Lamp Flower Smile

Lu Tong was walking on the road.

There was thick white fog on both sides, which could not be dispersed, but the long road under my feet looked somewhat familiar.

There were apricot trees planted along the street, and the branches were already bearing green fruits. Suddenly, she was patted behind her. Someone put his arms around her shoulders, pressed her head and rubbed her twice: "I'm back!"

She turned back in surprise and stared blankly at the young man in front of her who was wearing a green shirt and a webbed head.

The young man, who was carrying a bookcase and had a bright face, took out a handful of bean candy from the bookcase and stuffed it into her hand, "No, it's for you."

She looked at the candy wrapped in rice paper in her palm and looked at the person in front of her: "Lu Qian?"

"No big or small," he cursed with a smile, hooked his arm around Lu Zhuo's neck and walked forward, "Call me brother——"

The surroundings gradually became brighter, the red clouds on the hills slanted across the long streets, the aroma of the food in the alleys gradually filled the nose, and the noise of neighbors chatting could be heard.

The front door "squeaked" was pushed open, and a beautiful face popped out from inside. The girl was wearing a goose-yellow brocade magnolia skirt, like a fresh spring flower blooming. She looked at the two people and said with a smile: "Aqian, little sister , come in quickly and wash your hands and eat!”

She stared blankly, her eyes suddenly getting wet in the lingering sunset.

This is the house of the Lu family in Changwu County.

"Come on, come on -" Lu Qian said, pulling her into the door.

There is a dining hall at the entrance, with a long wooden chair, and a small courtyard through the window. The courtyard has been cleaned cleanly, and the three rooms next to the courtyard still have calligraphy and paintings hanging on the walls. Near the kitchen, a bluestone jar is filled with clear water, and a gourd and ladle float on the water.

Lu Zhuo stopped.

It was a familiar house. She had lived here for many years. There were no traces of the fire, no charred wood or ashes. It was still as it was in her memory many years ago, like an old piece of yellowed paper with gentle pen and ink.

"What are you still standing there for?" Lu Qian asked her to wash her hands, "Be careful, dad will scold you later."

"Why are you back so late?" My father coughed slightly from behind and said with a straight face, "I was just having fun on the way."

Lu Chen turned around.

She saw her father, wearing the familiar half-old cotton t-shirt with some signs of wear on the collar. She saw her mother, walking out of the yard holding a dustpan with dried Chinese toons, her bun stained with the broken leaves of the apricot tree.

They stand well in front of them,

Lu Zhen's tears flowed down.

"Oh," Lu Rou saw this and hurriedly came over to wipe her tears with a handkerchief: "Why are you crying?"

She hugged Lu Rou with her backhand, like a lonely traveler who finally found her way home. Joy arose out of sadness, and sadness arose out of joy. She couldn't bear it anymore and burst into tears.

Lu Rou patted her back gently, just like she did after she got into trouble and was scolded by her father, and comforted her softly: "My little sister has grown into a big girl, but she still loves to cry so much."

"I've been a crybaby since I was little," Lu Qian rubbed her head and teased her with a smile, "But, Lu San, you've grown so big, are you still crying so much?"

Lu Chen was in a daze for a moment.

She has a temper that cannot bear to be wronged.

In the past, when I argued and quarreled with Lu Qian at home, I would always take advantage of my young age to cry first, and in the end it was Lu Qian who got scolded. Lu Qian always said that she had a big lake in her eyes and she would shed tears at the drop of a hat. Later, she followed Yun Niang to Luo Meifeng, but no one could bully her.

She had almost forgotten the feeling of grievance.

She no longer loves to cry.

Lu Yan raised his head and said softly: "Father, mother, sister, second brother, are you here to take me home?"

It is said that after death, people will return to the place they loved most during their lifetime.

When she was at Luomeifeng, many times she wondered whether she would return to her hometown after her death. She wanted to return to the Lu family and see her family.

The movement of wiping tears stopped, Lu Rou retracted her hand, smiled and shook her head.

"Tonghuo," she said, "you have grown up."

Lu Chen looked at her blankly.

"My little sister has grown up," Lu Rou looked at her with a smile, "she can go to Beijing alone to avenge her family."

"Ke Chengxing, Fan Zhenglian, Liu Kun, Qi Yutai... you have done a good job, you are already very good."

Lu Zhuo was shocked.

It was like a part of her unbearable past that had been discovered, something she tried hard to hide. She was so reserved that she didn't dare to look up and look at the expressions of her family members.

"Lu San, I thought you were a coward, but I didn't expect that I was wrong." The young man's voice was high and cheerful as before, "This way, we can rest assured in the future."

