: "Didn't your mother sell the house a long time ago?"

Zhou Nianjiu said: "I don't know about this either, maybe he thought my mother would come back to find something, so he came to try his luck."

Shen Guangji said: "These bottles don't look like they have been opened before."

Zhou Nianjiu lightly touched the glass bottle containing the letter in a bottle, and said, "My mother left City B before the first letter in a bottle, and she never came back after that."

Shen Guangji saw that Zhou Nianjiu was restless, so he helped to take the glass bottle to the car. The two waited in the car for a while, and the pomegranate tree was almost finished, and the workers were carrying the tree to the construction truck.Shen Guangji got out of the car and told the driver the address, and then started the car to lead the way. He has a detached house in the north of the city, and he usually lives there. He plans to transplant the pomegranate tree into the yard first, and Zhou Nianjiu wants to see it. There is also a place to go when thinking about others.

When the car was on the North Fifth Ring Road, Shen Guangji tried to ask Zhou Nianjiu: "Has your mother ever mentioned your biological father to you?"

Zhou Nianjiu recalled it, and said: "I said a little bit when I was very young, but I don't remember much. I was not born when my mother separated from him. When I was one year old, my mother took me to S city. , she married my dad, um, that's my current dad, in my impression, she didn't talk about that person again after she married my dad."

Shen Guangji asked: "Do you know his name?"

Zhou Nianjiu said: "My name is Joyce, and the last word of my name is a homonym of the English pronunciation of his name."

Shen Guangji asked carefully: "Nian Jiu, are you missing Joyce?"

Zhou Nianjiu replied, "It should mean that."

Shen Guangji thought for a while, and asked, "Do you need someone to help you find out where he is now?"

"Let me think about it first." Zhou Nianjiu said.He has long regarded Wenmingyuan as his father in his heart. If he finds Joyce, should he go and recognize him?The answer is obviously no, he doesn't want to make the civilization that has always regarded himself as his own be far sad.However, Zhou Nianjiu was a little uneasy. This uneasiness came from Zhou Sulan's departure from her hometown and her changed name. She did this as if deliberately breaking with the past. What is the reason for a woman to do this?Could it have something to do with Joyce?To know this meant meeting Joyce.

Zhou Nianjiu felt a bit embarrassed, he thought it over and decided to discuss it with his brother Wen Juan first.

Shen Guangji didn't ask any more questions, and soon arrived at his residence.

Zhou Nianjiu followed Shen Guangji in, and saw that the courtyard was full of bright flowers of various colors. They were scattered and stretched freely, as if they were not restrained by any means, making the courtyard lively. This visual impact made him unable to help but praise: " It's so beautiful!"

Shen Guangji smiled and said: "I didn't take care of it deliberately, I don't know how it has grown into the current state, but fortunately, it looks decent." He pointed to a place and asked, "How about planting the tree there? "

That place was in a corner of the garden, similar to the location in the old courtyard before, Zhou Nianjiu had no objection.

The tree was quickly placed. It was pruned off some of its branches and leaves when it was transplanted, and now it looks a bit shabby surrounded by flowers in the garden. Zhou Nianjiu said to Shen Guangji with some embarrassment: "I am causing you trouble."

Shen Guangji said: "What's the matter? It just so happens that my yard is short of trees. If you don't mind, let it grow like this. It's spring now, and it won't be long before it grows back. Come here when you want to see it." Just do it."

"Okay." Zhou Nianjiu nodded.

Shen Guangji sent the workers away, then went to the house to find a small box and some paper, and said to Zhou Nianjiu, "Those glass bottles for letters are fragile, so you should pack them carefully to avoid bumping."

Zhou Nianjiu and Shen Guangji got into the car together. Those bottles were lying quietly on the back seat of the car. These things belonged to her mother, but she hadn't seen them before, and she won't be able to see them again. Since the owner was gone, he kept them. What is the use of these?Zhou Nianjiu was worrying while packing, and suddenly he had an idea, so he asked Shen Guangji for advice: "My mother has passed away, and it's not suitable for me to keep these things. I think it's better to bury them under the tree, can you see?" ?”