"I'm sorry..." She was incoherent, "I..."

She wanted to say that she did not want such cruel and manipulative methods. She wanted to say that the Lu family had a strict family tradition, but she had betrayed the rules. She wanted to say many, many things, but when they came to her lips, she could not say a word.

"No need to apologize." My father's voice came to my ears.

She looked up and saw her father standing in front of her, still looking stern, but his tone was imperceptibly softer.

"A kind person does not destroy others to benefit himself; a benevolent person does not endanger others to gain fame."

He looked at Lu Shen and said, "My daughter of the Lu family is doing well."

Lu Zhen's eyes became blurry again.

She obviously didn't cry much anymore. Over the years, she also felt that she had gradually become hard-hearted. She never thought that whenever she was in front of her family, she would be back to the same Lu Min who shed tears whenever she disagreed with her many years ago.

"Stop crying, little girl," her mother came over, put her in her arms, and hugged her gently: "It's late, you should go back."

She suddenly thought: "No, I don't want it!"

"I don't want to go back!" Lu Yan grabbed the corner of his mother's clothes, "I want to be here, and I want to be with my parents, sister and brother forever!"

She hated separation and parting. Seeing the reunion ending, how could she stop there?

"Tongtong," the mother looked at her, her voice gentle and loving: "You have grown up. When children grow up, they have to leave their parents and home. And now, you are still such a great doctor."

"There are still people waiting for you," she wiped away Lu Tong's tears and said jokingly: "Have you forgotten your little lover?"

Little lover?

Lu Tong was stunned.

"My daughter suffered a lot in the past," the mother touched her hair fondly, "she grew up, became smart and beautiful, strong and brave, and she did everything we couldn't do."

"Don't cling to the past, people should look forward. Dad, mom, sister and brother all love you, and there are more people in the world who love you. The daughter of our Lu family has always moved forward, right?"

"I don't want to move forward." She cried, as if she was persistently pursuing an impossible result: "I want to stay here, I want to be with you..."

A layer of white mist gradually rose in front of her eyes, and the figure in front of her became nothing again. She suddenly realized something and tried to reach out to grab it, but she caught nothing, and suddenly heard a sigh in the air.

"Tongtong..."

It was the voice of her parents: "Move forward, don't linger in the past."

It became the advice of Lu Qian and Lu Rou.

"Be braver, move forward."

The surroundings suddenly fell into darkness.

She looked at the empty silence, couldn't help squatting down, hugging her knees and crying.

Why was she still left behind? Why can't it be perfect forever? She has obviously returned home and has seen her parents and brothers and sisters, but why can't she stay?

People should move forward, but the past is too heavy and the future is endless. Attachment and dependence are like a thread connecting to reality. She pulled that thread and was reluctant to let go.

But she had to let go.

"Knock knock--"

In the dead silence, there was a knock on the door.

She was stunned for a moment, and when she looked up, a window suddenly appeared in the dark surroundings.

Someone was standing in front of the window.

It was a handsome young man, wearing a bright scarlet brocade robe, like a warm light in this dark abyss, bright and warm. Through the window, he shook the bamboo tube filled with sweet syrup in his hand in front of Lu Tong and smiled.

"How long are you going to hide here?"

Lu Tong was stunned for a moment.

The next moment, he seemed impatient to wait, and walked into the house and pulled her up from the ground.

"Come out." He said.

The door was pushed open.

She was pulled by him and stumbled out of the house. The thick fog gradually dissipated, and the surroundings became noisy again. The young man's voice was as clear as the wind, and he said nonchalantly: "Have you forgotten West Street?"

West Street?

This name is so familiar. With this sentence, she saw a lush plum tree at the corner of the alley not far away. It was green and lush under the scorching sun. On the plaque shaded by the branches, the words "benevolence" were written neatly.

The young boss sat in front of the table with his chin on his hand, dozing off out of boredom. The doctor in the clinic was old and blurry, and he came closer to look at the marks on the medical records, rubbing his legs and feet. The young man stepped on the stool and carefully wiped the golden banner on the wall. The prettier girl picked up a green plum silk cotton skirt in the tailor shop across the street and bargained with the shopkeeper seriously.

The girl turned around and saw Lu Tong, and immediately smiled: "The girl is back--"

The sunlight was strong and dazzling, and the young man's smiling voice came to her ears again: "Have you forgotten the Medical Officer's Office?"

Medical Officer's Office?

So she saw again the government office that she once hated and had to go in because of planning.