Shen Guangji said, "Of course."

Zhou Nianjiu took the glass bottles back to the yard, dug a hole under the pomegranate tree, placed the bottles neatly inside, and then covered them up with soil bit by bit.

Shen Guangji watched quietly from the side, he knew that it was not suitable to intervene at this time.

After Zhou Nianjiu finished his work, it was past noon, Shen Guangji asked him to have dinner.

Zhou Nianjiu asked him: "Eat at home?"

"Or else," Shen Guangji said, "doesn't it look like I can cook?"

Zhou Nianjiu looked Shen Guangji up and down, and this person looked like a non-human being. There was really no way to connect him with the kitchen, so he nodded honestly and said, "I can't imagine."

Shen Guangji laughed, and said: "Okay, then I will let you taste my dark dishes." He picked up two fast dishes and then made a soup, and finally cut up the sauced beef brought back from Fang's house last night. Served together, the whole process takes less than half an hour.

Zhou Nianjiu on the side was dumbfounded.

"Taste it." Shen Guangji brought over the rice and signaled him to start eating.

Zhou Nianjiu tasted a little of each, and said sincerely, "It's delicious, I never thought you could really cook."

Shen Guangji said: "I went abroad to study in my early years, and I was not used to eating many things there, so I tried to make it myself, and I will get used to it over time."

Zhou Nianjiu suddenly remembered the Andrea he met back then, and asked, "Did you stay in France?"

Shen Guangji didn't expect Zhou Nianjiu to know this, but after thinking about it for a while, he said: "This fellow Andre, he must have told everyone what happened back then."

Zhou Nianjiu asked curiously: "I remember when Nana told me that you were evicted by the landlord. What happened then?"

Shen Guangji said: "Andre certainly didn't tell the truth in front of his little girlfriend. The truth is that the two of us burned down half of the kitchen at that time. Redeem it."

Zhou Nianjiu did not expect that the calm Shen Guangji had such an experience in his early years, and said in disbelief: "I really don't see that you still have this kind of time."

Shen Guangji smiled and said: "If you travel a lot, you will encounter one or two accidents. You don't think I'm going anywhere, do you?"

Although Zhou Nianjiu didn't intentionally give Shen Guangji a halo, the image of Shen Guangji in his mind is not far from the same.

Seeing his expression, Shen Guangji knew he was right, so he smiled again.

That afternoon, Zhou Nianjiu called Wen Ju'an. He told about the discovery of clues about his biological father in Zhou's old house in the morning, and then asked, "Brother, what do you think I should do?"

Wen Ju'an said: "If it was me, I would definitely continue to investigate. Other things can be considered after the truth is found out."

Zhou Nianjiu hesitated, "But Dad, I don't want to make him unhappy."

"This worry is completely unnecessary," Wen Ju'an said, "You just went to investigate the events of the year, not to recognize relatives. And with your kindness, Dad is probably happier than anyone else."

With Wen Juan's words, Zhou Nianjiu seemed to be reassured, he said: "Well, I will ask Mr. Shen tomorrow."

Wen Ju'an smiled and said, "Why bother to look far away, let me check."

Zhou Nianjiu said, "Brother, aren't you in City S?"

Wen Ju'an said: "I also have connections in City B. Although it may not be as extensive as your Mr. Shen, it should be more than enough to check."

Zhou Nianjiu said, "Then I will wait for your news."

Wen Juan hung up the phone, thought for a while, and decided to talk to Mitnick who had been blocking him at the door of his company for a few days.

The author has something to say:

①Byron's "The Passing of Spring", a translation I prefer:

If I see you, after years

how can i congratulate you

with tears, with silence

②The verse of the plaster statue quoted in Chapter 29 of this article comes from one of Bei Dao's "Untitled".

Both poets were Bishan's favorite.

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