She saw in the pharmacy, the handsome and elegant man leaned over to pick up the scattered medical books on the ground, carefully sorted the different categories of notes and put them into the medical box. She saw the good old doctor holding the list of epidemic relief in Southern Jiangsu, arguing with others to add her name on it.

The bright and cheerful girl opened her heart to her in the wet night rain, the plum wine was sour under the lonely lamp, and she was drunk and heroic, patting her shoulder and shouting.

"In the future, you will be the chief envoy, and I will be the deputy envoy. You and I will join forces and be proud together!"

"I wish you and I can become envoys!"

She was in a trance, her eyes fell on the farther distance.

The mist gradually dissipated, revealing a clearer past.

There was a woman with a sallow face in the garden full of red and fragrant catkins, a kind and gentle scholar in a thatched house in front of a fishy stall in a fresh fish market, a long-bearded official who was noisy and full of nonsense, and a shrewd woman who wanted to find a good husband for her daughter in the imperial city and secretly gave her a basket of plums...

They talked and laughed, passing by her, and the greetings and old talk gradually condensed into one after another thin and delicate silk threads, which tied her and formed a soft net on her.

It turned out that she had been connected with so many people without knowing it.

It turned out that she had been here for so long.

She suddenly felt a little reluctant.

A voice came from behind: "Stay, Xiao Shiqi."

She was startled.

All the fireworks and worldly affairs suddenly dissipated, and disappeared everywhere. Lu Tong turned around and Yunniang stood in front of her.

The woman was still as charming as ever, wearing a golden and red feathered cloak. In the snow, she looked like a gorgeous red plum blossom, looking at her with a smile.

"Do you want to leave here?" she asked.

Luomei Peak was covered in silver white, with endless peaks in sight. Lu Tong took a step back.

"Stay here." She said gently, her tone seemed to be bewitching, and waved to Lu Tong from afar. "Stay by my side."

"In this world, people's hearts are unpredictable, and the world is dangerous. What's good about Shengjing?" She smiled and told her the story, "Ke Chengxing, for his own selfish desires, killed his bedmate with his own hands. Fan Zhenglian pursued his future and ignored the innocent. Your cousin Liu Kun, for a hundred taels of silver, sent his nephew to the execution platform. The Taishi Mansion was extremely powerful, and in order to quell the trouble, the entire Lu family was killed."

She walked towards Lu Tong.

"You did a great job." Yunniang praised: "You did it cleanly and didn't let anyone go. There are so many people coming to Luomei Peak, and you are the first good kid who knows how to kill."

"Xiao Shiqi, you and I are the same people."

Lu Tong was shocked and subconsciously retorted: "I'm not."

"Of course you are." Yunniang walked up to her and smiled and tucked her hair behind her ears. The woman's fingers were cold, and her words were even colder than that.

"You have killed so many people, and your revenge has been avenged. You have nothing to worry about." She looked at Lu Tong lovingly, "It's too tiring, good boy, why don't you stay here and be free from now on?"

She took Lu Tong's hand.

"After all, you have never left, right?"

Lu Tong was at a loss for a moment.

She knew that Yunniang was right.

All along, she felt that everyone and everything was moving forward, only she was not. Looking back, there was no Lu family courtyard, and there was no end in sight. She seemed to be left alone in the thatched house on Luomei Peak, not knowing how to get out.

So she always didn't want to think about the future.

"You and I are the same person. So, stay."

Yunniang took her hand and walked towards the thatched house in front of the plum tree.

"You have nothing."

Lu Tong let her lead him, just like the first time she went up the mountain when she was a child, leaving her unknown future in her hands, and walked towards the secret place where she was very familiar and had spent many years.

Her parents, brother, and sister were gone.

Her enemies were gone too.

She couldn't go back to the Lu family's old house. Thinking back, there was no place to stay except this Luomei Peak.

All the old people were gone, and she had nothing.

She let the woman lead her forward in a daze, but at this moment, she smelled a fragrant and cold fragrance.

The fragrance was vague and cold, which made her mind clear for a moment, as if someone was talking in her ear.

He said, "Are you really willing to give up all this and have no attachment to these people and things?"

He said, "You must learn to cherish yourself."

He said, "Lu Tong, I like you more."

It was as if something deeper gradually became clear from his mind, driving away fear and hesitation.

Lu Tong paused.

"You are wrong." She said.

Yun Niang was stunned.

She looked at Yun Niang: "I am different from you."

"Oh? What's the difference?"

"I am a doctor."

"Doctor?"

Yun Niang's face gradually changed, and she laughed sarcastically: "What kind of doctor are you? Who can you save? You can't even save yourself, Xiao Shiqi."

"I can save you."

She looked straight at the woman, no longer silent and dull as she did many years ago, and avoided the other's meaningful gaze in panic.

The plum blossoms on Luomei Peak are gorgeous and passionate. She always felt that the blood-colored plum blossoms were scary before, but now she looks at them with a calm heart.

"I have saved many people. Wu Youcai, He Xiu, Lin Danqing's aunt, Pei Yunshu, the people of southern Jiangsu... I will save more people in the future."

Lu Tong said: "I can save myself."

Yun Niang looked at her: "What are you greedy for? The dirty world, people's hearts are unpredictable, what is there to miss?"

"I did see a lot of indifferent people." Lu Tong broke away from her hand: "But I also met a lot of good people."

She has met a lot of good people.

The rough county lieutenant who gave her candy on the execution ground, the weak girl who was rescued from the mass grave and never left her, the dandy boss who was hard-mouthed and soft-hearted in the dilapidated clinic in the streets, the kind-hearted medical officer who happened to pass by on the southern Jiangsu Bridge when she was a child...

In southern Jiangsu, on Luomei Peak, on Shengjing Street.

Although they look inconspicuous and not strong enough, like the most insignificant dust among the countless living beings, they are kind and tenacious, giving her warmth in the fireworks of the city, allowing her to see a stronger vitality.

This vitality can save her.

"I'm going back," Lu Tong said, "someone is waiting for me."

"Xiao Shiqi..."

"My name is not Xiao Shiqi," Lu Tong looked at her and shook his head slowly, "You never asked me my name. My last name is Lu Mingmin, and my nickname is Tongtong."

"I'm the daughter of the Lu family, a doctor at Renxin Medical Clinic, and a medical officer at the Hanlin Medical Officers' Institute."

"I'm no longer your medicine man."

After saying this, she turned around and ran down the mountain.

The mountain breeze once again brushed across her cheek, brushing past the places she had passed countless times. Many noisy voices came to her ears, each sentence vivid and clear.

"Whatever Doctor Lu wants to do, Youcai only wishes Doctor Lu all the best and that his wish comes true."

"Come, I wish you and I can become the hospital envoy!"

"Girl, I'll be waiting for you here. You must come back."

"Deputy Hospital Envoy Miao told me that you are his benefactor and his student, and asked me to take good care of you in the Medical Officers' Court."

"Let us pay tribute to this good master and thank her for her careful teaching of our Doctor Lu and for training a female doctor for our West Street——"

"You and Ah-Yi are friends, so calling me Princess is not appropriate. You can call me sister."

"Girl Seventeen, if you are injured in the future, you need to be treated promptly. You are a doctor, so you should understand this."

Those sounds were getting closer and closer to her ears, filling the empty gaps with warmth, noise, and bustle.

She was no longer alone, the fine net softly covered her. In this tragic story, countless people appeared by chance. They called her name, either tenderly or worried, happy or sad, and they pulled her together. Live her and connect her to the world.

There are friends, confidants, and people you like.

She is no longer alone.

Lu Yun ran faster and faster, and the white mist gradually dissipated as she ran. She saw a door at the end. The door was shining with a dim light in the dark night. It was dim and bright at first. Reluctant to rest on a snowy night.

She opened the door.

…

"Yes! There is breath!"

There was a sudden shout in the room.

Chang Jin held the arm of the person on the bed ecstatically.

That weak pulse was as light as a candle dying out, but it reappeared, like a sudden miracle, shocking everyone in the room.

Lin Danqing burst into tears: "Sister Lu——"

They thought that everything was settled, that she was like the candle that was about to be extinguished and would never be rekindled for a moment. But at the last moment, there was a sudden change.

Lu Yan opened his eyes.

It was very noisy outside. She heard Chang Jin shouting loudly, as if he was talking to the medical officer outside the door. Lin Danqing's laughter was extremely exciting. Ji Xun's voice asking her was covered up by the messy footsteps outside the door. Not very clear.

She saw a shadow in front of her.

The young man was not as carefree and calm as in his dream. He looked at her unblinkingly, his eyes looking frighteningly red.

She was startled for a moment, then laughed softly.

"Pei Yunying," Lu Zhu reached out and touched his eyes, "Are you crying?"

The next moment, he leaned over and hugged her. She felt that his body was trembling, and it seemed that he was using all his strength to hold her.

Lu Zhen let him hold her without saying a word, but she felt warm liquid fall into the crook of her neck, which was burning.

So she reached out her hand and hugged him back gently.